Google’s John Mueller answered a question on Reddit that showed an easy way to completely remove an entire website from Google’s search index without a search console verified account.
The person who started the discussion on Reddit had an old website that they wanted to remove a Canva website from Google’s search results.
They wrote:
“As a disclaimer, I am not a tech savvy person, I just use Canva for design. I’ve been reading every piece of literature I can find on how to fully remove my old website from Google search results. I took the website down from Canva’s side, but I can’t get the search result on Google to disappear. Is there a way to do this? Thank you!”
One of the Redditors provided a link to a Google help page that offers a lot of information about removing sites, pages and images from Google Search by using the Refresh Outdated Content tool. The tool is for situations in which web pages and images no longer exist or pages with sensitive content that was deleted. The Google support page further explains:
“Use this tool if… you do not own the web page pointed to by Google. (If you own the page, you can ask Google to recrawl the page or hide the page.) AND the page or image no longer exists or is significantly different from the current version of the page or image.”
Google’s John Mueller responded with an option they could use if they don’t have a verified site on Google Search Console, and provided a URL to a page that enabled the person to submit a website URL, explaining that it’s slower than doing it through Search Console as a verified site owner.
He wrote:
“It requires that your old pages are removed from the internet — so you’d need to take them down from wherever you were hosting your old website.
If by “old” website you mean that you also have a “new” website, you can also check to see if your hoster allows you to redirect your old pages to your new ones. This is a bit cleaner than just removing your pages, since it forwards any “signals” that have been collected with the old web pages. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes has a bit more about site migrations (when you redirect from an old site to a new one). If you’re hosting the old site with Canva, I don’t know if they support redirects.”
Google announced that it is dropping support for the 2020 COVID-era Special Announcements structured data type and completely phasing it out by July 31, 2025. The announcement was posted on the SpecialAnnouncement structured data documentation.
SpecialAnnouncement Structured Data
This structured data type was adopted by Google in April 2020 as a way to announce a wide range of information related to the COVID pandemic. It was specifically for COVID related announcements and it never evolved beyond pandemic related purposes although Google did allow the use of this structured data for local businesses to announce new store hours as a way to communicate to Google that data while not necessarily showing a rich result. Interestingly, this structured data was released as a “beta” feature, meaning that it was a live test subject to changes and was never integrated as an official structured data, remaining a beta feature to the end.
There were two ways to submit a special announcement notice, by structured data and Google Search console.
Users who continue to use the Special Announcement structured data will have no negative effect by keeping it on their site but it will have no effect on Google Search.
Read Google’s special announcement about the deprecation of the SpecialAnnouncement structured data here:
Nick Turley, Head of Product at ChatGPT, testified that OpenAI would be interested in acquiring the Chrome browser should a judge decide to break it off from Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
“ChatGPT head of product Nick Turley made the statement while testifying at trial in Washington where U.S. Department of Justice seeks to require Google to undertake far-reaching measures restore competition in online search.”
Perplexity Comes Out Against Chrome Divestiture
On Monday Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas wrote a post on X (formerly Twitter) stating that he intends to testify in support of Google at the U.S. governments anti-trust trial.
Perplexity simultaneously published an article explaining how their position isn’t so much about supporting Google as it is about supporting the future of web browsers and a more open Android ecosystem, two things that he explains will preserve a high level of quality for browsers and create more opportunity and innovation on mobile devices, a win-win for consumers and businesses.
The United States department of Justice wants to split Chrome off from Google as a way to minimize Google’s monopoly position across multiple industries which it asserts is having a negative effect on competition. Srinivas argues that separating Chrome from Google would have the opposite effect.
Srinivas laid out his two key concerns:
1. Google should not be broken up. Chrome should remain within and continue to be run by Google. Google deserves a lot of credit for open-sourcing Chromium, which powers Microsoft’s Edge and will also power Perplexity’s Comet. Chrome has become the dominant browser due to incredible execution quality at the scale of billions of users.
2. Android should become more open to consumer choice. There shouldn’t be a tight coupling to the default apps set by Google, and the permission for OEMs to have the Play Store and Maps. Consumers should have the choice to pick who they want as a default search and default voice assistant, and OEMs should be able to offer consumers this choice without having to be blocked by Google on the ability to have the Play Store and other Google apps (Maps, YouTube).”
Takeaways
OpenAI Expresses Interest In Chrome Browser
Nick Turley, Head of Product at ChatGPT, stated OpenAI would be interested in purchasing Chrome if a court orders Google to divest it.
His statement was made during testimony in the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust trial against Google.
Perplexity AI’s Position Against Chrome Divestiture
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas publicly opposed the idea of separating Chrome from Google.
He announced plans to testify in support of Google in the antitrust case.
Perplexity emphasized that their stance is focused on preserving innovation.
Call for a More Open Android Ecosystem
Srinivas advocated for a more open Android ecosystem.
He proposed that consumers should freely choose their default search engine and voice assistant.
He criticized Google’s practice of requiring OEMs to bundle Google services like the Play Store and Maps.
He urged regulators to focus on increasing consumer choice on Android rather than breaking up Chrome.
The next phase of the DOJ’s antitrust case against Google started Monday. Both sides presented different views on the future of search and AI.
This follows Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling last year that Google illegally kept its dominance by making exclusive deals with device makers.
DOJ Wants Major Changes to Break Google’s Control
Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater made the government’s position clear:
“Each generation has called for the DOJ to challenge a behemoth that crushed competition. In the past, it was Standard Oil and AT&T. Today’s behemoth is Google.”
The Justice Department wants several changes, including:
Making Google sell the Chrome browser
Ending exclusive search deals with Apple and Samsung
Forcing Google to share search results with competitors
Limiting Google’s AI deals
Possibly selling off Android if other changes don’t work
DOJ attorney David Dahlquist stated that the court needs to look ahead to prevent Google from expanding its search power into AI. He revealed that Google pays Samsung a monthly sum to install Gemini AI on its devices.
“Now is the time to tell Google and all other monopolists that there are consequences when you break the antitrust laws.”
Google Says These Ideas Would Hurt Innovation
Google disagrees with the DOJ’s plans. Attorney John Schmidtlein called them “a wishlist for competitors looking to get the benefits of Google’s extraordinary innovations.”
In a blog post before the trial, Google VP Lee-Anne Mulholland warned the changes would:
“DOJ’s proposal would also hamstring how we develop AI and have a government committee regulate our products. That would hold back American innovation when we’re in a race with China for technology leadership.”
Google also claims that sharing search data would risk user privacy. They say ending distribution deals would make devices more expensive and hurt companies like Mozilla.
Perplexity Suggests “Choice” as Better Solution
AI search startup Perplexity offers a middle-ground approach.
CEO Aravind Srinivas doesn’t support forcing Google to sell Chrome, posting:
“We don’t believe anyone else can run a browser at that scale without a hit on quality.”
Instead, Perplexity focuses on Android’s restrictive environment. In a blog post called “Choice is the Remedy,” the company argues:
“Google stays dominant by paying to force a subpar experience on consumers–not by building better products.”
Perplexity wants to separate Android from the requirements to include all Google apps. They also want to end penalties for carriers that offer alternatives.
AI Competition Takes Center Stage
The trial shows how important AI has become to search competition. OpenAI’s ChatGPT product head, Nick Turley, will testify Tuesday, highlighting how traditional search and AI are now connected.
The DOJ argues that Google’s search monopoly enhances its AI products, which then direct users back to Google search, creating a cycle that stifles competition.
What’s Next?
The trial is expected to last several weeks, with testimony from representatives of Mozilla, Verizon, and Apple. Google plans to appeal after the final judgment.
This case represents the most significant tech antitrust action since Microsoft in the late 1990s. It shows that both political parties are serious about addressing the market power of Big Tech. Slater notes that the case was “filed during President Trump’s first term and litigated across three administrations.”
A glitch in Google’s AI Overviews may inadvertently expose how Google’s algorithm understands search queries and chooses answers. Bugs in Google Search are useful to examine because they may expose parts of Google’s algorithms that are normally unseen.
AI-Splaining?
Lily Ray re-posted a tweet that showed how typing nonsense phrases into Google results in a wrong answer where AI Overviews essentially makes up an answer. She called it AI-Splaining.
It’s not “finding relevant” or “finding similar”, it’s literally making stuff up, which means G are not
a) A search engine b) An answer engine c) A recommendation engine they are now d) A potentially harmful joke”
Google has a long history of search bugs but this is different because there’s an LLM summarizing answers based on grounding data (web, knowledge graph, etc.) and the LLM itself. So, the search marketer known as Darth Autocrat has a point that this Google search bug is in an entirely different level than anything that has been seen before.
Yet there’s one thing that remains the same and that is that search bugs represent an opportunity to see something that’s going on behind the search box that isn’t normally viewable.
AI Bug Is Not Limited To Google AIO
What I think is happening is that Google’s systems are parsing the words to understand what the user means. So in the case where a user query is vague, I think that the LLM will decide what the user is asking based on several likely meanings, like a decision tree in machine learning where a machine will map out likely meanings, remove out the branches that are least likely and predict the likely meaning.
I was reading a patent that Google recently filed that’s on a related theme, where an AI tries to guess what a user means by guiding a user through a decision tree and then storing that information for future interactions with them or with others. This patent, Real-Time Micro-Profile Generation Using a Dynamic Tree Structure, is for AI voice assistants, but it gives an idea of how an AI will try to guess what a user means and then proceed.
So I tested Google, ChatGPT and Claude and discovered that all three make similar mistakes of inferring what a user’s query means and confidently providing a wrong answer.
The sample question was:
What is the parallel puppy fishing technique for striped bass?
There is no such thing as a “parallel puppy fishing technique” but there is a technique called “walking the dog” and there is another technique where an angler in a kayak or a boat will cast parallel to the shore or some other structure.
AI Overviews (AIO)
AIO confidently offered a hallucinated response that is incorrect because it assumed that the user was confusing multiple actual fishing tactics so it blended multiple tactics and fishing lures to invent a non-existent tactic.
AI Overviews gave the following wrong answer:
“The “parallel puppy” technique for striped bass involves a specific retrieve method for topwater plugs, often referred to as “walking the dog”. It’s characterized by a zig-zagging motion imparted to the lure by sweeping the rod side to side, often while maintaining it parallel to the water. This action mimics a wounded baitfish, which can be highly attractive to striped bass.”
Screenshot Of AIO’s Hallucinated Answer
ChatGPT 4o
ChatGPT made the same mistake that Google’s AIO did and hallucinated a complex fishing tactic.
ChatGPT gave the following wrong answer:
“The parallel puppy fishing technique for striped bass is a specialized casting and retrieval method often used when targeting striped bass in shallow water near shoreline structure like jetties, sod banks, or rocky points.
Here’s a breakdown of what it typically involves:
What it is: “Parallel” refers to casting your lure or bait parallel to the shoreline, rather than out into deeper water.
“Puppy” is often a nickname for small soft plastics, swimbaits, or small-profile plugs, typically in the 3″ to 5″ range—mimicking juvenile baitfish”.
That last sentence is interesting because it’s completely wrong, there are no style of lures that are nicknamed “puppy” but there is a technique called walking the dog.”
Screenshot Of ChatGPT’s Incorrect Answer
Anthropic Claude
Anthropic Claude, using the latest 3.7 Sonnet model, provided a correct answer. It correctly said it didn’t recognize a “legitimate fishing technique” with the provided name and then moved on with the presumption that the user wants to learn striped bass fishing tactics and provides a list of techniques from which a user can select a topic as a follow-up question.
Screenshot Of Anthropic Claude’s Correct Answer
Google Gemini Pro 2.5
Lastly I queried Google Gemini, using the latest Pro 2.5 model. Gemini also offered a correct answer plus a decision tree output that enables a user to decide:
A. That they are misunderstanding fishing tactics
B. Referring to a highly localized tactic
C. Is combining multiple fishing tactics
D. Or is confusing a tactic for another species of fish.
Screenshot of Correct Gemini Pro 2.5 Answer
What’s interesting about that decision tree, which resembles the decision tree approach in the unrelated Google patent, is that those possibilities kind of reflect what Google’s AI Overviews LLM and ChatGPT may have considered when trying to answer the question. They both may have selected from a decision tree and chosen option C, that the user is combining fishing tactics and based their answers on that.
Both Claude and Gemini were confident enough to select option E, that the user doesn’t know what they’re talking about and resorted to a decision tree to guide the user into selecting the right answer.
What Does This Mean About AI Overviews (AIO)?
Google recently announced it’s rolling out Gemini 2.0 for advanced math, coding, and multimodal queries but the hallucinations in AIO suggest that the model Google is using to answer text queries may be inferior to Gemini 2.5.
That’s probably what is happening with gibberish queries and like I said, it offers an interesting insight to how Google AIO actually works.
Both SEO and PPC are essential components of digital marketing, yet they operate in entirely different ways.
One delivers instant visibility and quick results, while the other builds long-term authority and organic traffic.
But, when budgets are tight, and results need to be justified to the board, which channel deserves more attention?
The answer isn’t one-size-fits-all. It depends on factors like business goals, industry competition, timeline, and available resources.
In this article, we’ll break down the key differences, advantages, and trade-offs between SEO and PPC, helping you make an informed decision about where to allocate your marketing dollars.
SEO: The Long Game For Sustainable Growth
SEO is the process of increasing organic visibility in search engines through high-quality content, technical optimization, and authoritative backlinks.
Unlike PPC, SEO doesn’t provide instant gratification, but the payoff is well worth the effort.
Once a page ranks well, it can drive continuous, high-intent traffic at little to no cost per click.
Key Benefits Of SEO
SEO is often seen as the foundation of a long-term digital marketing strategy.
While it requires patience and investment upfront, the ability to generate consistent, high-quality traffic without paying for each click makes it a compelling choice for many businesses.
Long-Term Traffic Without Per-Click Costs. While SEO requires upfront investment in content and optimization, its long-term benefits far outweigh PPC in terms of cost-efficiency. Once a page ranks, it can drive organic traffic for years without requiring a constant budget.
Higher Trust And Credibility. Consumers tend to trust organic search results more than ads. Studies show that organic listings receive significantly higher click-through rates (CTR) than paid ads, making SEO a valuable channel for establishing brand credibility.
Compounds Over Time. Unlike PPC, where you pay for every visitor, SEO works like a snowball effect. The more high-quality content and backlinks you accumulate, the stronger your site’s domain authority becomes, making it easier to rank for new keywords in the future.
Disadvantages Of SEO
Although SEO can be incredibly rewarding for any business, it’s not without its challenges.
Businesses need to understand the trade-offs that come with relying on organic search, particularly when it comes to the time and resources required to see meaningful results.
Results Take Time. SEO is not an overnight success story. Depending on your industry and competition, it can take months (or even years) to rank competitively. This makes SEO a long-term play rather than a quick win.
Algorithm Uncertainty. Google frequently updates its ranking algorithms, meaning that even well-ranked pages can see fluctuations. If your SEO strategy isn’t built on a strong foundation of best practices, you could be at risk of losing visibility overnight.
When SEO Makes The Most Sense
SEO is best suited for businesses looking to:
Establish long-term brand authority and recognition.
Generate consistent, cost-effective leads or sales over time.
Compete in industries where paid advertising costs are prohibitive.
Build a sustainable content marketing strategy that drives traffic and engagement.
PPC: The Power Of Instant Results
PPC advertising offers immediate visibility on search engines and social platforms. It’s the equivalent of flipping a switch – your brand appears in front of potential customers right away.
This visibility comes at a price, literally. Once you stop spending, the traffic stops. However, when executed correctly, PPC can drive high-quality leads and sales faster than any other marketing channel.
Key Benefits Of PPC
PPC advertising has several compelling advantages that make it a powerful tool for businesses looking to gain immediate traction.
While it requires an ongoing budget, the ability to reach high-intent users and measure performance in real-time makes it an essential component of a well-rounded marketing strategy.
Immediate Traffic And Quick Wins. With PPC, there’s no waiting game. Unlike SEO, where ranking takes time, PPC can get your business to the top of search results instantly. Whether it’s Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, or paid social campaigns, your ads are live essentially the moment your campaign is approved.
Granular Targeting. PPC allows you to target potential customers with laser precision. You can define your audience based on search intent, location, device, demographics, behavior, and even specific interests. This ensures that your budget is spent reaching only the most relevant users, which increases efficiency and conversions.
Measurable And Scalable. Every click, impression, and conversion is trackable in PPC, making it one of the most measurable digital marketing strategies. You can quickly assess performance, make data-driven decisions, and scale up or down depending on return on investment (ROI). This level of control is unmatched in SEO.
Disadvantages Of PPC
Despite its advantages, PPC isn’t a perfect solution.
Businesses need to be aware of the potential challenges that come with running paid campaigns, particularly when it comes to costs, competition, and ad performance over time.
Costs Can Escalate Quickly. Unlike organic traffic, PPC is a pay-to-play model. The moment you stop funding campaigns, the traffic disappears. If your cost-per-click (CPC) is high, profitability can be challenging without a well-optimized campaign and conversion funnel.
Ad Fatigue And Diminishing Returns. Users can become blind to repetitive ads, leading to declining performance over time. This means ongoing creative refreshes, audience testing, and bid adjustments are necessary to maintain strong results.
When PPC Makes The Most Sense
PPC is ideal when you need immediate results, such as:
Launching a new product or service that needs instant visibility.
Running seasonal promotions or limited-time offers.
Competing in a saturated market where organic ranking is difficult.
Driving leads or sales in industries with high transaction values.
SEO Vs. PPC: Side-By-Side Comparison
Choosing The Right Strategy For Your Business
The best marketing strategies align with your business goals, industry dynamics, and available resources.
While some businesses can afford to take a long-term approach with SEO, others may need the immediacy of PPC.
The key is to evaluate your needs carefully and choose the right mix of paid and organic efforts.
If You Need Instant Wins: Focus On PPC
If your business needs immediate traffic, leads, or sales, PPC is the way to go. This is especially true for:
Startups and new businesses: When brand awareness is low, PPC can help put your company in front of potential customers quickly.
High-margin industries: Businesses that generate high profits per conversion (e.g., legal services, SaaS, finance) can justify PPC spend more easily.
Seasonal promotions: If your business thrives on specific times of the year (e.g., holiday sales, back-to-school shopping), PPC ensures you capture demand at the right moment.
Local businesses: Companies with a local presence can use PPC to dominate searches for high-intent queries like “best plumber near me.”
If You Want Long-Term Growth: SEO Is The Way To Go
If you’re focused on building a sustainable marketing funnel that pays dividends in the future, SEO is the smarter play.
Prioritize SEO if:
Your business relies on organic search traffic: Industries like blogging, ecommerce, and B2B SaaS benefit from strong SEO foundations.
You’re in a highly competitive PPC market: If CPCs are prohibitively expensive, investing in organic search can provide a more cost-effective alternative.
You’re willing to invest in content marketing: High-quality, evergreen content fuels SEO and positions your business as an authority in your space.
Your audience conducts research before purchasing: If customers compare multiple options before making a decision, strong SEO can help you stay top-of-mind.
Invest In SEO And PPC For The Best Of Both Worlds
For most businesses, the real answer isn’t SEO or PPC – it’s SEO and PPC. A blended approach allows you to capture immediate opportunities while building long-term organic growth.
Businesses that view these two strategies as complementary, rather than competing, often see the best results.
Here’s why integrating both SEO and PPC is a smart move:
SEO Supports Long-Term Sustainability, While PPC Fills Gaps
Even with the best SEO strategy, organic rankings fluctuate due to algorithm updates and competition.
PPC acts as a safety net, ensuring your brand remains visible even when organic rankings dip. It also allows you to target high-intent keywords that may be too competitive to rank organically in the short term.
PPC Provides Data To Strengthen SEO Efforts
One of the most effective ways to refine your SEO strategy is by using PPC data.
Paid search campaigns provide insights into which keywords convert best, which messaging resonates, and which audience segments drive the most revenue.
This data can be leveraged to optimize SEO efforts, helping to prioritize content creation and organic keyword targeting.
SEO Reduces Long-Term Costs, While PPC Provides Immediate ROI
A well-executed SEO strategy reduces reliance on paid ads over time. Once your site ranks well for high-value keywords, you receive continuous traffic without ongoing ad spend.
PPC, on the other hand, delivers instant results, making it ideal for new product launches, promotions, or when entering new markets.
A combined strategy ensures you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket.
Using PPC To Boost SEO Content
Even the best content needs exposure to gain traction. PPC can be used to drive initial traffic to newly published blog posts, product pages, or other high-value content.
The added engagement signals from paid visitors, such as time on page, shares, and backlinks, can indirectly improve organic rankings.
Retargeting SEO Visitors With PPC
Not all organic visitors convert on their first visit. Using PPC remarketing campaigns, you can re-engage visitors who found you through SEO but didn’t take action.
This keeps your brand top-of-mind and helps improve overall conversion rates.
By investing in both SEO and PPC, you build a balanced marketing strategy that delivers short-term wins while positioning your business for long-term success.
Rather than choosing one over the other, leveraging their combined strengths leads to more sustainable and profitable growth.
Final Thoughts
SEO and PPC each have distinct advantages, and the right choice depends on your business objectives. If you need fast results, PPC is the clear winner. If you’re playing the long game, SEO is invaluable.
But in reality, the most effective digital marketing strategies don’t rely on just one – they integrate both.
The best approach? Evaluate your budget, resources, and competitive landscape. Align your strategy with short-term and long-term goals.
And if you have the ability, combine SEO and PPC for a well-rounded marketing engine that delivers both immediate and sustained results.
More Resources:
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
Aleyda Solis’ SEOFOMO published a survey of ecommerce owners and SEOs that indicates a wide range of uses of AI, reflecting popular SEO tactics and novel ways to increase productivity, but also reveals that a significant number of the respondents have yet to fully adopt the technology because they are still figuring out how it best fits into their workflow. Very few of the survey respondents said they were not considering AI.
The survey responses showed that there are five popular category uses for AI:
The survey respondents used AI for important reasons like product listing and descriptions, as well as for scaling meta descriptions, titles, and alt text. Other uses include creating content outlines, grammar checks and other assistive uses of AI.
But some also used it for blog content, landing pages, and for generating FAQ content. There’s no details of how extensively AI was used for blog content but a case could be made against using it for fully generating main content with AI (if that’s how some people are using it) because of Google’s recent cautionary guidance about extensive use of AI for main content. Google’s Danny Sullivan at the recent Search Central NYC event cautioned about low effort content lacking in originality.
The other reported uses of AI was for grammar checking and clarity which are excellent ways to use AI. Care should be used even for these purposes because AI has a style that can get injected into the content even for something as simple as checking for grammar.
Another interesting use of AI is for revising content so that it matches a company’s “brand voice” which is checking for word choices, tone, and even sentence structure.
Lastly, the ecommerce survey respondents reported using AI for brainstorming content ideas which is another excellent way to use AI.
Analysis & Research
The part about keyword analysis is interesting because the report lists keyword research and clustering as one of the uses. Clustering keywords according to similarity is a good practice because it’s somewhat repetitive and spammy to write pages of content about related things, one page for each keyword phrase when one strong page that represents the entire topic is enough.
Focusing on keywords for SEO has been around longer than Google, and even Google itself has evolved from using keywords as a way to understand content to also incorporating an understanding of queries and content as topics.This is seen in the fact that Google uses core topicality systems as part of its ranking algorithm. So it’s somewhat curious that topicality research wasn’t mentioned as one of the uses, unless keyword clustering is considered part of that. Nevertheless, data analysis is a great use of AI.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is a fantastic application of AI because that’s all about automating repetitive SEO tasks but also for assisting on making decisions about what to do. There’s lots of ways to do this, including by uploading a set of guidelines and/or charts and asking AI to analyze for specific things. Apps like Screaming Frog allow integration with OpenAI, so it’s leaving money and time on the table to not be investigating all the ways AI can integrate with tools as well as just asking it to analyze data.https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/tutorials/how-to-crawl-with-chatgpt/
For example, one of the uses reported in the survey was for generating an internal linking strategy.
User Experience (UX) & Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Another way ecommerce store owners are using AI is for improving the user experience and CRO.
The survey reports:
“AI-powered product recommendations
Chatbots for product discovery or customer support
CRO/UX audits based on user behavior”
Training & Education
Lastly, an increasing number of the ecommerce respondents reported using AI for generating training documentation for internal use and for creating customer documentation.
The survey reports:
“Less common but growing:
Learning how AI tools function
Using AI to create training material or SEO learning resources”
Not Using AI Or Limited Use
What was surprising is the amount of SEOs that are not using AI in a meaningful way. 31% of respondents said they are not using AI but are planning to, 3% of the survey respondents were digging their heels into the ground and flatly refusing to use AI in any way, while an additional 4% answered that they weren’t sure.
That makes a full 37% that aren’t using AI in any meaningful way. Looked at another way, 31% of respondents were getting ready to adopt AI into their workflow. Many managed WordPress hosting companies are integrating AI into their WordPress builder workflow as are some WordPress builders. AI can be integrated via WordPress SEO plugins as well. Wix has already integrated AI into their customer workflow through their proprietary Astro chatbot and companies like Shopify are also planning meaningful and useful ways to integrate AI.
The SEOFOMO survey makes it clear that AI is a significant part of the SEO and ecommerce workflow. Those who don’t use AI shouldn’t feel like they have to. But if you’re unsure how to integrate it, one way to think about it is to ask: what kinds of tasks would you hand off to an intern? Those are the kinds of tasks that AI excels at, enabling one worker to produce at a level five times greater than they could without using AI.
Google’s John Mueller answered a question about LLMs.txt, a proposed standard for showing website content to AI agents and crawlers, downplaying its usefulness and comparing it to the useless keywords meta tag, confirming the experience of others who have used it.
LLMS.txt
LLMS.txt has been compared to as a Robots.txt for large language models but that’s 100% incorrect. The main purpose of a robots.txt is to control how bots crawl a website. The proposal for LLMs.txt is not about controlling bots. That would be superfluous because a standard for that already exists with robots.txt.
The proposal for LLMs.txt is generally about showing content to LLMs with a text file that uses the markdown format so that they can consume just the main content of a web page, completely devoid of advertising and site navigation. Markdown language is a human and machine readable format that indicates headings with the pound sign (#) and lists with the minus sign (-). LLMs.txt does a few other things similar to that functionality and that’s all it’s about.
What LLMs.txt is:
LLMs.txt is not a way to control AI bots.
LLMs.txt is a way to show the main content to AI bots.
LLMs.txt is just a proposal and not a widely used and accepted standard.
That last part is important because it relates to what Google’s John Mueller said:
LLMs.txt Is Comparable To Keywords Meta Tag
Someone started a discussion on Reddit about LLMs.txt to ask if anyone else shared their experience that the AI bots were not checking their LLMs.txt files.
They wrote:
“I’ve submitted to my blog’s root an LLM.txt file earlier this month, but I can’t see any impact yet on my crawl logs. Just curious to know if anyone had a tracking system in place,e or just if you picked up on anything going on following the implementation.
If you haven’t implemented it yet, I am curious to hear your thoughts on that.”
One person in that discussion shared that they host over 20,000 domains and that no AI agents or bots are downloading the LLMs.txt files, only niche bots like one from BuiltWith is grabbing those files.
The commenter wrote:
“Currently host about 20k domains. Can confirm that no bots are really grabbing these apart from some niche user agents…”
John Mueller answered:
“AFAIK none of the AI services have said they’re using LLMs.TXT (and you can tell when you look at your server logs that they don’t even check for it). To me, it’s comparable to the keywords meta tag – this is what a site-owner claims their site is about … (Is the site really like that? well, you can check it. At that point, why not just check the site directly?)”
He’s right, none of the major AI services, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google, have announced support for the proposed LLMs.txt standard. So if none of them are actually using it then what’s the point?
Mueller also raises the point that an LLMs.txt file is redundant because why use that markdown file if the original content (and structured data) have already been downloaded? A bot that uses the LLMs.txt will have to check the other content to make sure it’s not spam so why bother?
Lastly, what’s to stop a publisher or SEO from showing one set of content in LLMs.txt to spam AI agents and another set of content for users and search engines? It’s too easy to generate spam this way, essentially cloaking for LLMs.
In that regard it is very similar to the keywords meta tag that no search engine uses because it would be too sketchy to trust a site that it’s really about those keywords and search engines are better and more sophisticated nowadays about parsing the content to understand what it’s about.
How can you structure content so that AI pulls your site into the response?
Do you really need to change your SEO strategy?
For years, SEO teams followed a familiar SEO playbook:
Optimize upper-funnel content to capture awareness,
mid-funnel content to drive consideration,
lower-funnel content to convert.
One page, one keyword, one intent.
But with the rise of ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Gemini, and now Google’s AI Mode, that linear model is increasingly outdated.
So, how do you move forward and keep your visibility high in modern search engine results pages (SERPs)?
We’ve reverse-engineered AI Overviews, so you don’t have to. Let’s dive in.
What We’ve Discovered Through Reverse Engineering Google’s AI Overviews (AIO)
From what we’re seeing across client industries and in how AI-driven results behave, the traditional funnel model – the idea of users moving cleanly from awareness to consideration to conversion – feels increasingly out of step with how people actually search.
How Today’s Search Users Actually Search
Today’s users jump between channels, devices, and questions.
They skim, abandon, revisit, and decide faster than ever.
AI Overviews don’t follow a tidy funnel because most people don’t either.
They surface multiple types of information at once, not because it’s smarter SEO, but because it’s closer to how real decisions get made.
AIOs & AI Mode Aren’t Just Answering Queries – They’re Expanding Them
Traditionally, SEO strategy followed a structured framework. Take a travel-related topic, for example:
Informational (Upper-Funnel) – “How to plan a cruise?”
Commercial (Mid-Funnel) – “Best cruise lines for families”
Transactional (lower-Funnel) – “Find Best Alaska Cruise Deals”
However, AI Overviews don’t stick to that structure.
Instead, they blend multiple layers of intent into a single, comprehensive response.
How AI Overviews Answer & Expand Search Queries
Let’s stay with the travel theme. A search for “Mediterranean cruise” might return an AI Overview that includes:
Best Time to go (Informational).
Booking Your Cruise (Commercial).
Cruise Lines (Navigational).
AI Mode Example for ‘Mediterranean Cruise’
What’s Happening Here?
In this case, Google isn’t just answering the query.
It anticipates what the user will want to know next, acting more like a digital concierge than a traditional search engine.
We started noticing this behavior showing up more often, so we wanted to see how common it actually is.
To get a clearer picture, we pulled 200 cruise-related informational queries from SEMrush and ran them through our custom-built AI SERP scraper. The goal was to see how often these queries triggered AI Overviews, and what kind of intent those Overviews covered.
The patterns were hard to miss:
88% of those queries triggered an AI Overview
More than half didn’t just answer the initial question.
52% mixed in other layers of intent, like brand suggestions, booking options, or comparisons, right alongside the basic information someone might’ve been looking for.
Using a different query related to Mediterranean Cruises, the AIO response acts as a travel agent, guiding the user on topics like:
How to fly,
Destinations with region,
Cruise prices,
Cruise lines that sail to that destination.
While it’s an Information non-brand search query, the AIO response is lower-funnel as well.
Again, less than half of the queries were matched intent.
Here are some examples of queries that were identified as Informational and provided only the top-of-funnel response without driving the user further down the funnel.
The Verdict
Even when someone asks a simple, top-of-funnel question, AI is already steering them toward what to do next, whether that’s comparing prices, picking a provider, or booking a trip.
What Does This Mean for SEO Strategies Moving Forward?
If AI Overviews and AI Mode are blending intent types, content, and SEO strategies need to catch up:
It’s no longer enough to rank for high-volume informational keywords. If your content doesn’t address multiple layers of intent, AI will fill the gaps with someone else’s content.
SEO teams need to analyze how AI handles their most important queries. What related questions is it pulling in? Are those answers coming from your site or your competitors?
Think beyond keyword volume. Long-tail queries may have lower search traffic, but they often align better with AI-cited content. Structure your pages with clear headings, bullets, and concise, helpful language—that’s what AI models prefer to surface.
The Future of SEO in an AI World: Hybrid Intent Optimization
The fundamentals of technical and on-page SEO still matter. But if your content is still built around single keywords and single intent types, you’re likely to lose visibility as AI continues to reshape the SERP.
The brands that adapt to this shift by creating content that mirrors the blended, fast-moving behavior of actual users are the ones that will continue to own key moments across the funnel, even as the funnel itself evolves.
AsAItransformssearchbehavior,it‘scrucialtoadaptyourSEOstrategiesaccordingly.AtDAC,wespecializeinaligningyourcontentwiththelatestsearchtrendstoenhancevisibilityandengagement.Reachouttoustodaytofuture-proofyour strategy with our award-winning TotalSERP approachandstayaheadintheevolvingdigitallandscape.
https://www.dacgroup.com/” class=”btn-learn-more button-green medium-size”>Optimize Your SEO For AI Search, Now
Image Credits
Featured Image: Image by DAC. Used with permission.
In-Post Image: Images by DAC. Used with permission.
