Why ‘search everywhere’ is the new reality of SEO

Most SEO discussions today focus on AI – from AI reviews to ChatGPT and other LLMs – and concerns that they are taking traffic from business websites, forcing them to switch to GEO or AEO.

For the most part, those concerns are valid. AI slows down traffic on many sites, especially those that rely on high content content. But the data suggests that AI may not be the biggest change.

User behavior has been diverging on social media for years, and I see this play out in agency work every day.

Here’s data showing how search behavior is changing across platforms, and why a “search everywhere” strategy is more important than focusing on LLMs alone.

Third-party platforms intervene in general searches

People search TikTok for restaurants, YouTube for tutorials, Reddit for authentic reviews, and Amazon for products. In many cases, these platforms are replacing traditional search engines like Google and Bing as the starting point.

This shift isn’t just behavior – it’s reflected in traffic, too. Amazon and YouTube still drive more desktop than ChatGPT, a trend Rand Fishkin recently highlighted.

Recently, I helped run an extensive voice analytics assignment for a client. The goal was threefold:

• See which competitors are winning in traditional search across multiple service lines.
• Find keywords and content gaps.
• Create a content guide based on priorities to fill these gaps.

The analysis revealed a lot of useful data, but one of the most interesting takeaways was that our main competitors were not our biggest competitors in general search. YouTube and Reddit were.

These platforms rank well in general search, use valuable SERP real estate, and drive users away from Google and Bing to their platforms.

The analysis highlighted an important point: if you do not focus any effort in these areas, you not only miss out on visibility in general searches, but also lose important attention when users leave Google and start watching videos or reading threads.

And this website is not the only one that sees this kind of trend. Do this type of analysis yourself, and see who your real competitors are within traditional search. The answers may surprise you.

Dig deep: Why social search visibility is the next evolution of discovery

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Third-party platforms can have high search volumes

As seen above, platforms like YouTube and Reddit are increasingly taking over traditional SERP real estate. But what about search within the platforms themselves? Depending on the query, there may be much more search volume on these platforms than on Google or Bing.

For example, YouTube dominates tutorials and “how-to” content. The term “how to fix a leaky sink faucet” has 15 times the search volume on YouTube than the average global search.

Search volumes are predictable. But if you want to get in front of the right people when they search, any content strategy around a word like this, or a similar topic, should include creating a YouTube video.

Even better, so you can search everywhere, create a blog post and embed that video in it.

Dig deep: YouTube is no longer optional for SEO in this age of AI overview

Third-party platforms are highly cited for LLMs

Besides traditional search and field search, we also know that “ubiquitous search” is influencing the results generated by AI.

To provide answers, LLMs need content to synthesize. More often than not, that content doesn’t come from business websites, but from third-party sources and social media.

AI visualization tools can quickly show businesses the power of searching everywhere in relation to quotes. Check out these examples:

These are two completely different brands, yet the trends are the same: a very small percentage of citations come from your website or even direct competitors.

In both examples, about 90% of the citations come from third-party news and online publications, or social media and forums like Reddit or Quora.

The takeaway here is that focusing on your website, in the context of LLM quotes, can only go so far. If you want to improve the brand experience or ensure that information is accurately displayed by AI, it has to happen in areas outside of your direct control.

Dig deep: SEO’s new battleground: Winning the consensus layer

Start investing in search everywhere today

The competitive landscape is changing, and many marketers have tunnel vision when it comes to AI. Discovery now takes place in many different arenas.

YouTube, Reddit, Quora, and others dominate significant portions of traditional search results and may have additional search functionality within their platforms. When AI systems generate answers, they often pull information from these platforms instead of product websites.

To win in modern search, you need to understand where your audience is searching. That doesn’t stop at Google. It means appearing everywhere that shapes decisions.