20 Expert Insights On the Future of SEO

The future of SEO is changing fast, and 2025 is only the beginning. With AI-driven search, zero-click search engine results pages (SERPs) and shifting user behaviours, search engine algorithms are evolving toward a more human-first, intent-based model.

To better understand what’s ahead of us, we surveyed 20 leading SEO and content experts for their professional predictions, key emerging trends, and the outdated tactics they’re leaving behind. From voice search to topical authority, here’s what you need to know to stay ahead in the future of SEO.

How We Gathered Data From Experts On the Future of SEO

We sent survey requests to other experts in SEO and content to gather their direct insight and professional opinions on the following topics:

1. What changes do you expect to see in the future of SEO?
2. What do you expect to see more of from SEOs in 2025 & beyond?
3. What do you expect SEOs to leave behind in 2025 & beyond?

Here’s what they had to say…

20 Expert Insights On the Future of SEO

Here are 20 expert insights on the future of SEO. These insights collectively highlight a future where AI drives personalisation, quality trumps quantity, and SEOs must adapt to evolving user-centric paradigms.

The one-size-fits-all SERP is dying

Andrew Lokenauth, Founder @ TheFinanceNewsletter.com, predicts AI will become central to SEO, transforming how content is served and requiring SEOs to focus on solving user problems rather than keyword stuffing. He sees voice and visual search gaining traction, alongside user experience signals like Core Web Vitals outweighing traditional ranking factors. Andrew states:

“Search will become increasingly personalized and localized. Future search results will be hyper-customized based on location, search history, and user behavior. This means SEOs will need to focus more on audience segments rather than general rankings… which honestly makes our job both harder and more interesting!”

AI will redefine how we understand user intent

Abhishek Shah, Founder @ Testlify, highlights AI’s growing influence, especially in understanding user intent and optimising for features like Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE). He foresees holistic content strategies integrating SEO with other channels, such as video and podcasts. 

On outdated practices, he warns against keyword stuffing and generic AI-generated content, emphasising the need for unique, high-quality outputs. Abhishek told us:

“I believe the future of SEO will be heavily influenced by AI and user intent. Search engines are getting smarter at understanding context and delivering personalized results, so SEOs will need to focus on creating content that genuinely answers user questions.”

User experience will outpace traditional ranking factors

Joe Davies, CEO @ FATJOE, anticipates user experience and mobile optimisation taking center stage while voice and image search flourish. He urges SEOs to focus on authentic long-form content tailored to user needs and abandon obsolete tactics like keyword stuffing and basic meta tags.

“Looking ahead, I expect some key changes in SEO. User experience will take center stage, with a stronger focus on lightning-fast mobile optimization. Voice and image search will flourish, demanding new optimization techniques.”

AI will personalize local SEO and uncover new opportunities

Justin Herring, Founder and CEO @ YEAH! Local, anticipates AI playing a transformative role in SEO, particularly in personalising keyword research and enhancing local optimisation efforts.

He focuses on the importance of tailored strategies over cookie-cutter approaches, highlighting how geo-specific content and schema markup can improve search rankings by providing precise and well-structured details to search engines. Justin told us:

“AI has the potential to personalize and enhance various facets of SEO, notably keyword research and local optimization. Investing in geo-specific content and schema markup leads to better search rankings because search engines understand the precise details businesses provide. Mobile optimization plays a crucial role too, as it makes it easier for local searchers to connect with businesses while they’re on the go.”

Video optimisation will dominate SEO

Loris Petro, Marketing Manager @ Kratom Earth, expects video optimisation to dominate as search engines analyse visual and audio cues within videos. He advocates for abandoning exact-match anchor text in backlinking, favouring natural links from high-authority sites. Justin notes:

“Search engines are now analyzing the actual content inside videos, not just the title and description. AI-driven algorithms can detect on-screen text, recognize objects, and even understand spoken words. This means adding keyword-rich text overlays, subtitles, and branding directly within the video will help search engines categorize and rank it more accurately.”

Conversational SEO is the future

Robbin Schuchmann, Co-founder @ EOR Overview, foresees Google’s reliance on subject-matter expertise growing, with conversational SEO replacing static keyword-driven pages. He advises SEOs to optimise for AI summarisation rather than traditional rankings, adding that blind faith in backlinks will fade as Google prioritises real-world influence. Robbin told us:

“SEO in 2025 will be less about how we optimize and more about who is speaking. Google’s increasing reliance on real-world authority means content created by subject-matter experts will have more weight than ever.”

Topical authority will outweigh mass-produced content

Isaac Bullen, Marketing Director @ 3WH, emphasises AI’s role in shaping SEO strategies, predicting specialised agencies for AI optimisation. He advocates quality over quantity in content creation, stating that topical authority will outweigh mass-produced articles. Isaac states:

“We’re moving closer to topical authority—less articles, more trust for top-ranking results in search. Quality over quantity is the direction SEO is heading.”

Trust signals like testimonials will matter more

Moti Gamburd, CEO @ Raya’s Paradise, envisions experience-driven content gaining importance as Google prioritises trust signals like testimonials and expert-authored material. He highlights voice search and short video content as key areas of growth while advising against thin or generic content, telling us:

“Search engines are getting smarter at identifying genuine expertise. Google is prioritizing signals like real patient testimonials, expert-authored content, and transparent business practices.”

Intent-based content will replace keyword-focused articles

Arvind Rongala, CEO @ Edstellar, predicts intent-based content will replace keyword-focused articles as search engines improve contextual understanding. He stresses the importance of video optimisation and warns against outdated practices like keyword stuffing and weak backlinks. He notes:

“I expect SEO to move more toward intent-based content rather than just keyword-focused articles. Search engines are becoming better at understanding what people actually mean when they search.”

Zero-click marketing is the next big shift

Ryan Jones, Marketing Manager @ SEOTesting, sees zero-click marketing becoming more prominent due to AI Overviews, shifting KPIs from traffic metrics to visibility tracking. He believes SEOs will need to adapt to broader customer journey strategies, leaving behind traditional rank-focused approaches. Ryan advises:

“Rather than just competing for clicks with our competitors, we are now competing for clicks with Google itself. I think we are going to shift from a purely rank-and-get-traffic perspective to a visibility perspective.”

Holistic brand growth will trump keyword-centric SEO

Natalie Le, Founder & CEO @ Ormi Media, emphasises holistic brand growth strategies over keyword-centric SEO. She predicts earned links through PR campaigns will replace mass guest posting while templated SEO services without strategic impact will become obsolete. Natalie states:

“SEO is shifting beyond just keywords, and brands will need to invest in a holistic brand growth strategy rather than just ranking for a few primary terms. Authority, audience engagement, and overall brand presence will play a bigger role in organic success.”

AR and AI-powered search will shape rankings

Nathan Barz, Founder and CEO @ SEO DocVA, highlights the importance of blending human-centric content with cutting-edge technologies like AR and AI-powered search. He foresees visual search and sustainable digital practices influencing rankings while advocating for authoritative content (in line with E-E-A-T standards) over outdated tactics like exact-match keywords, stating:

“I’m really looking forward to technologies like AR and AI-powered search that will shift the way we engage with digital content. Success for me will be remaining nimble while creating meaningful content that connects with users.”

Personalization will drive SEO success

Gregory Shein, CEO @ Nomadic Soft, expects AI-driven search and zero-click searches to demand authoritative, value-driven content. He predicts SEOs will lean into personalisation while abandoning tactics like keyword stuffing and low-quality link building. He told us:

“The future of SEO will be shaped by AI-driven search, voice and visual search optimization, and Google’s evolving algorithms prioritizing user intent. Zero-click searches and enhanced SERP features will demand a shift toward value-driven, authoritative content.”

Quality over quantity in backlinks and content is key

Magnus Løv Schmidt, SEO Lead @ Search Royals, anticipates AI overtaking traditional search engines eventually but sees common SEO principles remaining relevant across platforms. He stresses quality over quantity in backlinks and content creation as spammy tactics fade away, telling us:

“Proper SEOs will leave behind the scale of quantity and focus a lot more on quality—not only on their own websites but also referring sites to increase their authority in the world of search.”

Structured data and multimedia content are the future

Muhammad Ummar Rashid, SEO Specialist @ Digital Willow, foresees an AI-driven landscape prioritising intent-based search engine optimisation, structured data, and multimedia-rich content. He warns against manipulative tactics like excessive keyword stuffing and emphasises balancing technical SEO with engaging user experiences. Muhammad states:

“With the rise of AI-powered search assistants like Google’s SGE, traditional keyword-based strategies will evolve into intent-driven content optimization. Entity-based SEO, structured data, and real-time personalization are key trends for 2025 and beyond.”

Diversify traffic sources to survive AI Overviews

Francis Angelo Reyes, Founder & Digital Analytics Consultant @ Lupage Digital, highlights the challenges posed by AI Overviews reducing organic traffic but sees diversification of traffic sources as key to success. He advises SEOs to move beyond traditional Google-focused methods toward innovative strategies, telling us:

“AI has deployed the Overview in search results, causing traffic dips for weeks. SEOs need to be more innovative and diversify traffic sources beyond traditional Google listings to survive this shift.”

Read more Expert Insights on AI in SEO

Engagement-based ranking models are on the rise

Khan Muhammad Imran, CEO, Brand Ignite, predicts a shift toward engagement-based ranking models driven by AI-powered SGE responses. He emphasises multimodal content optimisation (text, audio, video) while warning against outdated link spam tactics. He notes that:

“SEO is being transformed into a model of user experience. Websites must be deep, authoritative, and engaging to succeed as engagement patterns become critical ranking factors over shallow pages optimized solely for rankings.”

Domain knowledge trumps keyword matching now

Spencer Romenco, Chief Growth Strategist, GrowthSpurt, notes algorithms favour meaning over keywords, with conversational long-form content becoming essential. He advocates optimising for domain knowledge rather than keyword matching as Google increasingly prioritises boxed answers. Spencer responded:

“Algorithms favor meaning over words—long-form natural-language content is best. Google offers speedy boxed answers that require domain knowledge rather than keyword matching alone.”

Voice search and immersive storytelling are game-changers

Wes Wakefield, Founder and CEO, ProCoffeeGear, sees voice search taking off alongside immersive storytelling formats like 360-degree tours. He advises abandoning bad UX practices such as spammy pop-ups while focusing on specific customer needs instead of generic lists. He advises:

“Voice search will take off—imagine someone asking Alexa instead of typing queries. Experience signals like fast load times or easy warranty access matter more than ever for rankings now.”

Contextual relevance will replace keyword obsession

Eric Sornoso, Co-Founder, Mealfan, predicts AI-driven algorithms will prioritise contextual relevance over keywords while rewarding engaging user experiences. He warns against manipulative SEO tactics like thin content or irrelevant link building, emphasising thought leadership instead. Eric noted that:

“Keywords-based optimization will become less important than contextual relevance, structured data, and conversational search as AI-driven algorithms reward engaging user experiences.”

Future of SEO Survey Statistics

Our analysis of expert responses to this survey reveals clear trends and consensus among industry professionals. The overall verdict illustrates SEO’s evolution into a hybrid discipline that requires a blend of technical precision and creative content strategy, and where AI augments rather than replaces human expertise. 

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of key statistics and patterns found in our research:

• 20/20 experts referenced AI’s transformative impact across all three categories. While most experts agreed on core trends, two distinct perspectives emerged:
  • AI optimism: 15/20 believe AI tools will enhance strategic capabilities.
  • AI skepticism: 5/20 warn against over-reliance on generative content.
• 17/20 responses emphasised user intent over keyword matching as the new optimisation compass.
• 13/20 expert responses predicted mobile-first technical SEO becoming non-negotiable for rankings.

Future Expectations

• AI dominance: Mentioned 30 times across responses, reflecting unanimous agreement that AI integration will redefine content optimisation and ranking systems.
• Voice search evolution: Cited 4 times, with experts predicting conversational query optimisation as table stakes.
• UX prioritisation: 3 mentions of user experience signals outpacing traditional ranking factors like backlinks.

What SEOs Will Do More Of

• Technical specialisation: 3 mentions of deeper technical SEO requirements (schema, rendering, indexing).
• AI-powered analytics: 19 references to predictive algorithms and real-time data-driven decisions.
• Cross-channel integration: 1 mention of blending SEO with broader digital strategies becoming essential.

Practices Being Left Behind

• Keyword stuffing: 6 explicit calls to abandon density-focused approaches.
• Mass link-building: 3 warnings against quantity-driven backlink strategies.
• Siloed optimisation: 1 mention of integrated strategies replacing isolated SEO efforts.

Embrace the Future of SEO With Dandy…

The insights in this report make one thing clear: SEO in 2025 and beyond will demand strategy, depth, and adaptability. From AI to UX, the tools are changing, but the need for expert guidance remains.

At Dandy, we help ambitious brands navigate the noise with futureproof SEO services tailored for long-term SEO growth. Whether you’re ready to optimise for SGE, embrace intent-first content, or overhaul your technical SEO between now and 2030, our team’s got your back.

👉 Explore our expert-led SEO packages and let’s shape your search future together.