Expert organic search (SEO) predictions for 2025

Search engines are constantly evolving, and 2025 is predicted to be a year of significant change. Our organic search (SEO) experts at Click Consult have shared their key predictions for search in the coming year, including the shift to intent optimisation, the growing importance of AI in search results, the rise of eco-friendly SEO, and more!

Intent optimisation to replace keyword optimisation

“Keyword optimisation is dead. Intent optimisation is king. Search intent will come under greater scrutiny in 2025 and will force us to think beyond just categorising pages as information or transaction (see our talk on this subject at Click Consult’s recent Benchmark event).” – Dave Gossage, SEO Manager

Over the last few years Google has been tightening their guidelines and has been shifting their focus to content that is useful, and helpful to users. This is where intent comes into play: Google needs to understand the intention behind the user when they search for certain keywords to know what they are looking for: are they researching? Wanting to make a purchase? Seeking a certain location?

With this in mind, content creation is likely to become more intent focused. Marketers will shift focus away from keywords, to creating content that directly addresses user intent. This means understanding the “why” behind a search query, not just the keywords. Dave continues:

“With the boom of AI, search engines are looking to provide answers to questions as quick as possible. Therefore, aligning your content with their intent will be more important than ever. Search queries are getting longer, implying that the way your customers are searching is changing.”

As search engines become more sophisticated, semantic search will play a crucial role in matching content to user intent. Marketers will need to optimise content for contextual relevance, rather than simply targeting specific keywords.

“Combined with the rise of AI-powered search engines (AI Overviews, SearchGPT, etc) means that users will be able to find exactly what they’re looking for a lot quicker and your content needs to be aligned with this.”

Beyond content, the entire user experience will be optimised for intent. This includes factors like website speed, mobile-friendliness, and intuitive navigation to ensure users find what they need quickly and easily.

Google to expand on AI offering in SERPs

“With AI overviews and AI in general gaining prominence in 2024, I believe in 2025, Google will continue to expand upon the AI offering in the SERPs and will expand product listings and ads within the overviews, maybe even increasing the real estate within the SERPs away from traditional organic listings. – Charlotte Chapman, Head of SEO

Our Head of SEO Charlotte Chapman predicts that Google will continue to enhance its AI capabilities to provide more comprehensive and informative feature snippets, directly answering user queries and reducing the need to click through to websites.

“Featured snippets might even disappear in favour of the AI overview.”

While featured snippets have been a popular Google feature over the past few years, AI overviews seem to be slowly appearing in their place. The difference between the two is that a featured snippet is a direct quote coming from a brand website, linking back to them as a source. In contrast, AI overviews are an AI-generated snippet that uses several sources, linking back to the multiple sources used.

“At Click we must ensure our clients strategies continue to adapt inline with developments, particularly content, so we continue to drive success in the changing landscape.”

Eco SEO to become a ranking signal

“My prediction is that eco SEO will become a ranking signal.

Sustainable hosting and carbon neutral websites will become ranking signals, reflecting environmental responsibility in search algorithms. Optimising site efficiencies like load time and getting rid of unused code, as well as promoting green credentials will become more of a focus.” – Lauren Fellows, SEO Manager

As the world continues to grow more sustainable, with electric and hybrid vehicles growing in popularity and renewable energy becoming more mainstream – our SEO Manager Lauren Fellows predicts that digital marketing will evolve in much the same way. Websites hosted on eco-friendly servers and optimised for energy efficiency will gain a competitive edge in search engine rankings.

This will not only have an impact on the technical SEO elements on websites, but also on the content they publish; content that promotes sustainability and environmental awareness will be rewarded by search engines, as they align with global sustainability goals.

Google to implement stricter guidelines with adblocking changes

“I predict that we might see changes in the way advertisements are allowed to be displayed on websites without penalisation. With Chrome changing the way adblocking is going to work we may then see Google implement stricter guidelines on how advertisements should be displayed whilst still allowing the site to work without affecting the usability.” – Andrew Whyman, SEO Manager

SEO Manager Andrew Whyman predicts that Google will implement stricter guidelines for ad-blocking software and extensions, potentially limiting their effectiveness or even banning certain practices. This will align with Google’s practices of evolving to prioritise a better user experience by tackling intrusive and disruptive ads, encouraging a more balanced approach to advertising.

Google needs to create a fair ecosystem for both publishers and advertisers by ensuring that ad revenue is distributed equitably and that users are not negatively impacted by aggressive ad-blocking techniques, all while keeping user experience a priority. Andy continues:

“We’ve seen restrictions by Google many years ago about not filling up sites with ads but this never seemed to get upheld (look at any editorial with adblocker turned off).

I for one would love to see this as browsing on a mobile device that can’t have adblocker can be hell sometimes.”

Sustained focus on quality as AI content increases

“I think in 2025 we’re going to see the applicable usage for AI in search shrink as opposed to grow. There are going to be further updates to EEAT to really force human written – human focused content.” – Owen Parry, SEO Manager

Despite the rise of AI-generated content, SEO Manager Owen Parry believes that human oversight will remain crucial to ensure quality, accuracy, and relevance. Content creators will need to carefully proof and edit any AI-generated content. Owen continues:

“What I mean by that is; many people think that as LLMs [language learning models] become more advanced that content generation for websites will exponentially increase (due to its instant nature), leading to a full AI search experience with generative AI results leading to AI written content. However I believe that as Google continues to lead the charge in quality content, this is exactly the internet they want to avoid (regardless of their public statements of being nonplussed about AI content).”

To stand out in a world of AI-generated content, businesses will need to focus on creating high-quality, original content that offers unique value and insights. As AI becomes more integrated into content creation ensuring that AI-generated content is accurate and unbiased.

“Even as AI ability grows, it’s going to take years before it’s truly indistinguishable with human content, in the mean time businesses really need to listen to guidance, and focus on the quality of their content in order to rank.”

Optimisation for local SEO & voice search becomes essential

“I predict that optimising for local SEO and voice queries will be essential in 2025.

Local businesses should focus on improving their visibility for local voice searches. To stay up to date, businesses must update their Google My Business listing, encourage users to leave reviews, and incorporate local keywords into their strategies. With the growing number of smart assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri, investing in local SEO and voice search becomes more important than ever.” – Lucio Aragon, SEO Executive

SEO executive Lucio Aragon states that businesses will need to optimise their online presence for local search to attract customers in their specific geographic area. This includes claiming and optimising Google My Business listings, building local citations, and leveraging local SEO keywords.

In addition to optimising for localisation, with the increasing popularity of voice assistants, he adds that it is crucial for businesses to optimise their content for voice search queries. This involves using natural language, long-tail keywords, and focusing on direct answers to common questions.