AI search has undoubtedly tried and tested businesses in the last year. It has caused companies to pivot their strategy, reallocate resources, and rethink how they approach search optimization. It’s also called into question what SEO success looks like in 2026.
With SEO taking a big hit and losing traffic to AI search platforms and features (think AI Overviews), it has people wondering: Is organic traffic still the goal in an AI search world?
Businesses are seeing organic traffic drop dramatically, which can make it feel like it’s not a reliable indicator of SEO success anymore.
But what it really means is that you need to dive deeper.
In this blog:
- Organic Traffic is Still Crucial to Track, but It’s Changing
- Shifting Focus to Impressions
- The Bottom Line
Organic traffic is still crucial to track, but it’s changing
I think we’re starting to see the effects of this new search and AI era, where SEOs are wondering if they should sideline organic traffic as a main goal of their campaigns.
With AI Overviews and summaries pushing organic results further down, it’s leading to a drop in sessions for businesses. Then, on top of that, users are turning to AI tools and forums more frequently for answers.
If you’re feeling frustrated by it, you’re not alone — a lot of SEOs are left sitting here wondering, “Do I even bother tracking organic traffic?”
I’m here to tell you, yes.
Just because AI is taking center stage doesn’t mean that organic traffic is obsolete or not worth your attention. But, it’s not the only or main metric that indicates your SEO success.
Instead of focusing on organic traffic as a whole, you need to get more granular. Specifically, start looking at high-intent traffic vs. looking at all organic traffic.
High-intent organic traffic is users that directly enter your pipeline and become leads and conversions. Focusing on this traffic gives you a better indicator of the success of your SEO strategy versus looking at the bigger picture of your overall organic traffic performance.
Shifting focus to impressions
While organic traffic is still good to track, there are other indicators that can better help you understand the success of your search strategy. Namely, tracking impressions.
Impressions give you a better overall view of your search visibility. You can see how many users your content reaches, even if you aren’t getting clicks. With nearly 60% of searches ending without a click, it’s more productive to look at how many people see your content versus how many click on it.
Tracking impressions helps you understand how often people see your brand, which can help you better understand whether people remember you when they’re finally ready to convert.
The bottom line
I don’t think tracking organic traffic should be thrown out the window completely! Tracking the traffic that generates conversions, leads, and sales is still crucial.
But, realistically, tracking organic traffic broadly won’t help you get a clear picture of your SEO success.
Overall organic traffic, as a whole, is becoming less of a strong indicator of SEO success. Instead, focusing on high-intent traffic and impressions gives you a clearer picture of your company’s reach, visibility, and success on search engines.
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