What does SEO look like now?

It’s not just about Google rankings anymore. Instead, it’s about visibility everywhere your audience looks and that means taking a multichannel approach to search.

Speakers at Brighton SEO, like Jon Earnshaw (Pi Datametrics) and Ray Saddiq (Rise at Seven) highlighted the growing importance of content that’s not only technically sound but feels human, credible, and native to the platforms where it appears.

Earnshaw introduced the idea of creating ‘FAST’ content – First-person, Authentic, Social, Trusted in order to better align with how people actually search and consume content now. Think social proof, not just keywords.

Google’s getting more social too

Google’s increasingly pulling in TikToks, Insta Reels, forum threads and influencer posts and not just traditional blog posts or product pages. Saddiq pointed out that while technical SEO, content and links still matter, they’re more like hygiene factors now. To really compete, you need to build trust across multiple channels.

It’s not all about Google anymore  but it’s not time to abandon it either. Sure, many people now “search” on social media or scroll their feeds instead of Googling, and tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are changing how people get answers. However, let’s remain real, Google still processes trillions of searches a year and remains a massive driver of traffic for businesses.

That said, ChatGPT (according to research by DemandSphere) pulls more than half its info from Google’s own index. So, if you're thinking about AI visibility then you're still thinking about search visibility.

So, what should marketers do?

Here’s what came through loud and clear:

• Think multichannel - Treat SEO as part of a broader content visibility strategy. It’s not just blog posts; it’s also social, video, and community content
• Focus on brand strength - Google’s Helpful Content updates appear to favour well-known, trustworthy brands. Building brand authority may be harder to measure, but it’s becoming essential
• Show real expertise - Whether it’s through EEAT or FAST, trust and authority come from using real voices - your in-house experts or trusted creators
• Don’t ditch what works - Yes, experiment with AI and new formats but hold onto proven tactics while planning for a future that blends search, social, and smart content discovery