AI search is no longer theoretical. ChatGPT reached 800 million weekly active users by March 2025, while Perplexity now processes over 780 million monthly queries (Views4You, 2025; DemandSage, 2025). Google's AI Overviews, launched to 2 billion monthly users, now appear in 13 to 18 percent of all searches (TechCrunch, 2025; Semrush, 2025). The narrative emerging from these numbers is clear: search is changing fast.
The problem is how people are interpreting the change. I keep hearing the same refrain from founders and marketing teams: "SEO is dead. AI search is taking over." That conclusion misses the reality entirely. AI search is not replacing SEO. It is raising the bar for what good SEO looks like.
Over eight years of scaling companies through organic search—growing Maple Terroir's traffic 1,500 percent in six months, increasing Aetherhaus's visitors 434 percent in 1.5 months - I have learned this: the fundamentals matter more when the landscape shifts, not less. AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity rely on the same signals Google does: technical performance, structured data, entity authority, and content quality. The difference is they demand higher standards across all of them.
Google still dominates today. Traditional organic search drives 48.5 percent of global web traffic, while AI platforms account for just 0.15 percent (SE Ranking, 2025). But AI traffic grew seven times year-over-year, and adoption patterns suggest the landscape could look completely different in three to five years. That is exactly why you need stronger SEO fundamentals now. When the shift accelerates, the brands with deep technical foundations, comprehensive schema markup, and established entity authority will rank in both traditional and AI-driven search.
TL;DR
What you need to know about SEO and AI search in 2025:
AI search is growing fast, but Google still dominates. ChatGPT has 800 million weekly users and AI platforms now drive 0.15 percent of global traffic—growing seven times since 2024. Traditional organic search still accounts for 48.5 percent of all web traffic (Views4You, 2025; SE Ranking, 2025).
AI Overviews are cannibalizing clicks, not eliminating the need for SEO. Google's AI Overviews appear in 13 to 18 percent of searches and cut organic click-through rates by 34.5 percent for top-ranking pages. Position one CTR dropped from 7.3 percent to 2.6 percent when AI summaries appear (Semrush, 2025; DemandSage, 2025).
Technical SEO fundamentals directly impact AI visibility. Fifty-three percent of users abandon sites that take longer than three seconds to load. Core Web Vitals optimization increases user engagement by 24 percent, and a one-second mobile delay results in a 20 percent conversion drop (Google, 2025; SOASTA, 2025).
Structured data is the competitive advantage most sites are missing. Only 30 percent of pages use schema markup, yet structured data increases click-through rates by 20 to 35 percent and improves the chances of being cited in AI Overviews. LLMs grounded in knowledge graphs achieve 300 percent higher accuracy than those relying solely on unstructured data (KeyStar SEO, 2025; Schema App, 2025).
Voice and mobile search continue reshaping user behavior. Voice search represents 20.5 percent of global queries, with 76 percent classified as "near me" searches requiring local SEO optimization. Mobile accounts for 63.31 percent of all web traffic (DemandSage, 2025; Digital Silk, 2025).
AI Search Is Growing Fast—But Traditional Search Still Dominates
The Numbers Behind AI Search Adoption
The adoption numbers for AI search platforms are staggering. ChatGPT commands 59.5 percent of the US generative AI market, with Microsoft Copilot holding 14 percent, Google Gemini at 13.4 percent, and Perplexity at 6.2 percent (Views4You, 2025). Perplexity alone grew its monthly active user base to 22 million in 2025, up 50 percent year-over-year, while handling 780 million monthly queries (DemandSage, 2025).
Google AI Overviews reached 2 billion monthly users by mid-2025, appearing in 13.14 percent of all US desktop searches as of March 2025, up from just 6.49 percent in January (Semrush, 2025). That represents a 102 percent surge in just two months. Meanwhile, AI Mode—Google's conversational search interface—crossed 100 million monthly active users in the US and India (TechCrunch, 2025).
But here is the part that matters: AI platforms still drive only 0.15 percent of global web traffic compared to 48.5 percent for traditional organic search (SE Ranking, 2025). Google still dominates today. The search landscape could look completely different in three to five years, though. AI traffic grew seven times year-over-year, and that acceleration is not slowing down.
That is exactly why you need stronger SEO fundamentals now. When the shift happens, the brands with deep technical foundations, comprehensive schema, and established entity authority will be the ones that rank in both traditional and AI-driven search. Waiting until AI search matures means playing catch-up from a position of weakness. Building generative engine optimization strategies today prepares you for both ecosystems.
AI Search Cannibalizes Clicks, Not Visibility
AI Overviews are not eliminating search traffic. They are redistributing it. When an AI Overview appears, organic click-through rates for the top-ranking page drop from 7.3 percent to 2.6 percent—a 34.5 percent decline (DemandSage, 2025). Only 8 percent of users who encounter an AI summary click on traditional search result links, compared to 15 percent when no summary appears (Pew Research, 2025).
Users end their search sessions 26 percent of the time after seeing an AI Overview, compared to just 16 percent for standard results pages (DemandSage, 2025). The takeaway is clear: fewer clicks per search, but more searches happening overall.
Search impressions increased 49 percent since AI Overviews launched, according to data from BrightEdge (BrightEdge, 2025). Google reported that AI Overviews drive over 10 percent more queries for the types of searches that show them (Google I/O, 2025). The competition for visibility is fiercer than ever because the pool of searches is growing while the percentage of clicks per search is shrinking.
This makes technical excellence, structured data, and entity optimization more critical, not less. Brands that master both traditional SEO and AI search optimization capture traffic from multiple surfaces.
Why SEO Fundamentals Are More Critical in the AI Era
Technical SEO Directly Impacts AI Visibility
Page speed is not optional. Fifty-three percent of mobile users abandon sites that take longer than three seconds to load (Google, 2025). Websites that meet Google's Core Web Vitals standards see a 24 percent increase in user engagement, while a one-second delay in mobile load time results in up to a 20 percent drop in conversion rates (Google, 2025; SOASTA, 2025).
Technical performance affects both traditional rankings and AI visibility. When I rebuilt Maple Terroir's technical foundation—fixing metadata, implementing schema markup, and improving site performance—we saw organic traffic grow from 50 to 800 monthly visitors in six months. Revenue increased 143 percent, with 39 percent more orders directly tied to organic growth. More importantly, Maple Terroir began appearing in ChatGPT recommendations, Gemini, and Perplexity. I even tracked a $300 order directly from ChatGPT discovery.
The fundamentals still drive results. Clean heading hierarchy, optimized metadata, proper internal linking, and fast load times create the foundation AI platforms need to understand and cite your content. Technical SEO is not about gaming algorithms. It is about removing barriers between your expertise and the people searching for it.
Structured Data Powers AI Citations
Only 30 percent of online pages use schema markup to structure their content (KeyStar SEO, 2025). That presents an opportunity. Websites with structured data see 20 to 35 percent higher click-through rates via rich results (Schema App, 2025). More critically, large language models grounded in knowledge graphs achieve 300 percent higher accuracy compared to those relying solely on unstructured data (Data World via Schema App, 2025).
AI Overviews cite an average of 13.34 sources per response, and 80 percent of those sources do not rank organically for the query (DemandSage, 2025). This means visibility in AI-generated responses now relies on being cited in those snippets, not just ranking within traditional search results. Schema markup creates the structured relationships AI platforms need to understand entities, context, and authority.
Through my work with Eight Station, I built custom schema systems covering Founder markup, SameAs properties linking to authoritative external sources like Wikidata and Wikipedia, and service-level entities. This depth strengthened their Knowledge Graph presence and helped them appear in AI-driven results for the first time. Within two months, they went from zero organic traffic to measurable growth, with schema playing a key role in entity graph building.
Featured snippets, which appear in 36.6 percent of search keywords, are often derived from schema markup (Searchmetrics via KeyStar SEO, 2025). These snippets occupy the zero-ranking position at the top of search results, and AI platforms pull heavily from them. If you want to be cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Claude, schema is not optional.
Content Quality and E-E-A-T Signal Authority
Ninety-one percent of SEO professionals reported that SEO positively impacted website performance and marketing goals in 2024 (Conductor, 2025). That impact comes from creating content search engines and AI platforms trust. Google's E-E-A-T framework—Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness—has become the lens through which both traditional and AI search evaluate content quality.
Original research, first-person expertise, and content AI cannot replicate create competitive moats. At Aetherhaus, we did not just optimize keywords. We trained staff to gather authentic reviews, built topical authority through science-backed content on contrast therapy, and secured placements in trusted health and lifestyle publications. Within 1.5 months, traffic grew 434 percent. Returning users jumped 558 percent. Keyword rankings improved across the board, with "ice bath and sauna" climbing from position 58 to position 5.
More importantly, Aetherhaus became cited in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and AI Overview search results for the first time. Within two weeks of implementing these changes, they saw a 50 percent revenue increase. The lesson is clear: AI platforms reward the same signals Google does, just with higher standards. If you are building authority the right way—through genuine expertise, consistent reviews, brand mentions across trusted platforms, and structured entity relationships—you will rank in both ecosystems.
Understanding how to apply these principles across different industries we serve requires experience. Whether you operate in health and wellness, ecommerce, or as a startup, the fundamentals remain the same. The execution changes based on your business model and audience.
Global Search Trends Reshaping SEO in 2025
Mobile and Voice Search Dominate User Behavior
Mobile devices now account for 63.31 percent of all web traffic (Digital Silk, 2025). Voice search represents 20.5 percent of global queries, up from 20.3 percent in 2024 (DemandSage, 2025). In the United States alone, 153.5 million people use voice assistants, a figure expected to reach 157.1 million by 2026 (Yaguara, 2025).
Seventy-six percent of voice searches carry "near me" or local intent (DemandSage, 2025). Voice search results load 52 percent faster than traditional search results, and the average voice search result is just 29 words (DemandSage, 2025). These patterns demand content structured for conversational queries, question-based formats, and local optimization.
For businesses serving specific geographic areas, voice search optimization is no longer optional. LocalBusiness schema, NAP consistency across directories, and genuine customer reviews drive visibility in voice results. The work I did at Aetherhaus—standardizing their Name, Address, Phone across Apple Maps, TripAdvisor, Yellow Pages, and other local platforms—directly improved their local pack rankings and voice search visibility.
Regional AI Adoption Patterns
AI search adoption varies significantly by region. In the United States, AI platforms account for 0.13 percent of traffic, with ChatGPT commanding 71.04 percent of AI traffic and Perplexity capturing 19.73 percent (SE Ranking, 2025). The European Union sits at 0.12 percent AI traffic share, with ChatGPT holding 82.83 percent and Perplexity at 13.84 percent.
The United Kingdom has the lowest AI traffic at 0.07 percent, yet it shows the fastest growth. ChatGPT traffic in the UK jumped from 0.0326 percent in January to 0.1005 percent in April 2025—roughly tripling in just four months (SE Ranking, 2025). Asia-Pacific leads global voice adoption, with China reporting 39.3 percent weekly voice assistant usage (Huddle Creative, 2025).
These regional differences matter for global brands. Understanding where AI search adoption is accelerating fastest helps prioritize optimization efforts and content localization strategies.
Video and Visual Search Integration
Video content now accounts for 82 percent of all internet traffic (Digital Silk, 2025). Video thumbnails appear in 26 percent of Google searches, and YouTube—the second-largest search engine globally—reaches 2.5 billion users (Digital Silk, 2025). Google Lens processes queries from 1.5 billion monthly users searching through images (Google I/O, 2025).
Visual search and video are not separate channels. They are integrated into how users discover information. Product schema with ImageObject markup opens new traffic channels outside traditional text search. For ecommerce brands, optimizing product images with structured data and alt text creates visibility across Google Images, Google Lens, and AI platforms that synthesize visual information.
The brands winning in 2025 understand that search happens across multiple surfaces: traditional web results, AI Overviews, voice assistants, video platforms, and visual search. Optimizing for one while ignoring the others leaves traffic on the table.
What This Means for Your SEO Strategy
Prioritize Speed, Structure, and Depth
Start with a technical audit focused on Core Web Vitals. Fix page speed issues, optimize images, ensure mobile responsiveness, and clean up crawl errors. These fundamentals affect both traditional rankings and AI visibility.
Implement comprehensive schema markup. Go beyond basic Organization schema. Add Person markup for founders, Product schema for ecommerce, FAQPage for common questions, LocalBusiness for geographic targeting, and SameAs properties linking to authoritative external sources. The depth of your schema implementation directly correlates with AI citation chances.
Create original, E-E-A-T-aligned content AI cannot replicate. First-person case studies, proprietary research, and expert insights build topical authority. Build entity relationships through brand mentions, citations in trusted publications, and consistent NAP data across platforms. These signals compound over time.
Optimize for Multiple Search Surfaces
Traditional Google rankings still drive the majority of traffic today, but diversification protects against algorithmic shifts. AI Overviews require structured, citable content with clear attribution. Voice search needs conversational, question-based content optimized for featured snippets. Local pack visibility depends on NAP consistency, genuine reviews, and LocalBusiness schema.
The brands that succeed in the next three to five years will be the ones optimizing for all surfaces simultaneously. That means technical excellence, comprehensive schema, entity optimization, and content depth working together as a system.
Measure What Matters
Track impressions and click-through rate changes, not just rankings. Monitor rich result performance in Google Search Console to understand which schema types drive clicks. Measure brand mentions across AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude using tools that track generative engine citations. Compare mobile versus desktop performance to identify optimization opportunities.
Over eight years of SEO work, I have learned this: the companies that commit to deep, systematic optimization—not surface-level tactics—are the ones that scale. When I took MakeProgressAI from 17 to 2,544 weekly organic visits, a 14,850 percent increase, it was not through shortcuts. It was schema depth, entity SEO, and technical precision applied consistently over time.
If you want to see how these principles apply to real businesses, explore our case studies. The results at Butcher's Hook and Bustem demonstrate what happens when fundamentals are executed at a high level.
Conclusion
AI search is not killing SEO. It is raising the bar for what good SEO looks like. Google dominates now, but in three to five years, the search landscape may be unrecognizable. Build your SEO foundation today so you are ready for both worlds.
The misconception that SEO is dying ignores reality. Search impressions are up 49 percent. AI platforms are growing seven times year-over-year. The competition for visibility is fiercer than ever. Winners invest in fundamentals: speed, structure, authority, and depth. Losers wait for the dust to settle and wonder why they got left behind.
If you are ready to scale through AI-optimized organic search, contact us. The 66th combines classic SEO fundamentals with GEO tactics across trust signals, schema, citations, and AI-friendly content. We get brands cited by ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews.
The shift is already happening. The question is whether you will be ready when it accelerates.