Jason BerkowitzFounder, SEO Director at Break The Web

Does SEO Still Matter for AI Search? (ChatGPT & AI Overviews)

23 Oct 2026 · 2 min

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2:24

In this conversational interview, Jason Berkowitz and Speaker B explore the evolving relevance of SEO in the age of AI-driven search platforms such as ChatGPT and Claude. They discuss the speculative future where AI assistants could enable direct, in‑platform purchases—akin to a more functional Google Shopping—while noting that such a shift would require significant changes in consumer behavior. The dialogue underscores the uncertainty surrounding AI search optimization, questioning whether marketers should even be concerned about it yet. Berkowitz argues that the hallmark of top SEOs is adaptability; those who have thrived for 15+ years do so because they continuously evolve with technology. He emphasizes that strong SEO still drives visibility in AI overviews, with brand presence, digital PR, and link building remaining valuable signals that can influence AI‑generated results. Overall, the conversation balances cautious optimism about AI’s potential with a pragmatic call for marketers to stay aware, adaptable, and continue leveraging proven SEO tactics.

Overall, I think there probably is going to be a world where you can, very similar to Google Shopping, which nobody really uses, make a purchase directly in a platform without visiting a website. But I think that would also require a big shift in consumer behavior.
So, I mean, there's a lot of randomness, there's misinformation, there's just so— I think the key phrase here is we don't know. Right? It is so new and evolves so quickly. Rather than ask, you know, how do I optimize for AI? I think a better question is, should I even be thinking about it? Right? Is this even a current ongoing concern?
Concern? No. Thinking about it? Yeah. I mean, I think, I think it's beneficial to have a pulse on the changing landscape of technology. The best SEOs that have been around, if you knew SEOs 15 years ago that are still absolutely killing it today, It's because they have the trait of evolving and adapting and accepting. And the older we get, the more stubborn we get, and the willingness to adapt and evolve decreases significantly. So things are changing right now and things are going to continue to change, but the swiftness of a great SEO will be put to the test in their willingness to adapt and evolve, and other marketers as well. So, Having it as a concern, maybe not being aware of what's taking place. Absolutely. Because also there's a lot of data to show that really good SEO just helps with really good visibility in these platforms, in AI mode, in AI overviews, ChatGPT, Claude. So when you think about like, oh, the more times your brand appears on the web, you're more likely to be more favorable in these AI platforms. Okay, cool. Digital PR and link building. Same thing. Really good SEO now from like any correlations that people are seeing is, is just good SEO with these platforms.
Yeah. So we know, all right, the one-time things that we could do is just like general SEO stuff, robots.txt, make sure we've not excluded robots because that's how OpenAI will access the site. If you're technical, you could do this llms.txt thing. You know, it's like 20 minutes of screwing around if you have to do the research. It's not a big deal. Probably doesn't do anything, doesn't hurt anything either.