AI Search Shifts SEO: Google's New Answers Reshape Marketing

Google I/O announced AI-generated answers are now central to search, upending traditional SEO strategies built around 10 blue links. On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan interviewed Matt Thompson, VP of partnerships at Scrunch, a startup focused on the AI search shift. Thompson noted that AI referrals convert at 400% higher than traditional organic search, and ChatGPT still dominates AI search traffic, meaning optimizing only for Google misses most of the market. He warned that Google's own SEO best practices may mislead marketers and discussed making websites 'agent ready,' a state most enterprise sites have not achieved. The episode is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and Equity's X and Threads accounts (@EquityPod).