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Search is Evolving- Here's How Canadian Businesses Can Lead Feature Image

Search is Evolving — Here’s How Canadian Businesses Can Lead

For over two decades, Google has reigned supreme in the world of search. But today, cracks are forming in the tech giant’s dominance. With emerging technologies, shifting consumer behaviors, and the rise of AI-driven experiences, SEO as we’ve known it is undergoing a major transformation.

For Canadian business owners, CEOs, and marketing professionals, this evolution presents both a challenge and an opportunity. To stay ahead, your marketing strategy needs to evolve now — or risk being left behind.

A Slow Death or Strategic Evolution?

Despite headlines proclaiming the “death of Google,” the reality is more nuanced. Google is still widely used, but its share of global daily searches is shrinking — down to around 18% compared to newer players like Instagram (6.5 billion daily searches), Amazon (3.5 billion), and ChatGPT (1 billion). Today’s search habits are fragmented across multiple platforms.

What we’re witnessing isn’t the end of Google, but the end of an era in which it was the only search engine that mattered.

What’s Driving the Shift?

1. Fragmented Search Behavior
Today’s consumers don’t just “Google it.” They talk to Alexa. They type product queries into Amazon or TikTok. They ask ChatGPT for ideas or scroll Instagram for visual inspiration. Search is no longer a singular experience — it’s everywhere.

For Canadian businesses, this means your brand needs to be discoverable not just on Google, but across platforms. SEO is becoming Search Everywhere Optimization.

2. The Rise of AI and Generative Search
At BrightonSEO (one of Europe’s largest SEO conferences), industry experts agreed that Google’s new AI-powered experience — known as SGE (Search Generative Experience) — is still far from ready. But it’s coming, driven by investor pressure and market trends.

SGE aims to provide richer answers in the search interface using AI, but it’s raising concerns around content ownership, user experience, and even legal risks. What’s clear is this: organic search results are getting squeezed out. Some experts predict a 30-70% drop in organic traffic once SGE rolls out fully.

3. Google’s Business Priorities Are Shifting
Google’s growing reliance on ads (especially in ecommerce) has led to a worse user experience. AI answers without ads — like those from ChatGPT or Perplexity — feel cleaner and more useful. And as Google prioritizes revenue, platforms that deliver faster, cleaner, or more visual results are gaining ground.

What This Means for Your Marketing Strategy

The principles of good SEO aren’t going away — but your playbook must adapt. Here’s how:

1. Think Beyond Google

Optimize your content to appear across platforms where your audience is searching. That includes:

  • Amazon (if you sell products)
  • Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok (for inspiration-based searches)
  • ChatGPT and Perplexity (for informative or research-driven queries)

2. Build a Strong Brand

Brand mentions are becoming the new backlinks. The more people talk about your company across the web, the more these algorithms trust and rank you. Invest in PR, thought leadership, and partnerships that amplify your brand.

3. Focus on Engagement

Search platforms — AI or not — reward content that keeps users engaged. If people spend time on your site or interact with your posts, you’re more likely to rank. That means quality content, faster sites, clearer UX, and relevance matter more than ever.

4. Humanize Your AI Content

AI tools like ChatGPT can help scale content creation, but it still needs your brand’s voice. At BrightonSEO, a key takeaway was the importance of humanizing AI-generated content. Canadian businesses should focus on editing, prompting, and refining AI output to align with their values and audience tone.

What’s Next?

SEO isn’t dying — it’s evolving. And for businesses willing to adapt, this is a moment of massive opportunity. You can now reach your audience in more ways than ever before — but it requires a shift in strategy and mindset.

At 6P Marketing, we help Canadian businesses navigate this changing digital landscape. From SEO and content strategy to multi-platform brand building, we can help you stay visible, relevant, and competitive — no matter how the search ecosystem evolves.

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