I recently had a conversation with someone who shared a couple of bold claims about AI and SEO that stopped me in my tracks. The person was confident — very confident — in what they were saying, but their understanding was… let’s just say misinformed.
And to be honest, I don’t blame them. The rise of AI tools has been so fast and dramatic that even the most seasoned marketers are still figuring out how it all fits into their strategies. But when confident guesses turn into “facts,” we end up with misinformation, wasted time, energy, and budget.
So, let’s clear up a few myths I’ve heard lately, with the help of some actual knowledge from behind the scenes.
Myth #1: Chat tools have replaced Google as the #1 search engine.
This one surprised me — mostly because I’ve seen it repeated more than once recently. While AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude are gaining traction, there is no credible evidence that they’ve surpassed Google as the most-used search engine.
Here’s what we do know:
- Google still processes over 8.5 billion searches per day.
It’s worth noting that even Google is evolving with its AI. At the time of writing, Google’s own AI feature, AI Overviews, appeared in more than 50% of Google searches. But, this is still part of Google’s ecosystem.
- There is no public data from OpenAI, Anthropic, or other LLM providers showing how many prompts are run daily — let alone how many of those prompts are searches vs. creative brainstorming, writing help, or image generation.
- Most AI interactions aren’t even indexed or trackable as search queries in the traditional sense.
Even more importantly: AI tools don’t drive traffic to websites the same way Google does. Your site won’t show up in a “top 10 links” format from ChatGPT or Claude. In most cases, users are getting synthesized, citation-light answers without ever clicking through.
In short: AI tools are changing how people gather information, but they haven’t replaced search engines.
Myth #2: You can train AI tools to prioritize your brand just by prompting it more often.
The logic I heard went something like this: “If I start typing my brand name into AI tools more regularly alongside related keywords and search queries, I can train it to associate my brand with those topics and eventually show up more in responses.”
Let’s clear this up: that’s not how LLMs work.
Prompting tools like ChatGPT does not retrain or influence the model in a meaningful or lasting way across the tool’s global usage. Your prompts might slightly inform the context of your own thread (temporarily), but it has zero impact on how the model performs for anyone else.
LLMs are not like search engines that index web content and track popularity signals. They pull from data that was already baked into the model when it was trained (plus a few plugins, APIs, and citations in more advanced versions, depending on the tool and the mode you’re using).
Prompting your brand name repeatedly? That’s not going to cut it.
Clarifying Point: Can You Influence AI Tools? Yes. But Not By Prompting.
To be fair, there are strategic ways to increase your brand’s visibility in AI-generated content. If you want to increase brand visibility in LLMs, the best thing you can do is:
- Publish credible, well-structured content on reputable websites.
- Earn citations on high-authority platforms and industry publications
- Contribute to the kind of authoritative content that’s likely to show up in the next training round of these tools.
- Use structured schema markup to make your content easier for AI tools to interpret
- Submit your sitemap to Bing Webmaster Tools (which feeds ChatGPT’s browsing index)
- Publish content through Perplexity Pages
But let’s be clear: none of this “trains” the AI model the way prompting does. These tactics are about increasing your discoverability, not rewriting the rules of how the models work.
So yes, you can be proactive. Just don’t confuse publishing strategy with model training.
Other Common AI + SEO Myths Worth Busting
Here are a few other myths I’ve heard (or seen tools promote) that are worth correcting:
- “LLMs use keyword rankings like Google SERPs.”
Nope. ChatGPT, Claude, and other LLMs don’t use keywords to rank pages. They don’t “rank” at all in the traditional sense. Instead, they generate responses based on probability and context. Tools that claim to track “keyword rankings in ChatGPT” are, at best, simulating prompts and reporting which brands show up, but that’s not real SEO data. - “If your brand doesn’t show up in ChatGPT, your SEO is broken.”
Not necessarily. LLM visibility and search engine visibility are two different goals. Strong SEO will improve your presence in Google. LLMs are slower to update, opaque in their sources, and not always citation-friendly. - “AI tools will replace SEO entirely.”
This is based on conjecture that I can’t refute with full confidence because I just can’t predict the future. But, here’s my two cents on that: how people search has definitely been changing, but SEO is evolving, not likely disappearing. Your website still needs to be found, indexed, and trusted, especially as AI tools start to lean on trusted sources for citation and plugin-based browsing.
So What Should Marketers Focus On?
Instead of trying to “game” AI tools, focus on:
- Creating high-quality, useful content that earns links and recognition.
- Improving your site’s technical health so it performs well in search.
- Understanding how AI tools present information so you can adapt your content strategy, but don’t abandon traditional SEO fundamentals.
Misinformation spreads fast, especially in fast-moving fields like AI and SEO. I’m not here to shame anyone for being curious, but I am here to advocate for better understanding, smarter strategies, and fewer wasted marketing dollars chasing myths.
If you’ve heard other AI + SEO myths recently or want to dispute any of the arguments I laid out above, I’d love to hear them! Feel free to throw them in the comments, and I’ll do my best to respond thoughtfully.
