What 60+ experts say you should actually focus on in 2026, Google says not to overthink about AI SEO, What really happened in 2025 (and what to expect next)
Hi friends,
Welcome to the new issue of HighDegree*: Cutting Through the Noise in SEO & Digital Marketing.
The SEO world spent 2025 panicking about AI. Now that the dust is settling, here’s what actually matters: AI Overviews are expanding, but they haven’t killed organic search. Traffic patterns are shifting, but the fundamentals still work.
And while everyone’s chasing the latest “GEO” hack, the smartest teams are doubling down on what’s always worked: strong brands, clear content, and technical excellence.
This week, we’re cutting through the noise with insights from 300+ SEO professionals on what 2026 really looks like, and what you should focus on right now.
Let’s jump in.
➞ In this Week
- The Real 2026 Playbook: What 60+ SEO Experts Actually Recommend
- What Really Happened in 2025 (And What to Expect Next)
- The 2% Reality: AI Traffic vs. Google Organic
- Google Says: Stop Overthinking “AI SEO”
- What 20 News SEO Experts Predict for 2026
- Everything from Google Search this Week
- Everything from Social Media and Artificial Intelligence World
- Articles that will Help You Refine Your Marketing Knowledge
➞ Subscribe
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➞ The Real 2026 Playbook: What 60+ SEO Experts Actually Recommend
Aleyda Solís surveyed over 60 experienced SEO professionals for SEOFOMO, and the results are refreshingly practical. The biggest misconception? That AI search is “replacing” traditional SEO. In reality, AI sits on top of traditional search infrastructure; it still depends on crawlability, content quality, and authority signals. The experts agree: fundamentals like E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), technical SEO, and brand building matter more than ever.
What’s changing is how success gets measured. Teams are moving away from pure rankings and clicks toward visibility metrics: brand mentions, citations in AI answers, and assisted conversions. The 2026 winners will be those who build citation-ready content, strengthen their brand presence across platforms, and stop treating AI optimization as separate from SEO.
Read the full report from hub.seofomo.co ➞
If you’re wondering what actually changed last year and what it means for you, here’s the breakdown.
➞ What Really Happened in 2025 (And What to Expect Next)
Tom Demers breaks down the year’s biggest shifts at Measured. While 2025 had fewer major algorithm updates than 2024, three trends dominated: AI Overviews grew substantially (from 26.6% of queries in May 2024 to 44.4% by September 2025), AI Mode rolled out to 180 countries, and Google removed the &num=100 parameter that tools used for tracking.
The result? Many sites saw impressions spike while clicks dropped; the “great decoupling.” But here’s what matters for your business: informational queries are increasingly answered without clicks, while commercial and navigational searches remain largely unaffected. Reddit’s traffic continued climbing, AI-generated content exploded across the web, and local businesses faced new challenges from diversity updates. Demers’ advice is practical: identify queries without AI Overviews and attack those, use schema markup to get cited in AI answers, and don’t abandon the fundamentals that still drive results.
Read the full report from wordstream.com ➞
Before you panic about lost traffic, though, consider this reality check.
➞ The 2% Reality: AI Traffic vs. Google Organic
Rob Tindula at iPullRank examined actual traffic data and found something important: for most websites, AI platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.) drive only 2-3% of the organic traffic that Google alone delivers. Yes, AI search is growing, but it’s not replacing traditional search yet. Meanwhile, basic SEO tactics still produce outsized results.
Tindula shares examples: a client saw immediate ranking and traffic gains just by adding “& [keyword]” to a homepage title tag. Another client’s skyscraper content hit #2 almost immediately for a competitive topic. A simple call-to-action test boosted conversions measurably. His point isn’t to ignore AI; it’s that many teams are overinvesting in speculative AI strategies while underperforming on proven SEO fundamentals.
The risk isn’t underestimating AI; it’s overcorrecting for it. Traditional organic search remains the primary traffic source, and tactics like title optimization, content freshness, and user experience improvements still deliver when executed well.
Read the full report from searchengineland.com ➞
Google’s own guidance backs this up with a clear message.
➞ Google Says: Stop Overthinking “AI SEO”
Danny Goodwin at Search Engine Land covered Google’s Danny Sullivan and John Mueller pushing back on the idea that brands need a separate AI SEO strategy. Sullivan’s message is simple: write for humans, not for ranking systems, whether traditional search or LLM-powered experiences. The fundamentals haven’t changed: create original content with expertise, firsthand experience, and a strong voice. Add images or video when they improve understanding, use structured data appropriately, and focus on engagement and conversions instead of just clicks.
Sullivan explained that AI features like Overviews run multiple related searches behind the scenes, which is why visibility in AI results doesn’t map one-to-one with the exact query a user typed. His advice for teams facing client demands for “AI optimization”? Reframe it as monitoring and adapting, not rebuilding everything into a second content system. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) isn’t separate from SEO; it’s a subset, just like local SEO or voice search optimization.
Read the full report from searchengineland.com ➞
For publishers and news sites, the stakes are even higher.
➞ What 20 News SEO Experts Predict for 2026
John Shehata surveyed 20 news SEO leaders for NewzDash, and the findings reveal where the industry is headed. Key stat: 89% believe AI Overviews and AI Mode will impact publisher traffic in 2026, and 74% think LLMs should compensate publishers for using their content. The consensus? Visibility is fragmenting across Search, Discover, video platforms, and AI answers; it’s no longer a single-channel game.
The experts agree on priorities: traffic diversification beyond Google (58% ranked it #1), E-E-A-T and trust signals (47%), and topical/entity-driven SEO (42%). Google Discover remains powerful but risky; 63% still prioritize it, but 32% are cautious due to volatility.
The advice is practical: strengthen author pages and About pages, make content easier to cite with clear structure and strong sourcing, invest in video as a search engine (YouTube, Shorts, TikTok), and diversify through newsletters, apps, and owned audience channels. As Shehata notes, “Search, Discover, video, and AI answers are not separate channels anymore; they’re different doors into the same building.”
Read the full report from newzdash.com ➞
➞ From Google
Everything from Google search this week —
→ Google removes AI health summaries after safety concerns (thenews.com.pk)
→ Gmail is entering the Gemini era (blog.google)
→ Anthropic wants you to use Claude to ‘Cowork’ in latest AI agent push (theverge.com)
→ Google Search Ranking Volatility January 6th With AdSense Earnings Drops (seroundtable.com)
→ Google Personalizing Some AI Overviews & AI Mode Answers (seroundtable.com)
→ Google Talks On Hiring A GEO/AEO/SEO & Buying AI-Optimization Tools (seroundtable.com)
→ Google: Don’t Turn Your Content Into Bite-Sized Chunks (seroundtable.com)
→ Google’s Mueller Explains ‘Page Indexed Without Content’ Error (searchenginejournal.com)
→ Google’s John Mueller Answers If You Should Invest In GEO (seroundtable.com)
→ Google’s Recommender System Breakthrough Detects Semantic Intent (searchenginejournal.com)
→ Google Added LLMs.txt To Its Web Sites For Other Reasons Than Discovery (seroundtable.com)
→ Google Ads Search Terms Report Adds Quick Filters Without Options Enabled (seroundtable.com)
→ Google Adds Help Page For Link Or QR Code To Request Reviews (seroundtable.com)
→ “Website” button on the Google Business Profile is being replaced with “Nearby.” (x.com)
→ Google Merchant Panel With Delivery, Return & Payment Options Carousel (seroundtable.com)
→ John Mueller (Personally) On If Schema Helps With LLMs & Google (seroundtable.com)
→ Google: Why 404s Don’t Matter For SEO (seroundtable.com)
→ Google tests blue Send button that replaces AI Mode in the search box (searchenginejournal.com)
→ Google’s John Mueller Quotes Some SEO Content – Digital Mulch (seroundtable.com)
→ Google Questions Need For ccTLDs For Some International Websites (seroundtable.com)
→ Google Continues Centering Search Results Test (seroundtable.com)
→ Google Chrome Tests Replacing Gemini Button With Browse With AI Button (seroundtable.com)
→ Google AI Overviews Tests Speaker Play Button In US (seroundtable.com)
→ Why Google is deleting reviews at record levels (searchenginejournal.com)
→ Google Discover Tailor Your Feed With Natural Language (seroundtable.com)
→ Google Adds AI Content Detection Tools to Gemini (socialmediatoday.com)
→ Google Ads Advisor Suggestions Within Google Ad Reporting (seroundtable.com)
→ Google Search Forgot The Holiday Decorations In 2025 (seroundtable.com)
→ 🔥NEW DATA: Google Discover is now ~70% of total Google Traffic⬇️
(linkedin.com)
→ Google: Pick A Reasonable Site Name To Rank For In Search (seroundtable.com)
➞ AI + Social
Find out what’s happening in the social media and artificial intelligence world —
→ ‘Stranger Things’ Creators Face Backlash as Fans Claim Documentary Reveals ChatGPT and Reddit Use in Finale (mobileappdaily.com)
→ TikTok Phases Out Its Custom Identity Option for Advertisers (socialmediatoday.com)
→ Pinterest Says Gen Z Users Are Finding Themselves in Pins (socialmediatoday.com)
→ WhatsApp Tests Usernames as Primary Connection Display (socialmediatoday.com)
→ Google’s new tech and tools for retailers to succeed in an agentic shopping era (blog.google) – Google is announcing a new open standard for agentic commerce and AI tools to help retailers connect with high-intent shoppers and drive sales.
→ Google Gemini Gains Share As ChatGPT Declines In Similarweb Data (searchenginejournal.com)
→ DeepSeek’s AI gains traction in developing nations, Microsoft report says (finance.yahoo.com)
→ Reports Suggest That OpenAI May Be Looking to Acquire Pinterest (socialmediatoday.com)
→ Meta Is Considering Charging Business Pages To Post Links (socialmediatoday.com)
→ X Faces Bans in Several Regions Over Grok-Produced Images (socialmediatoday.com)
→ X Looks To Win Back Journalists (socialmediatoday.com) – by upping the payouts from its creator revenue share program, and enabling more people to use its long form Articles option to upload content direct to the app.
→ TikTok Takes Action to Protect Shoppers from Fraud (socialmediatoday.com)
→ XAI introduces Grok Business and Grok Enterprise (x.ai)
→ IGTV Is Back, With an Instagram Reels TV App (socialmediatoday.com)
→ Google’s Gemini 3 Flash model outperforms GPT-5.2 in some benchmarks (engadget.com)
→ TikTok Launches Nearby Content Feed in Europe (socialmediatoday.com)
→ TikTok Launches Shared Feed Options To Enhance Connection (socialmediatoday.com)
→ ChatGPT’s ‘adult mode’ is expected to debut in Q1 2026 (theverge.com)
→ X Shares Most Discussed Topics of 2025 (socialmediatoday.com)
➞ Worth Reading
These are the articles that will help you refine your marketing knowledge —
→ Google’s December 2025 Core Update: Winners, Losers & Analysis (amsive.com)
→ What Comes Next for News SEO and Publishers | John Shehata (advancedwebranking.com)
→ A 90-day SEO playbook for AI-driven search visibility (searchengineland.com)
→ The Search Wars of 2026: ChatGPT’s Conversational Surge Challenges Google’s Decades-Long Hegemony (markets.financialcontent.com)
→ AI Marketing Examples: 13 Times AI Actually Delivered (ahrefs.com)
→ 2026 SEO Roadmap: 15 Experts on Technical, Content, and Brand for the AI Era (takeitoffline.co.uk)
→ Top 10 SEO news stories of 2025 (searchengineland.com)
→ Spam traffic in GA4: How to detect, filter & prevent it (searchengineland.com)
→ Top Black Friday Organic Search Traffic Winners & Trends in 2025 (aleydasolis.com)
→ Do Self-Promotional “Best” Lists Boost ChatGPT Visibility? Study of 26,283 Source URLs (ahrefs.com)
→ Browser extensions with 8 million users collect extended AI conversations (arstechnica.com)
→ How To Track User Journey In GA4 To Make SEO Wins More Visible (searchengineland.com)
→ Goal and OKR setting for 2026 (productledseo.com)
→ Why ad approval is not legal protection (searchengineland.com)
→ Stylometric comparisons of human versus AI-generated creative writing (nature.com)
➞ What This All Means for Your Strategy
AI is changing how search works, but it hasn’t replaced the fundamentals. The smartest teams aren’t panicking or chasing shiny objects, they’re strengthening their brands, creating better content, fixing technical issues, and diversifying their traffic sources.
Your action plan for Q1 2026: audit your top 20 vulnerable pages, tighten your E-E-A-T signals, pick one non-Google channel to invest in, and update your KPIs to include engagement and value metrics alongside pageviews.
Focus on what compounds: authority, trust, and owned audience relationships; not what’s trendy. Reply and let me know which tactic you’re tackling first.
Until next week,
Nishat from HighDegree*
Thanks for reading HighDegree*! This post is public so feel free to share it.
P.S. Have a question about implementing these strategies? Hit reply – we read every email and often feature reader questions in future issues.
➞ Who is Nishat Shahriyar?
I am a Digital Marketing Strategist, having worked in this field since 2007. Now working as a Product Marketing Lead at Fluent Forms (The best lead generation tool for WordPress), previously at Fluent Support (The best WordPress Helpdesk Plugin).
Connect with me, if you are not connected through my LinkedIn or follow me on X/Twitter – @rednishat
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