SEO is dead: What Google Analyst Gary Illyes has to say about it

The existence of SEO has been long. However, from time to time, its survival has been claimed under threat.

This time, obviously, AI is the reason. The ChatGPT’s arrival and the sensation it brought have shaken up many things, including the survival of SEO.

Though there was no clear answer to this, many speculations have been made that SEO is going to be dead or at least lose its value.

What has stretched this topic even more is Google’s revolutionary SGE.

Since it took a significant place in SERP results (though only as a testing feature), it became even more worrisome.

Online experts, marketers, web designers, SEO consultants, and all those connected to digital marketing started discussing the future of SEO.

Many articles on the internet and social media posts shared their opinions (though there was no clear answer) about what would happen to SEO.

Some say it will vanish, some claim it is not going anywhere, and some give a balanced approach.

The same balanced approach came from Google. In response to concerns about the impact of AI content on SEO.

Google has never explicitly accepted or rejected the claim that AI has a negative impact on SEO. However, Google said, “We empower people with new technologies,” signalling acceptance of AI content.

But it was not that simple.  Instead, as a condition, Google referred to EEAT qualities.

In this, Google put forward a simple principle: if your content shows helpful intent, it doesn’t matter if it comes via AI or any other source.

Moreover, if this doesn’t seem to be the case or the content sounds quickly generated to manipulate ranking, then it is obviously subject to penalty.

However, all these Google updates came before Google started testing the search generative experience via the search lab. Since this is still an experiment, there is no clear-cut answer to whether Google will use generative results in SERPs in full fledge in the future.

However, amidst all these speculations, a recent post from Google Analyst Gary Illyes hinted that SEO is not going anywhere.

Here is what he had to say:

What Google Analyst Gary Illyes has to say on SEO is Dead

In his LinkedIn post, Gary Illyes said that SEO is dying and is not new, at least according to the internet. He pointed out how as soon as minor changes occur in search engines, people start publishing that SEO is going to be dead. So, according to this logic, Gary said SEO has been gradually dying for a long time. Or, if it is in his words, “SEO has been dying since CCA 2003. Hell of a slow death.”

 Done being all this sarcastic at the end of the post, Garry finally said that SEO is not, in fact, dying but changing with search engines, giving a sigh of relief to marketers out there that SEO is not going anywhere – or at least for now!

I hope you find the information helpful. To read more such articles, you can check out our blog. Also, if you are looking for an SEO consultant in London for your business, you can talk to our experts.