A few days ago, I caught myself thinking about something uncomfortable. Everywhere I look, I see advertisements for AI Search Optimization—on LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and in industry newsletters. Everyone seems to be offering AI Search services.
And it reminded me of something.
A few years ago, the internet looked exactly the same—except the word was blockchain. Every agency suddenly became a blockchain agency. Every consultant became a blockchain expert.
Then the excitement faded.
Which made me wonder:
Could AI Search follow exactly the same path?
It’s an important question because nobody wants to build a business around a temporary trend.
The more I thought about it, the more I realised that I was asking the wrong question.
The question isn’t whether AI Search is hype.
The real question is:
What is actually changing?
Blockchain may have changed more than most people realise. But for many, it remained something they heard about rather than something they experienced in everyday life. It never became part of their daily routine.
AI feels different.
People aren’t just reading about it—they’re changing the way they search for information. They’re asking ChatGPT instead of Google, comparing products with AI assistants and receiving recommendations without ever seeing ten blue links.
That isn’t hype. That’s a change in behaviour.
Ironically, I think the first thing that will disappear is the terminology itself—AI Search Optimization, GEO, LLMO, AEO. Most of these names probably won’t survive. Just as we no longer talk about “mobile website optimisation” every day. It simply became part of modern website development.
I suspect AI Search will eventually become the same. Not a separate industry. Just part of building a strong digital presence.
That thought completely changed how I see my own work. I don’t actually want to become an expert in a temporary acronym. I want to dedicate myself to something that will still matter when today’s buzzwords are gone. Making businesses visible as technology changes is exactly that.
Today, it’s called AI Search. Tomorrow, it may mean something else. The technology will evolve. The underlying problem won’t.
Businesses will always need to be found. They will always need to be trusted. And they will always need to adapt when the way people search changes.
Looking back, SEO followed a similar path. Some people embraced it early. Others dismissed it as unnecessary complexity or simply another way to charge clients more. Yet even today, many new websites are launched without getting the basics right.
I suspect AI Search will be no different. Some businesses will embrace it early. Others may continue to see it as just another buzzword.
And perhaps that’s perfectly normal.
