In this post, we'll cover nine search engine optimization (SEO) trends.
By the end of this post, you'll know where SEO is heading with the rise of AI and how to stay ahead of your competitors.
Let's start.
1. AI-Generated SEO Content Is Now Mainstream
AI writing tools help create large volumes of content quickly, allowing websites to publish a greater number of pieces and target more keywords. And people are using AI tools now more than ever.
According to research from CoSchedule, 85% of marketers use AI tools for content creation.
But content that’s generated solely with AI often lacks uniqueness and depth. And using AI to write articles on topics your competitors cover could result in you creating content that’s highly similar.
This is a problem because Google assesses content quality based on factors like uniqueness. It’s that quality rather than the actual method of using AI that matters, according to Google:
“Our focus on the quality of content, rather than how content is produced, is a useful guide that has helped us deliver reliable, high quality results to users for years.”
Without proper editing and a concerted effort to include one-of-a-kind insights, AI content may fall short. This can affect your search rankings as well as your ability to appear in experiences like AI Overviews and AI Mode.
How to Leverage This Trend
Generate the first draft of your content using an AI tool. Then, enhance the AI content with real examples, stories, data, and other unique details to ensure the final content reflects your brand's expertise.
This two-step approach helps you create unique content efficiently while still aligning with what Google prioritizes.
Try Semrush’s Content Toolkit to generate your first draft.
Start by using the Topic Finder tool to come up with high-impact content ideas. Enter a primary topic, select your target location, and click “Find topics.”
Topic Finder will then surface ideas based on real-time search data.
From there, click “Start writing” and select “Generate article with AI” to create a full-length draft in AI Article Generator.
Here, you’ll be asked to specify your audience location, title, target keywords, word count, and brand voice.
Check the box next to "SEO booster" to automatically optimize your article with up-to-date search data. Then, click "Create article."
Based on your input, the tool will generate a full-length, SEO-friendly draft.
Click anywhere on the draft to start editing. And consider adding:
- Real examples
- Original data from your research or projects
- Expert insights from your industry experience
- Customer stories and testimonials
- Industry trends you've observed
Once you’re done editing, you can publish the article directly with the WordPress integration. Or send it to Google Docs to share it with your team.
2. Alternatives to Google Are Becoming More Popular
Users are expanding their focus beyond Google when doing research, relying on other search engines and AI platforms.
Bing's search market share has increased in recent years. And more than half of U.S. consumers now start product searches on Amazon instead of traditional search engines.
And we’d be remiss not to mention how quickly AI search is growing. Our research shows visitors from AI platforms could surpass visitors from traditional search engines by 2028.
How to Leverage This Trend
Follow Webflow’s lead by focusing on ways to increase your visibility in AI tools.
First, Webflow is consistently cited in “best website builder” lists like the Zapier article below. Which AI systems may reference when determining what brands to recommend.
Plus, Webflow’s support team engages directly with users on Reddit. And Reddit is one of the most frequently cited sources in AI tools.
Semrush’s AI Traffic dashboard shows Webflow’s site got an estimated 64.3K visits from AI platforms in August. This is a small portion of the site’s overall traffic (about 0.7% of the 9.2 million visits Traffic Analytics estimates), but those AI visits have increased by 47% since January.
And Webflow reports that 8% of its new signups now come from AI search traffic.
Here are some additional tips on how to reach prospects who aren’t solely using Google:
- Focus on Bing alongside Google. Submit your sitemap to Bing Webmaster Tools to help the search engine crawl your site more easily. Read our Bing search guide for more details on how to optimize for Bing.
- Structure your content thoughtfully. Create comprehensive content with clear structures that search engines and AI tools can easily understand.
- Collaborate with social media teams. Optimize content for TikTok and Instagram search using platform-specific keywords and hashtags.
- Strengthen your video efforts. Publish YouTube videos with optimized titles, descriptions, and transcripts to capture video search traffic.
- Apply technical SEO best practices. Websites that are fast, mobile-friendly, etc., stand to perform better across traditional and AI search.
3. Matching Search Intent Is Even More Important
Search engines and AI platforms prioritize content that best matches what users are searching for (their search intent).
Semrush’s ranking factors study confirmed text relevance as the most important Google ranking factor. Text relevance means how well your content matches what users want to find when they search.
And this concept is just as important for AI tools. In fact, alignment with intent might be even more important given the highly specific questions users tend to ask tools like ChatGPT.
This means your pages need to provide the most helpful information for specific queries.
How to Leverage This Trend
Create new content that matches search intent and update old content to make sure it satisfies what users want.
The first step is to find the intent behind your target keywords by analyzing Google search results and AI tool responses.
For example, when you search for "iphone 16 vs samsung s25" in Google, the top results are all detailed comparison articles that analyze features and prices. Meaning users probably want a side-by-side comparison to make an informed decision.
And when you search the same query using ChatGPT, you’ll see a detailed breakdown of features and considerations to help make a purchase decision. As well as source citations.
That said, intent can sometimes be difficult to determine, especially when you consider results are often personalized to the user. So, use Semrush's Keyword Overview tool for a more definitive way to identify intent.
Open the tool, enter your keyword (or a list of keywords), and click "Search."
Check the "Intent" widget for one or more keyword intent types:
- Informational: Users want to learn something
- Navigational: Users are looking for a specific website or page
- Commercial: Users are doing research before buying
- Transactional: Users are ready to take action
Next, scroll down to the “SERP Analysis” section and study the pages you see there. Look at what subtopics they cover, how the article is formatted, etc.
Next, create content that’s similar (or update your existing content) but with your unique spin.
4. Credibility Holds More Weight
Google aims to rank content that aligns with its Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) framework. And that same general framework can also help you create content that’s more likely to be cited in AI responses.
E-E-A-T itself isn’t a ranking factor. However, there are real people who use that framework when assessing the quality of search results. And their feedback can inform future Google algorithm updates.
And consider that research has shown practices like incorporating statistics, adding quotes, and citing reputable sources can help you appear in AI responses.
How to Leverage This Trend
Create content that displays credibility by including:
- Actual results from campaigns you've run
- Lessons learned from failures
- Observations from years in your industry
- Niche-specific statistics from trusted sources
- Quotes for internal and/or external subject matter experts
It’s also a good idea to have author pages that highlight your team’s qualifications.
For example, every writer and editor on Bankrate has a dedicated author page that displays their credentials and background.
And many Bankrate articles include a “Reviewed by” label, so readers know the information has been thoroughly vetted.
Bankrate also demonstrates credibility by incorporating insights from relevant experts:
All of Bankrate’s efforts to demonstrate their expertise and credibility likely help them appear prominently in not only traditional search results, but also in AI search results.
In fact, Bankrate is one of the most-cited finance sources in ChatGPT and Google AI Mode, according to our AI Visibility Index.
And Bankrate’s domain scores 87/100 in our AI Visibility Overview report. Meaning it’s frequently mentioned in large language model tool (LLM) responses to user queries.
5. AI Visibility Is Becoming a Key SEO Metric
The rise in AI tool use has prompted marketers to start tracking AI visibility in addition to more traditional metrics like keyword rankings.
How do we know marketers are interested in monitoring their performance in LLMs? Just consider how dramatically the monthly Google search volume for “ai visibility” has increased over the last year.
And there are many people asking about how to track AI mentions and citations on Reddit:
Interestingly, our research shows the sources featured in tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews frequently rank in position 21 or higher in traditional organic search. Which just goes to show that tracking rankings alone won’t give you the full picture of how you’re performing from a search perspective.
How to Leverage This Trend
Use Semrush’s Visibility report to track brand mentions across AI platforms like ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, and others. It shows your share of voice (how often you're cited versus competitors) across platforms.
Scroll down to see the specific prompts your brand appears for. And how visible you are compared to your competitors.
Use these insights to improve AI visibility. For instance, if competitors appear for queries where you don't, create comprehensive content addressing those topics.
For enterprise teams needing deeper insights, try Semrush Enterprise AIO.
6. AI Tools Are Transforming SEO Workflows
SEO professionals are rapidly adopting AI tools to streamline their work—and not just for content generation.
AI tools like ChatGPT excel at processing large datasets, identifying trends, and providing quick insights. And can assist with on-page optimization and technical SEO analyses, speeding up traditionally time-consuming tasks.
That said, AI works best when combined with human expertise and strategic thinking.
How to Leverage This Trend
Test different AI SEO tools that align with your needs and determine how to incorporate them into your workflows.
Get started with Semrush Copilot, an AI SEO assistant that analyzes your site's search performance to provide actionable recommendations you can use to improve your search visibility.
Based on your needs, you can try other AI tools like:
- ChatGPT for content outlining and finding on-page optimizations
- LinkStorm for analyzing and improving your internal linking structure
- Market Brew for testing content performance based on simulated algorithm changes
7. Zero-Click Searches Have Changed Search Behavior
Zero-click searches continue to rise—only 40.3% of U.S. Google searches resulted in clicks to organic results in March 2025—down from 44.2% in March of the previous year.
The decrease in clicks to search results means users increasingly find answers directly on Google's results page through features like AI Overviews, featured snippets, and knowledge panels.
For example, this AI Overview answers the user's question without requiring a click:
While fewer clicks might seem concerning, this trend allows you to gain exposure when you’re prominently displayed and showcase your expertise directly on the search results page.
How to Leverage This Trend
Optimize for visibility in AI Overviews and other prominent results by structuring your content to be easily extracted and cited—this also increases the odds of appearing in other AI tools.
For instance, create content that directly answers questions in the first paragraph. AI Overviews often pull from content that provides immediate, clear answers followed by supporting details.
Use the Keyword Magic Tool to identify keywords where certain SERP features appear. And focus your efforts on optimizing for those opportunities.
Open the tool, enter a seed keyword (a broad term related to your niche), select a location, and click “Search.”
Then, click “Advanced filters,” select the “Any” drop-down under “SERP Features,” and check the box next to “AI Overviews.” Click “Apply.”
Now, you’ll see a list of related keywords. And it will be filtered to only show terms that trigger an AI Overview.
Visit the results pages for these terms to better understand what’s showing in the AI Overviews. For example, analyze what sources it cites and how those pages structure the answers.
Then optimize your content to match. For example:
- If the AI Overview lists steps, ensure your content has a clear numbered list
- If the AI Overview provides a definition, lead with a concise definition in your content
- If the AI Overview compares options, create a comparison table or a clear pros/cons section
Further reading: What Are Zero-Click Searches & How Do They Impact SEO?
8. Conversational Keywords Are Key
Keyword research that’s more focused on long-tail, conversational phrases is even more crucial in the AI era.
People naturally ask AI search platforms detailed questions like "what's the best way to remove red wine stains from a white cotton shirt" rather than typing "stain removal."
And we know AI systems split user queries into even more sub-queries when finding information to use in a response—this is called query fan-out.
Plus, very specific keywords tend to attract users who are highly motivated. And that means they may be more likely to convert.
How to Leverage This Trend
Optimize your content with conversational keywords that match what your target audience is searching for using the Keyword Magic Tool.
Start by entering a seed keyword. Then add your domain to the "AI-powered feature" field to see your Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD %) score—this shows how difficult it will be for your exact domain to rank in Google’s top 10 results for that keyword.
Then, click on the “Personal KD %” filter, enter “29” in the “To” field, and click “Apply” to see keywords that are easy for your site to rank highly for.
Look specifically for:
- Questions starting with "how," "what," "why," "when"
- Phrases with conversational modifiers like "for beginners," "without," "vs"
- Location or situation-specific queries ("in small spaces," "on a budget," "for seniors")
Many of these will be long-tail, conversational keywords that mirror how people search in 2025.
Review the list and select keywords that are most relevant to you. Then, create a content calendar that maps out what content you’ll create and when.
9. Local SEO Has Moved Beyond Just Google Business Profile Optimization
Local search results are rich with features like local packs, knowledge panels, and image carousels, so your local SEO strategy must go beyond creating and optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP).
You need to build a comprehensive online presence that establishes your business as a trusted, authoritative entity. Which you can do by gaining online mentions, getting reviews, etc.
How to Leverage This Trend
Focus on building your business's reputation and visibility across your entire online presence to improve local search rankings.
Take CAN Roof Construction, a roofing contractor in Boston, as an example. Their website has multiple service pages, each optimized for specific keywords, to make it easy for both users and search engines to understand exactly what the company offers.
CAN Roof Construction also has listings on trusted directories such as Yelp and the Better Business Bureau. Consistent business details and positive reviews across these platforms strengthen their authority and credibility.
The company even maintains an active presence on Instagram, sharing project updates and engaging with the local community.
Together, these signals can help CAN Roof Construction rank in Google’s local pack for keywords like “best roofing contractor in boston.”
Even ChatGPT recommends the company when asked about roofing contractors in Boston.
To make sure your own business has consistent information across directories, use Semrush's Listing Management tool.
After you sign up for a plan, go to the "Listings" tab to see your name, address, and phone number (NAP) information across directories. The tool will highlight inconsistent information that you should fix.
Then, ask customers to leave reviews. And respond to all feedback promptly to show you value customer input.
Use Semrush's Review Management to manage reviews across multiple platforms.
Open the tool and enter your business name. Select the right business from the drop-down menu that appears.
Configure Review Management. Then look at your reviews. You can even use AI to generate responses to Google reviews. And set up automatic replies.
Next, make your website a local resource hub with content specifically for your local audience. You can do this by:
- Adding location-specific pages to your website
- Sharing success stories featuring local customers
- Creating blog posts that are of particular interest to your neighborhood and community
Check out Semrush’s free local SEO course for more best practices.
Adapt to the Latest SEO Trends
SEO trends will continue to evolve, especially as AI reshapes how people search. But the fundamentals will remain the same:
- Publish helpful content relevant to your audience
- Demonstrate that you’re credible
- Track relevant metrics
A free Semrush trial can help with many of these tasks.