# The real definition of SEO (in 2026)
**作者**: Nathan Gotch
**日期**: 2026-04-21T10:39:43.000Z
**来源**: [https://x.com/nathangotch/status/2046539369230606598](https://x.com/nathangotch/status/2046539369230606598)
---
Over the last couple of years, several new acronyms have emerged to describe what many people are calling SEO 2.0:
- AI SEO
- GEO
- AEO
There are probably a few others, but at the end of the day, I define SEO as one thing:
Search Everywhere Optimization.
And if that’s the definition, then there are a lot more components you need to pay attention to.
For example, if you’re doing local SEO, you need to focus heavily on the local pack.
Why?
Because Google is still the dominant player in local search, and there’s a lot of evidence, based data from Rankability, that strong performance in Google’s local pack for commercial queries often correlates with strong visibility in Google’s AI Mode, AI Overview, and Google Gemini.
These Google products are interconnected.
So if you’re doing local SEO, it starts with your Google Business Profile and how well you perform in the local pack. That’s probably 80% of the local SEO game.
The other 20% is where most people struggle:
Google’s traditional organic results.
And yes, those still matter. A lot.
There’s still a massive amount of search volume and visibility flowing through traditional organic search.
To put it in perspective, over 50% of Rankability’s revenue still comes from traditional organic search.
That alone should tell you this isn’t something you can ignore.
But Google also isn’t the only game anymore.
You also need to spend part of your time thinking about non-Google platforms like:
- ChatGPT
- Perplexity
- Claude
- Grok
These are all places where your prospects and customers are searching.
Visibility there matters.
When it comes to performing well on AI platforms, I think you really need to pay attention to two things:
- Is your brand showing up in the actual AI answer?
- If it is, where are you showing up in that answer?
You also need to pay close attention to citations.
Yes, you want your website to be cited. That absolutely matters.
But in many cases, you’re only going to be one of several citations when AI uses retrieval. So the bigger opportunity is getting your brand covered on the other sources these platforms pull from.
The more your brand is present across those retrieval sources, the better your odds of showing up in AI answers.
That’s why I believe the key to winning in today’s market is using one universal metric that tracks total search performance across all surfaces.
That’s exactly why I created the SPI Score, which stands for Search Performance Index.
The SPI Score measures your total performance across:
- Local pack visibility
- Traditional organic search
- Major AI search platforms
- YouTube visibility
- Google video pack visibility
If you’re selling SEO today, you should be selling total search performance.
The days of selling only traditional rankings, or only local pack visibility, are fading. Agencies that attack all search surfaces are going to have a serious advantage.
And if you want to track your SPI, you can use Rankability.
Just enter your commercial keywords, and Rankability will track your SPI across all major platforms so you can see your total Search Performance Index for any keyword or campaign.
## 相关链接
- [Nathan Gotch](https://x.com/nathangotch)
- [@nathangotch](https://x.com/nathangotch)
- [10K](https://x.com/nathangotch/status/2046539369230606598/analytics)
- [use Rankability](https://www.rankability.com/)
- [Upgrade to Premium](https://x.com/i/premium_sign_up)
- [6:39 PM · Apr 21, 2026](https://x.com/nathangotch/status/2046539369230606598)
- [10.1K Views](https://x.com/nathangotch/status/2046539369230606598/analytics)
---
*导出时间: 2026/4/22 11:06:07*