SEO Trends 2025: Thriving in the Age of AI and Algorithms
Wow, is it 2025 already? Even if your brain is still stuck in the haze of 2024 holiday parties, 2025 is here—and with it, new horizons for search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, and everything in between.
Some folks see the future of SEO as a spooky story of doom and gloom, but like any strategy, the SEO landscape is set to undergo a big transformation this year. It’s crucial for business owners to keep their ears to the ground to understand how emerging 2025 SEO trends will affect their search rankings and overall SEO success.
In this guide, we’ll share the key SEO trends to watch and offer helpful tips so you can optimize your strategies to come back stronger than ever in 2025.
1. Yes, Basic Ranking Factors Still Matter
Sure, there are changes coming to SEO in 2025, but let’s be real: foundations still matter. It doesn’t make sense to invest in new content channels if you don’t have your keyword-targeting strategies down first, for example.
Content creation is still your best shot at rising through the search engine results pages (SERPs)—but only if it’s high-quality content aligned with user intent. The other SEO trends on this list still matter, but you can’t take advantage of them without helpful content.
Make sure you cover SEO basics like:
- Earning backlinks from high-authority sites
- Adding frequently asked questions (FAQs) to your content
- Optimizing headings and adding structured data
- Sprucing up technical SEO components like schema markup
- Writing content tailored to your target audience
SEO content writer Amanda Nze shared some great ideas for 2025 SEO strategies on LinkedIn. “Have you changed all mentions of 2024 to 2025 in your SEO title, content, and meta descriptions? Google will think your content is outdated, and it’ll hurt your rankings,” Nze writes. She also recommends posting content ahead of peak traffic times (using Google Trends data) and maximizing old blog content with Google Search Console insights.
2. AI Will Take Over—But Not How You Think
Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t the boogeyman. If anything, it can be a helpful tool that reshapes what SEO looks like, both for businesses and their customers. For example, plenty of businesses are using AI tools like ChatGPT to conduct topic research, narrow down long-tail keyword lists, and outline SEO-friendly blogs.
Other brands are already using these tools to write relevant content, faster. If you haven’t tried these writing tools yet, they can seriously speed up your content marketing efforts in 2025.
But don’t use AI to write your blogs word-for-word—search engines penalize fluffy, low-value content, anyway. Instead, use these tools to create high-quality landing pages, analyze metrics, and simplify keyword research. Invest in AI content tools that prioritize trustworthiness, authoritativeness, and expertise (E-E-A-T) to enhance your brand’s credibility.
According to SEO Consultant Josie Palmer, learning how to prompt AI tools is key. “Optimised prompts are your friend. Nailing the input will polish the output; the clearer you are with your request, the more comprehensive the result,” she writes on LinkedIn.
3. Search Engines Will Change Their Algorithms
Algorithms change on a near-daily basis, although bigger, more noticeable changes happen a few times a year. Not to scare you, but a single search engine update can take your website from #1 to the wasteland of page five on the SERP.
Search engines are already changing their user experience to reward websites that improve information gain. SERPs now highlight featured snippets, AI summaries, and even video results. That’s great for the user experience, but it results in zero-click searches where you technically “won” the keyword, but gained zero mindshare because users didn’t visit your website.
In 2025, you’ll need to work harder to overcome Google’s AI overviews. That means making content more quotable and punchy. No more long backstories before providing that casserole recipe—get straight to the point. Use headers, bullets, and schema markup to make your content digestible for both human readers and search engine bots.
We expect more algorithm updates in 2025 that prioritize user-friendly websites. If you’ve been meaning to optimize a low-performing landing page, now’s the time to do it. Check your Google Search Console data to identify pages and content in need of zhuzhing up.
4. Connection Will Cut Through Overwhelm
A single glance at your social media feed will show you just how cluttered our digital lives have become. So many people and brands are shouting for your attention. With engagement rates stagnating, brands need to try something else.
In 2025, brands that foster real connections through SEO stand to win. These are the brands that not only kill it at writing quality content, but they also know their customer personas and how to connect like-minded people through the power of a brand.
Social media pro and content expert Meredith Butlin predicts that authenticity and connection will become big talking points in 2025. “I’m personally hoping for more fun and authenticity from brands on social media in 2025, and I anticipate growth from platforms that specialize in connecting users with similar interests, like Reddit,” she writes on LinkedIn.
In practice, this means your brand needs to get into the business of community-building. Overcome social media fatigue and AI search overviews with a loyal community that sticks with you through thick and thin. That might mean creating a Discord channel, Facebook group, email list, or exclusive membership portal.
5. Emerging Technologies Will Change User Behavior
Search engines rely on website copy, like blogs, to rank your site. But your audience isn’t just getting their information from Google. They’re looking for information via voice assistants, social media apps like Instagram and TikTok, and AI-powered search solutions like Perplexity.
Digital marketing CEO John Lincoln agrees. “While Google Search will remain the clear top choice, we’re witnessing a rise in social search and AI-based search engines,” he writes.
You should absolutely still invest in blog content, but don’t be afraid to branch out. In 2025, consumer preferences lean toward these newer platforms and technologies, so go where your people are.
For example, video content formats are big thanks to platforms like Snapchat and TikTok. If you haven’t tried your hand at video content, write a few scripts and see what sticks with your audience.
Spoken content is also a biggie in 2025. Any time you create content, use natural language that sounds good when read aloud by voice assistants. Try writing content at a sixth-grade level to improve comprehension and connect with more voice users.
According to LinkedIn user Deepak Yadav, this trend will have an impact on your target keywords, too. “With the rise of smart assistants, optimize for conversational keywords. Think: ‘best restaurants near me’ instead of just ‘restaurants,’” he writes.
Sounds like it’s time to refresh those keyword lists if you haven’t already.
6. Local SEO Will Experience a Renaissance
With local SEO, you fine-tune your web pages so they appeal to users in specific locations. This is a no-brainer for brick-and-mortar businesses, but local SEO is also a helpful SEO trend in 2025 for digital businesses, too. Whether you need foot traffic to your cupcake bakery or need to attract B2B decision-makers to your contracting business, local SEO is a must-try marketing strategy this year.
Instead of trying to sell your product or services to the entire world, local SEO focuses your efforts on a specific geographic area. This approach maximizes your time and budget, helping you see quicker SEO gains for less hassle.
According to digital marketer Chris Essey, optimizing your Google Business Profile is a good start, but you’ll need to do more. “Keep your business name, address, and phone number consistent everywhere online,” he writes. “Use local keywords on your website and create location-specific pages. Build links from local websites and directories to boost your credibility.”
Chris also encourages businesses to ask all customers to write a review. Not everyone will write one, but it can’t hurt to ask. You’ll steadily gather more reviews over time, which search engines rely on to pick the best providers in an area.
Get a Personalized SEO Content Strategy for 2025
Whether you’re ready or not, 2025 is here, and the world of SEO is already changing. From leveraging AI tools for smarter content creation to optimizing for voice search, video content, and user-friendly experiences, SEO trends in 2025 promise to stretch SEO teams while giving users a better experience.
Planning for these trends will help you stay ahead of algorithm updates and competitors, but it takes a lot of hard work to move the needle with SEO in 2025. That’s where we come in. Growth Machine helps businesses write SEO-optimized marketing content designed to overcome the hurdles of SEO in 2025. This is the year to put your SEO on autopilot. Contact Growth Machine to make these SEO trends your friends in 2025.
