2026 Search Trends Feel Very Different

Authors Claire Routh, SEO Strategist, and Stevie Espinoza, Paid Media Strategist – OuterBox

We see search trends every year, but 2026 feels very different. That’s because search has changed more in the past 18 months than in the previous 10 years combined.

2025 was the year brands felt the shift.

2026 is the year brands must act.

How?

Influence Over Position

AI Overviews and conversational search tools now resolve questions without a click. The brands that win aren’t the ones sitting on top—they’re the ones shaping the answer. Influence is measured by how often AI systems cite, reference, or learn from your content. Even without traffic, brands that appear consistently in AI-generated responses build authority and are more likely to be recalled later in the buyer journey.

Entity Authority You Can’t Fake

Keywords still matter, but only when they support a credible, well-defined entity. You can copy a competitor’s keywords. You can’t copy their reputation. AI evaluates brands by expertise, consistency, and real-world proof. Reviews, third-party citations, author credentials, structured data, and topical depth all work together to answer one question: Is this brand actually an expert?

Extractable Content

AI doesn’t scan pages for prose, it extracts clean, labeled information it can reuse with confidence.

• Headers
• Bullet points
• Tables
• Q&A-style formatting

These aren’t just good UX anymore; they’re table stakes for AI visibility. If your content already looks like an answer, AI doesn’t have to guess, and that’s when you get mentioned.

Automation With A Strategy Behind It

On the paid media side, campaigns like Performance Max and Search with AI Max are redefining how ads appear, sometimes directly inside AI Overviews. Automation drives efficiency, but it only works when fed the right signals. Landing page clarity, first-party data, value-based conversions, and entity definition now determine whether automation scales profitably or wastes spend. However, while AI runs the engine, human strategy should be in the driver’s seat.

SEO and PPC Working Together is a Must

Google no longer evaluates channels in isolation, it evaluates brand entities. The same content, structure, and data signals power both organic and paid visibility. When your SEO and PPC are aligned, AI gains confidence in your brand. When they aren’t, performance becomes unpredictable. That’s why integrated marketing is a must.

At OuterBox, we see this shift clearly: search success isn’t about gaming systems—it’s about earning AI trust with an integrated strategy. Brands that adapt now won’t just keep up. They’ll shape the answers that everyone else competes to appear in.

Connect With OuterBox

• Homepage: https://www.outerboxdesign.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/outerbox/