Most SEO discussions today center on AI — from AI Overviews to ChatGPT and other LLMs — and the concern that they’re taking traffic from business websites, forcing a shift toward GEO or AEO.
For the most part, that concern is valid. AI is reducing traffic for many sites, especially those that rely on top-of-funnel, informational content. But the data suggests AI may not be the biggest shift.
User behavior has been fragmenting across platforms for years, and I see this play out in agency work every day.
Here’s what the data shows about how search behavior is changing across platforms, and why a “search everywhere” strategy matters more than focusing on LLMs alone.
Third-party platforms are encroaching on traditional search
People search TikTok for restaurants, YouTube for tutorials, Reddit for authentic reviews, and Amazon to buy products. In many cases, these platforms are replacing traditional search engines like Google and Bing as the starting point.
This shift isn’t just about behavior — it shows up in traffic, too. Amazon and YouTube still drive far more desktop traffic than ChatGPT, a trend Rand Fishkin recently highlighted.
Recently, I helped run a comprehensive share of voice analysis for a client. The goal was threefold:
- See which competitors are winning in traditional search across multiple service lines.
- Find keyword and content gaps.
- Create a content roadmap based on priority to fill these gaps.
The analysis revealed a lot of helpful data, but one of the most interesting takeaways was that our core competitors weren’t actually our biggest competitors in traditional search. YouTube and Reddit were.
These platforms rank well in traditional search, take up valuable SERP real estate, and move users away from Google and Bing to funnel them back to their own platforms.
The analysis highlighted a key point: if you don’t focus any effort on these places, you’re not only missing out on visibility in traditional search, but you’re also missing valuable attention when users navigate off Google and start watching videos or reading threads.
And this website isn’t the only one seeing this type of trend. Do this type of analysis yourself, and see who your actual competitors are within traditional search. The answers may surprise you.
Dig deeper: Why social search visibility is the next evolution of discoverability
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Third-party platforms can have higher search volumes
As seen above, platforms like YouTube and Reddit are increasingly occupying traditional SERP real estate. But what about searches within the platforms themselves? Depending on the query, there may be far more search volume on these platforms than on Google or Bing.
For example, YouTube dominates in tutorials and “how-to” content. A term like “how to fix a leaky sink faucet” has 15x the search volume on YouTube than it does on traditional search globally.
Search volumes are estimates. But if you want to get in front of the right people where they’re searching, any content strategy around a term like this, or a similar topic, must include creating a YouTube video.
Better yet, to be search-everywhere-friendly, create a blog post and embed that video in it.
Dig deeper: YouTube is no longer optional for SEO in the age of AI Overviews
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Third-party platforms are cited more in LLMs
Aside from traditional search and in-platform search, we also know that “search everywhere” influences AI-generated results.
To provide answers, LLMs need content to synthesize. More often than not, that content isn’t coming from business websites, but from third-party sources and social platforms.
AI visibility tools can quickly show businesses the power of search everywhere in relation to citations. Take a look at these examples:
These are two completely different brands, yet the trends are the same: a very small percentage of citations come from your own website or even direct competitors.
In both examples, almost 90% of citations come from third-party news and online publications, or social and forum platforms like Reddit or Quora.
The takeaway here is that focusing on your own website, in the context of LLM citations, can only go so far. If you want to improve brand sentiment or ensure that information is accurately reflected by AI, it needs to happen in places outside of your direct control.
Dig deeper: SEO’s new battleground: Winning the consensus layer
Start investing in search everywhere today
The competitive landscape is shifting, and many marketers have tunnel vision when it comes to AI. Discovery now happens across a wide range of platforms.
YouTube, Reddit, Quora, and others dominate significant portions of traditional search results and may have far more search activity within their own platforms. When AI systems generate answers, they often pull information from these platforms rather than brand websites.
To win in modern search, you need to understand where your audience is actually searching. That doesn’t stop at Google. It means showing up everywhere that shapes decisions.
