Is SEO still worth paying for now that people search with AI? Yes. Google search, Google Maps and AI tools like ChatGPT are three different doors into your business, but all three read the same things: your website and your Google Business Profile. Cutting SEO to chase AI is like tearing down the house to repaint the front door. This question came up while I was working through my own service pricing this week, and I hear a version of it from agents every month: "Should I stop paying for SEO and put everything into AI?" Here's the straight answer, what each one actually does, and where your money should go first.
The Three Ways People Find You Now
Three acronyms, one job: getting picked when someone goes looking for what you do.
1. SEO: Getting found on Google and Bing
SEO (search engine optimization) is making your website easy for search engines to find, understand and show. It's how you compete for searches like "best realtor for downsizing on Long Island" or "how much does it cost to sell a house in Nassau County?" The work is helpful pages that answer real questions, a site that loads fast and works on a phone, and pages search engines can actually read.
Why it still matters: people still Google you before they hire you. And the strong website you build for Google is the same thing AI tools pull from when they answer questions.
2. Local SEO: Getting found on Google Maps
Local SEO is winning the map. When someone searches "realtor near me" or "insurance agent Huntington," Google shows a map and a short list of businesses. Your Google Business Profile decides whether you're on that list. The basics:
The same name, address and phone number everywhere you appear online (that's NAP consistency)
The right categories and services on your profile
Real photos and regular updates
A steady flow of reviews, with your replies underneath
The part most people miss: your website and your profile have to tell the same story. If your site says you specialize in North Shore luxury listings and your profile just says "Real Estate Agent," you're sending mixed signals to Google, to AI and to the human reading both. If your profile isn't showing up at all, start here.
3. GEO: Getting recommended by AI
GEO (generative engine optimization) is making your business easy for AI tools to find, understand and mention. Nobody types "realtor 11743" into ChatGPT. They ask, "What should I look for in an agent to help my parents downsize?" or "Who are good agents in Huntington for first-time buyers?" The AI answers in full sentences, and sometimes it names names.
Getting named comes down to:
Content that directly answers the questions your clients ask you
Your expertise and service areas spelled out clearly
Structured data on your website
A consistent identity across trusted sites
Real mentions and reviews from other sources
Now the honest part: nobody can guarantee ChatGPT, Gemini or any other AI will recommend you. Anyone who promises that is selling you something. GEO is a smart practice, not a shortcut. (For what it looks like in practice, see building a funnel AI can understand.)
What My Own Website Taught Me
Before writing this, I pulled the numbers on AskAuggie.com. In the last four weeks, bots hit the site more than 50,000 times. About 40,000 of those came from AI companies: Meta, ByteDance, Anthropic, OpenAI and a dozen others. Googlebot showed up about 5,000 times. Meanwhile, Google search sent me roughly 40 human visitors in the entire last year. Humbling.
Want to know the most-crawled page on my site? My archive. Which is packed with posts from 2017 about Google+. Somewhere out there, an AI is learning marketing from a social network that shut down in 2019, and that one's on me.
Three lessons from that:
AI is already reading your site, whether you planned for it or not.
Reading isn't recommending. Fewer than 900 of those visits came from bots that answer a live question for a real person, like ChatGPT search and Perplexity. The rest were collecting training data.
Google and AI read the same pages. My problem was never "SEO vs. AI." It was old, thin content. Fix that and you help both.
So Should You Stop Paying for SEO and Switch to GEO?
No. At least not because AI search is the shiny new thing. Before you move a single dollar, look at what's already working:
Where do your clients say they found you?
Which pages bring in people who actually call?
Does your Google Business Profile drive calls and direction requests?
Has anyone told you, "ChatGPT recommended you"?
Your budget should follow the evidence, not the newest acronym. Customers run the same handful of searches before they hire anybody, and most of them still start on Google.
And watch out for anyone selling GEO as a replacement for everything else. Most real GEO work is SEO and local SEO done well, plus answering questions clearly. If a proposal says otherwise, ask exactly what you're getting.
Where I'd put the money first
1. The website. Clear pages on what you do, who you help and where you work. This one feeds all three doors.
2. The Google Business Profile. Accurate, active and matching your website. For most agents and local businesses, this is where the calls come from today.
3. AI readiness. Answer the questions clients ask you every week, in plain language, on your own site. Then check how ChatGPT and Google's AI describe you once a month.
You don't need three agencies or three budgets. You need one strategy that covers all three doors.
Bottom line: SEO isn't dead, it's the foundation. Google, Google Maps and AI tools all read the same website and profile, so build those well and you show up behind all three doors. Don't abandon SEO. Expand your visibility.
Want a quick read on how visible you are right now? Get your free Local Marketing Report. It takes about a minute. Want me to look at Google, Maps and AI personally? That's a Digital Visibility Audit, and you can request one here.
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All The Best To Your Success.