In addition, brands must attend to digital channels now more than ever. Younger audiences have a penchant for searching on TikTok and Instagram. That means less innovative SEO agencies are getting squeezed, said Sam Tomlinson, EVP at boutique agency Warschawski, who said that in the past 12 months, he’s seen fewer SEO-only RFPs from clients than in any preceding period he can remember.

“[SEO agencies] have been really bad at communicating the value they’re bringing,” Tomlinson said.

But successful SEO agencies have excelled at adaption. Tinuiti helps clients with how they show up on platforms like Google Maps, TikTok and Reddit, while adapting to changes to Google’s algorithm, said Kris Wong, senior director of SEO at the agency. She sees the shift to chat-driven search as another bump in the dynamic job of an SEO professional, rather than cataclysmic.

“Google is changing so frequently … so being adaptive is key,” Wong said. “It’s nothing new.”