5 shifts shaping the new SEO in 2026

Old SEO was about gaming Google. New SEO is about earning trust, solving problems, and being everywhere.

Here are the 5 big shifts I'm seeing:

1. ChatGPT apps are the new SEO.
Smart marketers are building niche tools to drive traffic.
Why? Because people are starting to “search” inside AI.
Build something useful, plug it into ChatGPT or Perplexity, and you’ve created a new traffic source with zero reliance on Google.

2. ChatKit gives your audience what they actually want.
ChatKit and other tools let you train a bot on your content, then let your audience interact directly.
It’s like building a product with your customers instead of guessing.
This is traffic that sticks around.

3. Link wheels are back, but legit this time.
During the black-hat days, people built fake sites that linked to each other.
Now, the white-hat version wins: build actual relationships with real publishers and cross-link your properties.
Trust is the new algorithm cheat code.

4. SEO isn’t just Google anymore.
We’re in a Search Everywhere Optimization era.
YouTube, Amazon, Reddit, Pinterest, TikTok, and the App Store are all search engines.
If you’re not publishing native content on at least 2–3 of these, you're invisible.
YouTube is still underrated. It's the #2 search engine for a reason.

5. Generosity is the new growth hack.
Forget discounts.
Give away real tools. Solve real problems.
With ClickFlow and Karrot.ai, our free tools bring in more leads than most paid ads.
AI makes it cheaper than ever to build—so give more away.

To more visibility in 2026,
Eric Siu

P.S.

1 - If you want to grow faster using the power of AI, my agency Single Grain is offering free marketing plans to Leveling Up newsletter subscribers, check it out here.
2 - We’re hiring AI-forward performance ad creative strategists, AI-forward SEOs and paid media people, AI short form creators, AI automation interns, and more.. If you’re interested, apply at our Careers page.
3 - We launched ClickFlow to help automate and scale SEO. We’re giving away 10,000 words for free - sign up for the waitlist at the link.
4 - Interested in creating 1:1 personalized LinkedIn ads in minutes instead of weeks? Sign up for the Karrot.ai waitlist.
5 - For more in-depth marketing content, check out my Leveling Up YouTube channel
6 - To help this newsletter improve, fill out this survey