The Bottom Line
- There's no secret AI SEO hack. Both companies say the same thing: stop chasing new acronyms.
- The fundamentals still work. Quality content, technical hygiene, genuine expertise. Boring but true.
- Citations are the new rankings. Getting mentioned in AI answers matters more than position #1.
- Fewer clicks, better visitors. AI search sends less traffic—but it converts better.
The AI SEO Panic
The SEO industry is having a moment. AI Overviews. ChatGPT search. Perplexity. Suddenly everyone's an expert in "AEO" (AI Engine Optimization) or "GEO" (Generative Engine Optimization) or whatever acronym landed in their inbox this week.
Consultants are selling optimization packages. Conference talks are breathlessly predicting the death of traditional SEO. Everyone's looking for the hack—the secret trick that'll game the AI systems.
So we did something old-fashioned: we actually read what Google and Microsoft are saying. Not speculation. Not third-party analysis. The actual statements from Danny Sullivan (Google's Search Liaison), John Mueller (Google's Search Advocate), and Microsoft's Bing webmaster team.
We went through podcasts, blog posts, official documentation—everything published in 2025. And here's what's interesting:
They agree. On almost everything.
And what they agree on is surprisingly boring. No secret tactics. No revolutionary new approach. Just... the fundamentals. The stuff that's always worked. Which, if you think about it, is actually great news.
What They Actually Said
There is no hack
The first thing that jumps out: both companies say there's no special AI optimization trick.
"There's not a lot you actually really need to be worrying about regarding new AI optimization tactics."
— Danny Sullivan, Google Search LiaisonThat's Google's search liaison directly contradicting every "AI SEO" pitch deck in existence. The people selling you AEO packages are making it up.
Expertise gets amplified
Both companies emphasize that E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) matters more in AI search, not less.
"E-E-A-T remains crucial for AI-driven search. Produce authoritative, well-researched material demonstrating genuine expertise."
— Google Search Central BlogAI systems are better at detecting genuine expertise—and bullshit. If you actually know your stuff, AI search is your friend. If you've been faking it with thin content, good luck.
Schema won't save you
Structured data is having a moment. Everyone's adding schema markup hoping it'll unlock AI visibility.
"Structured data could be helpful for AI formats but is not a secret weapon."
— Danny SullivanYes, implement your schema markup. No, it won't magically fix thin content. It's table stakes, not a competitive advantage.
Text-only sites are missing out
Here's one area where there IS a genuine opportunity.
"If you haven't been doing images or video, you potentially are going to have opportunities."
— Danny SullivanAI systems understand images, video, and audio now. They can watch a video of geese and tell you what the geese are doing—without any text description. If you've been text-only, you're leaving visibility on the table.
Less traffic, better visitors
This is the shift everyone's missing.
"The path to conversion no longer starts with a click."
— Bing Webmaster Blog"AI formats put people into a better state of contextual awareness—users understand better what they're getting into. People arriving from AI formats seem to be more engaged."
— Danny SullivanYes, you'll get fewer clicks. But the people who DO click already know what you offer—they're not browsing, they're buying. Stop panicking about traffic drops and start measuring conversion quality.
The boring technical stuff still works
"The lastmod field in your sitemap remains a key signal, helping Bing prioritize URLs for recrawling."
— Bing Webmaster BlogSitemaps. Canonical tags. Proper redirects. The unsexy stuff still matters. Set it up right once, then forget about it.
Duplicate content gets punished harder
This one's important.
"LLMs cluster near-duplicate URLs and select one to represent the set—potentially an outdated version."
— Bing Webmaster BlogAI systems are ruthless about duplicates. They'll pick ONE page to represent your content—and it might not be the one you want. Consolidate your pages. Stop creating 47 variations of the same article for different keywords.
Citations replace rankings
Here's the real change.
"Citations and placement in AI answers are becoming the visibility signals that decide who enters the final click."
— Bing Webmaster BlogIt's not about ranking #1 anymore. It's about being the source that AI systems cite when answering questions. If you're not being cited, you're invisible—regardless of where you rank in traditional search.
Why This Is Actually Good News
Here's the thing everyone's missing while they panic about AI search: this is stabilizing, not scary.
For years, SEO has been a game of chasing algorithm updates. Google changes something, everyone scrambles, consultants sell new packages, rinse and repeat. It's exhausting.
But look at what both Google and Microsoft are saying: stop chasing tactics and focus on fundamentals. Quality content. Genuine expertise. Technical hygiene. The stuff that should have always mattered.
If you've been doing things right—building real expertise, creating genuinely useful content, maintaining a clean technical foundation—AI search isn't a threat. It's an amplifier.
The brands that will struggle are the ones who've been gaming the system: thin content, keyword stuffing, duplicate pages for every search variation. AI systems are better at detecting that stuff than traditional search ever was.
So yeah, the SEO landscape is changing. But the direction of change is toward substance over tactics. And that's a good thing.
Sources & Methodology
We only used official sources: podcasts, blog posts, and documentation from people who actually work on these systems. No third-party speculation.
Google Sources
- Search Off the Record Podcast: "Thoughts on SEO & SEO for AI, Part 1" — Danny Sullivan, John Mueller
- Search Central Blog: "Top ways to ensure your content performs well in Google's AI experiences" (May 2025)
- Search Central Blog: "AI-powered configuration" (December 2025)
Microsoft/Bing Sources
- Bing Blog: "Does Duplicate Content Hurt SEO and AI Search Visibility?" (Dec 2025)
- Bing Blog: "How AI Search Is Changing Conversions" (Nov 2025)
- Bing Blog: "Keeping Content Discoverable with Sitemaps" (Jul 2025)
- Bing Search Blog: "Introducing Copilot Search in Bing" (Apr 2025)
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