The Never Ending Debate Of AI vs. SEO
AI vs. SEO has been the topic of discussion or the past few years. I do not view it as AI or SEO. They are one and the same, a tool designed to answer a question. If you are still asking yourself whether to invest in AI or to invest in SEO, you do not understand either of the two. Ranking in AI vs. ranking in SEO is essentially the same with only minute differences.
Artificial intelligence continues to transform how people search and how businesses are being found online. In 2026, SEO isn’t disappearing, it is evolving.
As AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini compete with traditional search engines like Google and Bing, the way businesses rank and show up in both spaces is starting to overlap. As search progresses AI and search engines are quickly becoming more and more similar in style and appearance.
For marketers and business owners, the question isn’t how to rank in AI vs. ranking in Google anymore. It’s how to optimize for both.
Ranking In AI vs. SEO Are Extremely Similar
AI platforms at their core, are still search engines. The difference? AI delivers conversational results instead of a list of blue links.
AI programs are just search engines with more conversational responses. To show up in ChatGPT or Perplexity, you need the same foundation that gets you ranking in Google, quality content, relevance, and authority.That means your SEO work like content creation, technical optimization, and link structure, play a major role in determining whether you appear in both Google and AI search results. AI doesn’t replace SEO. It rewards the same thing: helping people online by providing answers and information.
Ranking in Google vs. Ranking in AI Tools
While the methods overlap, there are subtle differences in how visibility happens across each platform.
Where AI & SEO Are Similar In Ranking Factors
AI and search engine rankings are both determined by the following:
- Content (Quality Content): What your business communicates online. Essentially all the content your business produces plays a role in your online rankings. To make it quality, you must understand writing on a high level and include the correct semantics and readability combined with a human level to your writing. Ai content doesn’t cut it. This content of course needs the E-E-A-T signals helping it.
- Authority: It is great you are saying things online, but why should Google or ChatGPT trust you? While AI vs. SEO use very different algorithms to determine your business’s online authority, showing online on platforms besides your website is vital.
- Can They Even Read Your Website?: Technical SEO and correct website structure will always be valuable. It is the difference of handing Google or ChatGPT a published book verses handing them the notes on a book you hope to write. They’ll rea the published book, not your chicken scratch notes.
- Is It Fresh?: It is becoming more and more apparent that new content is always needed. Not only new content, but updating old content. Most of the clients that we see succeeding in GEO & SEO are ones that have not only added content to their website but have updated their old content.
Why Does Personal Branding Matters In AIO & SEO?
In 2026, one of the biggest shifts in SEO is the focus on who is creating the content. AI platforms and search engines are both relying on authorship and credibility as ranking factors. If I were to read a blog post on your website, would I think a person with expertise wrote it, or would I think you had the intern put it together?
Is Content Still Valuable For AIO & SEO In 2026?
Yes, content is still valuable for SEO and AIO in 2026. Content is still king in my opinion, and will always have value because frankly content is simply a form of communication. What has become more and more valuable behind your content is having somebody’s face and voice tied to it. Your business name and brand aren’t enough anymore, people want to feel the advice, the valuable insights that are being provided are from a real person. Everything being communicated from your company should connect to a real person.
Utilizing Real People With Your Digital Presence
Adding author bios, employee pages, or expert quotes helps search engines understand the human expertise behind your content. This is something AI tools try to replicate when summarizing trusted voices. When your content is closely connected to a real person, you’re building both SEO authority and AI discoverability.
How Google and AI Determine Authority
While Google uses algorithms and largely links to calculate domain authority, AI systems like ChatGPT and Gemini need to rely on data partnerships. These partnerships result in AI essentially pulling the same data as search engines for determining authority, but all of it is determined by whose data they partner with.
Search Engines & AI Data Wars
We’re seeing little data wars happen behind the scenes. When ChatGPT partnered with Bing, our team at Wes Web went into all of our clients’ Bing profiles to make sure everything was as optimized as possible.
Inversely when Google partnered with Reddit we did quite a few Reddit experiments but did not see any conclusive results. In the summer of 2025 when Google started indexing local business groups we took a local contractor and commented on every local community post we could find where the original poster was looking for a local contractor to see how it impacted our authority score and rankings.
Keeping up with the data and information wars between different search engines and AI interfaces can help you stay ahead of the proverbial curve, but delivering quality information is still more vital than ever. Below are 2 quick examples of how the Google and ChatGPT data wars have impacted rankings:
1. ChatGPT Pulls Data from Bing.
If you’ve optimized your Bing Webmaster Tools and Bing Business Profile, you’re already boosting your chances of being in ChatGPT/AI-powered answers.
2. Google’s Gemini factors in Reddit, Quora, and Facebook content.
That means social media posts, forums, and brand mentions can all reinforce your topical authority.
The takeaway? Keep every platform connected and up to date, Google, Bing, Reddit, and any niche directories related to your industry.
SEO Content Strategy for 2026: Quality Over Quantity
In the early 2010s, SEO was all about volume, more blogs, more keywords, more pages. Today, AI tools reward quality and context. Quality will always trump quantity in the long game. We saw Google remove a lot of the junk Ai generated content from marketers who were just churning things out. The goal now is to write something that’s genuinely helpful and grounded in expertise.
For most industries, publishing 2 to 4 strong articles per month is enough as long as those pieces are authoritative, timely, and written for real people, not bots.
1. Repurpose Your Content Into Additional Materials
Use your content as the base layer. Then repurpose it across platforms. In all of these areas, repurpose with the highest quality possible. Don’t just copy and paste, create the other form of media with clear intent and purpose:
- Turn sections of a blog post into LinkedIn posts or short videos.
- Create quick explainers or reels from the same topic.
- Link back to your main article to build engagement loops between social media and search.
The Future of SEO (and AI Search)
AI is already shaping how search results look. Gemini snippets now appear before PPC ads, and ChatGPT’s new search function mirrors Google’s interface.That doesn’t mean traditional SEO is dead, it means it’s time to start diversifying your marketing efforts.
1. Search Isn’t Just For Search Engines
In the past SEO has been strictly Google, Bing and other search engines. It is now changing to be on every platform. Each platform is figuring out how to develop a search engine and AI bot into it.
2. A Shift From Keywords To Intent
The focus on keywords was a simplified way of communicating intent. Now intent becomes more obvious as AI generates a response in a conversational format rather than a listicle results format. While keywords will continue to exist they will be discussed differently.
Frankly, this was something that separated mediocre SEOs from excellent SEOs in 2018. Mediocre SEOs hyper focus on keywords then throw them on a website to see what sticks. Quality SEOs build a website and specific pages around the keywords usage and intent by the customer performing the search.
3. AEO Or GEO Will Be Built Into SEO Strategy
Expect AI search visibility to become a standard metric alongside keyword rankings. The best strategy is still rooted in timeless marketing: consistency, relationships, and authenticity.
4. Technical SEO Will Become Easier With AI Tools
Because of AI developments the technical side of SEO is becoming easier and easier. This is actually the reason why so many articles have been created saying “SEO is Dead”. As technical SEO becomes simplified it seems like a huge area is becoming “dead” in SEO. This is simply because people do not understand the big picture of SEO.
When you no longer had to crank a vehicles engine with a physical crank in front of a car did the automobile industry end? No, by no means it was simply getting started! It made vehicles more accessible to people who could only turn a key rather than having the strength to turn an engine physically.
SEO & AI Optimization Practical Checklist for 2026
Here is a checklist for your SEO & AEO in 2026:
- Double down on Bing optimization: ChatGPT and Copilot rely heavily on Bing’s data.
- Diversify your digital marketing efforts.
- Add a face to your business’s brand: Take some pictures people!
- Publish expert-driven content: Tie every piece of content to a person whether it be a doctor, owner, specialist, or team member.
- Diversify your visibility sources: Engage in reputable discussions on Reddit, Quora, or Facebook groups. How you show up online determines how you show up in search engines and AI.
- Use AI tools for efficiency, not for shortcuts: Organize, research, and ideate, but always write and edit through a human lens. Stay relational. Search engines and AI are built on the same foundation of trust. If Google or ChatGPT can’t trust you, then they aren’t going to share your information with others, because lack of trust is contagious.
What To Expect From AI vs. SEO Into The Future
AI may be changing the landscape, but the fundamentals remain. The businesses that thrive in 2026 won’t be those chasing algorithms, they’ll be the ones building authority, human connection, and trust across every platform. Whether it’s Google, ChatGPT, or the next evolution of search, the businesses that combine technical SEO with actual human created content will always rank highest. Learn more about AIO & SEO from us at Wes Web. We are a digital marketing agency serving a wide range of industries.