By Irina Ginghina, SEO Director, Modern Citizens
Search has long been the internet’s foundation. But it’s shifting – subtly, steadily.
Not breaking like a 404, but the unspoken agreement that if you played by the rules, you’d be discoverable is being quietly withdrawn.
If you wrote with intent, earned backlinks, and followed the SEO playbook, you’d earn your place. That the page mattered and the click was the win.
Those rules didn’t just shape websites, they shaped the internet. They influenced design, dictated content strategy and even guided commerce.
Google set the standard – improving UX or refining ad models often hinged on how well your site aligned with what algorithms could read, trust, and reward.
But that agreement? It’s fraying.
Not with a bang, but a prompt.
And as the internet abandons those rules, search isn’t just changing, it’s multiplying. Spilling beyond queries into our decisions, identities, and even emotional lives.
Welcome to the age of solitude
Our Togetherness Recession report names what many have felt but hadn’t articulated: people are spending less time together. The casual, connective moments are vanishing.
In their place? Search.
Not just as a utility. But a proxy for presence.
The Togetherness Recession isn’t just about fewer shared moments, it’s a shift in how people seek connection, confidence and community in their decisions.
Search has quietly stepped in as a cultural bridge, helping people find their way in a world where being alone is more common.
When someone wants a wine for a solo night in, they consult the algorithm, not a friend.
Search isn’t just search anymore. It’s emotional infrastructure and a frontline tool for understanding culture in motion.
“Meals for one.” “Best solo travel spots.” “What to wear when you feel awkward.”
Not just queries, but confessions. They carry weight, not only revealing behaviour, but emotion, reflecting who we are and who we aren’t.
It’s where brand, insight, and experience teams should be sitting together – not just to optimise, but to observe.
From being found to being felt
As social circles shrink and public spaces digitise, brands face a new mandate:
Don’t just show up, be worth spending time with.
SEO can’t stop at surfacing answers. That was the old game. In this quieter, more personal internet, content needs to resonate emotionally, experientially, culturally.
Think interactive pages that feel like hangouts, ASMR videos that soothe and language that connects.
Because users aren’t just looking for answers. They’re looking for signals of belonging.
In a world that’s more digitally connected, yet feels increasingly disconnected, SEO is no longer just about traffic. It’s about trust.
It’s how brands can rebuild relevance and resonance, not by shouting louder, but showing up with empathy, insight, and presence wherever people are looking for connection.
Platform-agnostic presence is the new page one
Google isn’t the gatekeeper anymore. Discovery is fragmented and driven by context, not just keywords.
People toggle between platforms to make decisions. That means “ranking” is dissolving into a broader, messier truth:
Visibility isn’t about being first. It’s about being everywhere trust is earned.
For brands, that means:
- Focusing on multi-platform presence and ensuring content is visible, from video and social media to AI tools.
- Organising content so that it’s easily summarised by AI and optimised for varied consumption – from snippets to suggestions, not just traditional search results.
- Prioritising emotional resonance and going beyond simple answers to connect with users through content that aligns with their feelings and cultural context.
SEO must be wherever discovery happens. There’s no longer a “first page” – just a growing web of answers, clips, summaries and recommendations.
Start by reassessing keywords for outdated social defaults, like “group dinner ideas”, and make space for smaller-scale use cases like “self-care activities for one” or “cosy evening ideas for two.”
It’s important to reflect the ways people live and search, including self-care, personal growth, or managing transitions like moving house.
Then, optimise for experience, not just ranking by using sensory language, visual storytelling, and formats that guide, reassure, or entertain.
And finally, adapt content for emerging platforms, and structure it clearly, with schema and smart formatting, to support AI summarisation and multi-surface discovery.
Does SEO still matter?
Yes, but potentially not for the reasons you think.
It still works. But its purpose has shifted.
Not towards volume, but vulnerability. Not just to be found but felt. Not to push people towards pages but invite them into experiences.
Because presence means more than visibility. It means relevance that resonates.
We remember this talk a decade ago – when falling out the top ten basically meant you didn’t exist. That challenge didn’t break us; it pushed us to think differently. This moment is no different. It’s just the world telling us: level up.
SEO isn’t dying. It’s evolving. Into something messier, more human, and more interesting.
You in?
