SEO has evolved to a mature phase in the last 25 years. From being a simple search response for queries to AI-enabled search results. In the future, this change is expected to continue, resulting in new types of searches, such as summarized texts generated by AI agents, cognitive searches, image-based searches, and searches enabled by an agent using quantum computing.
With over 100 billion searches every month relying on Google, neither it, nor SEO is going anywhere.
This article examines the cutting-edge behavioral and technological advancements that will transform the field of SEO.
Table of Contents
Changes Happening with Search
The era of short queries, when people used to enter queries on Google, is slowly fading away and being replaced by new ways of searching for information, such as voice search, AI agents, and searching directly on social media, among other innovations.
Keywordless Searches
Keywords are shortened phrases that we enter into Google to obtain a desired result. It can be a single word, such as “Python,” or a complex query, like “Objective Python Programming.”
However, with the advent of voice searches, people began searching using long sentences that were even longer than many keywords. These sentences are more conversational and less keyword-oriented.
With Google’s AI Overview and AI Mode, these searches began yielding information without requiring navigation to a specific page or website. As a result, website traffic dipped.
Zero SERPs
Zero SERPs is a type of search result where an AI agent, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot, provides a summarized report containing all the necessary information, rather than presenting search results.
These searches do hyperlink to the website, but only as a reference.
Most searchers on AI chatbots can ask follow-up questions, which prevents them from visiting any website at all if they prefer not to.
Social Search
Social Search is the way of searching for information on social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, or even WhatsApp. The results are based on information from various social media posts, as well as data from external websites and historical information available to the chatbot.
This mode of search has enabled people to search for information directly on these platforms without the need to visit the website that offers the information.
Image Search
Image Search refers to the use of images to search for information, typically to identify an object in the image, learn its details, or analyze the situation it represents. These searches have been available for a while, following the introduction of the feature to smartphones. They are primarily used for e-commerce-related searches.
AI Agent Queries
AI agents also send automated queries to scrape data off web pages. These queries have been indexing web pages, using their information to send to their users, while websites receive nothing in return for their information.
Future Evolution of SEO
In the future, SEO will not only be limited to optimizing text-based searches, but will also encompass new types of searches, as mentioned below.
- Voice SEO – Optimizations done for voice searches.
- AI-Enabled SEO – Presenting information in a way that makes it easy to discover and reliable for compressed presentations.
- Cognitive SEO: SEO done for neuro devices such as Neuralink for differently abled people.
- Impact of Quantum Computing: Quantum computing could compile data much faster than any other researcher, brings complete researched information to the person. With AI, it would be even more faster than ever.
