SEO changes — 7 trends for tomorrow's Google

Google rolls out thousands of algorithm changes every year. That is a lot. And all those SEO changes affect your visibility.

Most slip by unnoticed. The shift happening right now is in a completely different category. Search engines increasingly give the answer themselves — summarised by AI, at the top of the page, ready before the searcher opens a site.

Does that make SEO a thing of the past? Many people think so.

The opposite is true. For us and our clients, SEO works better than ever. Where you are found and how you are found are simply shifting. Below are the 7 trends to prepare for today.

1. The answer engine takes over

Google used to be a search engine. You typed something in, got ten blue links and made your choice. Today Google is an answer engine. Above the results appears an answer summarised by AI — the AI Overviews — and more and more people ask their question straight to ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity.

The result? Clicks are becoming scarcer. A large share of searches end in zero clicks. The user has their answer and moves on. That feels like bad news. Above all, it opens up a new playing field. The question shifts from "do I rank number one?" to "am I mentioned in the answer?". Whoever grasps that gets ahead.

2. Become the source the search engine cites

This is where the most important new skill comes in. You make sure the answer engine uses your content. This is called Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). The core is surprisingly simple. Give bite-sized, crystal-clear answers that a search engine easily picks up and cites.

A few things that work.

• Answer a question right away in the first two sentences under a heading.
• Turn your headings into the questions people really ask.
• Back it up with facts that are correct and, where possible, with a source.

The clearer and more reliable your answer, the greater the chance that the robot points to you as the source. A mention in such an answer often carries more weight than a click — because that is exactly where your customer makes their choice.

3. The SEO seesaw — learn to live with fluctuations

Next, a familiar trend that is here to stay. Fluctuating rankings. Google releases several major core updates a year. Such an update can move you up or down from one week to the next. Annoying, but part of the game.

The good news? If you consistently focus on the user, you will see that line rise over the course of a year. So hold on to the big picture and let every peak and dip be. The seesaw wobbles — you hold your course.

4. Experience sets you apart (E-E-A-T)

Now that an AI can write a general article on just about any topic in seconds, one question arises. What sets you apart from a language model? The answer is experience.

Google increasingly assesses content on E-E-A-T — Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust. That first E, your own practical experience, is exactly what makes you unique. So show that you have really done it. An example of your own, a figure from your dashboard, a client case, a photo of the actual result.

For us and our clients, this is time and again the difference between taking part and winning. The explanation from someone with hands-on experience beats yet another generic summary. An algorithm remains theory. You bring the practice.

5. Quality beats word count

The old myth says you need at least 2,000 words to rank. Nonsense. If someone wants to know what time it is in London, do you really think they want to read a 2,000-word article? Give people their answer as quickly and clearly as possible.

In the era of the answer engine, this counts double. Short, clear texts keep the reader sharp and make it easy for a search engine to cite you. So be obsessed with the answer and let go of the word count.

6. Brand mentions beat individual links

For years, everything revolved around backlinks. The more, the better. Those days are over. Search engines and AI models now read the entire web to understand who you are, far beyond your own website. And what carries more weight than a row of links? Your brand showing up again and again in the right context.

Become a household name in your field. Get mentions in trade media, on the relevant platforms, in the conversations that matter. Digital PR and brand mentions tell the robot that your name is inextricably linked to your topic — something a bought link never achieves. So swap link hunting for brand building. Build a brand that gets talked about.

7. User experience remains the foundation of every SEO change

And finally, the foundation under all of this. The experience on your site itself. A fast, mobile-friendly site that works smoothly forms the basis of everything above. Every Google update has the same goal at its core — making the algorithm mirror what people enjoy. If your page loads quickly and people find what they are looking for straight away, they stay. And Google sees that.

So optimise for people. Google will follow.