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Written by Rosanna Campbell
Short answer: Not yet.
But SEO as we know it is dying.
SEO used to work fairly consistently: write great content, sprinkle in keywords, land a few links — boom, rankings.
The better you followed the recipe, the better your results.
That worked because search was a relatively closed system.
Now?
It’s probabilistic.
You show up if you’ve done enough of the right things in enough places. If the system infers you’re part of the answer.
People have been announcing the death of SEO for years.
But this time, the question feels more urgent.
You might look at this projection from Semrush — showing traditional search declining while LLM traffic takes over — and call it: Game Over.
But here’s the thing:
Decline doesn’t equal death.
In this article, we’ll lay out exactly what happens as a channel moves from goldmine to ghost town — and show you where SEO sits on that curve today.
Spoiler: SEO isn’t dead yet.
But it’s changing.
And understanding that shift is how you can stay ahead.
To determine whether SEO is dead, we need to understand how a marketing channel evolves.
Marketing channels follow a relatively standard lifecycle.
They start out as experimental, high-risk, and unproven (think Bluesky).
If they gain traction, they enter what Gary Vaynerchuk calls the “underpriced attention” phase. Even basic strategies see outsized returns.
Early Facebook Ads. Early TikTok. Peak LinkedIn.
But attention doesn’t stay cheap. As more people jump in, the channel becomes fairly priced.
It still delivers, but not without skill. You need strategy. Execution. Patience.
Email marketing today, for example.
Eventually, some channels tip into overpriced. You can still win — but only with deep pockets or elite execution.
Competitive Google Ads. Facebook Ads in 2026. Viable? Yes. Worth it? Not for everyone.
And then, some channels just… flatline. Negative ROI. Abandoned by 80%+ of marketers.
Still technically there — but not usually worth the time. Facebook organic for traffic, say, or Yellow Pages.
A single platform can have parts in completely different phases.
And some channels that looked dead? They weren’t.
My point:
Phase 4 is rare.
Most channels don’t die. They evolve.
So, where does SEO sit on the curve?
Well, partly because marketers delight in announcing the death of clearly not dead things.
It’s a weird industry habit.
But also because SEO is sliding from Phase 2: Fairly Priced to Phase 3: Overpriced.
And when that happens, ROI drops, easy wins disappear, and frustration grows.
Traffic is dropping. Search behavior is shifting. The content landscape is flooded. And the job market feels unstable.
Put all that together?
It’s no surprise people are asking if SEO is on its last legs.
Let’s break down the four biggest reasons behind the panic — and separate signal from noise.
This didn’t start with AI answers.
Google’s been reducing clicks for a decade.
So why does it feel worse now?
Because it is.
AI Overviews are among the most disruptive features Google has ever introduced for organic traffic.
Their click-stealing impact rivals or exceeds Featured Snippets — and in some cases, even Knowledge Panels.
The biggest difference is:
AI Overviews affect a much broader range of queries — especially informational and non-branded ones.
So yes, AI overviews are the latest in a long line of click-killing moves by Google.
Knowledge Panels hurt branded queries. AIOs impact every query type.
Calculators killed clicks for simple tasks. AIOs apply that behavior to everything.
If Featured Snippets were death by a thousand cuts, AIOs are a guillotine.
But here’s the twist:
Google’s AI Overviews aren’t pulling random answers out of thin air.
They’re sourcing from the same types of content that show up in organic search.
According to a study by Search Engine Land:
In other words:
The SEO content you’re already creating still matters.
You just need to make it easier for AI to read and reuse.
Further reading: Want more tips for showing up in AIOs? Check out our guide to AI overviews.
We’re in the Search Everywhere era.
Source
Google still dominates, but things are changing.
Gen-Z uses social media as a search engine.
40% of young US adults are getting their news on TikTok.
Forums like Reddit and Quora are booming.
LLMs currently make up around 5.6% of all search behavior, up from 1.3% in early 2024.
So yes, search behavior is changing.
But this shift doesn’t mean traditional search engines are obsolete.
94.4% of searchers still use SERPs.
They’re just more likely to consult other sources as well.
Further reading: Build a Search Everywhere Optimization strategy with our guide.
The theory goes that, because anyone can create content in minutes with AI, SEO becomes a race to the bottom.
And it’s true that it’s easier than ever to create SEO content at scale.
But in practice, most content is still being created by human beings — entirely or with AI assistance.
In June 2025, AI content made up around 16% of all content (down from 19% in January) according to Originality.AI.
SEO job listings dropped 37% in Q1 2024 compared to the same time in 2023.
But if you zoom in on the types of SEO roles being hired for across the year, the picture is more nuanced.
Some executional roles saw a dip in share over 2024:
Meanwhile, more senior roles gained share:
The shift isn’t dramatic. But it’s directional.
Companies appear to be consolidating around smaller, more senior teams.
Less grunt work. More strategic oversight. And possibly, more reliance on AI or freelancers for execution.
So no, the SEO job market isn’t collapsing — just being restructured.
SEO today looks very different than it used to.
But it doesn’t meet the criteria of a dead marketing channel.
Search activity isn’t shrinking—it’s growing.
Google search grew by over 21% in 2024, despite the impact of AI overviews.
The narrative that searchers are switching over to LLMs is also flawed.
While people are using LLMs more and more, they aren’t necessarily using them for search.
Semrush says only 30% of ChatGPT prompts are similar to how people use search.
Things like:
The rest? More like chatting, writing, or brainstorming.
91% of marketers said SEO had a positive impact on their website performance and marketing goals in 2024.
Far from cutting SEO spend, companies are investing more.
The global SEO services market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.2%.
It’s booming, not dying.
AI Overviews aren’t everywhere (yet)
As of May 2025, they show up in just 13.14% of all Google searches.
That means traditional search still handles about 86% of queries — for now.
More importantly, they’re still mostly triggered by low-value, informational queries.
But when it comes to commercial-intent keywords?
They’re still wide open.
Think long-tail phrases with CPCs over $2 and Keyword Difficulty under 30%.
That’s where you still need SEO.
Entry-level and senior-level SEO roles actually increased in 2024.
This shift reflects more automation of routine SEO tasks — and heightened demand for strategic, senior-level expertise.
There are over 117,000 SEO jobs live on LinkedIn worldwide:
Looks like there’s still plenty of demand for SEO experts.
SEO still drives results.
But ranking alone isn’t enough anymore.
To stay visible, you need to show up in search results and in AI-generated answers.
That’s where Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) comes in.
It’s not about abandoning SEO. It’s about building on it.
Learn how to optimize for AI search with our 7-step GEO playbook.
Backlinko is owned by Semrush. We’re still obsessed with bringing you world-class SEO insights, backed by hands-on experience. Unless otherwise noted, this content was written by either an employee or paid contractor of Semrush Inc.
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