Summary4 min read

Voices of Search Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title: Will LLM based discovery replace traditional search results within 12 months?
Date: September 30, 2025
Host: Jordan Cooney (I Hear Everything)
Guest: Guy from Webflow

Overview

This episode tackles a pressing question in the SEO and search landscape:
Will large language model (LLM) based discovery replace traditional search results within the next 12 months?

Jordan Cooney and Guy from Webflow engage in a rapid-fire “lightning round” debate, exploring the evolving roles of LLMs (like OpenAI's models and Google's Gemini) and discussing the competitive dynamics between major tech giants. The discussion covers the current and future state of AI-powered discovery, the strengths and strategies of Google vs. OpenAI, and the likely direction of online search experiences.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Will LLMs Replace Traditional Search Soon?

Guy’s View:
- Replacement is not happening within 12 months.
- Both traditional search and LLM-based discovery will coexist; each serves different informational needs.
- Quote:
  
  “I would say no in the 12 month time frame. But ... both are going to remain. They each serve a purpose... my personal guess, they somehow merge over time because you need both probabilistic and deterministic answers.”
  — Guy from Webflow [01:09]
- SEO is not dead and won’t be soon.
Jordan (Host) Adds:
- Google remains in control of how users seek information, which gives them a massive competitive advantage, even over OpenAI.
- Quote:
  
  "Google still has this huge control over data and how consumers look for information that not even OpenAI has yet. And so that's a huge advantage in their ability to craft an experience that's relevant..."
  — Jordan Cooney [01:37]

2. Brand and Data Matter in the AI Arms Race

Guy’s Point:
- If LLMs are becoming similar, brand recognition becomes a primary differentiator.
- OpenAI is ahead of most competitors except Google in terms of brand awareness.
- Quote:
  
  “Then brand name matters a ton. OpenAI is, one could argue, well ahead of the others except Google in that brand recognition and that that will matter over time to who goes to which LLM to ask questions.”
  — Guy from Webflow [01:59]
Jordan’s Follow-up:
- Google’s technical lead (web crawl and data) remains unmatched.
- Gemini, Google's core LLM, is being threaded into all Google services—from Gmail to search.
- Quote:
  
  “Google's made it very clear that they're going to make Gemini this core functioning AI tool that exists in your Gmail... in your local search experience... it will become the clippy of just the way you search online.”
  — Jordan Cooney [02:28]

3. The Next Battle: Becoming the User’s True Digital Assistant

Guy’s Outlook:
- Predicts a multi-trillion dollar "bloody battle" between OpenAI and Google.
- The goal: building AI systems with “infinite context window” that personalize and manage the user’s digital life.
- Quote:
  
  “This could be a multi trillion dollar battle between OpenAI and Google... infinite context window that has access to your entire life... proactively helpful in doing things around your life.”
  — Guy from Webflow [03:24]
Jordan’s View:
- The ultimate goal is not just LLM capabilities, but becoming the user’s true agent or assistant.
- The winner will be the one that delivers true day-to-day user assistance, not just better search.
- Quote:
  
  “That true agent or that true assistant... is still yet I think to have won the market. And so we're still pioneering in that, in that zone.”
  — Jordan Cooney [04:11]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“SEO is dead. I don't believe it's dead. I don't believe it will be.”
— Guy from Webflow [01:13]
“Google's got... the best crawl of the web in the world.”
— Guy from Webflow [02:23]
“It will become the clippy of just the way you search online.”
— Jordan Cooney [02:28]
“Multi trillion dollar battle... infinite context window... personalized... proactively helpful...”
— Guy from Webflow [03:24]

Key Segment Timestamps

[00:43] – Start of the “Lightning Round”
[00:46] – Main question: Will LLM-based discovery replace search within 12 months?
[01:09] – Guy’s core answer and reasoning
[01:37] – Jordan on Google’s unique advantage
[01:59] – The importance of brand in LLM adoption
[02:28] – Gemini’s expansion across Google products
[03:24] – The trillion-dollar fight for the user’s life assistant
[04:11] – Market is still looking for a true “agent/assistant”

Tone and Style

The conversation is energetic, insightful, and practical—it blends informed speculation about LLMs and AI search, with a business-savvy look at the big tech competition. Both speakers bring optimism about the future, skepticism toward hype (like “SEO is dead”), and strategic focus on data, brand, and user experience.

Summary for Listeners

Traditional search isn’t going away in 12 months—even as LLMs rapidly improve.
Google and OpenAI are fiercely competing to become users’ all-knowing, proactive digital assistants.
Brand recognition and depth of data access will likely shape the future of AI-powered discovery.
The transition to AI-first search is coming, but not as a sudden replacement—expect convergence and collaboration between LLM and traditional search technologies.
The “battle” to become the primary interface for user queries—and to integrate into users’ digital lives—will define the next era in search and content marketing.

For more:

Visit voicesofsearch.com
Contact Guy from Webflow via [LinkedIn] (see show notes)
For more on Webflow: webflow.com

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Transcript12 lines

[00:00]
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 welcome to the Voices of Search Podcast. A member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network, ready to expedite your company's organic growth efforts. Sit back, relax, and get ready for your daily dose of search engine optimization wisdom. Here's today's host of the Voices of Search Podcast, Jordan Cooney.
[00:43]
Host
So guy, I want to transition to our lightning round.
[00:46]
Guy from Webflow
Let's do it.
[00:46]
Host
Got five questions. This should be fun. You know, hopefully we're diving into each of these a minute or two, maybe more, depending on how exciting and fascinating we go. But let's dive into our lightning round. The first question buy or sell? Will LLM based discovery replace traditional search results within the next 12 months?
[01:09]
Guy from Webflow
I would say no in the 12 month time frame. But to our discussion earlier, I think both are going to remain. They each serve a purpose. You know, SEO is dead. I don't believe it's dead. I don't believe it will be. And to our earlier discussion, my personal guess, they somehow merge over time because you need both probabilistic and deterministic answers. And I thought your point about how quickly Google has integrated AI into the search experience is the archetypal example of.
[01:38]
Host
That right now, no question. And I think Google still has this huge control over data and how consumers look for information that not even OpenAI has yet. And so that's a huge advantage in their ability to craft an experience that's relevant to consumers and to users online.
[02:00]
Guy from Webflow
To your point, if you believe that broadly at the Broadest Strokes the LLMs are similar to each other, then brand name matters a ton. OpenAI is, one could argue, well ahead of the others except Google in that brand recognition and that that will matter over time to who goes to which LLM to ask questions.
[02:23]
Host
That's right.
[02:23]
Guy from Webflow
And Google's got the huge advantage there. In addition to the technical like they should have the best crawl of the web in the world.
[02:29]
Host
Yes. I mean, and to your point, I think one of the most unique things that's happened in the last three to four months, and I think as we get into the turn of this new year, is the expanded utility of Gemini. Google's made it very clear that they're going to make Gemini this core functioning AI tool that exists in your Gmail, exists in your you know your I think very soon in your local search experience it's going to be this little partner that wanders around. You know, I hate to bring up a Microsoft product in this conversation, but it will become the clippy of just the way you search online. And I don't think that it's too far fetched to think that Gemini is behind the curve to OpenAI. I actually think they've made a lot of great advancements in the way that their models work and the way that they deliver results to actually create pretty good parity with what OpenAI has created.
[03:24]
Guy from Webflow
To your point, I think we may see we've seen multi hundred million dollar bloody battles in various B2B SaaS spaces. This could be a multi trillion dollar battle between OpenAI and Google where both are painting this picture of a future where and I'm going to mix words they've each said infinite context window that has access to your entire life becomes as personalized as can be proactively helpful in doing things around your life. And that would have OpenAI maybe getting into productivity things that has Google connecting all the data it has about you that has both of them taking action on behalf that could be quite shaping to our experiences as humans.
[04:11]
Host
That's right. No question. I think that that's a direction that Google desperately wants to win the race at because I think the foundational basic LLM capabilities is just what we've been seeing for the past year. But that true agent or that true assistant, excuse me, is still yet I think to have won the market. And so we're still pioneering in that, in that zone. And that's a great place for us to wrap up this episode of the Voices of Search podcast. Huge thank you to Guy from webflow for joining us. If you'd like to contact Guy, you can find a link to his LinkedIn profile in our show notes or at the voicesofsearch.com for more information about Webflow, visit webflow.com if you haven't subscribed yet and want 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 back in your feed soon. Okay, that's all for today, but until next time, remember the answers are always in the data.