SEO is no longer just about Google. Be visible on every platform including TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, and AI tools. Get ready for the future with Search Everywhere Optimisation.
SEO as we knew it has left the building.
The game we’ve been playing for the past two decades? It’s over. Google’s AI mode launch has created a paradigm shift, where search results are no longer just based on queries, but on user behaviour, habits, and their entire digital world. If your brand can’t be discovered across various ecosystems before someone searches, you’ll struggle to appear when they do search.
This transformation has given birth to what I call “Search Everywhere™” optimisation.
The question of whether our traditional understanding of SEO—that Google-focused optimisation we all know—is still sufficient has become incredibly relevant. The resources at our disposal, the conversations in our industry, all point to one truth: the game has changed. SEO’s future lies in multi-platform optimisation.
Search Everywhere Optimisation is SEO’s evolved form. It’s not limited to traditional search engines like Google or Bing. Instead, it aims to be visible on every platform where your target audience exists, where they search for or discover information, ideas, or products.
Originally conceptualised by Ashley Liddell and trademarked by Deviation Agency, this approach recognises that search has evolved from being a platform to becoming a behaviour pattern.
As Rand Fishkin suggests, the ‘E’ in SEO should no longer stand for ‘Engine’ but for ‘Everywhere.’ This represents a significant mindset shift. Search Everywhere Optimisation isn’t just about ranking high on Google. It’s about influencing audiences wherever they consume content, seek answers, and make discoveries—including TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Discord, Snapchat, and even AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude.
This approach focuses on cross-platform, behaviour-driven discovery. Simply optimising for keywords is no longer enough. You need to create platform-specific, social-first, purpose-driven, and repurposable content. Success is measured by metrics that go far beyond traditional Google rankings.
Several fundamental factors drive this radical change:
Audience Behaviour Evolution: Younger generations, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, often turn to platforms like TikTok, Reddit, or YouTube before Google when searching for information or discovering products. OFCOM research shows that in the UK alone, 2 million adults have stopped using Google—a significant signal of change.
Rise of Social and Creator Content: Content on other platforms tends to be more visual, shorter-form (like short videos), more authentic, and more easily consumable. Getting information from a 30-second TikTok video requires less effort than reading a 2,000-word blog post. Content creators and communities accelerate the discovery process.
Personalised and Frictionless Discovery: Platform algorithms offer users a much more personal discovery experience. While traditional search journeys can include many abandonment points, discovery journeys on social platforms are shorter, more snackable, and stickier. Algorithms can surface relevant content for days or even weeks based on previous interactions.
AI Tools Proliferation: AI-powered chatbots and summarisation tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude are becoming the new front doors to information. People can sometimes get information directly from these tools without ever visiting a website. This forces brands to think about how they’ll appear in AI responses and how they’ll emerge as trusted sources. In the future, AI tools integrating with e-commerce platforms to offer direct shopping capabilities could completely change the rules of the game.
This new “discovery universe” where Search Everywhere Optimisation takes place includes various platforms:
TikTok: The new generation’s discovery engine. Used for product recommendations, reviews, tutorials, and lifestyle inspiration. Fast, visual, and authentic creator-focused content.
Reddit: The internet’s conversation layer and trusted communities. The go-to place for honest opinions, niche recommendations, and deep research, where brand perceptions are formed.
YouTube: Long-form content for trust-building, plus rapid access through ‘Shorts’ in short form. Still important for how-to videos, product reviews, and in-depth content. AI mode is expected to use YouTube content.
Pinterest: Visual search and intent-driven inspiration platform. Captures early intent in areas like design, fashion, and health, where users plan before traditional searching.
Instagram Reels: Short-form video stream. Used for trend participation, aesthetic storytelling, and leveraging community validation.
Discord: Community-driven search in niche communities and private channels. Where trusted peer recommendations and word-of-mouth marketing are effective.
Snapchat: Gen Z’s sleeping giant. The Snap Map feature holds potential for local businesses, and increasing shopping integrations make it a potential competitor.
AI Tools (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude): New front doors to information. Important for brands to emerge as machine-readable and trusted sources.
Each platform has its dynamics, algorithms, and user expectations.
To succeed in this new order, here are the steps to take:
Listen and Analyse Your Audience: The first step is understanding where your audience is, what they do, and which platforms they use for search or discovery. You can examine referral traffic sources through Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Analyse on-site behavior with tools like Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity. For example, if you see a video on your website getting more views than text, it might make sense to put more weight on YouTube SEO.
Develop Platform-Specific Optimisation Strategies: Playing by each platform’s rules is essential. ASO (App Store Optimisation) for mobile apps, Google Maps, and Bing Maps optimisation for local businesses are critically important. A successful strategy varies depending on your audience type and business. For instance, if you have a Gen Z target audience, focus on TikTok; if learning-focused, focus on YouTube.
Expand Your Content Strategy: Create social-first, purpose-driven, reusable/repurposable content. Content should trigger discovery moments rather than just target keywords. Develop content types suitable for different platform formats (short videos, images, community posts, etc.).
Integrate AI Into Your Strategy: AI is a powerful assistant in the Search Everywhere Optimisation process. It can be used in areas like competitor analysis, content production (for YouTube thumbnails or blog FAQs), sentiment analysis (from comments or Reddit discussions). AI can also help scale your cross-platform strategies. Combined with automation tools (Zapier, Make.com, N8N), more efficient processes can be created.
Measure Success with Multi-Metrics: Measuring success by looking only at Google rankings is no longer sufficient. Focus on each platform’s metrics. Views, likes, subscribers for YouTube; impressions, directions for local businesses; engagement, brand mentions for Reddit/Discord; brand mentions and citations for AI bots are important indicators. Approaches that combine different platform metrics to offer more holistic perspectives like “real search metrics” are being developed. Assisted conversions and user journeys in GA4 can be analysed to track conversions. In the future, direct shopping integrations in AI tools will simplify conversion measurement.
Ultimate Goal: Branded Search: The real purpose of all this effort is to get people to search directly for your brand when they need it. That is, encouraging them to type “[Your Brand] + [Their Needs]” into the search bar. This is moving from being passively discovered to being actively searched for. Every touchpoint across different platforms (a view, a comment, an AI suggestion) contributes to the ultimate branded search by building brand awareness and establishing trust. This is not just SEO success, but also a powerful brand investment.
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