The short answer
No, SEO isn't dead, but it has changed. Google's AI answers and tools like ChatGPT now answer many simple questions directly, so you'll get fewer clicks for basic information. People still search before they buy, though, and AI tools build their answers from websites, Business Profiles and reviews. The businesses that win are the ones those answers can trust and point to.
What the data actually says
Pew Research Center tracked the real browsing of 900 US adults. About 18% of their Google searches showed an AI summary. On those pages, people clicked a regular result in 8% of visits, compared with 15% when there was no summary, and only 1% clicked a link inside the summary itself[1].
In India, business owners are clearly noticing. Searches for "aeo services" and "ai seo" broke out over the past year, with Delhi and Chandigarh among the most interested regions[4].
What Google says you need to do
Google's own guidance is clear: there are no extra requirements and no special markup to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. A page only needs to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet[2].
The basics Google points to
- Let Google crawl your site, including through your hosting or CDN settings[2].
- Link to your important pages from other pages on your site[2].
- Keep key information in text, not only in images or PDFs[2].
- Keep structured data matching what's visible on the page[2].
- Keep your Google Business Profile up to date[2].
How to win customers from AI search
- Write pages that answer real buying questions: prices, comparisons, who it's for, how long it takes.
- Put the direct answer in the first two lines, then explain.
- Complete your Google Business Profile and keep collecting honest reviews.
- Get mentioned on trusted sites in your industry and city: directories, local news, partner websites.
- Use the same business name, address and phone number everywhere.
- Track calls, WhatsApp chats and form enquiries from search, so you judge SEO by customers, not visitors.
For the step-by-step version, read our guide on getting your business recommended by ChatGPT and Gemini on the Retales blog.
Does this apply outside India?
Yes. The click data above comes from US users, and AI Overviews and ChatGPT work the same way worldwide. If you serve customers in the US or abroad, the same basics apply, with one extra step: make sure your pages clearly say which countries you serve and in which currency.
Want SEO that's built for AI search?
Retales does SEO for businesses across India with AI search in mind: clear answer pages, a strong Google Business Profile, local listings and honest reporting on enquiries, not just rankings. We're headquartered in New Delhi. Ask us for a free look at how your business shows up today.
Sources
Every statistic in this article comes from one of these publications. Links open the original source in a new tab.
- 1Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results Browsing data from 900 US adults, March 2025.
- 2AI features and your website No special optimisation or special schema is needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode; normal SEO best practices apply.
- 3ChatGPT reaches 900M weekly active users OpenAI's announcement of weekly users and paying subscribers.
- 4Google Trends: search interest in India, October 2025 to October 2026 Interest for "meta ads" reached its 12-month peak in October 2026. Rising related searches included "andromeda meta ads" (+450%) and "google reviews" (+140%).
This article is for general information and isn't financial or legal advice. Figures are as published by each source on the date shown.