AI vs Google: The numbers that matter for your website

Chat­G­PT is steal­ing Google’s traf­fic, SEO is dead, or even the robots are final­ly tak­ing over…you’ve either heard it, thought it, or won­dered it. But, before you start review­ing every page on your web­site to make sure it’s AI-suit­able, let’s take a breath and look at the actu­al facts. 

TL;DR: Google still rules

Accord­ing to research from Ahrefs, Google still dri­ves an impres­sive 41% of all traf­fic across the inter­net. Chat­G­PT? Just 0.21%. Per­plex­i­ty? Even less.

Now, let’s be fair, ChatGPT’s growth rate is impres­sive, up 25% in March 2025 alone. But, that’s growth from a very small base — my dai­ly step count is up 90% from this time last year, but that’s because this time last year I was sit­ting on my bum enjoy­ing a mater­ni­ty leave view­ing sesh of Shitts Creek. 

So, while AI assis­tants are grab­bing head­lines (and a cou­ple of licks of Google’s ice cream), they’re not yet replac­ing tra­di­tion­al search traf­fic to your website. 

What this means for your business

The good news is that you don’t need to tear up your SEO strat­e­gy and start from scratch with those fan­cy-sound­ing AI SEO prac­tices AEO (AI Engine Opti­mi­sa­tion) or GEO (Gen­er­a­tive Engine Optimisation).

For most busi­ness­es, most of your traf­fic is still going to come from search engines — and that means SEO is still your best friend.

That said, con­sumer habits are shift­ing. Peo­ple are try­ing Chat­G­PT, Copi­lot, Gem­i­ni and Per­plex­i­ty because they want quick, con­ver­sa­tion­al answers. So while you don’t need to start opti­mis­ing for AI sep­a­rate­ly, you do need to make sure your con­tent is clear, cred­i­ble, and easy to use because that’s what AI tools are look­ing for, too. 

SEO tips that still matter in the AI era

If you want to future-proof your con­tent for both Google and AI assis­tants, focus on doing the basics fabulously.

1. Write for humans first, algorithms second

For­get key­word stuff­ing or writ­ing para­graphs that sound like they were writ­ten by some­one vis­it­ing Earth for the first time. Instead, think about what your cus­tomer is actu­al­ly ask­ing and answer it clearly.

• Use con­ver­sa­tion­al head­ings (yes, even questions).
  
• Keep sen­tences read­able (short and snap­py works).
  
• Sprin­kle in key­words nat­u­ral­ly where they make sense.
  

2. Optimise your on-page elements

Bor­ing? Maybe. Essen­tial? Absolutely.

• Title tags: Make them clear, rel­e­vant and clickable.
  
• Meta descrip­tions: Sum­marise your page in under 160 char­ac­ters that shine.
  
• Head­ings (H1, H2, H3): Use them to guide read­ers and sig­nal impor­tance to search engines.
  

3. Invest in quality content (not just any content)

Google has been very clear: it doesn’t care if con­tent is writ­ten by a human, an AI or my three-year-old (ok, maybe not that last one). What mat­ters is quality.

That means:

• Be help­ful – answer real ques­tions, not the ones you wish peo­ple were asking.
  
• Be reli­able – back things up with stats, sources or expertise.
  
• Be unique – don’t just regur­gi­tate what’s already out there. Add your own spin.
  

If you’re not quite sure how to (or you sim­ply don’t have the time) to draft qual­i­ty blogs, case stud­ies or whitepa­pers — get in touch!

4. Don’t ignore the technical stuff

If your site loads slow­er than my 12km run this morn­ing, no amount of bril­liant copy will save you.

• Check your page speed.
  
• Make sure your site is mobile-friendly.
  
• Keep URLs clean and logical.
  

5. Keep building authority

AI assis­tants and tra­di­tion­al search engines love sources they can trust.

• Earn back­links from rep­utable sites.
  
• Show­case reviews, tes­ti­mo­ni­als and case studies.
  
• Keep your con­tent up to date — stale blogs are no use to anyone. 

Where AI fits in

Here’s the part that gets lost in the noise: AI assis­tants like Chat­G­PT don’t gen­er­ate traf­fic to your web­site unless they cite you. And often, they don’t.

That means if you want vis­i­bil­i­ty beyond Google, you need to cre­ate con­tent that AI sys­tems want to ref­er­ence. The same rules apply: clear, reli­able, high-qual­i­ty con­tent that adds value.

But remem­ber, the traf­fic num­bers don’t lie. If you’re a busi­ness own­er look­ing at where to invest your time, SEO is still the big­ger win by miles.

The takeaway

AI might be the shiny new toy at the top of everyone’s Christ­mas list, but when it comes to web­site traf­fic, and in the words of Sha­nia Twain, Google is still the one.

So, before you pan­ic about AI “killing SEO,” ask yourself:

• Is my web­site opti­mised for search engines?
  
• Is my con­tent gen­uine­ly help­ful, reli­able and readable?
  
• Am I updat­ing my con­tent regularly?
  

If you answered yes, you’re already doing what Google (and the AIs) want.

And if you answered no…, that’s where I can help.

👉 Get in touch and let’s make sure your con­tent is opti­mised, future-proof and work­ing hard for your busi­ness — whether peo­ple are find­ing you through Google, AI assis­tants or the beau­ti­ful word of mouth