{"id":190408,"date":"2025-08-11T10:47:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T15:47:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=190408"},"modified":"2025-08-26T09:49:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T14:49:44","slug":"the-great-diversification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/the-great-diversification\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great Diversification: How 8 Companies Are Evolving Their SEO Strategies"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"intro-txt\">First, we had \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/the-great-decoupling\/\">the great decoupling<\/a>\u201d, now we\u2019re seeing \u201cthe great diversification\u201d. Brands are overhauling their strategies since losing clicks to Google.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div class=\"intro-tok\" id=\"intro_tok\" style=\"display:none;\"><div class=\"intro-title\">Contents<\/div><a href=\"#\" class=\"expand-dots\"><span><\/span><span><\/span><span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<p>You\u2019ve probably heard that Google\u2019s AI search features are tanking organic traffic.<\/p>\n<p>In April, we reported that <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-overviews-reduce-clicks\/\">click-through rates dropped by 35%<\/a> across 300,000 keywords. Now, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2025\/07\/22\/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results\/\">Pew Research study<\/a> has revealed that just 1% of articles cited in AI Overviews actually get clicked.<\/p>\n<p>Smart brands aren\u2019t waiting around for Google to reverse course. They\u2019re diversifying fast, and the strategies range from subtle pivots to temporary channel abandonment.<\/p>\n<p>Here are 5 ways brands are diversifying to reclaim lost traffic and revenue.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"1. Turning to thought leadership and social\" data-section=\"section-one\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-190408-_wawnjblcl81b\"><\/a>1. Turning to thought leadership and social<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Not every <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/zero-click-search\/\">zero-click search<\/a> story starts with the great decoupling of&nbsp;2025.<\/p>\n<p>Some were feeling the impact of <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-looking-out-for-number-one\/\">Google\u2019s self-serving SERP<\/a> months before AI Overviews really <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-overview-growth\/\">took hold<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-190408-_u866rh5ldygb\"><\/a>Seer Interactive<\/h3>\n<p>Back in October 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/wilreynolds\">Wil Reynolds<\/a>, VP of Innovation at <a href=\"https:\/\/seerinteractive.com\">Seer Interactive<\/a>, shared that their organic search traffic was down&nbsp;41%.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190409\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-1.png\" alt=\"LinkedIn post by Wil Reynolds, VP Innovation at Seer Interactive, discussing SEO traffic decline. He states that Gartner predicted 25% of search traffic would be gone by 2026, but his SEO traffic was actually down 41% in 2024 (highlighted in yellow). He notes that newsletter signups are up 65% and revenue\/leads are trending flat, suggesting you can lose SEO traffic and still grow business.\" width=\"1368\" height=\"652\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-1.png 1368w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-1-680x324.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-1-768x366.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1368px) 100vw, 1368px\"><\/p>\n<p>The other week I came across another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7337930733564387328?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_updateV2%3A%28urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7337930733564387328%2CFEED_DETAIL%2CEMPTY%2CDEFAULT%2Cfalse%29\">really interesting post<\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/alisascharf\">Alisa Scharf<\/a>, also a VP at&nbsp;Seer.<\/p>\n<p>In it, she said that Seer won\u2019t be advising all clients to invest in SEO or AI\u2014and will, in some cases, be actively telling them to pull back and reinvest in other strategies.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190410\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-2.jpg\" alt=\"LinkedIn post by Alisa Scharf, VP of SEO &amp; Generative AI at Seer, discussing the future of SEO investment. She suggests brands will reallocate SEO budgets to other channels rather than focusing on AI Search, and mentions strategic partnerships and demand generation as better investments for conversational search.\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-2.jpg 1616w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-2-486x425.jpg 486w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-2-768x671.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-2-1536x1342.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\"><\/p>\n<p>For context, Seer Interactive is an SEO, PPC, and growth agency.<\/p>\n<p>When those with skin in the game advise alternative channels, and report diminishing returns, you know it\u2019s time to diversify.<\/p>\n<p>This got me curious as to how much Seer is currently investing in SEO. I DMed Alisa to find out. She told me that the Seer team is thinking far less about traffic and far more about thought leadership.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">Our greatest lead source has been referrals, which I think is the #1 thing a consultancy can try to accumulate. Do great work for your clients and they will take you with them as they move to different organizations. I will say in 2025, while we don\u2019t generate a ton of search traffic from it, we are getting discovered more from our thought leadership content via search. Our posts that cover how we\u2019re approaching AI Search - how to influence, measure, etc. seem to be exposing us to the types of brands we want to find&nbsp;us.<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><div class=\"quote-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Alisa Scharf\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Alisa-Scharf.jpeg\"><\/div><div class=\"extra-box\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Alisa Scharf,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">VP of SEO &amp; Generative AI, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seerinteractive.com\" target=\"_blank\">Seer Interactive<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>But Seer\u2019s real focus is organic social. As Scharf puts&nbsp;it:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">Traffic via organic social (largely LinkedIn) is probably the source we\u2019re most focused on optimizing for. The traffic volume is smaller but it\u2019s extremely high quality. I also think we\u2019ll continue to be in a position to think about different layers of influence. You can\u2019t focus on just one source or one channel. There is a lot of chaos in the SEO industry right now given all of the change. Our ICP is juggling a lot of priorities, she\u2019s trying to educate herself on the changes in search while continuing to hit her OKRs while balancing budget cuts and headcount reduction. Our best bet is to be able to build trust with her, or rely on the trust we\u2019ve previously built with our content, our presence in events, and our reputation.<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><div class=\"quote-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Alisa Scharf\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Alisa-Scharf.jpeg\"><\/div><div class=\"extra-box\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Alisa Scharf,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">VP of SEO &amp; Generative AI, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seerinteractive.com\" target=\"_blank\">Seer Interactive<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>Seer\u2019s content strategy is secondary to building that trust. Their number one goal is to get as much valuable, helpful content in front of their ICP as possible so that if\/when she\u2019s ready to consider one of their paid services, they are highly top of&nbsp;mind.<\/p>\n<p>Thought leadership won\u2019t always drive volume, but it can drive the right people to your door\u2014and that\u2019s a trade worth making.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-190408-_c4ittdxlfewp\"><\/a>Lars Lofgren<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/larslofgren\/\">Lars Lofgren<\/a> is Co-Founder &amp; Chief Growth Officer of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stonepress.com\/\">Stone Press<\/a>. In the programs he runs, he\u2019s deprioritizing SEO\u2014and has seen plenty of brands doing the&nbsp;same.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190411\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-3.jpg\" alt=\"LinkedIn post by Lars Lofgren discussing Google's AI impact on the open web, mentioning content budget cuts at high-traffic sites and his decision to deprioritize SEO in content strategy (highlighted in yellow). He advises against building editorial teams and suggests focusing on other channels.\" width=\"1458\" height=\"1418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-3.jpg 1458w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-3-437x425.jpg 437w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-3-768x747.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1458px) 100vw, 1458px\"><\/p>\n<p>Instead of pouring budget into bloated editorial teams or chasing diminishing blog traffic, Lofgren advises startups to keep content inventory lean.<\/p>\n<p>A handful of core pages\u2014enough to cover the essentials\u2014and that\u2019s it. No sprawling content calendars. No weekly publishing cadence. Just what\u2019s needed, kept in&nbsp;shape.<\/p>\n<p>Like Seer, he\u2019s also prioritizing thought leadership\u2026<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190412\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-4.jpg\" alt=\"LinkedIn comment thread showing Anna Sonnenberg (Freelance Content Writer for B2B SaaS &amp; B2B Marketing Agencies) commenting that she's seeing clients &quot;shifting from SEO content to thought leadership content&quot; (highlighted in yellow), calling it a positive change of pace. Below, Lars Lofgren (Fractional VP of Content, marked as Author) replies &quot;I'm making the same shift&quot; (highlighted in yellow) and in a longer comment notes that &quot;Most folks are going the influencer\/thought leadership model which I agree is the right move&quot; (highlighted in yellow), but predicts many will struggle and eventually just dump budget into paid advertising, which he disagrees with.\" width=\"1784\" height=\"1578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-4.jpg 1784w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-4-480x425.jpg 480w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-4-768x679.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-4-1536x1359.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1784px) 100vw, 1784px\"><\/p>\n<p>As he rightly points out, thought leadership doesn\u2019t come easy. SEO has a playbook\u2014optimize the page, build the links, track the rankings.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m oversimplifying things here but, generally speaking, these fundamentals will take you a long&nbsp;way.<\/p>\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/on-page-seo\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/on-page-seo\/\">On-Page SEO: How to Optimize for Robots and Readers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/seo-basics\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-basics\/\">SEO Basics: Beginner\u2019s Guide to SEO Success<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/link-building\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/link-building\/\">Link Building for SEO: The Beginner\u2019s Guide<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>With thought leadership, there\u2019s no such formula. You can\u2019t expect that if you do \u201cx + y\u201d you\u2019ll end up with \u201cz\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>That means, with diversification, we need to start getting comfortable with the \u201ctraditional\u201d or \u201cfuzzy\u201d kind of marketing that we abandoned roughly around the same time we started thinking Google-first.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"2. Gating content to build owned audiences\" data-section=\"section-two\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-190408-_66yngxgsbcx3\"><\/a>2. Gating content to build owned audiences<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>In direct response to Google\u2019s click ransom, some SEOs are locking down their content.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not talking full-on blocks. There\u2019s a more nuanced approach gaining traction: limited access for users and crawlers.<\/p>\n<p>Content gating faded out, but it\u2019s making a resurgence now that people want to wrest back control over their content from&nbsp;AI.<\/p>\n<p>Here are two brands that are taking two contrasting tacks.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-190408-_ffffjeo3tmyv\"><\/a>GetLatka<\/h3>\n<p>We\u2019ve all seen charts like this in our Google Search Console\u2014clicks down, impressions up.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a classic case of <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/the-great-decoupling\/\">the great decoupling<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190413\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-5.png\" alt=\"Google Search Console dashboard for GetLatka.com showing performance metrics over 12 months. Displays 679K total clicks, 40.4M total impressions, 1.7% average CTR, and 23.6 average position. The graph shows search performance over time from July 2024 to June 2025, with traffic data showing steady performance.\" width=\"1280\" height=\"492\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-5.png 1280w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-5-680x261.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-5-768x295.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\"><\/p>\n<p>This one comes from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:ugcPost:7350487504388616193?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28ugcPost%3A7350487504388616193%2C7350502058220806144%29&amp;dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287350502058220806144%2Curn%3Ali%3AugcPost%3A7350487504388616193%29\">Nathan Latka<\/a>, courtesy of a great LinkedIn post by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:ugcPost:7350487504388616193\/#\">Ivan Palii<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Despite a huge jump in impressions, Latka\u2019s site saw a significant drop in CTR following the rollout of AI Overviews\u2014a drop that prompted the defensive decision to gate his content and partially block AI&nbsp;bots.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">This was a really tough decision. Big internal debate. Will watch the data and see what happens.<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><div class=\"quote-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nathan Latka\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nathan-Latka.jpg\"><\/div><div class=\"extra-box\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Nathan Latka,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">Founder, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getlatka.com\" target=\"_blank\">The Latka Agency<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>His robots.txt file allows crawlers from Google, Bing, and Ahrefs, but blocks everything else.<\/p>\n<p>And by \u201ceverything else,\u201d I really mean <strong>everything else<\/strong>. Any user-agent not explicitly whitelisted\u2014including those powering AI search, AI assistants, and scrapers\u2014is blocked.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190414\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-6.jpg\" alt=\"GetLatka.com robots.txt file showing allowed user agents (Googlebot, Bingbot, Yahoo! Slurp, DuckDuckBot, AhrefsBot, AhrefsSiteAudit) with sitemap URLs listed, and &quot;User-agent: *&quot; followed by &quot;Disallow: \/&quot; highlighted, indicating all other user agents are blocked.\" width=\"932\" height=\"890\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-6.jpg 932w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-6-445x425.jpg 445w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-6-768x733.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 932px) 100vw, 932px\"><\/p>\n<p>That includes:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-450\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-450 tablepress-responsive tablepress-ahrefs-width-full\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Category<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Examples<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Google AI<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Google-Extended, GoogleAgent-Mariner, GoogleAgent-Shopping<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">OpenAI \/ ChatGPT<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">GPTBot, ChatGPT-User, ChatGPT-Feedback<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Other LLMs<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Anthropic-Bot, ClaudeBot, CCBot, Bytespider<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-450 from cache -->\n<p>Latka has implemented partial indexation through subscription popups which enforce logged-in access requirements\u2014meaning he only provides previews, and hides the full content behind a paid account. It\u2019s similar to the paywall model in the publishing world.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190415\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-7.jpeg\" alt=\"GetLatka pricing page showing &quot;Competitive data you can trust&quot; with two pricing tiers - $49\/month billed yearly (marked as 50% off) and $99\/month billed monthly. Features listed include &quot;Research with LatkaAI&quot;, &quot;Largest SaaS database&quot; with 50.9K+ companies, &quot;Export company data to Excel&quot; with 28 SaaS metrics, and &quot;Hard-to-get data&quot; from founder interviews.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1159\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-7.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-7-680x385.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-7-768x435.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-7-1536x869.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ivan Palii <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:ugcPost:7350487504388616193?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28ugcPost%3A7350487504388616193%2C7350502058220806144%29&amp;replyUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28ugcPost%3A7350487504388616193%2C7350508673065988096%29&amp;dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287350502058220806144%2Curn%3Ali%3AugcPost%3A7350487504388616193%29&amp;dashReplyUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287350508673065988096%2Curn%3Ali%3AugcPost%3A7350487504388616193%29\">noted that<\/a> Latka puts the <strong>second half<\/strong> of webpage content behind a login popup, and encourages funnel progression with sales messaging promoting exclusive tools, founder interviews, and valuation data.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190416\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-8.jpeg\" alt=\"GetLatka account creation page with &quot;Create Free Account&quot; form containing email and password fields. The right side shows features including &quot;Research with LatkaAI&quot; (marked as NEW), &quot;Largest SaaS database&quot;, &quot;Export company data to Excel&quot;, and &quot;Hard-to-get data&quot; section highlighted in red.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1158\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-8.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-8-680x384.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-8-768x434.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-8-1536x869.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>According to the sites robots.txt, Latka disallows crawlers from accessing any content that sits behind a login\u2014which means the latter half of the page content isn\u2019t just blocked for users, but for Google and AI&nbsp;too.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190417\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-9.jpg\" alt=\"GetLatka.com robots.txt file showing the same content as Image 4, with &quot;Disallow: \/auth\/login&quot; highlighted, indicating login pages are blocked from crawling, along with account pages and lists.\" width=\"932\" height=\"890\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-9.jpg 932w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-9-445x425.jpg 445w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-9-768x733.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 932px) 100vw, 932px\"><\/p>\n<p>By blocking select bots from accessing that content, Latka is protecting his proprietary data, betting on exclusivity, and steering users toward subscriptions.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also worth noting that Latka\u2019s data <em>is<\/em> his business model\u2014if AI scrapes it, his business could be severely compromised. This is high stakes diversification.<\/p>\n<p>What he could potentially lose in passive AI exposure, he may just reclaim through owned audience engagement:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Email activity (via gated signup).<\/strong> Every piece of gated content captures a potential customer\u2019s contact information, letting Latka nurture prospects directly rather than hoping they\u2019ll find him again through search or AI&nbsp;tools.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Repeat direct visits (via logged-in access).<\/strong> Users who create accounts to access premium content become sticky, returning customers who bypass search engines entirely. This creates a direct relationship and reduces dependence on external traffic sources.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Proprietary tool usage (via LatkaAI).<\/strong> Gated tools like LatkaAI provide value upfront, making users more likely to invest in paid services or consulting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Partial indexation is as a traffic diversification strategy in that it funnels organic audiences through to owned channels like email lists, websites, apps, and communities.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, that means Latka can \u201cwork\u201d those leads\u2014turning one-time visitors into a controllable, monetizable audience\u2014exactly what he needs to grow his customer base and generate prospects for his business.<\/p>\n<p>Latka also provides just enough data to rank and subsequently \u201csell\u201d his solution in search results, but withholds detail so that AI search can\u2019t over-summarize and steal all his clicks.<\/p>\n<p>The mechanics are familiar\u2014paywalls, email gates, login requirements, and content hidden behind popup forms. But the intent is new\u2014brands looking to maintain control over audience relationships, rather than losing them to sources that answer user questions and kickback zero traffic.<\/p>\n<p>This is a smart strategy, but it comes with risks: while blocking premium content from AI bots may work for some, the tradeoff is limited visibility in AI search.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a strong brand that attracts plenty of visitors from other channels, that may not be much of an&nbsp;issue.<\/p>\n<p>But if your brand isn\u2019t quite as firmly established, blocking bots may cut off a new, relatively untapped, and <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-search-traffic-conversions-ahrefs\">highly converting channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why many sites err on the side of caution when it comes to disallowing certain bots in their robots.txt.<\/p>\n<p>Some of that risk might be offset through the sheer scale of GetLatka\u2019s execution\u2014according to Ahrefs Site Structure report in Site Explorer, Latka has applied this block to ~18K pages, which drive ~13K monthly organic visits\u2014a figure that is actually <strong>growing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190418\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-10.jpg\" alt=\"Ahrefs Site Explorer showing GetLatka.com site structure with organic traffic data. The companies section shows 12,673 organic traffic (81.2% of total) with +3.5K change, traffic value of $54.4K, and 17,907 organic pages with +3.1K change.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-10.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-10-680x393.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-10-768x444.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-10-1536x887.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>Thousands of visitors hitting this content every month. Even if only a small percentage of visitors sign up, Latka may have whipped up enough traffic to achieve meaningful conversion rates.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, the top-of-the-funnel stays open, and content gates nudge users to the bottom.<\/p>\n<p>This approach makes sense for GetLatka because:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>They own the data pipeline<\/strong>: Founder interviews and valuation insights are not available elsewhere.<\/li>\n<li><strong>They\u2019re monetizing it directly<\/strong>: Via subscriptions and their own AI&nbsp;tool.<\/li>\n<li><strong>They\u2019re still SEO-friendly<\/strong>: The site allows indexing by Googlebot and other major search engines, so organic traffic isn\u2019t cut off\u2014just AI access is restricted.<\/li>\n<li><strong>They can potentially offset\/avoid visibility loss<\/strong>: Due to the strength of their brand, and the scale of the execution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In short: if you have unique content, a strong brand, and the ability to scale, you might just be able to afford to block AI&nbsp;bots.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-190408-_h9zxzee39riw\"><\/a>HubSpot<\/h3>\n<p>In an almost flip-reverse of Nathan Latka\u2019s diversification strategy, HubSpot has reportedly started gating content for users\u2014but not for search engines and&nbsp;AI.<\/p>\n<p>Once again spotted by <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ivanpalii\/status\/1941834822134939713?s=52\">Ivan Palii<\/a> (who is definitely worthy of a <a href=\"https:\/\/ua.linkedin.com\/in\/ivanpalii\/en\">follow<\/a>, by the way!), HubSpot began applying a client-side overlay to content in June 2025, going by HTML changes shown in Ahrefs\u2019 Page Inspect tool in Site Explorer.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190419\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-11.jpg\" alt=\"Ahrefs Pages Inspect tool showing Split-screen view showing organic search position trends on the left and HubSpot html blog content on the right. The right side shows a HubSpot article about influencer marketing with lead capture forms asking &quot;Want the full article?&quot; highlighted in green boxes. The content discusses TikTok and Facebook as top influencer marketing channels, with arrows pointing to the lead capture elements.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1114\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-11.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-11-680x370.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-11-768x418.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-11-1536x836.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>From a quick scan of the Hubspot blog, these lead capture forms appear to be popping up on recent \u201cnew data\u201d content.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190420\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-12.jpg\" alt=\"HubSpot blog page titled &quot;How TikTok, Canva, &amp; Other Top Marketing Teams Outperform the Rest [New Data]&quot; with highlighted text and an arrow pointing to it. The page shows a woman working on a laptop with a rocket graphic. At the bottom is a lead capture form asking &quot;Want the full article?&quot; with text about unlocking HubSpot's exclusive research and content library.\" width=\"1596\" height=\"1884\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-12.jpg 1596w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-12-360x425.jpg 360w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-12-768x907.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-12-1301x1536.jpg 1301w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1596px) 100vw, 1596px\"><\/p>\n<p>The content is still crawlable, but users have to provide an email in order to read&nbsp;on.<\/p>\n<p>HubSpot\u2019s hybrid-access approach lets them attract new audiences via search and AI, while simultaneously growing their lead nurture pipeline and owned audience.<\/p>\n<p>Both GetLatka and HubSpot examples mark a return to <strong>owned media strategies<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h4>A return to owned&nbsp;media<\/h4>\n<p>Going back in time, owned media was the dominant model by necessity. Websites in the early nineties\/noughties acted as sort of digital brochures that users would actively seek&nbsp;out.<\/p>\n<p>Earned media (e.g. PR coverage) and paid media (e.g. TV, radio, print ads) were expensive and tricky to scale, by comparison.<\/p>\n<p>But when search engines, social media, and aggregator sites showed up, brands moved from building their owned media to renting visibility on third-party platforms.<\/p>\n<p>Now that AI can summarize brand content without attribution, and shift search behavior away from source clicks, the focus is back on building direct, defensible relationships with audiences\u2014without the middleman.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s old is new&nbsp;again.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to AI, we\u2019ll be joining more newsletter lists, consuming exclusive content within the confines of private communities, and seeking out un-flattened, unt<em>AI<\/em>nted information on channels that maybe don\u2019t even exist&nbsp;yet.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"3. Turning away from awareness\u2014and toward conversion\" data-section=\"section-three\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-190408-_owk58ww51rk\"><\/a>3. Turning away from awareness\u2014and toward conversion<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>While some brands are pulling back on SEO investment, others are pulling the&nbsp;plug.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-190408-_j3kc291wm3ef\"><\/a>Customers.ai<\/h3>\n<p>According to Founder, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/larrykim\">Larry Kim<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/customers.ai\">Customers.ai<\/a> has lost 72% of its SEO traffic over the last 6 months. In his opinion, Google\u2019s AI answers are squarely to&nbsp;blame.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/larrykim_my-seo-traffic-has-dropped-72-in-the-activity-7340767387350183939-yUMV\/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_android&amp;rcm=ACoAAAuygqQBwS0PzkfW8cQjYRk6Stra8lDgFLo\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190421\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-13.jpg\" alt=\"LinkedIn post by Larry Kim, CEO of Customers.AI, discussing a 72% drop in SEO traffic over 6 months. He explains their strategy focused on informational queries but notes that the decline &quot;lines up exactly with the rise of AI-generated answers in Google&quot; (highlighted in yellow). Post includes their response strategy with checkmarks and X marks showing they cut SEO investment, are sharing publicly, and focused on converting existing traffic.\" width=\"1081\" height=\"1600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-13.jpg 1081w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-13-287x425.jpg 287w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-13-768x1137.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-13-1038x1536.jpg 1038w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1081px) 100vw, 1081px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In response, he\u2019s removing investment in content and SEO completely.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t a knee-jerk reaction. Larry used to run <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/\">Wordstream<\/a>, one of the biggest marketing blogs. SEO has been a huge part of his strategy over the&nbsp;years.<\/p>\n<p>According to his LinkedIn comments, it seems he made the decision based on conversion data that revealed the true impact of AI Overviews on his business.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">Our informational pages were converting around 0.1-0.2%. They were always low converting but they made it up in volume. A few hundred thousand SEO sessions are now gone. This is a loss because it is really hard to target informational top of funnel queries in other channels.<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><div class=\"quote-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Larry Kim\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Larry-Kim.jpg\"><\/div><div class=\"extra-box\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Larry Kim,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">CEO, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.customers.ai\" target=\"_blank\">Customers.ai<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>The economics are brutal but simple. Informational content that once drove hundreds of thousands of sessions is now generating a fraction of the traffic, and none of the conversions.<\/p>\n<p>For Larry, it\u2019s not simply a case of moving down-funnel to target transactional keywords.<\/p>\n<p>In his opinion, informational queries represented the last \u201cclean\u201d SERP environment where organic results could compete against paid placements. AI Overviews essentially eliminated that advantage.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">Transactional keywords for SEO were previously extensively populated by the paid search results. So sure, you can invest there but even if you win the top spot, you\u2019re pushed below a half dozen ads. Informational queries were this super special last greenfield SERP where you didn\u2019t have that dynamic of being under a ton of ads. It hurts given how much I invested in that but it\u2019s also the reality of the situation.<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><div class=\"quote-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Larry Kim\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Larry-Kim.jpg\"><\/div><div class=\"extra-box\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Larry Kim,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">CEO, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.customers.ai\" target=\"_blank\">Customers.ai<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>Instead of relying on organic search, he is shifting toward channels that offer more control and clearer attribution.<\/p>\n<p>That includes paid campaigns, outbound emails, and industry-facing assets. His ultimate goal? Conversions.<\/p>\n<p>With <a href=\"http:\/\/customers.ai\">Customers.ai<\/a>, he\u2019s tracking anonymous visitors already landing on his site, and converting that passive traffic into usable contacts.<\/p>\n<p>Today he\u2019s less about filling the funnel, and more about putting it to&nbsp;work.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">\u201cWe\u2019re focused on converting the traffic we do get (from all channels, including SEO) into accurate, usable content with Customers.ai\u2019s website visitor ID\u2026 We have stopped creating or repurposing content that is designed to appear in search results. Content is still produced for other channels: Ads, Emails, Industry Reports, etc. But the idea of using generative AI to come up with page content then publishing it to the website then getting people to link to it -- that is dead,&nbsp;yes.\u201d<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><div class=\"quote-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Larry Kim\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Larry-Kim.jpg\"><\/div><div class=\"extra-box\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Larry Kim,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">CEO, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.customers.ai\" target=\"_blank\">Customers.ai<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">Track anonymous visitors with free site analytics<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p>You can also track anonymous visitors to your site by traffic source, using <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/web-analytics\">Ahrefs Web Analytics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s an easy-to-use, privacy friendly, and completely free GA4 alternative.<\/p>\n<p>Just install the script directly into the &lt;head&gt; section of your website to get&nbsp;going.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190422\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-14.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs Web Analytics installation page showing &quot;Ahrefs Web Analytics installed&quot; with a green success banner. The page displays installation options including &quot;Direct installation&quot; and &quot;Google Tag Manager&quot; tabs, with a script code snippet below and a &quot;Continue&quot; button at the bottom.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-14.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-14-680x398.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-14-768x450.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-14-1536x900.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>From there, you\u2019ll see your site visits from all channels \u00b9, user engagement metrics \u00b2, and even tracked events \u00b3.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190423\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-15.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs Web Analytics dashboard for ahrefs.com showing unique visitors chart over 30 days (July 3 - August 1, 2025). The orange line graph shows cyclical patterns with weekend dips. Below are traffic sources showing Search (40.2%), Direct (36.4%), Internal (28.2%), Unknown (1.0%), and AI search (0.5% highlighted in purple). At bottom is a &quot;Tracked events&quot; section showing signups, homepage visits, and pricing page visits.\" width=\"1720\" height=\"2048\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-15.png 1720w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-15-357x425.png 357w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-15-768x914.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-15-1290x1536.png 1290w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1720px) 100vw, 1720px\"><\/p>\n<p>Then track events, to observe different funnel flows and optimize your conversion paths.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190424\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-16.png\" alt=\"Analytics funnel visualization showing a conversion flow from &quot;Homepage > Pricing > Signup&quot; with three bars representing each step. The first bar &quot;Visits homepage&quot; is solid green and tallest, the second bar &quot;Visits pricing&quot; is medium height with light green top portion, and the third bar &quot;Signs up&quot; is shortest and lightest green. The chart shows typical funnel drop-off rates with a percentage scale on the right ranging from 0% to 100%.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"692\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-16.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-16-680x230.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-16-768x260.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-16-1536x519.png 1536w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-16-650x220.png 650w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"4. Going all-in on programmatic\" data-section=\"section-four\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-190408-_7zgmdm86ml0f\"><\/a>4. Going all-in on programmatic<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Some marketers are responding to AI-driven changes by producing more content, not&nbsp;less.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-190408-_swdcujtkwoyw\"><\/a>Single Grain<\/h3>\n<p>In a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/events\/7351308970537426947\/comments\/\">webinar<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/ericosiu\">Eric Siu<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/\">Single Grain<\/a> used Warren Buffett\u2019s famous \u201ccigar butt\u201d analogy to describe post-AI-Overview search\u2014there are still a few puffs left in the channel, but marketers need to maximize them.<\/p>\n<p>His go-to solution is bottom-of-the-funnel <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/programmatic-seo\/\">programmatic content<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">\nWe\u2019re focusing a lot more on transactional content. Maybe, a couple years ago, between 70\u201380% of the content that you published on your website was informational content. Maybe 20\u201330% of your content was transactional content. Today, I actually think that\u2019s flipped\u2026 And so what we\u2019re doing now at Single Grain, even for our clients, is we are focusing more on programmatic content. We\u2019re creating templated [transactional] pages.<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><div class=\"quote-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Eric Siu\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Eric-Siu.jpeg\"><\/div><div class=\"extra-box\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Eric Siu,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">Founder, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\" target=\"_blank\">Single Grain<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>Using Manus and Clickflow, his team builds templated, conversion-focused pages at scale, complete with AI-assisted copy, custom CTAs, case studies, and podcast embeds.<\/p>\n<p>Siu is confident that AI-led programmatic content won\u2019t be penalized, provided it meets user intent, adds real value, and involves a human-in-the-loop.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">When clients come to us, they say \u2018Oh, we\u2019re not comfortable with AI content\u2019 from a security or brand safety standpoint\u2026 Google has said in the past they\u2019re not OK with AI content, then they changed their stance. They ended up saying \u2018AI content is OK as long as it helps human beings\u2019\u2026 The way we look at it now, is you might be using different tools out there [to create AI content]\u2026 and you have a human-in-the-loop. We see that as the future of marketing.<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><div class=\"quote-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Eric Siu\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Eric-Siu.jpeg\"><\/div><div class=\"extra-box\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Eric Siu,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">Founder, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\" target=\"_blank\">Single Grain<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>Our own research backs this up: after analyzing 600,000 webpages, we found <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-generated-content-does-not-hurt-your-google-rankings\/\">little evidence to suggest that AI-generated content harms Google rankings<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But this isn\u2019t just about ranking in Google. For Siu, programmatic content helps him wring the remaining value out of search, while also gaining new ground in&nbsp;AI.<\/p>\n<p>He believes publishing in volume across the web increases his odds of surfacing in what are effectively infinite, personalized AI&nbsp;SERPs.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">The more content you\u2019re publishing\u2026 the more shots on goal you have to appear in LLM results. And just bear in mind, whenever there\u2019s an AI result, there\u2019s not just one SERP, or a few SERPs, now you have hundreds or thousands of different permutations, and you\u2019re just trying to increase your chance of showing up ultimately.<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><div class=\"quote-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Eric Siu\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Eric-Siu.jpeg\"><\/div><div class=\"extra-box\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Eric Siu,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">Founder, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\" target=\"_blank\">Single Grain<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>Based on this logic, programmatic content diversifies exposure by giving not just Google, but also AI systems, a greater volume of brand material to draw&nbsp;from.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-190408-_sxpgixmh8pel\"><\/a>Nerdwallet<\/h3>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7351957276796051456?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_updateV2%3A%28urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7351957276796051456%2CFEED_DETAIL%2CEMPTY%2CDEFAULT%2Cfalse%29\">Steve Toth<\/a>, Nerdwallet\u2019s programmatic content is helping them to eke as much traffic out of organic and AI search as possible.<\/p>\n<p>Nerdwallet programmatically create verticalized and localized tools\u2014like mortgage calculators for different regions\u2014to scale their site visits.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190425\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-17.jpg\" alt=\"LinkedIn post by Steve Toth about SEO strategy showing NerdWallet's mortgage calculator approach. The post explains creating dozens of pages for tools\/assets across different industries and geographies, citing NerdWallet's 90 mortgage calculators for each state. Below is a dark analytics dashboard showing &quot;AI citations&quot; with metrics for Google AIO (104K citations, 7.1K pages), ChatGPT (39.8K citations, 7.9K pages), Perplexity (48K citations, 5.7K pages), and Gemini (15.9K citations, 6.5K pages), all showing positive growth indicators.\" width=\"990\" height=\"1868\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-17.jpg 990w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-17-225x425.jpg 225w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-17-768x1449.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-17-814x1536.jpg 814w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 990px) 100vw, 990px\"><\/p>\n<p>And, as it stands, they are seeing positive growth across all AI surfaces.<\/p>\n<p>I dug a bit further into Nerdwallet\u2019s site, using Ahrefs Site Structure and Page Inspect tool, and found that Nerdwallet\u2019s mortgage calculators aren\u2019t actually new&nbsp;pages.<\/p>\n<p>But I <em>did<\/em> notice 539 net new programmatic pages under Nerdwallet\u2019s \u201cInsurance\u201d folder\u2014mostly designed around variations of popular, high-value transactional keywords like \u201cbest car insurance companies\u201d and \u201ccheapest car insurance\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190426\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-18.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs Site Explorer showing NerdWallet.com site structure with significant traffic changes. The insurance section is highlighted in yellow showing 1,094,397 organic traffic (+1.1M change), $12.4M traffic value (+$12.4M), and 583 organic pages (+539). Other sections show various positive and negative changes, with overall domain traffic of 12,999,601 showing a -6.5M decline but individual sections performing differently.\" width=\"1362\" height=\"897\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-18.png 1362w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-18-645x425.png 645w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-18-768x506.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1362px) 100vw, 1362px\"><\/p>\n<p>The addition of these pages has brought in 1.1M additional organic traffic, and $12.4M in organic traffic <em>value<\/em> over the last&nbsp;year.<\/p>\n<p>This helps make up for traffic drops across other parts of the site\u2014and, in a landscape where the default expectation is traffic decline, this kind of growth is not to be sniffed at.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve been reading up on AI SEO lately, you\u2019ll probably have seen a lot of discussion around the efficacy of creating \u201cbest\u201d lists and recommendation content to engineer AI visibility.<\/p>\n<p>It seems this content is working for Nerdwallet right&nbsp;now.<\/p>\n<p>Going by our Page Inspect tool, the majority of their programmatically created \u201cbest\u201d and \u201ccheap\u201d insurance pages were published in late April, 2025.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190463 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/page-inspect-nerdwallet.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs page inspection tool showing two NerdWallet insurance pages side by side within AI content detection. Shows &quot;26 Apr 2025, 05:28 AM&quot; with &quot;Overhaul changes&quot; and includes a calendar heatmap visualization of content changes over time.\" width=\"1275\" height=\"612\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/page-inspect-nerdwallet.png 1275w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/page-inspect-nerdwallet-680x326.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/page-inspect-nerdwallet-768x369.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1275px) 100vw, 1275px\"><\/p>\n<p>Since then their \u201cinsurance\u201d based AI Overview citations have increased by a healthy 16%.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190464 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/nerdwallet-AI-growth.png\" alt=\"Chart showing NerdWallet.com citations\/impressions over time with a dramatic spike around April 26, 2025, reaching 7,802 citations. The graph shows steady growth from August 2024 through early 2025, then a sharp increase. Below shows NerdWallet.com with 8,908 citations (1.9% competitive and market share) and 2,452,026 impressions (2.4% competitive and market share).\" width=\"1391\" height=\"725\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/nerdwallet-AI-growth.png 1391w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/nerdwallet-AI-growth-680x354.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/nerdwallet-AI-growth-768x400.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1391px) 100vw, 1391px\"><\/p>\n<p>Like Single Grain, it seems Nerdwallet are scaling content in an attempt to build visibility across both search and AI surfaces.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"5. Search Everywhere Optimization\" data-section=\"section-five\"><!-- notionvc: 355b3927-bd26-494d-9909-5ae639983599 -->\n<h2><a id=\"post-190408-_gsw4pw206id8\"><\/a>5. Search Everywhere Optimization<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Relying solely on Google is risky\u2014we now know that all too well. Algorithm updates and SERP changes can tank traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Search Everywhere Optimization spreads the risk across multiple platforms and helps brands build a more resilient acquisition funnel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSearch everywhere optimization\u201d is the idea of optimizing your content and presence, not just for traditional search engines like Google, but for <em>every platform that has a search bar<\/em>\u2014including YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Amazon, Pinterest, app stores, internal site search, and even AI assistants like ChatGPT.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s essentially about branching out to new channels. You don\u2019t have to be everywhere, just everywhere your customers are.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-190408-_kopdtklsoakm\"><\/a>Tally<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7350817727537639424?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_updateV2%3A%28urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7350817727537639424%2CFEED_DETAIL%2CEMPTY%2CDEFAULT%2Cfalse%29\">Tally<\/a> has got search everywhere optimization right. They reached $3M ARR in a matter of months, with AI as their lead acquisition channel, thanks to being present in \u201cAI\u2019s source material\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>That is to say across forums, Reddit, blogs, and user-generated content (UGC).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190430\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-22.jpg\" alt=\"Text snippet from Tally's blog explaining GPT-4o's impact on web browsing, with highlighted sections noting that forums, Reddit posts, blog mentions, and authentic UGC became part of AI's source material, and that companies invested in showing up in these places by sharing knowledge and being human.\" width=\"2004\" height=\"1294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-22.jpg 2004w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-22-658x425.jpg 658w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-22-768x496.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190408-22-1536x992.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2004px) 100vw, 2004px\"><\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t put all your reach in one platform\u2019s hands anymore.<\/p>\n<p>Diversification looks like showing up for your customers, wherever they turn up online.<\/p>\n<p>Tally succeeded because they did precisely that.<\/p>\n<p>By focusing on genuine customer engagement, they built their brand and inadvertently positioned themselves perfectly to show up in AI-driven conversations.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"post-190408-_cnovy3eg49iz\"><\/a>Wrapping up<\/h2>\n<p>These eight companies all tackle the same core challenge: building direct audience relationships instead of depending on third-party visibility that can vanish overnight.<\/p>\n<p>The common thread is audience ownership\u2014brands are adapting their SEO strategies to own their audiences through lead lists, social followings, and branded communities rather than renting them from platforms like Google.<\/p>\n<p>That said, even with traffic drops of 20-40%, <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-is-still-your-best-marketing-channel\/\">SEO is <em>still<\/em> one of the most reliable marketing channels out there<\/a>. It\u2019s still predictable, still compounds over time, and still delivers targeted traffic at&nbsp;scale.<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/thinkingslow\/\">Ryan Law<\/a> points out, SEO has evolved from a \u201cmagic money tap\u201d to an extremely good marketing channel with some new limitations.<\/p>\n<p>The companies above aren\u2019t abandoning SEO because it stopped working\u2014they\u2019re diversifying because they recognize that no single channel, however effective, should be their entire growth strategy.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve probably heard that Google\u2019s AI search features are tanking organic traffic. In April, we reported that click-through rates dropped by 35% across 300,000 keywords. Now, a Pew Research study has revealed that just 1% of articles cited in AI<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[469,335],"tags":[],"coauthors":[464],"class_list":["post-190408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ai-search","category-general-seo","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Great Diversification: How 8 Companies Are Evolving Their SEO Strategies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"AI search features are stealing clicks. 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