SEO refuses to die quietly. Lily Ray’s 4,800-word manifesto on Search Engine Land sparked an overnight firestorm, insisting that AI search may be booming but classic SEO still pays the bills. Within hours, every marketing feed was awash in hot takes, traffic screenshots and fresh spins on the “SEO is dead” meme.
Social pulse: AI search frenzy
Ray’s post rippled across X, Reddit and agency Slack channels that monitor Google’s AI Overviews.
- 1.4K reposts on X in the first six hours - “SEO lives” trended in the U.S. tech bubble (tone: 60% sarcastic, 30% relieved, 10% panicked).
- Screenshots show Google AI Mode driving “<1% of sessions”; Glenn Gabe’s chart is the reference image.
- The “My SEO career / My GEO career” distracted-boyfriend meme is surging on /r/SEO.
- Discord agencies report prospects demanding refunds on $20K “GEO” retainers.
- Rand Fishkin of SparkToro is quoted more than 300 times for noting Google’s 14B daily searches vs ChatGPT’s 37M.
GEO gurus vs. old-school SEOs
Veteran practitioners are roasting the “overnight GEO experts” pushing AI-only retainers, noting most of the advice is just on-page basics with a new label.
Ray’s own LinkedIn thread pulled 9.2K reactions, while @methode’s X reply thread topped 350K impressions.
“It’s 2010 link-wheel energy all over again, but now it has Midjourney logos.”
Why it matters: shiny AI packages can tempt clients to pause proven SEO programs, causing budget whiplash for agencies.
Traffic math & screenshot wars
GA4 and GSC charts flying around X show AI Overviews adding just 0.2-0.8% of organic clicks. Glenn Gabe’s recent analysis is the citation of record, and marketers are tagging Google SearchLiaison begging for official numbers.
“I’ll panic when the orange line isn’t flat-lining at 0.5%.”
Translation: keep core SEO budgets intact and test AI Overviews in sandbox mode for now.
Meme watch: the SEO zombie keeps crawling
GIFs of The Undertaker bursting from a coffin captioned “SEO every time someone says it’s dead” blanket replies. TikTok creators have remixed the bit under #SEOIsAlive, racking up 34K views in six hours.
“You can’t kill what’s already undead.”
Agencies are bookmarking the gag as morale-boost content for their own social feeds.
Fact check & caveats
- Glen Gabe’s sub-1% traffic stat is self-reported and not independently verified.
- Several “GEO case studies” are single-URL screenshots with no date - treat them as uncorroborated.
- A viral chart claiming ChatGPT stole 10% of Google traffic traces back to a 2023 Similarweb projection - outdated.
- Google’s new guidance for appearing in AI search still echoes long-standing SEO best practices.
Why it matters
Google remains the dominant discovery channel. Interest in SEO is steady according to search demand for “SEO” since 2004 in the U.S. - and Google is doubling down on structured data, passage segmentation and other fundamentals. Lily Ray’s argument in The Rise of AI search Does Not Mean ‘SEO is Dead’ lands: keep your technical and content hygiene sharp, experiment with AI features, but do not abandon proven organic strategy just yet.
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