The pace of change in SEO has never been faster.
If you're feeling overwhelmed by AI Overviews, algorithm updates and the constant evolution of search, you're not alone. In this post, we address the key challenges and highlight the opportunities that define SEO in 2026.
2025 in Review
According to Search Engine Journal, over 90% of businesses still report that SEO has a positive impact on marketing goals and website performance — even as search evolves. This is a clear signal that SEO remains a cornerstone of digital marketing. The core value proposition hasn't changed: being findable at the moment of intent is still the most efficient form of marketing. What's changed is the surface areas you need to optimise for.
Key Challenges
The Impact of AI Overviews on Click-Through Rates
Google AI Overviews have fundamentally changed the informational query landscape. For many queries, an AI-generated answer appears above all organic results, reducing click-through rates on those searches. This is the single biggest challenge for content-heavy sites: more impressions, fewer clicks. The response is to focus on high-intent commercial queries where AI Overviews are less prevalent, and to optimise to be cited within AI answers where they do appear.
Adapting to AI in Search
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) has emerged alongside traditional SEO as a distinct discipline. Optimising for ChatGPT Search, Perplexity and AI Overviews requires different approaches — topical authority, structured data, sourced statistics and AI-accessible content — in addition to conventional on-page and technical SEO.
Improving Cross-Department SEO Collaboration
Powerful SEO campaigns require input from multiple stakeholders. Technical SEO needs developer resource. Content needs editorial investment. Off-page strategies need relationship-building and digital PR. Getting these aligned within an organisation remains one of the biggest operational challenges in SEO.
Algorithm Volatility
Google's core updates, spam updates and product reviews updates have increased in frequency. Staying on top of the implications and not overreacting to short-term fluctuations — while still responding to genuine signal changes — requires both experience and good data.
Key Opportunities
GEO and AI Citation
Being cited in AI Overviews, ChatGPT Search or Perplexity is an emerging form of organic visibility that bypasses traditional ranking competition. Sites that build genuine topical authority, source their claims and structure content clearly are best positioned to capitalise on this.
Featured Snippets and Zero-Click Presence
Featured snippets, People Also Ask boxes and knowledge panels continue to drive brand awareness even for zero-click searches. Optimising for these positions builds recognition and authority, even when users don't click through.
Visual Search Optimisation
Visual search is gaining momentum. Optimise images with descriptive file names, alt text and structured data markup to improve visibility in visual search results — an increasingly common route to product discovery.
Tools and Interactive Content
Interactive tools — calculators, scorecards, generators — attract long-tail informational traffic, earn links naturally and generate leads. They're linkable assets that compound in value over time.
Top Priorities
- E-E-A-T: Google rewards expertise, experience, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Named authors, sourced statistics, original research and clear credentials all contribute.
- Voice and AI assistant optimisation: Conversational content, long-tail keyword targeting and FAQ schema all improve visibility across voice and AI search surfaces.
- User experience: Site speed, mobile responsiveness and intuitive navigation are both ranking factors and conversion factors — improving them pays dividends across the funnel.
- Structured data: Schema markup provides search engines and AI systems with richer context about your content, improving rich result eligibility and AI citation potential.
SEO in 2026 is more complex than it's ever been — but the opportunity for well-prepared businesses is larger too. Need a helping hand with your SEO strategy? Get in touch.
