In the latest episode of SEO on AIR, a podcast by Stan Ventures, industry experts Michael Buzinski, Ann Smarty, Jade Pruett and Josiah Partin came together for a roundtable discussion.
They explored one of digital marketing’s most debated questions: Is SEO dead, or is it evolving into something new in the age of AI?
The consensus was clear: SEO is not going anywhere.
But the way it works, the way it is measured and the way marketers adapt to new technologies is changing faster than ever before.
From attribution challenges to the debate over rebranding, the conversation highlighted how search is entering an accelerated phase of transformation.
Let’s see what this means for the future of the industry.
Michael Buzinski set the stage with a straightforward observation: “SEO isn’t dying, it’s just getting a facelift.”
For him, the fundamentals that defined SEO from 2016 onwards, such as authority, content relevance and answering user questions are still the same factors that drive visibility today. The difference lies in the medium.
Instead of optimizing only for Google or Bing, marketers must now ensure their content is discoverable by AI-powered chatbots and answer engines.
In practice, this means creating content that:
Smart SEOs, he noted, are already rebranding themselves as specialists in AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) or GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). The principles haven’t changed — only the platforms have.
Ann Smarty, who has been in the industry since 2004, was skeptical about the sudden surge in renaming the discipline.
She pointed out that while platforms like LinkedIn are buzzing with acronyms such as AEO, GEO, AYO or even “Organic Findability,” the term SEO carries decades of recognition and clarity.
For Smarty, this evolution is about broadening audiences rather than abandoning the core practice.
Today, SEOs must optimize not only for humans typing into search bars but also for AI agents scanning content to build answers. That does not necessarily require a new name.
Buzinski, however, argued that “Answer Engine Optimization” might be more accurate because the scope now extends beyond search engines alone.
Still, both agreed that the industry needs a standard term, much like how Google’s adoption of the acronym “SEO” cemented it two decades ago.
Until a dominant player sets the tone, SEO remains the safest and most recognizable label.
Josiah Partin introduced an essential perspective: no matter how advanced AI becomes, it cannot replace human strategy and intuition.
He emphasized that SEO is not purely about algorithms. It’s about understanding customers, interpreting brand nuances and applying data with real-world judgment.
AI may accelerate processes, but gut instincts and experiential insights remain irreplaceable.
For example, a brand’s voice, tone, or unique value proposition often cannot be reduced to data points. These subtleties are where human SEOs continue to add irreplaceable value.
As Partin noted, marketers are not out of a job, they are simply adapting to a new environment where machines handle the heavy lifting, but humans still define direction.
One of the most pressing issues in modern SEO is attribution. Traditional search allowed clear tracking: impressions, clicks, positions and conversions.
With AI-driven chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini, much of that visibility happens behind closed interfaces, hidden from analytics dashboards.
Buzinski referred to this as the “newest issue for SEO.” He explained that there is no reliable way to measure how often a brand appears in chat results.
At best, SEOs can run manual queries and record anecdotal appearances.
Smarty compared this to pre-digital marketing, when advertisers relied on print or banner ads without knowing exact click data.
For two decades, SEOs were “spoiled” with detailed attribution, she said and now the industry is learning to operate in the dark again.
Still, tools are emerging. Smarty mentioned Peek.ai, which uses training data to approximate AI visibility, while Partin’s team has had some success with Search Atlas.
These solutions are far from perfect but they represent early attempts to bring accountability back into an increasingly opaque ecosystem.
Interestingly, yes — at least in this early stage.
Smarty revealed that AI outputs can be surprisingly easy to influence. She experimented by changing her blog title to include “top SEO” and quickly began appearing in AI-driven answers.
Similarly, inserting a brand into listicles or reviews can sometimes secure visibility with minimal effort.
This mirrors the early days of SEO, when keyword stuffing or backlink tricks produced quick wins. But Smarty warned that AI is maturing at a rapid pace.
What once required months of link-building and optimization can now be replicated in minutes by machine learning models.
The loopholes will close as systems become more sophisticated.
Change is not new to SEO but the speed of transformation is unprecedented.
Ann Smarty recalled how featured snippets in 2014 sparked conversations about “answer engines.”
At the time, it took years for those ideas to take hold. By contrast, AI agents have gone from non-existent in search one year ago to central players today.
Buzinski described this acceleration as the dawn of a new golden age — one where humans and machines collaborate to provide faster, more accurate answers.
Partin compared it to Mobilegeddon in 2015, when websites were forced to adapt to mobile-first indexing. The difference, he said, is scale: AI is not just shifting ranking factors, it’s redefining the mechanics of discovery itself.
The experts offered different perspectives on when SEO was at its peak.
The golden age was 2004–2014. During this period, marketers could implement a campaign, track its performance in Google Search Console, and clearly demonstrate ROI within a matter of weeks. For her, the ability to test, learn, and prove results marked the most rewarding phase of SEO.
The real golden age is happening now. Unlike the early days of manipulation, today’s search forces marketers to balance human creativity with machine intelligence. In his eyes, this blend represents SEO at its most powerful.
Both perspectives highlight how SEO has matured, from backlinks and keyword games to holistic relevance, brand positioning, and AI-driven discovery.
Despite the uncertainties, the experts offered actionable advice for the future of SEO in 2025:
The roundtable discussion on SEO on AIR left no doubt: SEO is not obsolete and it is evolving into a broader, faster and more complex discipline.
The fundamentals like authority, quality content, and relevance — remain unchanged. What’s shifting is the context: AI-driven answer engines, new attribution challenges, and accelerated change cycles.
Whether the industry eventually adopts new labels like AEO or GEO doesn’t matter as much as staying adaptable.
At its core, SEO still serves the same mission: connecting people (and increasingly, AI agents) with the most relevant answers.
For professionals who adapt change while staying rooted in fundamentals, the future of SEO is not only secure but also exciting.
As Buzinski put it, we may be entering the true golden age of search — where human expertise and AI intelligence finally converge.
Dileep Thekkethil is the Director of Marketing at Stan Ventures, where he applies over 15 years of SEO and digital marketing expertise to drive growth and authority. A former journalist with six years of experience, he combines strategic storytelling with technical know-how to help brands navigate the shift toward AI-driven search and generative engines. Dileep is a strong advocate for Google’s EEAT standards, regularly sharing real-world use cases and scenarios to demystify complex marketing trends. He is an avid gardener of tropical fruits, a motor enthusiast, and a dedicated caretaker of his pair of cockatiels.
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