The future of SEO in 2025 might seem uncertain, but for marketers who follow our advice, it’s wide-open.

We’ve seen major shifts in rankings over the last year, thanks to Google’s multiple core updates. Some websites descended in visibility, which opened up many ranking opportunities for others. 

There are no secrets to succeeding after the update. The SEO trends of 2025 are all about making intelligent investments in the aspects of SEO that matter the most and avoiding low-effort, low-reward tactics altogether.

If you’d like to dominate the rankings in 2025 and beyond, pay attention to these 2025 SEO trends. 

1. AI Overviews (SGE) and AI SEO 

Formerly known as search generative experience (SGE), the AI Overviews introduced to Google SERPs in the US could change user search behavior dramatically. This roll-out will provide AI-generated summaries of search results, as a way of collating and curating information to users to better answer their queries. AI Overview results usually cite and even highlight sources. 

Many marketers are nervous that this roll-out will hurt click-through rates and organic traffic. However, according to Google, click-through rates for AI Overview results were higher than for the comparable traditional search page. 

After all, as people are becoming more aware of AI’s failures, they understand the importance of seeking human-led knowledge. 

In other words, as a website owner, there is still plenty of incentive to invest in SEO so your page can be one of the results cited by AI Overviews (as well as other AI tools that cite their sources, like Perplexity AI). 

2. EEAT 

The SEO trends of 2025 still point to Google’s EEAT as its main ranking criteria. The acronym stands for experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. 

In some cases, expertise and authority are key, such as on pages discussing health care or law. In other cases, experience and trustworthiness are important, like in product reviews and recommendations. 

Either way, focusing on specific topics or niches, cultivating author entities, and developing their publishing history and credentials will go a long way toward supporting EEAT. 

3. Using AI In Your Process

It’s difficult to display experience, expertise, authority, or trustworthiness with AI-written content. The March 2025 update ensured that content written by AI won’t rank easily (although some marketers attest that their AI-assisted content is still ranking). 

Whether you choose to take the risk with generated content or not, you need to use AI tools intelligently, and only publish human-led content. 

It’s much safer to use AI to speed processes like keyword research, outlining, or writing summaries and social media posts. It can also help refine the tone of voice or grammar in a human-written draft. 

4. User experience and behavior 

When deciding how to develop a page or target a given keyword, searcher intent, and user experience should always be the starting point. 

From the early stages, user experience (UX) matters because it impacts time on page and overall browsing behavior. Take it into account not just when drafting your content, but also when thinking about internal links and web design.  

Content itself should cater to searcher intent, by addressing the topic in a way that users expect and that is appropriate for their query. The quality of writing, visual design, and formatting play a massive role. Users will share and spend more time on pages that excite, delight, engage, or entertain them. 

5. Video SEO 

Video-based platforms like YouTube and TikTok are often the first places some users go to find information, while Google has also made videos more prominent in its search menu bar. 

You don’t want to miss out on the share of visibility that could come with video content. Make sure to create videos that align with your existing content, and consider how you can optimize and cross-post them to different platforms. 

6. Backlinks

When it comes to backlinks, the SEO trends for 2025 point towards quality over quantity. High-quality backlinks still matter, pointing to your site’s authoritativeness and relevance, while low-quality backlinks are less impactful. 

7. Technical SEO

The technical SEO trends for 2025 are largely about tools and adjustments that enhance user experience. That means focusing on improving the same old metrics, like site speed and URL structure. Around the globe, there are significantly more smartphone users than desktop users, so designing your websites and content for mobile continues to be key. 

Bottom Line on SEO in 2025

The SEO trends for 2025 show that our conception of SEO is expanding, but that we still need to adhere to basic principles like user experience and quality over quantity. 

Whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist, you still want to make good SEO choices, perhaps more carefully than in the past. The 2025 SEO trends are all about working smart, not hard.