“Search engine optimization is dead!”

As a marketing agency, we hear this declaration several times a year.

Just about any time the search world changes, in fact.

But we’ve never heard it as frequently as this year.

New developments are overturning conventional wisdom about how to rank your website in 2025. One of the two culprits is a red herring, and the other one is a challenge your search engine strategy will have to reckon with. The faster you distinguish the two, the easier it’ll be to defend (or better yet, improve) your ranking.

THE RED HERRING: ChatGPT Isn’t Stealing Your Search Clicks

There’s doom and gloom around ChatGPT’s entrance into the search market. Business owners are wondering if their websites will ever get seen now that some people simply aren’t looking at the broader internet to get the information they need. To be sure, it’s a trend to keep an eye on.

For right now, though, its impact is overblown.

It’s true that AI can correlate a lot of information very quickly. If you’re not too picky about things being factually accurate, you can do quick and dirty research with current AI tools. But the idea that ChatGPT is replacing any current services, especially Google, is a little bit overblown.

Recent research (by humans) confirms it.

Discussion about ChatGPT’s “explosive, unprecedented growth” in search often starts and ends with the fact that it’s gotten 740% bigger in just 12 months. But in absolute terms, it is a lot less impressive. Its share of the global search market? Just a hair over 2%. What does it mean in real terms? Relatively little.

Still, it’s true that there’s a drop in search engine traffic. It’s especially pronounced among websites that, until recently, were in the top five search positions for moderate or high-traffic keywords. And the culprit behind it: none other than Google itself. The smoking gun? Google’s own AI integration, Search Overview.

THE TRUTH: It’s A Lot More Complicated Than Just ChatGPT

For years, the success of search engine optimization was judged primarily on getting to “first page, top fold” – approximately the first five results for your target keyword. Experienced marketing agencies aimed to guide customers to a balanced portfolio of keywords, where lower results also made a difference.

We get it, though: deep down, there’s a certain psychological satisfaction in hitting the top.

And now? Even companies that routinely show up in the top results for competitive, high-traffic keywords are finding something bizarre. Analytics show them still in a prime position, but the number of clicks they get has nose-dived. It’s almost as if they’re not on that first page at all.

The reason is something called “zero-click search.”

And while search engine optimization isn’t dead, this is the biggest shift in 20 years.

Zero-click search is what happens when search users find their questions are adequately answered by Google’s own AI Search Overview. Search Overview, universally ridiculed for telling users to put glue in pizza last year, is serving up answers that are a lot more cogent nowadays, not to mention glue-free (in most cases).

Organic visibility has plunged as a result, because it doesn’t really matter how high on SERPs you are if no one clicks on website links in the first place. Businesses in Central Florida and elsewhere are seeing real fallout: lost revenue, lower marketing ROI, and confusion from internal stakeholders that can turn into conflict.

Luckily, there is a solution on the horizon:

Zero-click SEO.

Search Engine Optimization Is Dead: Long Live Search Engine Optimization

Zero-click SEO is another way for humans to stand up against the invasion of the “bots.” It shifts the focus away from top search rankings, which no longer mean what they once did. Instead, you can invest effort thoughtfully across a portfolio of search features that still have high potential to drive organic visibility.

Here’s how:

1. Start By Reviewing Your Target Keywords

First and foremost, work with your marketing agency to review your target keywords and ensure they still make sense for your business. AI Overviews appear in only about 13% of U.S. desktop searches and may appear even less in mobile searches. If your keyword portfolio is heavy on Overviews, consider branching out.

2. Optimize For Featured Snippets

Featured Snippets still have the potential to catapult you to the top of the results page. They thrive on short, clear answers to questions. Make sure you’re using the right tags and metadata on every page, improving the odds that your answers will be recognized. Bulleted or numbered lists are especially effective.

3. Verify And Use Your Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile has long been a mainstay of local SEO. It’s more crucial than ever now that it plays an even bigger role in capturing searches from users who are ready to buy. These commercial intent searches help you connect at the right time by invoking your business directly on Google Maps.

4. Introduce Video Marketing Content

Let’s face it: Google couldn’t care less if your website gets seen. But there’s a way to anchor your success to theirs: YouTube. YouTube has been the world’s second-largest search engine, behind Google itself, for years. When you publish marketing videos on YouTube, they can show up prominently in related Google searches.

5. Optimize Structural And Technical SEO Factors

When your website goes head-to-head against an authoritative competitor in your niche, content quality is the biggest factor. Still, it’s not the only one. Work with a marketing agency that knows search engine optimization is multidimensional. Making your website faster, more secure, and more mobile-friendly can all help.

6. Monitor More Than Just Clicks

Clicks are important, but they’re not the sole measure of success. Impressions – that is, the views that precede the click – indicate effective SEO, too. Also track your email marketing open rates and clickthrough, your social media engagement, and the performance of your other digital properties. That paints a holistic picture.

7. Stick With An Adaptive Mindset

AI is an inescapable part of the search landscape, but that doesn’t mean shakeups will just keep happening. By partnering with a marketing agency you trust, you can keep yourself from getting shell-shocked into a reactive approach. The dust will settle soon enough, and it’ll be time for a proactive search engine strategy, so stay ready.

New York Ave Has Been Through All This Before – And We’ll Help You Get Through It, Too

When it comes to SEO trends, 2025 might be the toughest year on record. But that doesn’t mean it’s time to throw in the towel. The decisions you make right now could reverberate for years.

At New York Ave, our experience gives us a healthy respect for change, along with the pragmatism to know that a carefully designed strategy, executed long-term, keeps you moving forward through the short-term upheavals.

Our message is simple:

• We’ve been here before.
• SEO isn’t dead.
• It’s time for a new strategy—and we can help.

Contact us to learn more or get started.