5 SEO Predictions for 2026

Every year, SEOs write prediction posts (like this one). And every year, we don't really predict much of anything, to be honest. And its not that the logic is flawed or the posts are bad, but because we've been predicting incremental changes to a system that's fundamentally changing.

"Google will prioritize E-E-A-T even more." "You can shop from pictures." "Video content will be more important."

Yes, those are all pretty accurate but at the end of the day (or year) how much did that move the needle?

In 2026 however, we are looking at a BIG shift. Lots of different actual predictions and insights and opinions. It's exciting because now we must address what's actually happening: your buyers are researching in ChatGPT, validating on Reddit, watching comparisons on YouTube, and only Googling your brand name when they're ready to buy. And most people are still stuck on measuring success by organic traffic and rankings.

For 2026 let's forget the previous year's predictions that were more around tactical tweaks to your existing SEO playbook. This year, let's recognize that the game has changed and we have to change the rules.

Here's what I'm seeing:

Through my SEO courses on Coursera (reaching over 500,000+ learners), corporations I have consulted with, and more, I'm hearing the same story on repeat: "Our traffic is down, but we don't know why." "Our content gets zero clicks but we see our brand mentioned everywhere." "Attribution is completely broken."

The pattern is consistent across industries: brand search is declining while AI tool usage is exploding. Content that should be performing isn't getting clicks. Buyers are making decisions without ever visiting websites.

The clicks look like they've disappeared but they'ved moved to platforms we're not tracking.

So what does 2026 actually look like?

I'm not here to tell you "SEO is dead" or to panic about AI. I'm here to tell you what to expect based on real data, real user behavior, and real shifts I'm seeing across my students, clients, and community.

Rather than feeding you aspirational predictions, I am talking about trends that are already in motion. By the end of 2026, they'll be the new normal—and the companies that adapted early will have a massive advantage.

Here are the 5 shifts that will define SEO in 2026:

Prediction #1:
"Page One" Becomes Irrelevant

By the end of 2026, "ranking #1 on Google" will no longer be a meaningful KPI for most industries. We need to shift our focus from position and traffic-based reporting to looking at where are you visible within the buyer-journey. We need to begin identifying appropriate visibility metrics to track.

Google basically used to be a link directory, but in 2026 its moved on to becoming an answer engine. Between AI Overviews, AI Mode, featured snippets, stupidly well-blended ads, and People Also Ask boxes, the SERP itself has become the destination. Users get their answer, remember your brand name (maybe), and leave. No click required.

And it's getting worse fast. According to Search Engine Land's Q1 2025 data, only 40.3% of U.S. Google searchers clicked on an organic result in March 2025, down from 44.2% the year prior. That means nearly 60% of searches now end without any click to a website.

When AI Overviews appear, the situation gets even worse. According to Ahrefs, AI Overviews trigger a 34.5% decrease in click-through rate.

Why It Matters:

Your content can be performing perfectly (ranking #1, appearing in AI Overviews, getting cited in featured snippets) and you'll see a big decrease in direct traffic vs what you could have gotten just 2-3 years ago.

This breaks traditional SEO reporting. Your stakeholders will look at declining organic traffic and assume your SEO is failing, when in reality, your SEO is working exactly as intended. You're just not getting the right credit for it because the click never happens.

If you're measuring success by organic sessions and your content is increasingly appearing in zero-click formats, you're going to look like you're failing even when you're winning, which is a serious issue that needs to be correctly addressed in 2026.

What to Do About It:

1. Change how you measure success. Stop reporting solely on organic traffic. Start tracking:

• Impressions in Google Search Console (are people seeing your brand?)
• Branded search volume (are people remembering you, and searching for you by name after seeing you in zero-click results?)
• Share of voice in AI Overviews and featured snippets (are you the answer Google/AI is citing?)

2. Optimize to BE the answers on and off Google:

This means:

• Ensuring your content has a clear, direct answers in the first 50-100 words
• Using schema markup to help AI systems extract your content. It doesn't play a role (now) but you shouldnt assume it never will. If it's a low effort task to add - do it.
• Creating content that's quotable, cite-able, and extractable

The companies that thrive in 2026 will be the ones who understand that showing up in a zero-click result is now about awareness, and leads people through the funnel directly to their brand.

Prediction #2:
AI Assistants Will Shop for You

Actually, this isn't really a prediction since it's now here - but buckle up because this will grow.

On September 29, 2025, OpenAI launched Instant Checkout, powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol. U.S. ChatGPT users can now buy directly from Etsy sellers right in the chat, with over 1 million Shopify merchants rolling out soon—including major brands like Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx, Vuori, Target, and Walmart.

Microsoft's Copilot launched its Merchant Program in April 2025. Perplexity rolled out "Buy with Pro" in late 2024. OpenAI's Operator agent is already handling restaurant bookings, grocery orders, and travel arrangements on behalf of users.

So the reality we have to prepare ourselves for is how much of e-commerce will flow through AI intermediaries instead of traditional websites by the end of 2026

In addition, AI is predicted to drive $260 billion in global online sales during the 2025 holiday season alone. And, 82% of consumers now trust AI-generated product recommendations, and 75% would trust AI to auto-refill shopping carts and automate ordering.

Why It Matters:

This changes how we think of conversion optimization as well as attribution from organic search.

Right now, your SEO strategy is built around this path: Rank → Click → Visit Website → Convert

In an agentic commerce world, the path becomes: Be in AI's dataset → AI recommends you → AI completes transaction → You never see the user

You could have perfect SEO, rank #1, have the best product, and still lose the sale because the AI chose a competitor based on a series of factors you may not be tracking (pricing, availability, reviews, partnerships with the AI platform, algorithm preferences).

This is especially critical for:

• E-commerce: Product discovery and purchase through AI
• Local businesses: "Find me a plumber near me and book an appointment"
• Service providers: "Schedule a consultation with a marketing consultant"
• SaaS: "Find me project management software and start a trial"

As one shopper told CNBC: "I feel like I've got that physical store associate that I'm talking to, so I feel like I'm getting better recommendations. I actually think my tendency to buy is higher because of ChatGPT."

What to Do About It:

1. Get on the platforms NOW. If you're a Shopify or Etsy merchant in the U.S., you can already enable Instant Checkout through ChatGPT. If you're using Salesforce Commerce, you can enable Agentforce Commerce integration with PayPal. Don't wait, early movers will dominate the recommendation algorithms.

Apply here if you're a merchant: OpenAI's merchant application process is open.

2. Ensure your data is AI-accessible. This means:

• Structured data for products, pricing, availability, reviews
• Clear, machine-readable information about your offerings
• Updated business hours, contact info, booking systems
• API integrations where possible (so AI agents can check real-time availability)

3. Optimize for AI recommendation criteria. You need to be the option the AI chooses when it acts on behalf of a user:

• Keep pricing competitive and transparent
• Maintain high review scores across platforms (AI tools pull from G2, Yelp, Google Reviews, merchant ratings)
• Ensure your product/service descriptions are clear and benefit-focused
• Make booking/purchasing as frictionless as possible

4. Monitor where you show up in AI outputs. Start testing monthly:

• "Find me [your product category] for [use case]"
• "Best [product] under $[price]"
• "Compare [your brand] to competitors"

Document whether you're being recommended, and if not, why. Are competitors showing up with better reviews? Clearer pricing? Stronger descriptions?

5. Reformulate your website content strategy. As one Shopify merchant told CNBC (above), instead of keyword stuffing with basic attributes (material, size, color), they're adding detailed information like "good for small spaces," "great for apartment living," "best gifts for kids under one year old." They're optimizing for the questions people ask AI, not the keywords people type into Google.

6. Understand you're shifting budgets. According to CNBC, retailers are "directing funds away from SEO, or search engine optimization, and into AEO, or answer engine optimization, and AEO consultants to help them navigate the shift."

The companies that win in agentic commerce won't necessarily be the ones with the best SEO. They'll be the ones that are easiest for AI to recommend and transact with, and they'll have integrated with the major AI platforms before their competitors did.

Prediction #3:
SEOs Must Go Multimodal

We don't even have to wait for the end of 2026, "SEO" no longer means "Google optimization." It means "search optimization across every platform where your buyers look for answers."

SEOs will be expected to understand YouTube algorithms, TikTok discovery, Reddit community dynamics, AI citation patterns, Digital PR, and of course, still Google.

The days of "just rank on Google" are over. I am coining this as the new era of "Discovery Engine Optimization". Your buyers are searching across a dozen different platforms, and each one has its own algorithm, ranking factors, and user behavior patterns.

AI platforms are growing exponentially. Perplexity went from 230 million monthly queries in mid-2024 to 780 million in May 2025, tripling in less than a year. ChatGPT hit 700-800 million weekly active users by mid-2025.

And it's not just LLMs. YouTube processes over 3 billion searches per month and is the second-largest search engine after Google. After Google's deal with Reddit, their search traffic has exploded.

Why It Matters:

Your content strategy can't be "write a blog post and hope Google ranks it" anymore. As an SEO, you need to be asking:

• YouTube: Are we creating video content that ranks for our key topics?
• TikTok/IG: Are we showing up when people for solutions in our category?
• Reddit: Are we part of the conversations where our buyers validate decisions?
• ChatGPT/Perplexity/Claude/Gemini: Are we being cited when people ask AI for recommendations?
• LinkedIn: Are we visible when B2B buyers search for industry insights?
• Google: Yes, still important—but now just ONE platform in a much bigger ecosystem

Each platform has different:

• Search intent: People use YouTube differently than they use ChatGPT
• Content formats: What works on TikTok won't work on Reddit
• Ranking signals: Engagement matters more on social; authority matters more on AI
• User demographics: Your B2B buyers are on LinkedIn; your D2C buyers might be on TikTok

Modern SEOs need to wear multiple hats where you're part content strategist, part platform specialist, part data analyst. The technical skills are still critical, but now you also need to understand how different platforms surface content and how to create for each one.

What to Do About It:

1. Audit where your buyers actually search. Use a platform like SparkToro to get data.

You should also spend time understanding your customers directly. Hold interviews and ask questions like:

• "Where did you first research solutions like ours?"
• "What platforms did you use to compare options?"
• "Where did you find the most helpful information?"

You'll likely find 5-7 core platforms that matter for your specific audience.

2. Develop platform-specific content strategies.

• YouTube: In-depth tutorials, product demos, comparison videos
• TikTok: Quick tips, before/afters, relatable pain points
• Reddit: Genuine participation in relevant subreddits (not spam)
• ChatGPT/AI: Structured, cite-able content with clear answers and data
• LinkedIn: Thought leadership, industry insights, case studies
• Google: Comprehensive guides that still serve traditional search

3. Learn platform-specific optimization:

• YouTube SEO: Video titles, descriptions, timestamps, engagement metrics
• TikTok SEO: Hashtags, captions, on-screen text, trending audio
• Reddit: Authenticity, community participation, helpful non-promotional content
• AI Citation: Structured data, quotable stats, authoritative sources, freshness
• LinkedIn: Professional formatting, industry keywords, engagement signals

4. Start small, go deep. Don't try to dominate 10 platforms at once. Pick 3-4 where your buyers are most active and build real presence there. Do them well before expanding.

The SEOs winning in 2026 won't be the ones who only understand Google's algorithm. They'll be the ones who can identify where their specific audience searches, optimize for those platforms, and prove ROI across a fragmented discovery landscape.

Prediction #4:
The Human Authenticity Premium

By the end of 2026, AI-generated content will be so ubiquitous that the only content that cuts through will be human, original, and based on real experience.

We're already seeing the backlash. Google's March 2024 Helpful Content Update specifically targeted AI-generated content that lacked first-hand experience. Google has also started removing videos of AI generated content from YouTube.
Sites relying on programmatic SEO and AI content farms saw massive traffic drops. And it's only going to get more aggressive.

The future won't reward content that can be generated by ChatGPT in 30 seconds, and if it does rank - your audience is going to naturally be drawn to human content, the little awkward tells that really show there was another person at the end of the keyboard.

There needs to be

• First-hand experience and original research that AI can't replicate
• Author authority and credentials (E-E-A-T on steroids)
• Unique perspectives and insights that only come from doing the actual work
• More authentic human creation (Expect more personal stories, awkward phrasings, typos, etc)

Google has long ago prioritized content with clear author bylines, credentials, and demonstrated expertise. By 2026, expect this to become non-negotiable for competitive keywords.

Why It Matters:

AI has commoditized generic content. Anyone can generate a 1,500-word blog post about "10 tips for better sleep" in minutes. That regurgitated content has zero value now. It's everywhere. It has nothing unique to offer.

What you CAN'T get from AI:

• "Here's what happened when I tested 15 different project management tools with my actual team over 6 months"
• "I've worked with 200+ clients in this industry, and here's the patterns I see"
• "We analyzed our own data from 50,000 customer conversations and found..."
• Original data, case studies, proprietary research

The content that will rank (and get cited by AI) in 2026 is content that demonstrates you actually did something rather than just summarizing what's already out there.

This also means:

• Generic "ultimate guides" are dead. Unless you have genuinely new information to add, don't bother.
• Bylines matter more than ever. Anonymous blog posts or "by [Company Name]" won't cut it.
• Author pages and credentials matter. Who wrote this? Why should I trust them?
• First-person experience is critical. "We tested this" beats "experts say" every time.

What to Do About It:

1. Add real author bylines with credentials. Every piece of content should have:

• Author name (real person, not "The [Company] Team")
• Author bio demonstrating relevant expertise
• Author photo (yes, this matters for trust)
• Links to author's other work or social profiles

2. Create content only you can create. Ask yourself: "Could someone generate this with ChatGPT?" If yes, don't publish it. Instead:

• Share original research from your own data
• Document real experiments and results
• Interview actual experts (not just quote them from other articles)
• Share specific examples from your work/clients/experience

3. Make your experience explicit. Don't assume readers know you have expertise. State it:

• "In our analysis of 10,000 customer support tickets..."
• "After managing $50M in ad spend across 200 campaigns..."
• "We tested 8 different approaches with our team and here's what worked..."

4. Leverage subject matter experts. If you're creating content about technical topics, have it written (or at least reviewed) by someone with credentials in that field. Google is getting better at detecting when content is written by someone who knows what they're talking about vs. someone who just researched it.

The companies that win in 2026 will have a content library that AI literally cannot replicate because it's based on proprietary data, real-world experience, and unique perspectives that only come from actually doing the work. This content will become the source content that all other AI generated content links to.

Prediction #5:
The Growing Importance of Brand Signals

By the end of 2026, where people talk about your brand will matter more than what's on your website.

Google (and AI platforms) are increasingly looking at off-site signals to determine authority and trustworthiness:

• Are you being mentioned in blog posts, industry publications, and forums?
• Is your branded search volume increasing?
• Are people recommending you organically in response to "what's the best [X]" questions?

Traditional SEO focused on on-page optimization: keywords, meta tags, internal linking, content depth. In 2026, the most powerful ranking signal will be whether people reference you, and the sentiment around your brand.

This shift is already happening. Google's March 2024 algorithm leaks showed that Google specifically rewarded sites with strong brand signals - sites that people actively searched for by name, discussed in communities, and recommended to others.

Why It Matters:

You can have the most perfectly optimized website in the world, but if nobody's talking about you, Google (and AI) won't trust you.

Think about how you actually research products now:

• You Google "[product category] reddit" to see what real people say
• You ask ChatGPT and it pulls from community discussions
• You check if people are organically mentioning brands in LinkedIn comments, Twitter threads, niche forums

Google knows this is how people research now. So they're weighting these signals heavily.

Branded search volume has become one of the strongest indicators of brand health and authority. If people are searching for "[YourBrand] + reviews," "[YourBrand] + vs [Competitor]," "[YourBrand] + pricing," it signals to Google that you're a real brand people trust—not just an SEO-optimized website.

According to industry reports, many companies saw branded search declining even as their traditional SEO metrics looked fine, and this preceded major traffic drops. Branded search is now a leading indicator of organic health.

What to Do About It:

1. Monitor your brand mentions across platforms. Set up alerts for:

• Reddit mentions (use tools like F5Bot or Reddit search)
• Social media discussions
• LinkedIn comments
• Industry-specific forums and communities
• Sites like Hacker News, Product Hunt (for tech products)

Track not just volume, but sentiment and context. Are people recommending you? Complaining? Comparing you to competitors?

2. Track branded search volume as a health metric. In Google Search Console, monitor:

• Branded queries (your company name, product names etc)
• Branded + comparison queries ("[YourBrand] vs [Competitor]")
• Branded + intent queries ("[YourBrand] pricing," "[YourBrand] demo")

If branded search is declining, it's a red flag, even if your non-branded rankings look fine.

3. Participate in communities where your audience hangs out. Please dont take this as an invitation to start spamming Reddit with links to your product.
It means:

• Answering questions genuinely in relevant subreddits
• Sharing expertise in relevant communities
• Contributing to discussions on LinkedIn (not just posting)
• Being helpful first, promotional never (or extremely rarely)

When you're genuinely helpful, people will mention your brand organically when others ask for recommendations.

4. Create "word-of-mouth moments." Give people reasons to talk about you:

• Publish original research that's worth citing
• Take controversial but defensible positions
• Build tools or resources people want to share
• Share transparent metrics or behind-the-scenes insights
• Do something genuinely differentiated

You can't manufacture authentic word-of-mouth, but you can create the conditions for it.

5. Encourage customers to share their experience.

• Customer case studies (with real names, real companies)
• Video testimonials
• Success stories shared on social media
• Encourage customers to post about you on LinkedIn/Twitter when they have wins

6. Build relationships with industry voices. Research your biggest fans , and find people who are active in your industry communities. Maybe they're even industry thought-leaders who have audiences, who get quoted, ectc. Look at how to build genuine relationships with them. When they mention you organically, it carries weight.

Where This Leaves Us

Although many people are shouting it (always have) SEO isn't dying. But it is evolving into something bigger than "rank on Google."

The reality is that your buyers are researching across multiple platforms before they ever click to your site. They're getting answers from AI, validating on Reddit, watching YouTube reviews, and only searching for you by name when they're ready to convert.

This doesn't mean you need to panic and overhaul everything tomorrow, but it does mean you need to start understanding where YOUR specific buyers search, and make sure you're visible across the journey. I'll talk about this more in my next post about Discovery Engines.

Focus on the Important Stuff:

Measure what matters for your business. If your branded search is growing and your revenue is up, your strategy is working ,even if organic traffic is flat. Don't let vanity metrics distract you from what actually drives revenue.

Focus on the platforms where your buyers are. You don't need to be on every platform. Just the 3-5 where your specific audience actually researches. If that's YouTube and Reddit, optimize for those. If it's LinkedIn and industry forums, focus there.

Create content that works across formats. Video isn't replacing text. Visual search isn't replacing Google. They're all working together. Make your content accessible in multiple formats so people can find you however they prefer to search.

Accept that attribution is messy now. Some of your best content won't get credit in traditional analytics. That's okay. Use brand search, assisted conversions, and customer feedback to fill in the gaps.

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