Eric Siu argues SEO professionals must adapt to survive as AI and multimodal systems reshape how search works. He traces SEO from Yellow Pages and keyword stuffing to today's LLMs, showing that curiosity and flexibility matter more than resisting change.
Is SEO still a relevant career in this new world? Yeah, I mean, here's what I'll say, like the SEOs or the business owners who adapt, it's no different than anything, you just have to adapt. Yeah, like, by the way, what SEO worked back in the day? Oh, Yellow Pages. Oh, how did you game it? Oh, AAA. How the more A's you had, the more you showed up number 1, right? That's how you— that's how SEO was done with the Yellow Pages. People don't know what the Yellow Pages are today. And then eventually, oh, what happened? You started spamming Excite, Lycos, you started spamming a bunch of keywords, you know, maybe you hide it in the, you know, the background text, right? And now it's gotten more sophisticated. Now LLMs are multimodal, they're looking at a bunch of things. And, you know, I'm not— I think it's— there's no sacred cows when it comes to, you know, having a successful career. You just— the most important thing is that you're curious. The most important thing is that you're adaptable. And the SEOs who complain, the people that you see on X complaining all the time, these are people who haven't adapted. As long as you adapt, as long as you prepare, as long as you are curious, you will win. It's still a relevant career, I think more relevant than ever today, if you really look at it.
