I. Executive Summary: Strategic Decisions in a Changing Landscape
1.1. The Biggest Challenge in SEO History and the Undeniable Decline
The Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has brought the SEO industry into its greatest period of upheaval ever. The emergence and expansion of search AI tools, especially Google AI Overview (AIO) and Search Generative Experience (SGE), have radically changed the way Search Results Pages (SERPs) work.
SGE, Google's AI-powered search engine, has the ability to provide answers directly on the SERP through the AI Snapshot feature, summarizing detailed information without requiring users to access the website. This phenomenon has led to a serious decline in organic traffic for businesses that rely on SEO channels. In fact, many experts are predicting that the decline in organic traffic can range from 20% to 60% for many websites.
According to actual data recorded in the education industry, a study abroad project has seen website traffic decrease by about 40% and the amount of leads obtained from organic sources decrease by 30% since Google applied AIO [Context]. It is worth noting that this decrease occurred even though keyword rankings did not have many significant changes [Context]. This points to a new reality: high rankings no longer mean high traffic. AI has created a new form of "zero-click search", where users' information needs are satisfied right on the SERP. Therefore, the SEO battle has shifted from a race for position to a race for quality impressions (winning AIO/Featured Snippet).
1.2. Definitive conclusion: Don't Give Up, Restructure
In the face of this change, the question is whether businesses should give up and redirect budgets to paid channels immediately. In-depth analysis confirms that SEO is not a "survival" channel but a long-term strategic asset that provides fundamental value. Giving up SEO is giving up a core competitive advantage in brand reputation and the ability to own customer data.
Businesses should take advantage of the market panic to restructure their strategies. By focusing on investing in quality factors, especially E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) and optimizing for AI, businesses can build a solid defense barrier, making it difficult for competitors to overcome in the future. This shift turns SEO from a purely technical activity into a high-level marketing strategy.
1.3. Three strategic pillars need immediate focus
To adapt and thrive in the AI era, businesses need to focus on the following three strategic pillars:
Positioning Superior Quality: Investing in exclusive content, demonstrating strong E-E-A-T. This is a prerequisite for Google and AI models to choose as a reliable source of information.
Position Optimization (AIO/Featured Snippet): The goal is no longer the traditional Top 1 position, but is to fight to win the "zero" position (AIO/FS), which has the ability to increase traffic dramatically, up to 3.6 times compared to normal.
Integrate Digital Marketing Channels Synchronously: End dependence on pure SEO. SEO must be considered part of an overall marketing strategy, synergistic with Paid Ads, Social Media and other branding channels.
II. Real Analysis: What Is AI Overview (AIO/SGE) Taking?
2.1. A detailed analysis of the "AIO Effect"
The AIO effect has created a clear polarization on the SERP.
The Winners and Losers of the SERP
Sites with content that Google chooses to appear in the AI Overview are seeing a huge increase in traffic, especially sites that were previously low-ranking. These pages can experience an increase in traffic of up to 3.6 times the average number of clicks just by appearing in AIO.
On the contrary, pages with high rankings (Top 1-3) but removed from AIO saw a significant decline. When excluded, these pages can receive 50% fewer clicks than a search in which no AI Overview appears. This changes the KPI structure of SEO: the real value lies in optimizing content to be cited by AI, rather than just trying to maintain traditional ranking positions.
SGE's working mechanism
SGE does not simply summarize information. This technology also brings advanced features that change the user's search journey:
AI Snapshot: Provides a detailed and intuitive summary of information instantly.
Suggest Follow-up Questions: SGE suggests related follow-up questions, helping searchers discover more relevant information and resources. This opens up “new avenues for information seeking,” allowing users to efficiently sift through options to find the right direction.
2.2. Search Behavior Shift and Industry Segmentation
User behavior is not simply about searching for information, but also about looking for reliability confirmation and next actions (next steps). When SGE provides preliminary information, users still need to go to the website to verify reputation, view product details, or make a conversion action.
The level of influence of AIO is uneven for each industry, depending on the type of search intent that industry serves:
Heavily affected industry (YMYL): Fields closely related to "Money or life of people" Your Money or Your Life - YMYL), such as healthcare (23.02%) and science/education (20.13%), are the most likely to trigger AI Overview. This is because queries related to knowledge and advice can be effectively summarized by AI. For example, in the education sector, the need for information and knowledge is greatly affected [Context].
Less affected industries: Industries that require physical interaction or detailed consideration of products/services before making a decision, such as E-commerce and Real Estate (accounting for only 0.41% of AIO activations). Customers in e-commerce cannot decide to purchase just by reading summary information; They need to go to the website to see detailed photos, product information, prices and sales policies. Similarly, areas requiring high trust still require customers to visit the website to check information, view Google Map, Facebook to know the reputation of the business [Context].
III. Affirming its Position: The Sustainable Value of SEO
SEO, despite the decline in traffic, still maintains core values and irreplaceable strategies in the overall Digital Marketing picture.
3.1. The Sustainable Value of SEO is the Business Foundation
Increasing Brand Recognition and Credibility
The appearance of a website on natural search results pages helps increase product and brand recognition, making the brand more widely spread. While customers may not immediately convert on the first contact, seeing and being exposed to a brand through SEO builds trust. When your business's website appears alongside competitors, customers who have seen or known that website will almost certainly choose you. This is an important factor in building the level of credibility needed to close orders or use services [Context].
Optimal Cost-Effectiveness
Compared to paid marketing forms such as PPC (Pay Per Click), SEO has much lower costs but brings long-term results. Once a website achieves a high ranking and is fully optimized, it can maintain that position for a long time without investing much in additional costs, helping to reduce dependence on spending money to "buy" traffic.
3.2. SEO is a Tool to Collect Proprietary Customer Data (Data Ownership)
The strategic value of SEO goes beyond traffic and translates to hidden performance optimization and proprietary data ownership.
Create a Golden Remarketing File
Traffic from SEO is a valuable source of data that only businesses that own websites and do SEO can have [Context]. Users accessing through natural search often have a clear purpose and have expressed specific needs. Behavioral data of this customer group is especially useful for remarketing campaigns to better target customers. Remarketing helps increase brand exposure among people who have visited the website, potentially strongly influencing conversion rates.
SEO as Paid Ads Channel Optimizer
A hidden strategic benefit of SEO is the ability to optimize costs for paid advertising channels. When a business's website gains trust and is highly appreciated by search engines (thanks to SEO), the Quality Score in Google Ads will increase. High Quality Scores help reduce cost per click (CPC) and improve the overall effectiveness of your advertising campaign. This proves that investing in SEO not only brings organic results but also increases the ROI of the entire Digital Marketing (SEM) budget.
IV. Business Strategy in the Integrated Era
In the context of AI changing the way SERP works, businesses need to shift from independent SEO thinking to an Overall Digital Marketing Strategy (Integrated Marketing).
4.1. Overall Digital Marketing Concept
Synchronous deployment of marketing channels other than SEO, such as running ads (PPC/Google Ads) and building social media channels (Facebook, TikTok, YouTube), is now very necessary. This is not only a way for businesses to reach customers without depending entirely on SEO, but also a resonant factor that helps SEO websites achieve greater efficiency [Context].
The combination of SEO and Social Media is the key to success. Building a strong company profile on social networks contributes to ensuring credibility and strengthening the Authoritativeness factor of E-E-A-T. A business that already has a brand or is strong in a certain channel (for example, has a strong YouTube, Facebook, TikTok channel) will have a great advantage when implementing SEO [Context].
4.2. SEO Deployment Strategy according to Business Scale
Businesses need to have the right view and consider when to deploy SEO and how to deploy it in accordance with the actual situation, because SEO is a marketing channel that requires time to see effectiveness [Context].
Small businesses, business households, and individuals
If they have the advantage of being able to implement SEO and marketing activities themselves, these units SEO should be implemented immediately in a "profit-for-profit" style [Context]. The initial goal is to measure the actual needs of the market (what types of products do customers like, what price range, online or in-store purchasing behavior) in order to segment customers and adjust products appropriately [Context].
Large and medium-sized enterprises
Leaders, especially those who come from the profession and do not have much experience in SEO, should participate in marketing events or look for suitable SEO partners/personnel through trust relationships [Context]. This method will limit mistakes when recruiting SEO or searching for an Agency using the usual way of posting jobs or asking prices [Context].
4.3. Choosing a Strategic Partner
To achieve outstanding performance, businesses need to look for quality partners or personnel who have the initiative and ability to bring different results [Context].
A quality partner must be someone who is capable of providing strategic consulting beyond the SEO framework. They need to understand customers in that industry and can even advise customers: "with this segment and the current situation of your business, you should not rush to do SEO, at this time you should invest in running advertising..." [Context]. Although you may lose a short-term contract, in return you will have a trusted partner and a long-term referral relationship [Context].
Tan Phat Digital is an example of a comprehensive Digital Marketing solution provider in Ho Chi Minh City. Tan Phat Digital not only specializes in Overall Website SEO Services and SEO Standard Website Design, but also provides Google Ads, UI/UX solutions, and comprehensive marketing planning consulting. Tan Phat Digital aims to become a strategic partner, helping businesses grow sustainably and optimize performance, instead of just focusing on selling services.
V. Platform Optimization: AI-Adaptive SEO Roadmap
In the AI era, unsustainable (blackhat) SEO tactics have lost their effectiveness [Context]. Businesses need to focus on white hat methods and build a solid foundation.
5.1. E-E-A-T Focus: The Decisive Factor for AI Citation
E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is a key content quality standard, especially important for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) websites, including the education sector. Google prioritizes trustworthy content. Content that meets E-E-A-T standards is the deciding factor for AI to choose as a source of information citation.
Apply E-E-A-T in practice:
Expertise (Expertise): Ensure the article is written by an author with reputation, experience and in-depth skills in the field.
Trustworthiness: Regularly update and check old content. Cite reliable sources clearly.
Authoritativeness: Provide author biography or professional evidence (author bios/byline) on the website.
5.2. Content Optimization Techniques for AI Overview and Featured Snippet
To win the AIO position, content must be structured so that AI can easily extract information.
Answer-First Strategy and Long-Tail Keywords
AI Overviews are often triggered by complex, multi-part, often long-tail keywords. An effective strategy is to focus on answering detailed questions in natural language, using an FAQ or "People Also Ask" format.
Structurally, the "Answer-First" model should be applied. Specifically:
Begin each important section with a direct answer, in simple language, that can stand alone.
Place a brief definition/summary (40–60 words) immediately below H1/H2 tags that match the natural query, e.g. "What is…?" or "Why does… matter?".
Content Structure (Formatting)
AI and Featured Snippet both prioritize content that is easy to read and understand. Clear formatting helps the AI not have to read the entire article to find the necessary information. The following formats should be used:
Paragraphs: Use short, easy-to-read paragraphs, with short sentences (under 20 words if possible).
Bulleted lists: Good for tips, best tools, or lists.
Numbered lists: Suitable for steps or processes.
Use Personal Language: Use the word "you" for most of your content to engage directly with the reader. Using the first person ("I," "we") is only appropriate when sharing personal experiences.
5.3. The Indispensable Role of Technical SEO and Schema Markup
Although the value of Technical SEO has diminished for less sustainable "tips/tricks" [Context], it is still a prerequisite. Technical SEO acts as a gatekeeper, ensuring that Googlebot and AI can crawl and index effectively.
Core elements of Technical SEO
Basic technical elements that need to be optimized include:
Indexability: Do not block important pages in the robots.txt file, remove unwanted noindex tags.
User Experience: Optimize page load speed and mobile compatibility.
Website Structure: Ensure a reasonable page structure with internal linking and always update the sitemap (Sitemap XML).
Leveraging Schema Markup for AI
Schema Markup (Structured Data), often in JSON-LD format, is a language that helps search engines accurately understand the context and content of a website. In the AI era, Schema Markup is an important secret:
It helps AI algorithms (like RankBrain and Hummingbird) better understand website content.
Using Schema properly helps search results display more eye-catching (Rich Snippets), and increases the opportunity for AI to extract information, thereby improving click-through rate (CTR).
VI. The Future of SEO: Necessary Skills for Success
The SEO profession is changing rapidly, requiring practitioners to dig deeper and change faster to compete for rankings [Context].
6.1. Mindset shift: From Tool Optimization to Conversion Optimization (ROI-Centric)
In the future, most customers or bosses will not care much about rankings or raw traffic. They care about what they get after investing money in SEO (ROI).
SEOs cannot stop at traffic or keyword rankings; They need to focus on conversion rates, customer value, and business efficiency. This requires the SEOer to show dedication, understand the project in great detail, and be able to immediately state any indicators (for example, daily traffic) without having to "review" [Context]. Analytical skills, measuring SEO effectiveness, optimizing user experience, and optimizing for voice search will become extremely important.
6.2. Strategy "Learn widely, Dig deeply": Specialize by Industry
The upcoming SEO trend is to specialize by industry/field [Context]. An SEOer cannot be an expert in all fields.
Showing expertise in a specific field (for example: real estate, interior design, e-commerce) will make it easier to convince the interviewer or partner to assign the project [Context]. To achieve this, SEOers need to learn beyond the usual technical SEO framework; they need a deep understanding of that industry's customers, and can even provide strategic business advice.
Compare the skills needed for SEOers in the new era
1. Main goals:
Previous (Technical Focus): Keyword rankings, raw traffic.
Present & Future (Strategic Focus): Conversions, ROI, Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).
2. SEO knowledge:
Previously (Technical Focus): Traditional Onpage/Offpage techniques, Blackhat Tool.
Present & Future (Strategic Focus): E-E-A-T, Answer-First content structure, Schema Markup.
3. Core Skills:
Previously (Technical Focus): Technical (Coding), Building large amounts of Backlinks.
Present & Future (Strategic Focus): Logical Thinking, Data Analysis, Business Strategy [Context].
4. Added Value:
Previously (Technical Focus): Work Speed.
Present & Future (Strategic Focus): Industry Specialization, Communication/Consulting/Sales Skills.
6.3. Networking and Soft Skills Development
SEO people often tend to shy away from communication [Context]. However, in a context where AI can support basic skills and increase job performance, the value of humans lies in their ability to communicate, build relationships, and think strategically.
Exchanging and expanding relationships with industry experts will be the most effective way to learn and motivate at work [Context]. This helps SEO people feel less "bland" and improve their communication skills, which is an important factor when working with customers and superiors [Context].
VII. Real-Life Evidence: Case Studies of Tremendous Growth
Although AI Overview caused a decline for many old websites, the reality shows that new websites, if the right strategy is applied, are still growing extremely well [Context]. This shows that Google is "cleaning up" low-quality sites, creating opportunities for players who are flexible and focus on quality.
Case Study 1: Rapid growth in a competitive industry (0 -> 27,000 Impressions/5 months)
A case study has proven that, in an extremely competitive industry, an SEO strategy focused on quality content and keyword optimization helped a website grow from zero to more than 27,000 impressions and ranking for more than 100 keywords on the first page of Google in just 5 months. These results confirm that high content quality remains a key driver of growth, even in an AI-influenced environment.
Case Study 2: Growing 12,000 Organic Traffic/3 Months with Low DR
Another example from 2024 shows a blog that grew from 150 to 12,000 organic visits per month in just 3 months, achieving significant revenue from affiliate marketing. What is worth noting is that this website has a low Domain Rating (DR), very few backlinks, less than 50 pages of content, and especially does not use content created entirely by AI. This highlights that focusing on a high-quality content strategy, aligned with user search intent, will overcome traditional technical barriers.
Case Study 3: Increase Organic Traffic by 300% in Cosmetics Industry
In the field of E-commerce, an SEO case study in the cosmetics industry has achieved a total increase of 300% in Organic Traffic and an increase of 86% in total organic page views over the same period. This success is due to accessing a special set of niche keywords, confirming that SEO remains a powerful and effective channel for industries that require discovery, product experience and high trust.
These evidences show that continuing to invest in SEO is the right decision, but must be accompanied by a new strategy: focusing on E-E-A-T quality, Answer-First content structure, and diversifying marketing channels.
VIII. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About New Age SEO
1. Will AI kill the SEO profession?
No. AI is a powerful enabler, not a threat. AI can write quickly and accurately, helping to improve performance and perfect content. However, AI cannot replace practical experience, personal opinion, understanding readers, and especially the ability of professionals to come up with business strategies. When humans still need to find information, there is also a search engine, and the SEOer's role will be to optimize content to match the evolution of that engine.
2. How is ROI in SEO measured in the context of reduced traffic?
ROI (Return on Investment) in modern SEO is not only measured by raw traffic. It is evaluated through:
Conversion Rate: The number of potential/actual customers received from SEO.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Quality traffic from SEO often has higher conversion rates.
Indirect Advertising Cost Efficiency: Ability to increase Quality Score in Google Ads and reduce PPC costs thanks to website reputation.
3. How does content get cited by AI Overview?
To increase the chances of content being cited by AI Overview, the following principles should be followed:
Building superior E-E-A-T:Content must be trustworthy, especially for YMYL topics.
Optimize for Long-Tail Keywords: Focus on long, complex keywords (4 words or more) and answer detailed questions.
Answer-First Structure: Place direct, clear answers (40–60 words) directly below question headings (H2/H3), and use easy-to-extract formats such as lists and tables.
4. Can Technical SEO be ignored?
No. Technical SEO has lost its value as tips, but it is still a fundamental element. Technical SEO ensures Google's ability to crawl and index. If Technical SEO fails (e.g. 4XX error, slow page load speed, mobile incompatibility), high quality content and good E-E-A-T strategy cannot be evaluated or ranked by Google/AI.
SEO is not an outdated strategy, but is undergoing a historical cleansing process. The AI Overview era is not the end but a revolution that forces businesses to shift investment from "quantity" (raw traffic, rankings) to "quality" (E-E-A-T, conversion) and from "technical" to "strategic business thinking".
Businesses that continue to invest in SEO but in the direction of integration, specialization, and focusing on E-E-A-T will turn SEO into a core, profitable asset. Sustainable competitive advantage and the ability to optimize costs across the entire Digital Marketing strategy. Instead of fearing a decline, this is an opportunity for businesses to quickly adapt and build a solid position in the new search environment.
The decision is yours: Continue to worry about traffic decline or Restructure your strategy to turn SEO into a core asset?
Don't be passive in the face of technological change. Please contact Tan Phat Digital to build an integrated Digital Marketing strategy, including E-E-A-T optimization, Social Media implementation, and effective Google Ads operation. We are committed to accompanying your business to achieve sustainable growth, using quality and ROI as a measure.
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