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The SEO Truth No One’s Selling You About AI (But Everyone Should Hear)
Clear signals from Google’s front lines that cut through the hype.
John Sukowaty
November 16, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
 | TL;DR: Most of what’s being sold as “AI-proof SEO” is noise. The real story from NESS 2025 is far more practical: AI Overviews barely touch breaking news, Core Web Vitals only matter once they’re bad, Google doesn’t care about perfectly clean code, content chunking is becoming a visibility multiplier, and most AI SEO gimmicks fall apart under scrutiny. The fundamentals still rule 2026. |
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Table of Contents
What Does This Mean For SEO?
AI isn’t swallowing breaking news the way people think
AI Overviews show up far less than the fear-driven posts claim. Only 1.9% of trending news queries trigger them, and they mostly appear hours after real-time interest slows.
Meaning: high-stakes moments are still owned by traditional search features, not AI summaries.
Here’s a deeper breakdown I wrote earlier this year.
Your “pretty good” Core Web Vitals aren’t holding you back
The idea that CWV must be flawless is a myth. The danger comes when slow pages frustrate users and they leave early.
Get to “mostly green,” and you’re in the clear. Chasing perfection is wasted effort.
Google cares about structure, not perfect source code
Minimizing HTML or obsessing over byte count doesn’t help. Google strips non-semantic code anyway. What matters is meaning: <article>, <section>, <nav>, and proper header hierarchy.
Those signals help Google understand your intent.
Chunking your content is now a strategic advantage
AI systems rely on clean, identifiable sections to retrieve verified information. Logical breakpoints and semantic tagging help models pull your content into their output. If a chunk makes sense to a human, it makes sense to an LLM.
What Can I Do About It?
Build structure that both humans and AI can interpret
Use semantic HTML5 tags and a logical header hierarchy. This improves indexing, retrieval, and your chances of being cited in AI summaries.
Prioritize meaningful improvements over perfection chasing
Fix slow, frustrating experiences. Stop burning cycles on polishing 100-millisecond differences in CWV scores when “mostly green” is enough. Using free heatmap and screen recording software like Clarity is a great step to understanding frustrations users have on your site.
Ignore AI-trend gimmicks and put energy into durable strategy
Skip things like LLMs.txt or “AI-friendly lists.” Most of these are short-term tactics with short-term payoff. Focus on evergreen inputs that Google uses for grounding.
Final Thoughts on topic
AI is shifting how search works, but not the signals that matter. The fundamentals, solid technical foundations, semantic structure, quality content, and user experience, remain the backbone of visibility.
Instead of trying to “optimize for AI,” create content so clear and structured that both humans and AI naturally use it.
