If you look into your Google Analytics data and customer acquisition sources, the numbers don’t lie. AI search is growing and it’s delivering quality traffic and leads.
Conversational AI apps, especially ChatGPT, is changing how people find information online and how businesses get discovered. Google’s AI Overviews is now delivering more complete answers directly in search results.
So, does that mean traditional SEO is dead?
Not even close.
In fact, recent data shows SEO is more important than ever for professional and local service businesses that want to keep growing in 2026.
1. Search Is Growing — Not Shrinking
Despite all the buzz around AI, people aren’t searching less — they’re searching more.
According to data shared by Neil Patel in late 2025:
- Daily Google searches jumped from 8.5 billion to 13.7 billion in just months — that’s over 5 trillion searches per year.
- Question-based searches (the kind AI is great at answering) have exploded — up from 38% to 87% of all queries in just eight months.
What this means for SMBs:
Consumers are turning to Google more often and with more intent. Whether it’s “how much does a local CPA cost?” or “best IT provider near me,” these searches start journeys that still lead back to websites — especially those optimized for visibility and credibility.
2. Organic Google SEO Still Drives Way More Traffic than AI Search
Here’s a somewhat meta way to illustrate this.
Below is a screenshot of our Google Analytics traffic data for our Guide on How to Appear in Search Results. This blog article ranks in both organic Google search results and related AI searches.
The report is looking at data since we published the article on July 14, 2025 and filtered to show only users first acquired via organic Google and AI traffic from the US, Canada, the UK and Australia which corresponds to our clients location. Overwhelmingly, 94% of traffic comes from Google. This bears quite a bit of irony considering the topic…
Of course that was just one page.
Let’s look below at a Service page instead. Still 87% of traffic is coming from Google organic search, even though it does highlight the growing role AI Search plays into evaluating and finding vendors.Â
Prospective clients who converted via an organic search also indicate during sales calls having found us via ChatGPT or a combination of both.
The reports above are also just two examples of one top and bottom of funnel page with different search intent. This doesn’t invalidate the need to be focusing on AI search optimization, rather it’s about understanding the importance of both channels at the present time.
Ultimately, you should track data all the way through becoming a client and see if the numbers stay true for your business.
In our case, at the moment, we see a similar correlation between traffic and client acquisition numbers.
3. SEO Drives Awareness Before the Click
Even as AI surfaces summarized answers, visibility in organic results still shapes buyer perception.
- 90% of consumers first hear about a company through an organic Google result.
- Yet only 5% buy instantly when they discover a business that way.
That gap is where SEO continues to shine — nurturing awareness, building trust, and staying present through multiple touchpoints before a purchase happens.
For professional and local service businesses, SEO isn’t about quick conversions; it’s about owning the moments before customers are ready to buy.
4. AI and SEO Are Built on the Same Foundation
It’s not SEO versus AI search — it’s SEO plus AI search.
SEO is the layer below AI results.Â
ChatGPT and Google rank websites then synthesis the answer from them. So if you want to appear in AI search, have to rank first.
Both depend on the same underlying signals: Google’s E-E-A-T principles — Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
High-quality, helpful content that demonstrates real-world expertise performs well in both traditional rankings and AI-generated results. So, the effort you put into creating valuable, optimized content pays off twice:
- It helps you rank in organic search results.
- It increases your chances of being cited or featured in AI-generated overviews.
5. Not All Searches Are Equal — But SEO Covers Them All
Neil Patel’s data shows AI appears far more in informational searches (45.9%) than in transactional or navigational ones — meaning when people are ready to buy, traditional organic listings and local results still dominate.
| Search Type | % of Search Volume | AI Overview Frequency |
| Informational | ~50% | 45.9% |
| Navigational | 34.6% | 1.5% |
| Commercial | 14.8% | 17.8% |
| Transactional | 8% | 6.1% |
For SMBs in industries like legal, accounting, healthcare, or IT — where trust and location matter — SEO continues to be the most direct path from awareness to conversion. AI may influence the early research phase, but buyers still click into sites, reviews, and local listings before deciding who to call.
6. SEO Fuels Every Channel
Your SEO foundation doesn’t just help with Google visibility — it improves performance across your entire marketing ecosystem:
- Better SEO content feeds AI chat and search visibility.
- Optimized pages enhance paid ad quality scores, lowering CPCs.
- Strong site authority boosts performance on social, maps, and directories.
In other words, SEO strengthens every marketing investment you make.
7. The Smart Play for 2026: Integrate, Don’t Choose
AI-driven search is here to stay, but it’s not replacing SEO — it’s complenting it.
Businesses that win in 2026 will:
âś… Keep producing high-quality, E-E-A-T-driven content.
âś… Optimize for both human and AI consumption.
âś… Combine SEO insights with AI search data to guide their strategy.
AI may be changing how people find answers, but SEO still determines whose answers they trust.
Final Thoughts on Why SEO and AI Work Better Together
If you’re a growing service business, SEO remains your most cost-effective, compounding marketing investment. AI search may amplify discovery, but SEO ensures you’re the business people actually find — and believe — when it matters most.
Additional resources on this topic:
