Search is happening everywhere – from Reddit to AI. Learn why trust, not tactics, now drives visibility across every search surface.

AI search isn’t killing SEO. It’s forcing it to evolve into a new, multi-platform discipline called search everywhere optimization, where social and user-generated content (UGC) are the new trust engines driving discoverability.

When I presented this concept at brightonSEO San Diego, what stood out wasn’t just the excitement around AI.

What stood out was the unexpected convergence of ideas across sessions. You might expect every talk to center on AI, yet a broader shift was quietly taking shape.

Five standout voices – Wil Reynolds, Josh Blyskal, Samanyou Garg, Ross Hudgens, and Ashley Liddell – all surfaced similar insights about where search is headed.

Across these discussions, one message echoed clearly: social and UGC now shape which brands audiences trust and engage with.

Below are four recurring themes from those talks, along with post-event insights from each speaker on how marketers can apply a search everywhere mindset.

1. Search is not a platform, it’s a behavior

Search no longer lives in one box – and users aren’t just Googling anymore. They’re discovering through:

• Conversations.
• Communities.
• Creators.

While AI platforms are becoming part of that journey, much of it still happens where authentic discussions thrive: Reddit, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram, to name a few.

Search has never been more multi-platform, multi-touch, or multi-intent.

Marketers must now adapt to fragmented journeys that may start socially, evolve through AI, and end in branded discovery.

Garg, founder and CEO of Writesonic, said it well when he recently shared with me:

• “Your website is no longer your main asset – your presence across the entire web is. Brands optimizing only for Google are missing 40% of their audience who’ve already moved to ‘search everywhere.’”

My presentation defined this concept as search everywhere optimization, emphasizing that success depends on SEO, social, PR, and brand teams working together to drive unified discoverability.

Other speakers echoed these points, even if they used different language.

• Liddell defines this similarly as “search everywhere” – where social, brand, and search operate together to drive discoverability.
• Hudgens said, “Social is evolving to become the new open web,” citing data showing traffic and engagement growth from social ecosystems.
• Blyskal quantified the behavior: AI platforms cite Reddit and YouTube way more than any traditional websites. More proof that discovery has evolved beyond Google’s SERP.

In speaking with Blyskal, head of AI strategy and research at Profound, he noted:

• “Search everywhere isn’t a trend anymore, it’s reality. Our data shows that consumers are asking ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity the same questions they used to ask Google, but the answers are being built from fundamentally different sources. UGC platforms like Reddit now drive more influence in AI recommendations than most corporate websites because they represent unfiltered human experience at scale.”

2. UGC and social content drive modern discovery

User-generated content and social discourse have become the connective tissue of search.

From product reviews to LinkedIn posts to Reddit threads, these conversations shape what AI and many humans believe to be authoritative.

Social platforms are now the front door to search intent, sparking curiosity and building interest that eventually leads users to branded and organic experiences.

Blyskal’s analysis of 40 million AI search results found Reddit to be the single most-cited domain across ChatGPT, Copilot, and Perplexity.

While some shifts have occurred recently, he confirmed on Oct. 21 that “Reddit is still the most cited website overall in AI and is still second in ChatGPT.”

Garg echoed this finding, noting that Reddit and other community-driven content dominate citations across industries – a clear signal for marketers to engage where real conversations happen.

Liddell’s award-winning BullyBillows case study demonstrated how social-first content can drive measurable SEO impact, including:

• A 65% rise in brand searches.
• A 195% increase in “brand + keyword” searches.
• A 139% lift in revenue.

Reynolds likewise emphasized the value of social resonance, recommending that marketers invest in content that performs well on social platforms, even if it underperforms in organic search.

Seer Interactive’s own data backs this up: while social generates 89% less traffic than search, it produces 20% more leads.

Together, this data proves that social and UGC are not just amplification channels. They’re search inputs themselves, and a core component of search everywhere optimization.

In a follow-up conversation, Hudgens – founder and CEO of Siege Media – remarked:

• “Search traffic to LinkedIn pages is up significantly, and I expect it to continue to grow, eventually coming close to Reddit and Quora in impact on B2B. Brands need to be considering how they show up and contribute on LinkedIn in order to best impact all search surfaces.”

Get the newsletter search marketers rely on.

---

3. Preference outranks ranking

Visibility alone no longer wins.

Many are seeing this firsthand in their analytics – clicks are declining even when rankings remain steady.

The real goal now is preference: being chosen, not just seen.

Both humans and AI systems increasingly value authenticity and consensus over keyword precision and link quantity.

Today, search visibility depends as much on how others describe your brand as on the content you create yourself.

• Liddell frames this shift through the lens of preference = authority + trust + relevance.
• Reynolds highlights the rise of community platforms – LinkedIn, Reddit, Slack, and WhatsApp – urging SEOs to focus on spaces where people share content with personal endorsement, offering more genuine reach than traditional formats that dominate the SERP.
• Hudgens describes the 2021–2026 content marketing evolution from “high DR (domain rating) links” to “high influence mentions,” signaling that social proof and reputation now act as the modern PageRank.
• Garg quantifies it: AI now weighs third-party mentions three times higher than a brand’s own website.

In short, as search engines are learning to mirror people, they trust signals, not tactics. This is the preference component of search everywhere optimization.

Liddell, co-founder and Search Everywhere™ director at Deviation, summarized it nicely to me, sharing:

• “Brands can’t win on rankings alone anymore; they win on trust. Modern discovery happens where people talk, not where algorithms dictate – and that means investing in authentic UGC and social visibility is as critical to search as backlinks once were.”

4. Search everywhere success starts with breaking down silos

In 2025, silos remain one of the biggest obstacles to growth.

Many of our clients experience this firsthand – and other industry experts agree that maximizing discoverability now depends on cross-functional collaboration.

Search teams can no longer operate in isolation. PR, brand, and social teams all feed the trust loop that AI, search engines, and users rely on.

Future success will depend on these groups meeting regularly, sharing ideas, and aligning on shared goals.

• My presentation emphasized building cross-channel roadmaps with social, content, PR, and paid to ensure each team’s efforts reinforce each other.
• Hudgens showed that the future of content marketing lies in blending PR, organic social, thought leadership, and SEO – creating compounding impact instead of treating them as separate channels.
• Reynolds underscored the need for shared metrics, measuring impact not in rankings but in trust, reach, and conversion.

The new search equation runs on trust

While the speakers offered diverse perspectives, they all agreed on one central truth: search success is shifting from gaming algorithms to authentically earning audience trust.

Reddit posts, offsite reviews, social media, and third-party references now serve as critical trust signals – not because they link, but because they validate and build confidence in a brand.

This shift – evident across all four takeaways, from breaking down silos to valuing preference over ranking – underscores a broader reality: search isn’t something people do anymore.

It’s something they experience, everywhere.

The brands that will thrive in this new era won’t be those with the most backlinks or the sharpest keyword strategy, but those whose audiences genuinely connect with and vouch for them.

---

Contributing authors are invited to create content for Search Engine Land and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the search community. Our contributors work under the oversight of the editorial staff and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush. Contributor was not asked to make any direct or indirect mentions of Semrush. The opinions they express are their own.

---

About the Author

Nikki Lam is a seasoned SEO expert who has helped elevate the online presence of global brands like Adobe, Lenovo, Samsung, Under Armour, Levi’s, T-Mobile, Office Depot, American Airlines, Western Union, SoFi & more.As VP, Head of SEO at NP Digital U.S., she oversees the Organic Search offering, leads a growing team of passionate search strategists, and assists in pitching and formulating award-winning SEO campaigns for NP’s growing roster of enterprise and Fortune 1000 clients.Nikki’s impact extends globally, as she collaborates with NP Digital’s growing global Earned Media teams to ensure consistency, foster innovation, nurture collaboration, and uphold operational excellence.As a contributing author to Search Engine Land, member of the SMX Programming Committee, course instructor at the Digital Marketing Institute, speaker at brightonSEO, contributor to Neil Patel webinars, and author of ongoing social media industry update videos, Nikki is committed to engaging with the SEO community through thought leadership and an open dialogue about the ever-changing search landscape.