Organic search traffic is dropping, zero-click searches are rising, and there’s a shiny new kid on the block. Cue the latest chorus of “SEO is dead.” But as the stellar panel of global SEO experts at the International Search Summit New York agreed, now is actually SEO’s time to shine.
Rachel Doheny, SEO Manager at Norwegian Cruise Line; Bruno Vilan, SEO & CRO Manager at TAP Air Portugal; and TransPerfect Digital’s Julie Franck, Director of Global Digital Strategy, and Colt Foutz, Solutions Director, discussed why every road still leads back to SEO and why success belongs to brands that stay focused on the fundamentals and their audience.
SEO Fundamentals Haven’t Changed, But They’re More Exposed
The panelists consistently returned to this point: technical SEO, content quality, E-E-A-T, and brand consistency have always been important. The rise of AI search makes shortcuts and inconsistencies harder to hide. If your content across channels is inconsistent, or if you’ve been relying on thin content, AI systems surface those flaws immediately. Foundational elements like crawlability, structured data, authoritative content, and an original point of view remain key.
Measurement Is Messier, But the Goal Is the Same
Traffic and session metrics are less reliable than ever as zero-click search experiences and LLM usage grow. Expand your measurement toolkit to include metrics like citations, brand mentions, AI visibility, sentiment, and conversion quality from LLM-referred traffic to get a clearer picture of changing trends and opportunities.
Monitoring your own data and audience remains critical. Bruno noted that visitors arriving at TAP Air Portugal from LLMs convert at a higher rate than those coming through organic search, suggesting they may be more informed and ready to act. However, LLM-driven traffic still represents a relatively small share of overall visits.
Norwegian Cruise Line, meanwhile, has seen branded organic traffic increase in recent months, outpacing both direct visits and traffic from LLMs.
The patterns emerging today may look very different in a few months, making it essential to keep monitoring how your audience behaves and which channels perform best.
Whatever the user journey, the north star remains the same: Did they complete the desired action?
Know Your Audience More Deeply Than Ever
Search behavior is becoming longer-tail and more personal. Rachel’s example of how a typical search query has gone from “cruises to the Caribbean” to “7-day cruise for a family of four with teenagers who want a water park” illustrates this perfectly. Winning means truly understanding how your specific audience talks, what they ask, and what forums and third-party sites they trust.
Owning the conversation means showing up where your audience already is, with information that matters to them and sets you apart from the competition.
Watch the full session from the International Search Summit New York:
AI Is a Great Tool, But Human Judgment Still Wins
On this, the panel agreed: Use AI to build the foundation, from briefs and outlines to dynamic page templates and translation at scale, but always apply human editorial judgment, brand voice, and expertise before publishing. As one panelist put it, “Train AI like you would a copywriter on your team.” That analogy resonated throughout the discussion. Blindly publishing AI-generated content is already being penalized across platforms, while original perspectives and genuine expertise are what earn visibility and citations.
Julie also emphasized that the same principle applies to analysis and strategy. Context is everything. Simply feeding all your data to AI and asking it to do the work misses the nuance, business context, and audience understanding that only humans can provide.
Think Holistically, Not in Silos
The days of channel silos are over. Consistency in positioning, messaging, and visibility across all channels is crucial to building authority. Without it, your brand is far less likely to be mentioned, cited, or recommended.
Julie described this as a uniquely powerful moment for SEOs because they already understand how people discover, navigate, and consume information across channels. That cross-channel connective tissue spanning paid, social, organic, and LLMs is exactly what brands need, and SEO professionals are uniquely positioned to provide it.
The TransPerfect Digital team helps global brands improve visibility across traditional search, AI search, and LLM-powered experiences. Ready to strengthen your international SEO strategy? Let’s talk.
Explore More
- This blog post is based on a panel discussion that took place at the International Search Summit. If you would like to attend one of our future events, you can see all our upcoming events here.
- You may be interested in our blog post, From Crawlability to AI Visibility: Why Technical SEO Matters More Than Ever.
- Want to see how we have helped our clients win with SEO? View our SEO case studies here.
- Want to dive even deeper? Check out my colleague’s full-length guide, How to Develop an International SEO Strategy.
