More people are using AI assistants instead of search engines, and The Wall Street Journal reports on how that’s reducing web traffic and what it means for SEO. Mailchimp’s global director of search engine optimization, Ellen Mamedov, didn’t mince words:
Websites in general will evolve to serve primarily as data sources for bots that feed LLMs, rather than destinations for consumers, she said.
And Nikhil Lai of Forrestsr: “Traffic and ranking and average position and click-through rate…none of those metrics make sense going forward.”
Here’s what one e-commerce marketer believes AI optimization of websites looks like: “Back Market has also begun using a more conversational tone in its product copy, since its search team has found that LLMs like ChatGPT prefer everyday language to the detailed descriptions that often perform best in traditional search engines.”