No, SEO isn't dead, but it changed. Google's AI Overviews cut clicks on informational searches: according to Pew, people click a result in 8% of visits when an AI summary appears, compared with 15% when it doesn't. Searches from people ready to buy or hire still bring customers, and now it also matters whether AI cites your content.
The problem? "SEO is dead" gets said with the same confidence that agencies used to promise a number one ranking. Both lines sell, and both pull you away from deciding with data.
What did AI Overviews change?
The evidence, read calmly:
| Finding | Source |
|---|---|
| With an AI summary, people click a result in 8% of visits; without one, 15%. Only 1% click links inside the summary | Pew Research Center, 900 US adults, 2025 |
| On informational searches with an AI Overview, the top result gets 58% fewer clicks on average | Ahrefs, 300,000 keywords, December 2025 |
| AI Overviews appeared on 15.69% of searches in November 2025, up from 6.49% in January | Semrush, 10 million+ keywords |
| Among searches with an AI Overview, commercial and transactional queries grew from about 10% to 33% of the total between January and October 2025 | Semrush |
What the data says: research-style searches are losing clicks, AI Overviews still appear on a minority of searches, and they're starting to reach buying searches. It's a change in how people search, not the end of search.
Is SEO still worth it in 2026?
Yes, if you aim at what brings customers:
- Service and purchase pages that answer people already looking to hire or buy.
- Local SEO that sends people to you from Google Maps. We can help with your Google Business Profile.
- Content AI can cite: clear answers, sourced data, and your brand named. More in how to get recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI.
- A technically healthy site that's fast and easy to crawl.
One honest caveat: if your strategy was publishing generic articles to pull informational traffic, that traffic really is shrinking, and it won't come back the way it was.
Do I need anything special to appear in AI Overviews?
According to Google, no. There are no extra requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode: no AI text files, no special markup, and no llms.txt file. What works is standard SEO: helpful content, good page experience, and a site Google can index. Google reports traffic from these features in Search Console, alongside the rest of web search.
How do I tell if an SEO company is legit?
Red flags:
- They guarantee a number one ranking. Google says plainly that no one can.
- They sell link packages or "thousands of backlinks" cheap.
- They can't explain what changed on your site each month, or why.
- They report rankings and traffic, never leads or sales.
- They want to own your Search Console, analytics, or Business Profile.
- They can't touch the code when the problem is technical.
What questions should I ask before hiring an SEO?
Google's own guide to hiring an SEO suggests asking, among other things:
- Can you show me examples of previous work and success stories?
- Do you follow the Google Search Essentials?
- What results do you expect, in what timeframe, and how do you measure success?
- What's your experience in my industry and my city or country?
- Will you explain every change you make to my site, and why?
What access does an SEO agency need?
Usually Google Search Console, your analytics, your website editor, your Google Business Profile, and a list of your services, service areas, and priorities. Grant access as a user, never ownership of your accounts, so you can revoke it if you switch providers.
We're also the engineers: when the problem is in the code, we fix it ourselves. For a Central Texas home builder, we moved the site off WordPress to a static build with a 301 redirect for every old URL, and mobile performance went from 35 to 99. See the case. For pricing, read how much a digital marketing agency costs.
Want to know whether your SEO still brings in customers?
We'll review which searches bring you leads, what changed with AI, and what to adjust on your site and in your content. Explore our digital strategy.
Sources
- Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears (July 2025): https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears/
- Ahrefs, AI Overviews reduce clicks (update with December 2025 data): https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-overviews-reduce-clicks-update/
- Semrush, AI Overviews study (January to November 2025): https://www.semrush.com/blog/semrush-ai-overviews-study/
- Google Search Central, AI features and your website (updated December 2025): https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features
- Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO?: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/do-i-need-seo