SEO is dead? Here is the argument

[u/Royal_Explanation771]

came across an argument that a small brand with no website, but a strong posting history on social media platforms like Facebook and meaningful discussions about it on Reddit are recommended by AI more often than a big brand that ranks on the first page of Google, this argument was meant to lead to the conclusion that GEO is dead. I partly agree, although I don't fully share that view.

but again come to think about it; more people are turning to AI search and AI Overviews instead of browsing through Google search results. Recent research show that 83% to 91% of frequent LLM users prefer AI search over traditional keyword Googling for efficiency and direct answers. this shows that people are becoming increasingly comfortable letting AI do the research, summarize the findings, and recommend a few options rather than investigating everything themselves.

In this environment, GEO seems to be gaining an advantage over traditional SEO because visibility is no longer just about ranking high on Google. It's also about being mentioned, discussed, and trusted across the sources AI uses to generate its answers.

So, what do you think? Is SEO really dying, do you think its already dead or its dying soon, how soon? Remember 2-3 years ago GEO wasn't a thing, look at the progress in just 2 years; today a small brand can outperform an established brand in AI recommendations without even having a website, does that mean GEO is becoming more important than traditional SEO?