Is SEO Still Needed in the Era of AI?

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Search engines may be on their way out thanks to artificial intelligence, but I found myself wondering: How will AI crawl websites to generate its answers?

I believe that whatever systems companies like Google developed to search and index webpages will simply be repurposed to “train” AI models to judge whether a piece of content is high quality or not. In the end, what’s marketed as AI is often just another algorithm doing what Google’s crawlers have been doing for decades.

Because of this, AI optimization will not be very different from traditional search engine optimization.

Yesterday, for example, I used ChatGPT to look for a good movie. I wanted to start with the earliest classics and work my way through the history of cinema year by year. ChatGPT recommended silent films by Georges Méliès—among the first true movies, dating back to around 1898 (some say 1902). It gave me a link to a free YouTube upload and shared some background information with another source.

But how did ChatGPT know this was a good answer? And how did it know the link would actually lead me to the right place?

The answer is SEO. The information about the film, the link to the video, and the related resources were well optimized and ranked high in Google’s search results. ChatGPT simply relied on that structure to determine that these sources were likely to be high quality.

Of course, you usually have a brief conversation with the AI to fine-tune its responses—this is a form of answer optimization, that is unique to AI because it happens directly between the model and the user. Still, whenever an AI gives me a link, it’s doing so for essentially the same reason Google ranks a link highly.

Therefore, even if search engines fade because of AI, SEO will not disappear. Most of its principles will continue to influence how AI models refer users to your content, just as Google does today. Understanding the basics of SEO is still essential—and worth our time.

Week 47/2025 YouTube Videos

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This week’s videos:

StoryLines

I talk about One Battle After which I didn’t really like. I think the movie stands as a good example for what Hollywood is doing: They are making videos for a world that only exists for those who don’t have to worry about making ends meet, while everyone else’s world doesn’t have anything to do with that anymore.

Brig

On my personal channel I talk about capitalism. It’s being used as a scapegoat to enforce ever more growing socialist policies. However, I don’t believe that we actually live in a capitalist society – maybe we never did.

I primarily make these videos for fun and myself. But if you like them, leave me a like and subscribe. It’s way more fun to make videos with an audience than without one.

Week 46/52 YouTube Videos

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Two more videos for this week:

StoryLines

On my movie essay channel I talk about Deep Water form 2022 this week:

Brig

On my personal channel, I’ll ramble about that gut feeling that we all have but can’t explain. It might actually be the lack of freedom in our current world:

Week 45/52 YouTube Videos

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Another week has flown by, here are the two main videos I’ve produced for Monday.

StoryLines

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I would’ve done with George Lucas’ Star Wars if I was given the reigns when Disney bought it. Here is the answer:

BRIG

I’m still in the process of figuring things out with this channel. For now, it’s a place to ramble:

Link Out to Others

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Before social media took over, everyone was chasing backlinks. Bloggers spammed the comment sections of bigger websites just to drop a link. Hustlers built entire networks of small “satellite” sites pointing to their main ones. You could even submit your site to directories just to get a mention with a link.

At some point, an entire industry grew around this — selling backlinks on sketchy (often Indian) websites for $5 on Fiverr.

Today, nobody really talks about backlinks anymore. As social media exploded, influencer shoutouts became the new gold. “Hit like and subscribe—and if you can, share my stuff on social media.” That’s how countless YouTubers end their videos. And it’s also the moment when many viewers click away, because they already know what’s coming.

I still believe links matter—not necessarily to get backlinks and please Google’s algorithm to climb higher in search results, but because links have a genuine human value.

Here’s a blog I enjoy: Chris Guillebeau – The Art of Non-Conformity
And here’s a YouTube channel I like: Nerdwriter

Both creators are far too big for me to expect anything in return for linking to them. They very likely will never share this post, give me a shoutout, or even notice my little blog. But what I gain from it is recommending something great to my readers.

I like reading Guillebeau’s blog, and I enjoy Nerdwriter’s video essays. I’m sure that some of my readers will too. Of course, many may already know them, but some might not—and for them, I’ve just shared two excellent links that make my site a bit more valuable.

Linking out also helps shape your online identity. The things you enjoy consuming reflect the kind of things you enjoy creating. These two links give my readers a clearer sense of who I am and what kind of content they can expect from me. It helps them decide whether they want to stick around.

So, if you want my advice: Link out to others as often as you can. Don’t expect anything in return. Don’t hope for a shoutout or a backlink. Do it for your readers—to offer value and share something worth their time.