Prioritizing AI over traditional search?

Summary

Voices of Search Podcast: "Prioritizing AI over Traditional Search?"

Date: May 6, 2026
Host: Jordan Cooney
Guest: Kevin Indig, Growth Advisor (notable clients: G2, RAMP, Airbnb), Founder of Growth Memo

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into a pivotal question for today's SEO and digital marketing practitioners: Should you focus your resources on classic SEO or prioritize AI-driven search visibility? Jordan Cooney and Kevin Indig discuss the rapid evolution of search, the dominance of AI in search interfaces (including Google), and how teams must shift metrics—and mindsets—to remain visible and relevant.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Rise of AI in Search

• Kevin Indig immediately makes the case that “AI visibility” should be the top priority for SEO teams, due to the sweeping changes happening in search platforms:
  • Quote: “AI visibility. Everything is AI now, right? Even Google. They’re pushing overviews hard and AI mode and it’s just like a click away from AI mode becoming the default experience.” (00:48)
• Indig highlights that Google is actively integrating AI-powered overviews and summaries, transforming the way users interact with search results and discover content.

Shifting SEO Strategy and Metrics

• Success in SEO is no longer about simply ranking for blue links—a different approach is required when AI "answers" become the most prominent real estate in search.
  • “The impact of being visible in AI answers is very high. It’s just a different game to play and that’s why we need to change our metrics as well.” (02:26)
• Indig emphasizes that teams must adapt, set new KPIs, and track success differently in an AI-dominated environment.

Actionable Advice for SEO Teams

• If resources are limited, prioritize strategies that increase your chances of being featured in AI-generated results, such as:
  • Structuring content for machine readability
  • Providing factual, authoritative answers
  • Leveraging data and schema markup to ensure clarity and context

Building Influence Beyond Your Domain

• Although only briefly mentioned, Indig alludes to the importance of building influence and digital presence that extends beyond your own website—a nod to the distributed nature of AI-powered information delivery.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “AI visibility. Everything is AI now, right? Even Google. They’re pushing overviews hard and AI mode, and it’s just like a click away from AI mode becoming the default experience.”
  — Kevin Indig, 00:48

• “The impact of being visible in AI answers is very high. It’s just a different game to play and that’s why we need to change our metrics as well.”
  — Kevin Indig, 02:26

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• 00:22-00:48 – Prioritizing AI over Traditional SEO:
  Kevin Indig advocates AI visibility as the foremost priority in search strategy.
• 02:26-02:34 – Changing the Metrics:
  Why and how SEO teams need to adapt measurement and goals for AI-first search environments.

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Tone & Language

The conversation is candid, forward-looking, and practical—Kevin Indig offers direct, actionable advice emphasizing adaptation and proactive change in the face of industry disruption.

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Conclusion

Main Takeaway:
In 2026, the shift toward AI-driven search results isn’t coming—it’s already here. SEO professionals must adjust priorities, strategies, and success metrics to remain competitive, focusing on securing presence in AI overviews and answers rather than relying solely on classic search ranking tactics.

Call to Action:

• Stay informed on evolving best practices in AI and SEO by subscribing to resources like Growth Memo and the Voices of Search Podcast for ongoing insights.

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For more information on today’s guest, check out Kevin Indig’s LinkedIn, Growth Memo newsletter, or personal website.

Transcript

[Jordan Cooney]

The Voices of Search Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast, I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice then visit iheareverything.com I'm Jordan Cooney and

[Kevin Indig]

joining me today is Kevin Indig, Growth Advisor to over 40 companies including G2, RAMP and Airbnb. Today we're talking about why most teams are approaching AI search wrong, what actually drives visibility and how to build influence beyond your own domain. Should SEOs be focused on classic SEO or AI visibility if they only had $1 to spend?

AI visibility. Everything is AI now, right? Even Google. They're pushing overviews hard and AI mode and it's just like a click away from AI mode becoming the default experience.

[Sponsor / Pre Visible Representative]

Time for a one minute break to hear from our sponsor, Pre Visible. So you're looking for SEO help and you got a couple of options. You could start replying to spam from agencies that claim they can get you to rank number one on Google. You can pay an hourly rate for a consultant who will inevitably nickel and dime you with hourly charges. Or you could work with a cookie cutter agency to quickly launch a strategy less project with low success rate. None of those sound very good now do they? Well, that's where Pre Visible's integrated consulting model comes in. Pre Visible draws From a collective 40 years of SEO and digital marketing experience to unlock your organic growth opportunities. They build custom solutions that combine strategy, technical expertise, content and reporting to effectively operationalize SEO for your business. Pre Visible's four stage approach ensures that your SEO programs thrive by starting off with a strategy first approach. Then they support you in your efforts to create quality content, help you identify technical issues, and most importantly, they'll work with your cross functional teams to integrate your SEO strategies to make sure that your SEO budget actually drives results, not just your agency's bottom line. So join brands like Yelp, eBay, Canva, Atlassian Square, all who rely on the SEO consultants at Pre Visible. For more information go to Previsible IO. That's Pre Visible. P R E V I S I B L E I.

[Kevin Indig]

And the impact of being visible in AI answers is very high. It's just a different game to play and that's why we need to change our metrics as well.

Huge thank you to Kevin Indig, advisor and Founder of Growth Memo for joining us today. If you'd like to contact Kevin, you can find a link to his LinkedIn profile in our show notes or on the voicesofsearch.com or you can visit his company website, kevin-indig.com or get more amazing insights and knowledge from his newsletter, growth-memo.com if you haven't yet subscribed and would like a daily stream of SEO and content marketing knowledge in your podcast feed, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app or on YouTube and we'll be in your feed every week. Okay, that's all for today, but until next time, remember the answers are always in the data.

[Sponsor / Pre Visible Representative]

Sa.