Barry Schwartz on AI Overviews, SEO & Search Trends | Marketing Stack 2025
In this session of Marketing Stack 2025, Barry Schwartz, the founder of Search Engine Roundtable and a veteran SEO journalist with nearly 50,000 articles to his name, explores the massive shifts in digital visibility.
He has spent over two decades tracking every algorithm update and change in user behaviour. Schwartz notes that we are currently witnessing the biggest change in search history due to the implementation of AI overviews.
How are AI overviews impacting search traffic and brand visibility?
Google AI overviews are currently impacting web traffic more than any other change in the last twenty years. Google claims it still sends significant traffic to websites. However, most site owners see fewer clicks in their search console data compared to five years ago.
While impressions may be increasing, the actual click-through rate is declining for many publishers. This change is more obscure than previous updates because it is harder for webmasters to influence the outcome.
Is zero-click search the new normal for publishers and brands?
Zero-click search is becoming the permanent reality for the internet. This trend started several years ago but is now getting much worse. Google is expanding these AI features to more regions and countries for a wider variety of queries.
Google's head of search has stated that AI mode is the future of the platform. This shift will likely have an even bigger negative impact on the traffic that publishers receive.
Why is traffic diversification more important now than ever before?
Brands should not put all their eggs in Google's basket. If a company relies only on Google for traffic, it is likely suffering right now. Marketers must be present on every platform where their customers spend time.
This includes creating YouTube videos or engaging in conversations on Reddit. Diversifying traffic has been a common piece of advice since the early days of SEO in 2003. Companies should even consider conventional advertising, such as billboards or television, to reach their audience.
What role do entities and structured data play in AI discovery?
Entities help Google understand the relationship between brands, products, and services. It is important to ensure that Google understands your specific entity to avoid confusion in search results.
Schwartz believes that entities are currently more related to knowledge panels than AI overviews. He theorises that AI will eventually rely less on structured data as it gets better at understanding the open web. While structured data is helpful now, it may not be as critical in the future.
How should brands prepare for agentic experiences and AI conversions?
Marketers should start experimenting with agentic experiences in which AI agents take action on behalf of the user. This might involve building APIs that allow tools like ChatGPT to book services or flights directly.
Industry leaders believe these integrations are very important for the future. It is very early in the development of these tools, so brands should begin testing them now.
What metrics should CMOs prioritize when search clicks decline?
CMOs should move away from focusing only on clicks and sessions. Instead, they should focus on impressions and brand visibility. This is similar to how old-school marketers measured the potential viewership of a newspaper or television ad.
It is important to track whether your brand is being mentioned in AI-generated answers. The math for measuring return on investment will become more complex due to personalization in AI results.
Should businesses block AI crawlers or allow them to access content?
It is often premature for a brand to block AI bots from crawling their website. Traffic from tools like ChatGPT currently represents only about 1% of total web traffic.
Brands should allow these models to consume their content to see if it generates a return on investment. If there is no benefit after testing, the bots can be blocked later.
What is the best strategy for building a brand in the next five years?
A successful brand must be everywhere to win in the future. This includes maintaining a website while also being active on social media and niche forums. Brands should participate in communities like Reddit organically as brand ambassadors. Schwartz advises CMOs to continue focusing on traditional SEO and high-quality content while preparing for agentic conversions. The goal is to ensure the community knows and trusts the brand across all digital platforms.
