Surprise: SEO is not dead. It is just getting a much bigger and different role.
As brands invest in AI-led search, whether through GEO, LLMs or other emerging discovery channels, C-suite executives and CMOs are turning their attention back to SEO.
But Edge Marketing’s Luke Gosha believes the fundamentals have not changed.
In this exclusive interview, Mediaweek sat down with Gosha, Head of Search and AI Strategy at Edge Marketing, ahead of his appearance at Athens SEO 2026 – The International Tech SEO & AI Conference, to unpack the biggest shifts in how brands are thinking about AI-led search.
He said brands need to “understand how they can appear in AI.” The answer, he argued, comes down to where SEO now sits inside a business.
“What has happened over time is that the role of SEO has been very technically focused,” Gosha said.
While SEO remains a highly technical channel and is closely aligned with development teams, Gosha said AI search is forcing brands to view it as part of a broader marketing and brand strategy.
“It is really important that the role of SEO sits across multiple different channels,” he said.
“What happens on social media is also part of how sentiment is understood around a brand, and how brand sentiment is understood by machines.”
Is SEO dead?
The phrase “SEO is dead” has followed the industry through several rounds of headlines and technological changes. Gosha believes people who think that are “foolish” and “short-sighted.”
He said the role of SEO has evolved and is now “multifaceted.”
“The role of SEO has always been search first,” he said. “People have associated that with just Google, and that has made sense, but search is very multifaceted.”
While Google remains central, consumers are now discovering brands across social platforms, LLMs, traditional search engines, forums and review sites. For Gosha, that means SEO can no longer be treated as a Google-only function.
He said LLMs also rely on live search signals when retrieving real-time information, meaning brands still need to think carefully about how they perform in search.
“Rank is used to retrieve information from a live search index, so it absolutely still matters how you are performing in search.”
The agency and in-house balance
The UK vs. the Aussie market
Gosha joined the Gold Coast-based indie following a tenure at London-based brand and performance agency StrategiQ, where he served as Head of Search and AI.
Asked what differences stood out in the Australian market, Gosha said some clients still view SEO as either something they build in-house or outsource to an agency.
He argued the strongest model is when both “coexist together.” Gosha said the European market has been built on that model, in which in-house teams excel at relationships.
“You have a stakeholder who is ingrained in the business, and then you have an agency with strategic insight and expertise.”
That, Gosha said, is “very powerful” when those two come together.
But trust remains a sticking point. Gosha said some brands have previously worked with providers that focused on short-term uplift rather than long-term strategy, including offshored work or black-hat SEO tactics.
For him, the better approach starts with business goals built around critical questions: what the brand’s strategic ambitions are and where it sees itself in 12 or 24 months.
“When clients are thinking about SEO, it is really important they think about who they are partnering with and think more around strategy.”
AI exposed siloed teams
Gosha said AI has exposed how siloed SEO has become. While technical SEO remains important, brands now need to think about search as part of a broader marketing ecosystem.
“The key thing for brands to think about is ensuring that SEO is still grounded in technical fundamentals,” he said.
“But CMOs should absolutely be thinking about SEO as an integrated channel and leaning more into how the brand is showing up on social media.”
That shift matters because AI-led search is shaped by more than website performance.
Gosha said platforms such as Reddit, Quora and review sites are increasingly important because they help LLMs understand brand sentiment.
The role of SEO, then, is not just to optimise pages but to help brands understand how they are being discussed across the customer journey.
From “the first touchpoint of a brand all the way through to loyalty,” he explained.
That, he said, gives brands a clearer view of where customer experience issues may be surfacing, especially when negative sentiment begins appearing in online communities.
Main Image: Luke Gosha