Did ChatGPT kill SEO?

Did you know HubSpot’s SEO traffic is down 75% since ChatGPT launched? 😳 Is SEO dead? What should you do instead?

I found expert answers from Lars Lofgren (the SEO wizard behind Neil Patel's empire) in this recent podcast.

tl;dr - For startups, do not count on SEO. Right now the best source of “free” traffic is social media.

What’s happening to SEO?

1. It’s hard for a startup to rank - Even before AI, since 2022, Google’s algo has favored the very strongest domains. (Hence, Indeed ranks for irrelevant topics like “how to start a food truck business”).

2. Link clicks are down - Google is losing traffic to ChatGPT, plus their own AI-generated snippets mean searchers don’t need to click.

3. And AI can’t write your SEO content, yet – Absolutely not, Lars insists. AI provides consensus thinking and formulaic writing that won’t engage masses of readers.

What is working for organic traffic in 2025?

1. Top of funnel: Focus on the social media channels where your audience hangs out (YouTube, Tik Tok, Insta, LinkedIn or X). Deliver engaging content, and remember, people follow people, not brands.

2. Middle of funnel: Move them to your database and build trust with high-value content (newsletters, podcasts, industry reports or free tools) to establish yourself as a trusted advisor.

3. Bottom of funnel: Convert your engaged audience to leads or customers. If you're doing cold outreach, warm up those prospects by sending across your most helpful content before you try to sell.

For more detail, I recommend:

1. The full interview with Lars Lofgren about SEO in 2025.

2. “Zero Click Content” by the remarkable Amanda Natividad, who has been banging this drum for 2.5 years.

3. The full story on Hubspot’s SEO collapse (it wasn't only ChatGPT)

More questions…

1. How can you optimise your site to get traffic from ChatGPT?

2. How can a company grow a social media presence?

3. Where can you find this remarkable content at scale?

I’ll tell you in the next few weeks. 😏