SEO Trends for 2026 (& What to Do About Them)
Key Takeaways: Here's what's working in SEO right now
Google still dominates search, so don't abandon traditional SEO to chase AI tools.
AI Overviews are reducing click-through rates; structure your content so yours is what gets cited.
E-E-A-T is everything: real expertise, real people, real opinions outrank generic content.
Your SEO needs to work across platforms including Google, social, maps, and visual search.
Local SEO got stricter in 2026; a clean, complete Google Business Profile and genuine reviews matter more than ever.
Publish less and go deeper. Quality and originality beat volume every time.
Search as we knew it has fundamentally changed—AI Overviews, zero-click results, and discovery are happening across a dozen platforms before anyone lands on your website.
The good news is the core principle hasn't changed, but how you get there looks different.
We’ve laid out the current SEO trends and what you can do to apply these new trends to your strategy.
Trend 1: AI Overviews Are Eating Click-Through Rates. Here's How to Show Up Anyway
AI Overviews and AI Mode are expanding in search results and reducing traditional click-throughs.
Zero-click searches now account for 27.2% of search traffic, up from 24.4% in early 2024. This means searchers are getting their information from the Google results page, without clicking any links. This trend shows that success increasingly depends on how well you show up within search results, not just what links to your site.
What to do: Structure content with clear headings and FAQ sections; use schema markup; answer questions directly and concisely so your content is the one AI pulls from.
Trend 2: GEO Is Real, But Google Still Wins, So Don't Abandon Traditional SEO
Sites generate about 34 times more search traffic from Google than from AI chatbots. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is growing, but traditional SEO remains the primary source of high-intent traffic.
According to Google, “AI optimization” relies on the same principles as traditional SEO. If you’re creating human-centric content that’s genuinely helpful and informative, you’re coming out ahead.
What to do: Don't chase GEO-specific tactics at the expense of your Google fundamentals; build real authority and the AI visibility follows.
Trend 3: E-E-A-T Is the Whole Game Now
E-E-A-T—expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness—has long been at the heart of Google’s Search Quality Rater. With the rise in AI uses in search, these four principles are at the forefront of any SEO strategy.
As AI has flooded the internet with competent but average content, original point of view, lived experience, real examples, and proprietary data are now the actual ranking advantage.
Google is rewarding smaller blogs written by people with real lived experience over faceless corporate blogs, especially in competitive spaces.
What to do: Put a real person behind your content through adding author bios, credentials, opinions, photos. You should also showcase client results to elevate your authority to your audience.
Trend 4: "Search Everywhere Optimization:" Your SEO Has to Work Across Platforms
User journeys now weave through AI agents, social feeds, community forums, image results, chat interfaces, and traditional search engine results pages (SERPs.)
Gen Z is turning to Google Lens to search, and 1 in 4 visual searches using Lens has commercial intent. Meaning they’re getting ready to make buying decisions.
They’re also searching on social media, where results are more visual.
Meanwhile, AI and SERPs increasingly reference YouTube videos, Instagram content, and TikTok posts as authoritative sources. Brands without a strong video and social media strategy are missing from entire dimensions of AI-powered search.
What to do: Start thinking of SEO as a multi-platform strategy; optimize your images for visual search; invest in video content; make sure your brand is consistent and findable wherever people are looking.
Trend 5: Local SEO Got Stricter, And More Important
46% of all Google searches have local intent and 76% of mobile users who conduct a local search visit a physical business within 24 hours.
Google's March 2026 Core Update triggered widespread suspensions of business listings for keyword stuffing in business names, so the era of "Best Locksmith Edmonton 24/7" as your business name is over.
Experts have also noticed that 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses before making their purchasing decisions.
This translates to having a comprehensive Google Business Profile (GBP.) Organizations with complete Google Business Profiles receive 70% more location visits than those with incomplete profiles.
What to do: Audit your GBP for accuracy and completeness regularly. It’s also okay to ask for genuine reviews (and it’s a bonus if you respond to them). Keep your name, address, and phone number consistent everywhere, so Google has an extra data point to accurately index your business website.
Trend 6: Content Quality Over Content Volume
The brands getting recommended by AI aren’t just flooding the internet with content. Successfully cited brands are the ones with clear positioning, real social proof to back them up, and content that actually answers what people are asking.
Writing content your competitors haven't written is increasingly where the opportunity lives. Copying what top-ranking businesses are doing is a diminishing returns strategy. If you have nothing new to add on the topic or lack first-hand insight, it’s not making as great an impact on traditional search or AI models.
What to do: Audit your existing content before creating new content. Start by updating and improving what already exists. Once you’ve honed in on what your core topics are, you can go deeper on those fewer topics rather than wider on many.
Bottom Line
SEO isn’t going anywhere, but the way your audience is looking for you is changing.
There’s no need to panic or overthink it, because it’s still rooted in the same core principle: deliver VALUE.
Keep creating content for people, whether that’s website pages or social media content. If you centre your audience, showing them your expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness, you’ll find the right clients and customers for your business through search.
Need help applying these strategies to your business? We’ve got you covered.
Edmonton Social Media Marketing can help you with web design and SEO/GEO to get your business noticed by search engines, AI overviews, and most importantly, the people you’re trying to reach.
