How AI Agents Are Quietly Reshaping SEO (and What to Do About It)

We marketers love a tidy conversion story. But according to Dave Davies—SEO expert, AI insider, and keynote speaker at SMX Advanced—the narrative is getting messier by the day. In our conversation, Dave pulled back the curtain on how generative engines and agentic systems are transforming the entire search landscape.

This wasn’t a conversation about the latest SEO hacks. It was about rethinking how we market, who we’re really writing for, and how to prepare for a future where agents—not humans—make the first move.

Here are the three main takeaways from our conversation:

1. SEO Metrics Are Lying to You (Kind Of)

Dave didn’t mince words: attribution is falling apart. AI overviews and tools like ChatGPT are absorbing traffic that used to hit your site. And the kicker? When users finally do click through, it shows up as direct traffic. The funnel is still working—you just can’t see it.

For teams still explaining dips in organic clicks to the C-suite, the challenge is not performance. It’s perception. And it’s only going to get harder as AI becomes the first (and possibly only) interface users engage with.

2. Generative Engines Need Different Content Formats

If you’re still optimizing for humans and hoping to catch AI’s attention—think again. Generative engines prefer structured data. Dave shared some specifics:

• Quotes, stats, and well-structured tables perform better.

• Short, focused content wins in Bing (which now powers ChatGPT browsing).

• LLMs latch onto clear answers—especially when they’re placed right after your heading.

In short: structure like a human, format like a bot.

3. Agents Will Soon Replace Human Search (Really)

Dave painted a picture that felt inevitable: you’ll soon ask your device to “buy me a KVM switch under $300,” and two days later, it shows up. No browsing. No decision fatigue.

This is where agentic systems are heading—especially as protocols like Google’s A2A allow agents to talk to each other. For SEOs, this means we’re not just optimizing for people anymore. We’re optimizing for machines acting on behalf of people.

And if you’re not ready for that shift? You’ll be invisible.

Actionable Steps You Can Take Now

• Format for AI: Add clear, concise summaries right after headings. Use tables, citations, and structured data where possible.

• Diversify Your Presence: Platforms like Medium still train LLMs. Repurpose and distribute strategically.

• Check Your Pre-rendering: If your site is JavaScript-heavy, make sure bots like CCbot (used by Common Crawl) see the pre-rendered version.

• Monitor AI Mentions: Track where and how tools like ChatGPT mention your brand—this is your new referral traffic.

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Until next time,
Ben Ard
Host of the Content Amplified podcast