Why Traditional SEO is Fading Fast and Why AI Will Decide Who Gets Found Next

At the end of this post, I will summarize the key steps you need to take to assure your website is found and a few nuances to button up your site. 

And my final thoughts on who wins in sales and marketing...

First, we must adjust our marketing mindset and provide some relevant-real-world context...

"Change or die." That’s the mantra behind my 100th Close The Deal podcast we just published, and it’s the mindset driving this shift. Today, I want to walk you through the AI search strategy I’m using for CloseTheDeal.com and why you need one of your own.

Traditional SEO worked. I’ve lived it. If you Google Close The Deal right now, you’ll see the site ranking #1 organically anywhere in the world.   That’s proof the old playbook using keywords, backlinks, consistent content can get you to the top-  BUT...

Reality is the game is changing wicked fast.

By the end of the year, what you know about SEO today won’t look the same tomorrow. Google is shifting to an AI-first search experience where keywords won’t carry the weight they used to. And if you’re not adapting, you’re going to get left behind.

The Problem With Keyword-First SEO

For years, SEO meant chasing phrases like “best franchise opportunity” or “AI sales tools.” You’d hire an SEO agency, run audits, and try to hit keyword density targets. Did it work? Sure. Sometimes. But it also created a system that was easy to game and often rewarded volume over value.

People like us hate this - none of us want to scroll through 10 pages of keyword-stuffed articles anymore.  We want clear answers from trusted sources. Google knows it.

Enter AI Search

Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is rolling out, and other platforms like Perplexity and ChatGPT with browsing are already reshaping how people find information. Instead of serving up a list of 10 blue links, AI summarizes the answer and then recommends the most trusted sources.

Notice the shift: it’s no longer about who hit the keyword. It’s about who owns the topic.

And this isn’t just my take. Neil Patel, Co-Founder of NP Digital  recently pointed out that searches for terms like AI SEO, AI Ranking, and AI Citations are spiking. His comment summed it up perfectly:

“Whether you want to call it GEO, AI SEO, SEO, or anything else… the more important thing is that you focus on ensuring LLMs are citing your business.”

That’s the undercurrent driving my strategy. Just like backlinks defined the old SEO game, citations from AI engines will define the next one. If AI assistants surface the answer to a sales or marketing question, I want them pointing to CloseTheDeal.com.

Authority, Not Just Keywords

This is why I’m shifting Close The Deal. If you’re consistently creating depth of content around sales, marketing, and AI and not just a one-off article ,  you build topical authority. Instead of trying to rank for “close the deal meaning” or “AI sales tools,” you become the brand AI associates with those conversations.

Think about it: when someone asks, “How do I overcome sales objections?”  - would you rather compete with 1,000 blog posts on the same keyword… or have ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or Perplexity cite CloseTheDeal.com as the trusted answer?

Per Henry Hays, Co-Founder of Disrupt Ready,  "There are 700 million ChatGPT users worldwide, and of those users less than 20% are daily users. We now also know an AI search converts 10-40% vs 2% from SEO."

Freshness Matters

Another thing AI prioritizes is fresh content. If you wrote “Top AI Tools for Sales” in 2023 and never updated it, you’re invisible by 2025. But if you refresh it every quarter, add insights from your own experience, and tie it to real-world results, you win.

AI rewards recency, relevance, and credibility.

Why You Should Move Now

If you’re still playing the old SEO game, you’re on borrowed time. The next six months are about building:

1. Topical hubs (clusters of content around sales, AI, lead gen, closing techniques).
2. Personal credibility (your voice, your podcast, your experience woven into the articles).
3. Freshness cycles (updating content regularly so AI trusts you’re current).

The businesses that embrace this shift will own the AI search results. The ones that don’t will still be chasing keywords while their traffic dries up.

The Close The Deal Approach

Here’s how I see it:

• CloseTheDeal.com becomes the flagship hub for sales and marketing insights, AI-driven strategies, and podcast interviews with entrepreneurs, sales leaders, and marketing disruptors.
• Over time, I’ll migrate my franchising content over to YourFirstFranchise.com, where it will continue to serve people exploring business ownership through franchising. 
• That shift allows me to replicate the Close The Deal playbook using the steps below , but laser-focused on all things sales and marketing (that drives leads).

Together, the two sites create clarity: YourFirstFranchise.com** owns franchising, while CloseTheDeal.com evolves into the authority on selling, marketing, and AI.

** "Your First Franchise"  became a keyword once we became known in the franchising world. As of this publishing, there are now 3 sponsored ads typically trolling the keyword that's our name. 

SUMMARY OF DETAILS TO BUTTON UP

  Structured Data (Schema Markup – SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS

• Add schema (FAQ, How-To, Article, Podcast, etc.) to your content.
• This helps Google and AI models “understand” your page context and

        makes it more likely to be cited.

    Author Profiles & E-E-A-T Signals

• Create a clear author bio page (with your name, photo, credentials, podcast/book links).
• Add author schema to posts so AI knows who is behind the content.
• AI and Google weigh Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness heavily now.

  Crawlability & Indexing

• Make sure your site loads fast, uses HTTPS, and has a clean sitemap submitted to Google Search Console.
• If your site isn’t technically healthy, AI won’t surface it, no matter how good the content is.

  Content Linking Structure

• Internally link related posts to build “authority hubs.”
• Externally link to authoritative sources (and get backlinks when possible).
• This shows both Google and AI that your content is part of a credible knowledge ecosystem.

  Multimedia & Transcripts

• Upload podcast transcripts, embed videos, add alt-text to images.
• AI pulls from text — so the more structured text you give it, the more you’ll be cited.

  Regular Updates & Versioning

• Add “Last Updated” dates to posts.
• Refresh content quarterly so AI knows it’s current (AI tends to prefer more recent sources).

SCHEMA MATTERS

The most important code to embed on your website to improve visibility in AI-driven search is schema markup (structured data).

This allows search engines and AI systems (like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews) to clearly understand, categorize, and cite your site’s content boosting your chances for answer boxes and AI citations.

What Schema Markup Should You Use?

• Article schema: For blog posts, news, and informational pages, it communicates authorship, topic, headlines, dates, and more.
• FAQ schema: For frequently asked questions, service, product, or pricing pages, it helps AI find and directly quote your page.
• Organization schema: Defines your business, linking your brand, logo, contact info, and social profiles for authority and trustworthiness.
• Product or Service schema: For e-commerce and services; helps AI understand your offerings for recommendation purposes.
• Review schema: For testimonials and reputation; may result in rich snippets.

How to Implement Schema Markup

Add schema as JSON-LD code within the <head> or just before </body> in each page’s HTML. For example:

<script type="application/ld+json">

{

 "@context": "http://schema.org",

 "@type": "FAQPage",

 "mainEntity": [

  {

   "@type": "Question",

   "name": "What are your business hours?",

   "acceptedAnswer": {

    "@type": "Answer",

    "text": "We are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm."

   }

  }

 ]

}

</script>

Validate your schema using Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool and update regularly as your content grows.

Technical SEO Reminders

• Keep essential content in HTML, not hidden behind JavaScript, for maximum AI crawlability.
• Maintain up-to-date XML sitemaps, robots.txt, and clean internal linking for strong discoverability.
• FAQ, Article, and Organization schema are easiest to implement early; expand to Service/Product/Review as needed.

Embedding schema markup is now the “special code” most recommended to future-proof your site for AI search

Final AI Thought

I really believe AI won’t replace salespeople, marketers, or entrepreneurs. But those salespeople, marketers, or entrepreneurs  who leverage  AI will replace those who don’t.

The same is true for SEO. Keywords won’t disappear overnight, but the weight is shifting. Authority, freshness, and AI citations are what’s going to get found next.

That’s why I’m moving Close The Deal into an AI-first sales and marketing brand  and shifting franchise-specific content to YourFirstFranchise.com over the coming months.

The future of getting found isn’t about playing the old SEO game. It’s about leading the conversation so AI has no choice but to point to you.