The hidden costs of a ‘wait and see’ SEO strategy

Search is changing rapidly, and uncertainty around AI search, search engines, citations, and zero-click search has left some companies wondering how much they should continue to invest in SEO.

Setting a budget or taking a “wait and see” approach may sound wise. But organic trust and authority take time to build, and holding back on SEO can create a speed bump that’s expensive to recover.

Why pausing SEO has its risks

I have friends who own or run search agencies or brand search operations who have seriously questioned whether they want to stick with where all this is going. I understand where they are coming from. There’s a lot to track and adapt to.

On the other hand, I know many firms and agencies that experience uncertainty about the glass-full mentality (my team included). We’ve accepted that the unknown is part of the search space, and we’re running away from tests, learning new things, and where it all goes.

The visibility of SEO and AI does not have an on-and-off switch. A colleague recently compared them to a vending machine: You can’t put in a dollar and expect a predictable number of dollars to come out. Organic trust and authority builds over time. When you slow down your efforts, you create an opportunity for others to fill the void.

Be patient with expectations, knowing that natural growth takes time, regardless of performance impairment. If the dust finally settles, stopping now can mean spending more time and money to regain your core authority than you would to save, test, learn, and build benefits along the way.

Dig deep: Why SEO often fails before it even starts

How to maintain SEO momentum amid uncertainty

You need to find a balance between sacrificing your search base and falling into a performance handicap.

1. Estimate the true cost of lost momentum

Traditional search results, new AI search features, and emerging AI models all depend on consistent signs of trust and authority.

If you stop updating content, testing your site’s technical aspects, or engaging in ways that build and earn authority signals, your site becomes stale and less attractive to bots and your target audience.

These soft costs may not reflect well on the dashboard. They include:

• Loss of market share or voice share.
• Longer payback periods or larger investments in the future.
• Total impact on sales or sales pipelines if you stay current and adapt as you go.

You don’t want to talk about the empty funnel months from now and what you wish you could do. You need to find ways to balance the cost and time difference between doing little or nothing and continuing to invest in the short and long term.

2. Shift from chasing tactics to maintaining fundamentals

I was recently asked on a large board about the unknowns surrounding the implementation of AI. We discussed whether we should continue investing or hold off until we know the surefire strategies that work.

There are many articles and stories where new data comes out or techniques are discovered through experimentation in the search community, many of them interesting and relevant. We don’t need to know every trick or “trick” or how AI algorithms or response engines work.

We need to stay focused on the key elements that support visibility across AI and search engines: original content, data, EEAT, and funnel-filling content. We must budget time and resources for testing and evaluation while monitoring when others see success. But we cannot throw away foundations and foundations as we do.

Dig deep: Stop developing. Start orchestrating. That’s SEO now.

3. Use ‘trigger events’ instead of a full stop

If your budget has already been reduced or reallocated, or you have been told to prioritize efforts elsewhere, include what I call trigger events in your entire search strategy.

Keep the lights on as much as possible while watching the launch events. This can range from changes in internal priorities (products, services, audiences, and goals) to competitive changes in the marketplace and major changes in algorithms and LLMs.

A trigger event is any force or conflict that can have a significant impact on the ROI of your efforts, at whatever level or basis you operate. These events should make you look at your current tactics, revisit your entire strategy, and assess what needs to change. Sometimes you stay on course. Sometimes, you make changes using a strategic lens, revising expectations, goals, and the overall tactical plan.

You cannot ignore these events even if you increase some efforts up or down or change your strategy due to AI search.

I break down the concept of event triggering in my book, “The Plan for Digital Marketing Success.”

4. Conduct controlled trials

I have noticed the test, but it deserves more attention. Even in the “steady” days of SEO, we should have been testing and experimenting. It is as important now as ever.

That means having reliable sources, monitoring what others report to be effective (as long as it fits your company’s risk tolerance and how to deal with white, gray, or black hat tactics), and even testing your own ideas to increase your internal search engine.

When testing and reporting results, something that works may not last forever. One highly respected industry leader may have data that directly contradicts another, and they may both be right.

Lily Ray shared data suggesting that popular listicle strategies may be backfiring, with some writers being left out of their industry lists. However, I am annoyed because I still see one prominently displayed in one of my client’s competitors.

Devote even a small amount of time or money to testing and testing if you can. Don’t make tests your whole strategy, but don’t cut yourself off if you’re tempted to do so.

Dig deeper: Why so much SEO work is no longer driving growth

Keep moving while the search progresses

Waiting for the search area to resolve can be more dangerous than staying on course in uncharted waters. That can be difficult to measure and share with others in marketing, broader corporate leadership, and other stakeholder groups.

Waiting can lead to losing momentum and falling behind. If you can’t balance that risk, you can make a case for continuing to invest, keep pace with restless competitors, and prepare for stagnant AI systems too.

If you are tempted to pause or slow down your search efforts, understand the risks and ensure that the decision is strategic and will not lead to unintended consequences.

Dig deeper: ‘Fix everything’ is the wrong SEO strategy