AI search is growing, but SEO basics still drive the majority of traffic

Generative AI is everywhere right now. It’s dominating conference agendas, filling LinkedIn feeds, and reshaping how many businesses think about organic search.

Products are racing to develop AI Overview, building vector embeddings, mapping semantic clusters, and refactoring content models to LLMs.

What gets far less attention is a basic fact: for most websites, AI platforms still drive a small portion of overall traffic.

AI search is growing, no question.

But in most cases, the total referral times for all LLM platforms combined amount to only about 2% to 3% of the organic traffic that Google alone brings.

Despite that gap, many teams spend more time chasing AI strategies than fixing the simple, high-impact SEO fundamentals that continue to drive measurable results.

Instead of making the most important improvements today, they are overinvesting in the future while underperforming in the present.

This article examines how a narrow focus on AI can obscure proven SEO tactics and highlights practical examples and real-world data that show how those fundamentals are still moving the needle today.

1. Quick SEO wins still bring huge benefits

In an era where everyone is so focused on things like vector embedding and semantic relationships, it’s easy to forget that small updates can have a big impact.

For example, title tags are still one of the easiest and most effective SEO methods to get traction.

And they’re often one of the things on the page where most websites get it wrong, either by targeting the wrong keywords, not including a variation, or targeting nothing at all.

A few weeks ago, a client saw a win by simply entering “& ” in the existing title tag on their home page. Nothing else has been changed.

The ranking of keywords increases, as do the clicks and impressions of queries containing that keyword.

All this was accomplished by changing the title tag on one page.

Combine that with other tactics, such as on-page copy editing, internal linking, and backlinking across multiple pages, and the growth will continue.

It may seem basic, but it still works.

And if you only focus on advanced GEO techniques, you may overlook simple tactics that provide immediate, tangible impact.

2. Content freshness and authority are still important for competitive keywords

Another tactic that has faded from view with the rise of AI is what is often referred to as the skyscraper process.

It involves targeting a set of keywords and pages that already rank for them, then publishing a more robust version designed to outperform the existing results.

It is true that the web is full of content on similar topics, especially keywords that appear in many research tools.

But if the site has enough authority, a clear right to win, and the freshness of the content, this method can still be very effective.

I have seen this work many times.

Here is Google Search Console data from a recent article we published for a client on a popular, long-running topic with many competing pages already ranking.

The post rose to No. 2 almost immediately and began generating new clicks and impressions.

Why did it work?

The site has a strong authority, and much of the content placed before it was outdated and outdated.

If you hesitate to publish a thousand articles on an established topic, that hesitation is understandable.

This method will not work for all sites. But to ignore it completely can mean to be so clearly successful, so confident.

3. User experience is always a key conversion factor

The hype surrounding AI-driven shopping experiences has led some groups to believe that website optimization is becoming obsolete.

There is a growing perception that AI assistants will soon handle most interactions or that users will convert directly within AI platforms without accessing a website.

One of those futures is starting to take shape, especially for ecommerce brands that are testing features like Instant Checkout on ChatGPT.

But most websites don’t sell products.

And even for those that exist, many brands still receive a large volume of traffic from organic search and continue to rely on calls to action and on-page signals to drive conversions.

And it makes little difference how the user arrives – through organic search, paid search, AI referrals, or direct visits.

A fast site, a strong user experience, and a clear conversion funnel are always important.

There are also clear performance benefits associated with optimizing these features.

Here are the results we recently got for a client following a simple CTR test:

Brands that continue to invest in user experience and improving conversion rates will outperform those that don’t.

That gap is likely to exacerbate long teams waiting for AI to fully replace the conversion funnel.

AI is reshaping search, but what works still matters

There is no denying that AI is reshaping the search landscape.

It changes user behavior, influences SERPs, and complicates attribution models.

The biggest risk for many businesses, however, is not underestimating AI but over-correcting it.

Traditional organic search remains the main source of traffic for most websites, and the basics of SEO still deliver when done right.

• Quick wins are real.
• High quality content continues to be rewarded.
• Improving the user experience shows no signs of becoming irrelevant.

These are just a few examples of tactics that still work today.

Importantly, these efforts do not work alone.

Optimizing basic website elements can strengthen organic visibility while supporting paid search performance and LLM visibility.

Staying informed about AI developments and planning for the future is important.

It should not come up with strategies that drive measurable growth right now.