AI Talks. Google Delivers.

 approx 4 minute read

Wondering where to focus your efforts? There’s one number that makes the right strategy pretty obvious.

Back in September, we wrote about how AI hadn’t replaced Google, it had just changed how we use it.

AI handles the curiosity. Google handles the action.

Eight months on, not much has changed. Except the noise.

GEO. AEO. The acronyms are multiplying faster than the results they promise.

So before you rethink your entire marketing strategy around a channel that might matter eventually,  let’s look at what the data actually says.

A number worth sitting with

Thomas McKinlay, founder of Science Says and former Googler, put it plainly:

Up until Summer 2025, AI-referred traffic counted for just 0.2% of overall ecommerce traffic.

Not 2%. Not 20%.
0.2.

That is not a close race. That is not even a race yet. It is Google jogging comfortably ahead while everyone else is still lacing up their shoes.

And yes, it is growing. Yes, it will matter more. But right now, if someone arrives on your website ready to make an enquiry, they almost certainly came through Google.

Not ChatGPT. Not Claude. Not Perplexity.

Takeaway: Before you optimise for AI search, ask whether your customers are even using AI to find you. The data suggests most aren’t.

So who should actually care about GEO right now?

McKinlay suggests the exception to the 0.2% rule is complex, expensive, research-heavy products aimed at technical buyers.

Analytics platforms. Data tools. Developer software.

Products where someone spends three weeks doing homework before they even send an email.

If that sounds like your product: yes, GEO deserves your attention today.

If you sell a service, a physical product, or anything local, the honest (and maybe unpopular) answer is: it can wait.

Because right now, the customers who are ready to spend are still finding you the same way they always have.

Where they actually are

About 46% of Google searches carry local intent. “Electrician near me.” “Best café open Sunday.” “Emergency plumber Birmingham.”

A handful of people are asking ChatGPT which takeaway is still open at 11pm. But they’re still opening Google Maps to find it.

And as we looked at in September, AI tools are mostly used on desktop. For research, comparison, rabbit holes…

Mobile users, which is most people most of the time, still default to Google for fast, local, right-now queries.

That is your customer. On their phone. Searching with intent. Expecting to be found.

Google still sends the customers.

Takeaway: If you have a local business, a physical product, or a service that people search for in the moment: Google is still where the sale begins.

The right channel for your product

The most common mistake right now is not ignoring AI. It is optimising for the wrong thing entirely.

Local service businesses: tradespeople, hospitality, retail
→ Google Business Profile, local SEO, reviews. This is your channel. Own it properly.

Regional or national service businesses: agencies, consultancies, B2B
→ Search-intent content, backlinks, technical SEO. Build authority on the queries your buyers actually use.

eCommerce: products, gifting, fashion, homewares
→ Google Shopping, PPC, high-intent product search. AI traffic here is a rounding error.

Complex, high-value, research-heavy B2B products: software, platforms, data tools
→ This is where GEO earns its place alongside your existing SEO work.

There is no universal answer. But for most businesses reading this, the evidence points in one direction.

Don’t abandon the engine that’s working

We made the case that good SEO doesn’t just serve Google, it feeds the content that AI tools train on and summarise.

They are not in competition. They are part of the same ecosystem.

That is still true.

But the sharper point is this: chasing GEO because it feels modern, while neglecting the Google presence that is actively driving enquiries, is a distraction you cannot afford.

Rankings take time to build. Visibility compounds.

The businesses that keep their nerve and keep investing in solid, intent-driven, well-structured SEO are the ones who will be in the best position.

That’s whether the customer finds them through Google, or through an AI summary that scraped their content anyway.

The Good News

Google’s dominance over AI in terms of actual traffic sent to websites is real, and it is not going anywhere fast.

But here is the thing worth holding onto: if people search for what you do, anywhere, on any platform, then showing up matters.

Search Everywhere Optimisation is the right way to think about it.

And yes, that means AIO and GEO have to be part of the conversation eventually.

The reassuring part? Most of the principles are the same.

• Clear, useful, unique well-structured content.
• A website that loads quickly and says what you do (and who you do it for).
• Consistent information across every listing and directory.
• Authority built through genuine expertise and good backlinks.

These are not Google-specific tactics.

They are the foundations that make you findable, whether the answer comes from a search result, a local pack, or an AI summary pulling from the best sources it can find.

You do not need two strategies. You need one good one, applied consistently.

Get that right, and you are not just optimising for Google. You are optimising for everywhere.