From Search Engine Optimisation to Search Ecosystem Optimisation: A Strategic Evolution

The Search landscape is evolving. Not in a way that throws out everything we know today, but in a way that will steadily reshape how people discover, evaluate and trust brands.

Google is still the centre of the Search world, handling billions of queries every day, and that number is still growing. It’s also steadily weaving AI into its results, changing how answers are surfaced and reducing the need for users to click through to websites. With this shift, new user habits are creeping in – AI-driven platforms and social search are becoming part of the journey, too.

For businesses, this isn’t about ripping up the rulebook. It’s about expanding the game plan. Brands that act now will be better placed as the Search world keeps expanding and fragmenting.

Looking at recent numbers, Google and Bing recorded over 160 billion visits, compared to around 7 billion for platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity, according to Semrush. Google alone handles about 14 billion searches each day, far outpacing ChatGPT, which sees around 37.5 million daily prompts that are often focused on content generation rather than search.

Some analysts predict Google’s market share could fall in the coming years, with one study suggesting its current 90 per cent dominance might decline to 60 per cent by 2030. Other studies, however, point to only minor shifts, showing that Google’s overall usage across the US and Europe remains largely stable.

What is clear is that AI-powered search is on the rise, even if its effect on Google’s market share is still uncertain. This shift is not only driven by relative newcomers like ChatGPT and Perplexity but also by Google itself, which is reshaping its search experience through AI-generated summaries in features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Search isn’t just about Google anymore. We now need to look at how brands show up across AI-driven results and platforms, and, as appropriate, in social search too – from Reddit to YouTube, as well as TikTok and Pinterest. SEO is no longer about chasing one algorithm, but about building a strong, visible brand presence wherever people are searching.

Our approach remains strongly tailored to each brand, audience and industry. Our goal remains unchanged: to help our clients grow visibility and drive measurable business impact where it matters today while preparing for what’s next.

In this world, old technical foundations, quality content and authority signals remain crucial. What’s shifting is the focus – from a Google-focused mindset to a broader brand worldview, which now has AI-driven results at its heart.

Search Ecosystem Optimisation means keeping the fundamentals strong while adding AI-specific strategic focus. It means factoring in social and conversational search. And most importantly, it means staying true to what we have always done: focusing on the actions that make the biggest difference to our clients’ bottom line. We support this with our Search Ecosystem Optimisation Maturity Model, which helps brands understand where they are today and what to prioritise next.

And with this change, the way we report on success must develop alongside it. Traditional metrics no longer tell the whole story. Clicks, click-through rates and rankings are still important, but they miss a big part of the picture.

Analytics tools don’t fully capture AI-driven interactions, especially when there’s no click involved. So, we’re looking at a wider set of signals: tracking brand presence in AI-driven summaries, citations and mentions, and the sentiment around them. We evaluate engagement quality and conversions, and crucially, we measure how the wider ecosystem is delivering towards core business goals.

The key question is no longer just “how many clicks did we get?” but “how visible, trusted and relevant is our brand across the ecosystem, and how is this driving the outcomes that matter most to the business?”

Search is no longer tied to a single platform; it’s now a living, evolving ecosystem spanning search engines, AI platforms, social discovery, and everything in between.

Our role at 8MS is to help brands navigate this change with confidence. The opportunity is here now, while habits are still forming and the landscape is still open.

If you’d like to explore what this shift means for your brand, let’s talk.