AI is Killing the SEO Agency

Here’s how AI is replacing SEO services.

The Evolution of Search in the AI Era

Here’s where SEO is and where it’s headed:

• Perplexity.ai, Claude/Anthropic, DeepSeek and ChatGPT are stealing eyeballs and user attention.
• AI agents/agentic AI is transforming how SEOs are performing keyword research, link building and content production
• User intent, guided by AI, and user mechanics are trumping traditional ranking factors.
• AI is transforming keyword research, content creation, and link-building.
• Google’s AI-driven algorithms (e.g., SGE, RankBrain, BERT) are working together to give competing signals. Meaning, you may have a positive signal placed on your site by one signal, but a completely negative symbol tagged to your site from another.
• User habits are changing. Who cares if SEO is still alive if the eyeballs shift to another platform? SEO is alive and well on Bing, but do you care?

What AI is Doing to Traditional SEO Agency Services

Here are some trends we are noticing:

• Automated Content Creation: AI-powered tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude) can generate content faster and cheaper than an army of expensive, U.S.-based writers. In fact, the “want ads” for writers and writers reaching out to our SEO agency have skyrocketed in recent months. Google has a mixed relationship with AI content, and we’re seeing some punishing going on, but that doesn’t mean that some sites aren’t using it to their massive benefit. This alone has killed many freelance writing gigs, particularly if those writers are mediocre and below.
• Technical SEO Automation: AI-driven platforms like SurferSEO and Clearscope streamline on-page optimization with implementation and analysis done by AI tools like N8N, Bolt.New, etc.
• Link-Building Challenges: Google’s AI is getting better and better at cracking down on manipulative and spammy link building. It’s one of the reasons we admonish clients to use our white label and standard link building services for acquiring quality backlinks.
• DIY SEO Tools: Businesses can now handle SEO in-house with AI-powered platforms, reducing reliance on expensive SEO agencies and even humans. In fact, SEO has been discussed ad nauseum for the last two decades in both blogs and on YouTube, and many small business owners can discover and do SEO without the help of an agency.

The Agencies That Will Survive (And Thrive) in the AI Era

The transition to human-less SEO (search engine optimization) or GEO (generative engine optimization) is happening faster than most digital agencies want.

It’s not giving SEO agencies much time to adapt.

Only the cameleons will adapt and survive.

Here’s how

• Be Prepared for Consolidation & M&A: This tectonic shift will undoubtedly bring casualties. Your SEO agency can either be a statistic or get ahead of the curve. Some agencies will shut down altogether, others will simply survive but likely with far less revenue as companies shift away from traditional SEO services like link building, content writing and on-page SEO. The total number of searches will continue to climb, but without a clear path toward revenue, many agencies will simply die. Those that survive will have far fewer employees, as AI will replace specific positions. But be prepared for discounting in your SEO agency business valuation.
• High-Level Strategy & Consulting: AI (in its current form) lacks the human touch for custom strategies and business-specific SEO roadmaps. Those that thrive will be able to provide the 50K ft view of strategy, while agentic AI will take care of tactics, operations, and throughputs of the chosen pathway.
• Brand-First Approach: Brands always win in SEO. Agencies that integrate SEO with broader marketing (PR, thought leadership, social media, and better branding) will remain relevant. Your name in the marketplace takes years to establish. Focus on brand. The “optimization” will take care of itself when customers are searching for your brand and not just a keyword. This means building your own list and community that cares what you have to say.
• Human Creativity & Expertise: AI can’t replicate brand storytelling, nuanced messaging, or real audience engagement.
• Technical & Programmatic SEO: AI can assist, but experienced professionals are still needed for complex implementations. AI can find the errors and fix them, but many tweaks and fixes are nuanced and require assistance from real professionals.

The Future of SEO: AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement

The agencies that survive will be those that embrace AI rather than fear it.

AI will make the surviving SEOs super-powered by augmenting their natural skills and replacing mid and lower-level SEO virtual assistants with AI agents.

With the augmentation, the agencies and SEO freelancers that succeed will likely pivot in the following ways:

1. They will become extremely adept at using the latest SEO AI tools to augment and maximize their native SEO expertise and abilities.
2. They will need to be able to do much more with much less human input.
3. AI content generation lacks originality and real-world expertise. It should be augmented by a human touch, even if AI content is part of your overall strategy.
4. Google’s increasing focus on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) and brands will squash those who simply try to automate their online business with artificial intelligence.
5. SEO will become a single piece of a more holistic approach toward “digital marketing” and “search marketing.” SEO experts will still exist, but the survivors will be Swiss Army Knives who know much more than just content marketing and technical SEO.

How to Future Proof Your SEO Agency in the Age of AI

Don’t assume your SEO agency is safe and won’t be impacted.

It already has been.

You just don’t know it yet.

If you want to future proof your SEO agency, here are my hot tips:

• Learn how to set up agentic AI flows, specifically for SEO-related tasks. Requests for automated sequences that disintermediate basic tasks will continue to grow. Add agentic AI workflows to your service offerings immediately. It’s not just forward thinking; it’s today thinking.
• Prepare for a day that excludes many of the functions that currently exist in your business. The future of SEO includes doing a lot more with a lot less.
• Do not over-rely on AI content production without heavy editing. The same holds true for link building and PR efforts.
• Focus on the most challenging and technical components of the SEO business. Make yourself irreplaceable.
• Niche down by industry or by geography. For local SEO, for instance, AI struggles more with hyper-localized content.
• Expand your marketing services far beyond the razor focus of SEO (we did this several years ago with the launch of the Marketer.co brands).
• Use more offline, traditional signals in your marketing. We have somewhat overcorrected for “digital” when marketing wasn’t 90% digital 20 years ago. A resurgence is happening in traditional marketing methods. Embrace them!

Even still, the AI-integrated SEO agency is the SEO agency of the future.

But your agency will need to balance the needs of the client, the shiny technology, and human expertise to maximize SEO success.

If you’re new to SEO, the process of playing catch-up as a startup SEO agency will be that much more elongated.

Questions to Ask Your SEO Agency 

Your SEO company may not be telling you everything.

Here are some clarifying questions:

• Why should my business hire your SEO agency? What makes you different? How have you future-proofed your business for the age of AI?
• Tell me about your AI capabilities. What can you do? What can you not do?
• Tell me about what I can DIY with the help of AI agents, in-house vs. what areas I might need an expert agency.
• Tell me how you treat AI content? How much of it do you use in your content strategies?
• Where do you personally see SEO headed? What are you going to do to mitigate my business from the negative effects of the future of SEO in the age of AI?