"I've got some hard news for startups and small businesses trying to stand out in the age of ChatGPT search. If your company brand isn't an established name in your industry, customers are no longer going to trip over your company's better offering on their way to your bigger and more established competitors and incumbents. Yup. The dinosaurs won this round. But the evolution isn't over just yet. You'll just need to think differently."
"See, the rise of AI search has eviscerated the SEO-driven marketing prospects for startups and small businesses in a way that can no longer be denied. Now that the dramatic traffic drops in October 2024 and May 2025 made it clear that AI search was going to render SEO all but useless, capitulation has sent almost every upstart young company on a thought-leadership crusade of epic proportions."
"So I know the SEO game. I'm also an AI OG, co-inventing one of the first generative AI engines back in 2010. And over the past few years, I've been calling out the death of SEO, why AI is the primary cause of death, and all the while railing against the improper selling of AI by leaning on magic, lies, and fear."
ChatGPT search has captured a meaningful and growing share of search traffic, reducing SEO-driven discovery and disproportionately affecting startups and small businesses without established brand recognition. Dramatic traffic drops in October 2024 and May 2025 signaled that AI-centric search will render traditional SEO tactics largely ineffective. Many startups have reacted by pivoting to broad thought-leadership strategies, which often fail to produce reliable customer acquisition. Practical alternatives require rethinking marketing beyond SEO and avoiding repeating past mistakes of overreliance on dominant platforms. Technology packaging, product-market fit, direct must-have value propositions, and differentiated go-to-market approaches become essential for competing against incumbent brands.
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