The new role of SEO in the age of AI

For most of its history, SEO has been a reactive discipline, being asked to “make it rank” once a site is built, with little input into the process. Even crazier, most SEO professionals are assigned a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) for which they are accountable, metrics tied to visibility, engagement, and revenue.
Still, they have no real control over the underlying systems that affect them. These metrics often rely on the performance of disconnected teams, including content, engineering, brand, and product, which don’t always share the same objectives.