SEO Isn’t Dead - It’s Just Your Rankings Collapsed

Sep 17, 2025

A high-profile founder claims AI is to blame for their traffic collapse, but the truth is rankings dropped significantly. The discussion debunks the myth that SEO is dead, revealing that it’s actually at peak interest. Keyword rankings directly drive clicks, and losing top positions can kill traffic. Plus, the episode highlights how anyone can fact-check their SEO performance using free tools. Discover why search remains a powerful digital marketing channel when approached correctly!

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ANECDOTE

Founder’s Public Claim About SEO

A co-founder of a major content company claimed "SEO is dead" on a big entrepreneurship podcast after their traffic dropped.
Edward Sturm says the co-founder blamed AI instead of admitting their rankings and keyword coverage collapsed.

INSIGHT

Traffic Collapse Tracked To Rankings Loss

The company's Google clicks fell from 24 million to 4 million and ranked keywords fell from 5.5M to 2.3M.
Edward argues this drop in rankings, not AI, explains the traffic collapse.

ADVICE

Fact-Check Claims With Free SEO Tools

Use free tools like Semrush to verify organic traffic and rankings instead of accepting broad claims.
Check keyword counts and position distribution to see whether rankings — not AI — caused traffic loss.

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E805: A co-founder of a billion-dollar content marketing company and CRM went on a huge business podcast and blamed AI for their traffic collapse. But the truth is simple: they lost rankings, and fewer clicks followed.

I dive into the reality behind the latest “SEO is dead” claims. Everyone loves to blame AI, ChatGPT, and Google’s new AI Overviews for falling organic traffic, but the data tells a different story.

This company once peaked at 24 million monthly clicks from Google and ranked for 5.5 million keywords - today, they’re down to 4 million clicks and 2.3 million keywords. That’s not AI killing SEO, that’s rankings dropping.

We’ll break down: - Why SEO is not dead in 2025 (it’s actually at peak interest according to Google Trends). - How keyword rankings directly drive clicks and why losing top 3 positions kills traffic. - The myth that AI tools are stealing all search traffic. - Why anyone can fact-check SEO performance with free tools like Semrush.

If you’ve ever heard that “SEO is dead” or that “AI killed search,” this episode will set the record straight. Search is alive and still the most powerful digital marketing channel when done right.

👉 Subscribe for daily SEO insights, digital marketing strategies, and unfiltered takes on what’s really happening in the world of search.

💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/

00:00 Introduction and Rant Setup 00:23 The Controversial Claim: SEO is Dead 00:37 Analyzing the Data: Traffic and Keywords 01:05 The Blame on AI: A Misrepresentation 02:43 Debunking the Myth: SEO is Alive and Well 03:08 Personal Take and Conclusion 04:03 Final Thoughts and Sign-Off

The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/

#searchengineoptimization #digitalmarketing #seotips #marketingstrategy