The AI Revolution: The Decline of SEO and the Rise of AIO

We are witnessing a seismic shift in how information is discovered and consumed, and it's one that's not getting enough attention. AI platforms are quietly reshaping the digital landscape—dismantling traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as we've known it for decades.

As Andrej Karpathy recently posted on X: "It's 2025 and most content is still written for humans instead of LLMs. 99.9% of attention is about to be LLM attention, not human attention."

This paradigm shift is already manifesting in how B2B research, purchasing, and even daily knowledge queries are performed. Whether it's a procurement team evaluating software, a marketing strategist planning campaigns, or a student doing homework, the first instinct is increasingly: "Let me ask ChatGPT or Claude," not "Let me Google it."

1)  The Data Behind the Disruption

The numbers reveal a startling reality about this transformation:

Declining Traffic to Traditional Knowledge Hubs

• G2: The leading B2B software review platform has lost 50% of its organic traffic over just two years since ChatGPT's rise (Elena Verna, 2025).
• Stack Overflow: Once the programmer's bible, SO has seen a 38% decline in question engagement since 2023 as developers increasingly turn to AI for code solutions.
• Wikipedia: Even the internet's encyclopedia has reported a 15% drop in page views across its technical and educational content compared to pre-AI assistant levels.

Rising AI Query Volume

• OpenAI reported in Q1 2025 that ChatGPT handles over 3 billion queries daily - approximately 30% of Google's daily search volume.
• Anthropic's Claude processes nearly 1.5 billion daily interactions, with 67% being information-seeking queries that traditionally would have gone to search engines.
• Perplexity AI has grown from 0 to 120 million monthly active users in just two years, primarily serving informational needs.

Corporate Traffic Analysis

We analyzed Similarweb traffic data (October-December 2025) for three giants in their domains, revealing concerning trends:

• HubSpot: 41M → 32.8M visits → 📉 20% decline
• Figma: 89.4M → 72.7M visits → 📉 18.7% decline
• Canva: 822.5M → 710.3M visits → 📉 13.7% decline

This isn't just a temporary fluctuation - it represents a fundamental shift in how users discover and engage with content.

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2)  Real-World Examples of the AI-First Discovery Shift

Case Study 1: Atlassian's Content Strategy Pivot

Atlassian, the software giant behind Jira and Confluence, noted a 23% decrease in organic traffic to their help documentation in 2024. Their analysis revealed users were bypassing their SEO-optimized content and going straight to AI assistants for troubleshooting.

In response, Atlassian implemented an AIO-first approach:

1. They developed structured knowledge bases specifically designed for AI consumption
2. They partnered with leading AI assistants to ensure accurate representation
3. They embedded AI-answerable FAQs within their product interfaces

Results: Within six months, user support satisfaction rose by a substantial 31%, while support tickets decreased by 27% - despite the continued decline in traditional web traffic.

Case Study 2: StackAI's Channel Distribution

StackAI, a developer tools startup, tracked their lead generation sources meticulously throughout 2024-2025:

• Q1 2024: 78% from Google, 12% from AI platforms, 10% from other sources
• Q4 2024: 51% from Google, 41% from AI platforms, 8% from other sources
• Q2 2025: 37% from Google, 58% from AI platforms, 5% from other sources

As co-founder Antoni Rosinol noted: "Our customer acquisition cost for AI-sourced leads is now 40% lower than traditional search-driven leads, with a 22% higher conversion rate. The quality of AI-driven traffic is simply superior."

Case Study 3: The Enterprise Software Purchase Journey

Gartner's 2025 B2B Buyer Behavior Study reveals how dramatically AI has transformed the enterprise purchase journey:

• 64% of enterprise software evaluations now begin with an AI assistant query
• 73% of procurement teams use AI assistants to create initial vendor shortlists
• 82% of buyers consult AI for feature comparisons before speaking with sales reps

One CIO from a Fortune 500 company shared: "Last year, we evaluated ERP solutions by having our team spend weeks researching online. This year, we started by asking Claude to analyze our requirements and recommend vendors. The process was 70% faster, and the recommendations were nearly identical."

3)  What This Means for B2B Marketers and Sales Teams

The implications of this shift are profound:

SEO Alone Is No Longer Sufficient

Traditional content strategies optimized for search engines are becoming increasingly obsolete. The classic "10 blue links" of Google results are giving way to direct answers from AI assistants, which synthesize information rather than simply pointing to it.

As marketing strategist Lily Oberstein observes: "We're seeing a complete inversion of discovery patterns. Instead of optimizing content to be found, companies now need to ensure their data is structured to be synthesized and presented by AI."

A New Approach: AI Optimization (AIO)

Businesses must now craft content for language models, not just humans. This involves:

1. Structured Data Markup: Making information easily parsable by AI systems
2. Entity-Based Content: Organizing information around clear entities and relationships
3. Factual Density: Prioritizing verifiable, attributable facts over marketing fluff
4. Consistency: Maintaining consistent terminology and structured formats
5. Authoritative Positioning: Establishing clear, distinguishable expertise in your domain

Who's Leading the AIO Revolution?

Early adopters are already seeing results:

• Salesforce has developed an AI-specific knowledge graph that structures their product information specifically for LLM consumption
• Adobe created "AI cards" - specialized content modules designed to be the perfect size and structure for AI citation and incorporation
• Monday.com rebuilt their documentation as "AI-first," resulting in a 47% increase in accurate representation in AI responses about their product

4)  The Future of Digital Discovery is AIO

The evidence is clear: we've entered an era where AI is fundamentally changing how information is discovered and consumed.

While traditional SEO won't disappear overnight, its dominance is waning. Forward-thinking organizations are already pivoting to an AIO-first approach that acknowledges this new reality.

As Tomasz Tunguz predicted, AIO is becoming the foundation of the new inbound marketing playbook. The winners in this new landscape will be those who:

• Create content designed for LLM comprehension
• Structure information for AI synthesis and attribution
• Distribute through AI-native platforms and partnerships
• Optimize for AI comprehension and summarization
• Measure AI visibility and accuracy as key performance indicators

The transition from the "Google era" to the "AI era" of discovery represents perhaps the most significant shift in digital marketing since the rise of search engines themselves. The question for businesses isn't whether to adapt, but how quickly they can do so.

5)  Looking Ahead: 2026 and Beyond

Industry analysts project that by 2026:

• Over 70% of informational queries will be handled by AI assistants rather than traditional search
• Content discovery for B2B products will be predominantly AI-mediated
• Companies with structured, AI-optimized content will capture 3-5x the visibility of those relying solely on traditional SEO

As Erik Wikander puts it:

1. AI has taken over information discovery.
2. The traditional search results page is on its last legs.
3. It's time to optimize for AI aggregation, not human clicks.

The data doesn't lie—AI is where attention is moving. If your marketing strategy still revolves around ranking on Google, it's time to pivot. The AIO revolution has arrived, and it's reshaping digital discovery as we know it.