The New Rules of SEO (2026)

Consumers aren't searching anymore. At

least not the way you think. They're

deciding. And they're doing it in the

weirdest places in the strangest ways. A

Tik Tok comment, a Reddit thread, a chat

GBT answer, a friend's Amazon review,

even a YouTube video they barely

watched. Those are the new

decision-making moments. And if you're

still optimizing for rankings, reach, or

relevance without knowing how decisions

actually happen, now you're not just

behind, you're invisible. This isn't

about doing more. It's about showing up

in the exact moment someone chooses, not

just searches. I'm Neil Patel. I run one

of the largest digital marketing

agencies in the world. In this video,

I'm going to show you what the shift

looks like, why your current strategy is

probably invisible in today's market,

and how to fix it by optimizing for

decision moments, not just keywords or

content. Let's get started.

[Music]

Most businesses are still playing the

Google game that ended 3 years ago.

They're obsessing over rankings,

tweaking metadescriptions, building

backlinks, chasing that sweet page one

spot. And look, I get it. For the

longest time, that was the game. Google

was the internet. If you weren't on

Google, you didn't exist. But here's the

problem. Even if you're winning at

Google, you're still losing customers.

Let me show you why. Google handles

about 13.7 billion searches a day.

Sounds massive, right? But that's only

27% of all search activity happening on

the internet. The other 73%, it's

scattered across Instagram, Tik Tok,

Amazon Reddit YouTube Chat GPT

platforms that most businesses aren't

even thinking about as search engines.

So, while you're still fighting for that

number one Google ranking, your

customers are making actual buying

decisions on TikTok. They're validating

those decisions in Reddit threads.

They're asking Chat GPT for

recommendations. They're checking Amazon

reviews. And where are you in that

process? Nowhere. This is what I call

the Google trap. You're optimizing for

visibility in one place while your

customers are deciding everywhere else.

The result, your traffic might look

decent, but your conversions are flat.

Your rankings are solid, but your sales

are stagnant because you're showing up

in search, but you're missing the

decision.

So, what's changed? Why isn't

traditional SEO working the way it used

to? Because consumer behavior

fundamentally shifted and most marketers

missed it completely. People aren't

really searching anymore. Not in the old

sense. They're not typing keywords,

scanning through 10 blue links, and

carefully evaluating options. Instead,

they're making rapidfire decisions

across multiple touch points. And those

decisions happen in the weirdest places.

Let me break this down from a

neuromarketing perspective. The modern

consumer journey isn't a funnel anymore.

It's a constellation of micro decisions.

Here's what it actually looks like. What

to click that happens on Google. What to

trust? Reddit threads and reviews. What

to buy, Amazon, Tik Tok shop. What to

try, app store rating. What to think,

YouTube videos and podcasts. What to

believe? Cad GBT. Claude, other AI

models. Who to follow? Instagram and

LinkedIn. Who to site or reference? AI

pulls from everywhere. Each platform

serves a different psychological

function in the decision-making process.

And here's the kicker. These aren't

sequential steps. They're happening

simultaneously, sometimes within minutes

of each other. Someone sees your product

on Tik Tok, checks reviews on Amazon,

validates it in a Reddit thread, and

then ask Chat GBT for alternatives, then

they buy it, all without ever visiting

your website. Each platform represents a

different context. Each search represent

a different behavior. Each mention

becomes a trust signal. Each content

format becomes a lever of influence. If

you're not showing up in those moments

of microchoice, you're not in the

conversation. No matter how good your

Google rating is.

So, if the old playbook isn't working,

what's the new one? It's called Search

Everywhere Optimization, and it's

exactly what it sounds like. Instead of

optimizing for one search engine, you

optimize for every platform where

decisions get made, including Google.

Think about it this way. SEO isn't dead.

It's just gotten a lot bigger.

Traditional SEO was about getting found

on Google. Search everywhere

optimization is about getting chosen

across the entire internet. This means

designing your content, your presence,

and your brand to show up in all the

places where your customers are actually

making decisions, not just Google. This

is why we bought the app store

optimization company called Yo. You want

to go after every platform where someone

might discover you, validate you, or

choose you over a competitor. Now,

before you panic and think you need to

be posting everywhere every day, that's

not what this is about. Search

everywhere optimization isn't about

volume. It's about strategic presence.

It's about understanding that when

someone asks Chad GPT for

recommendation, your brand needs to be

in that response. When someone checks

Reddit for honest opinions, your company

needs to be mentioned. When someone

browses Amazon, your reviews need to be

visible. Because here's what most people

don't realize. These platforms don't

just influence decisions. They are the

decision. Now, this doesn't mean that

journeys still don't happen on

traditional search, like people just

going to Google. But it also means that

roughly 73% of searches are happening

outside the traditional ecosystem that

you're used to. And if you're not

optimized for that reality, you're

invisible.

[Music]

Here's where most businesses mess this

up. They try to use the same strategy

everywhere. They take their blog post,

copy and paste it to LinkedIn, post a

snippet on Instagram, maybe turn it into

a YouTube video. That's not how this

works. Each platform is essentially its

own decision engine with its own

psychology, its own algorithm, and its

own way that people make choices. Let me

give you some examples. On Tik Tok,

decisions are driven by emotions and

novelty. People don't want to think,

they want to feel. So your content needs

to be immediate, visual, and emotionally

resonate. YouTube is opposite. It's

about retention and perceived expertise.

People come here to learn and evaluate.

They want depth, authority, and proof

that you know what you're talking about.

Chat GPT, that's all about citations and

sematic clarity. AI models don't care

about flashy visuals or emotional hooks.

They want clear, factual information

from authoritative sources. Amazon is

pure social proof and trust. People

don't read your product descriptions,

they scroll straight to the reviews.

They want to know what real people

experience. Instagram is an aspirational

identity. People aren't just buying

products. They're buying into a

lifestyle, a version of themselves they

want to become. Reddit is raw

authenticity. Any hint of marketing

speak gets destroyed. People want

honest, unfiltered opinions from real

users. The point is, you can't just use

one playbook across all platforms. What

works on Tik Tok will fail on LinkedIn.

What converts on Amazon will flop on

Reddit. Each platform has its own

decision code. And you need to match

your content and presence to that code.

This is why search everywhere

optimization requires platform specific

strategies, not just platform specific

posting.

[Music]

Here's the thing that trips up most

marketers. They think visibility equals

success. They see their content getting

views, their posts getting engagement,

and maybe even some traffic to their

website, and they think they're winning.

But visibility is just the entry fee.

What actually drives decisions is

validation. Let me explain the

difference. Visibility is showing up in

search results. Validation is being

mentioned in the conversation.

Visibility is having a Tik Tok account.

Validation is having someone reference

your brand into their own Tik Tok.

Visibility is ranking on Google.

Validation is being cited by Chad GBT

when someone asks for recommendations.

See the difference? Visibility is what

you do. Validation is what others say

about what you do. And here's why this

matters more than ever. AI doesn't

scroll through search results the way

humans do. AI summarizes. and it

summarizes based on who gets mentioned

the most and trusted the fastest. If

your brand isn't part of that validation

network, if you're not being mentioned

in Reddit threads, cited in articles,

reviewed on Amazon, reference, and

podcast, then you simply don't exist in

AI's decisionmaking process. This is why

search everywhere optimization focuses

on earning trust signals across

platforms, not just creating content. In

a world where AI is increasingly making

recommendations for people, being

trustworthy isn't just good business.

It's the only way to stay visible.

Okay, so by now you might be thinking,

Neil, this sounds overwhelming. Do I

really need to be active on every single

platform? The answer is no. And that's

the beauty of search everywhere

optimization. You don't need to be

everywhere. You just need to be trusted

somewhere that matters. Let me give you

a framework for this. It's called rice

and it's how we prioritize which

platforms to focus on. R is for reach.

How many people search on that platform

daily? I is for impact. How much

business impact could this have for you?

C is for confidence. How confident are

you that you can succeed here? E is for

ease. How easy is it for you to execute?

You can score each from 1 to 10.

multiply by the reach number and that

tells you where to start. For most

businesses that's going to be two to

three platforms maximum, not 10. And

then eventually you can add in more into

the fold. Maybe you focus on getting

cited by Chad GPT and mentioned in

Reddit threads. Maybe it's dominating

Amazon reviews and YouTube search. Maybe

it's becoming the go-to expert that

podcast reference. The goal isn't

omniresence, it's strategic presence.

Because here is what happens when you

nail this. Your influence compounds

across platforms automatically. When

you're mentioned in a popular Reddit

thread, that gets indexed by Google.

When you're cited by Chad GPT, that

reinforces your authority everywhere

else. When you dominate Amazon reviews,

that influences buying decisions that

started on Tik Tok. It's not about being

on every platform. It's about being

woven into the fabric of how decisions

get made in your industry. Once you're

part of that cross-platform trust

network, search everywhere optimization

starts working for you instead of you

working for it. The truth of the matter

is your competitors are stuck in the

Google trap. They're still fighting

yesterday's work. And in reality, most

marketing teams are barely keeping up

with Google's algorithm updates, let

alone optimizing for Tik Tok and Chad

GPT and Reddit all at once. Which means

right now, today, you have a massive

opportunity to get ahead by playing the

new game while everyone else is still

learning the old rules. Start with one

platform outside of Google. Pick the one

where your customers are most likely to

validate their decisions. Then focus on

earning trust there before expanding

anywhere else. And if you want to go

deeper in how AI and LM optimization

work, because that's honestly where the

biggest opportunity is, I just released

a video on how to train AI models to

choose your brand over your competitors.