Is SEO dead in 2026? No way. SEO is still about as important as ever, and in many ways it is becoming more important because the internet is expanding at an exponential rate. With AI making it easier to publish content and launch websites at scale, competition is increasing fast. That makes discovering new opportunities, especially long tail opportunities, just as crucial as it has ever been.
This is also why experienced SEOs matter. Anyone can publish pages, but scaling content strategically, building topical authority, and earning the kind of authority that actually ranks is not easy. The SEOs who win are the ones who know where to look, what to prioritize, and how to build momentum instead of chasing generic checklists.
SEO is also still the foundation for visibility in AI driven discovery. If you want to show up consistently in AI search experiences, you still need strong search visibility and content coverage. Capturing query fan outs and understanding how AI systems pull information from the web is becoming a real advantage.
SEO will not die as long as the internet exists. And it looks like it is going to be around for a while.