LLM SEO Strategy After Google: Prepping for AI Search from Apple, ChatGPT, or Perplexity

Most of the noise in SEO circles today is about incremental change. We’re fine-tuning for AI Overviews (AIOs), shifting our emphasis toward Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), and talking up Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). While many companies and specialists are emerging trying to hock these as new channels and new marketing practices, people in the trenches realize they’re just incremental changes to “traditional” SEO efforts.

The real disruption might come from outside Google altogether.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, Apple is actively exploring alternatives to Google Search for Safari. That’s not a small experiment. Safari holds nearly half the U.S. browser market, and an estimated 54% of Safari traffic traverses through search engines. While some users may have opted to an alternative search engine, a safe bet is that the vast majority are using Google as their default.

If Apple ditches Google for an AI-driven search partner, like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or even Gemini, the result won’t be a slow bleed. It will be a major redirect of attention and traffic, overnight. A change like that would shift billions of search engine visits each month to a new player. That instantly makes them a real competitor to Google in the U.S.

How does that math work out?

If there are around 125M iPhone owners in the United States, and 60% of those owners use Safari as their browser (70,000,000 of the 125,000,000 users), and 54% of Safari traffic goes to a search engine (40.5 million visits if each user only takes a single web visit per month), that’s a lot of traffic. Assuming each users hits the minimum average I saw, of 5 web page visits PER DAY, we’re talking about 6 billion web page visits per month.

All dropped in the lap of a single AI provider.

Given some of the information shared in the article, this isn’t just speculation. Apple is already feeling pressure. Safari usage is down for the first time in 22 years. Siri is seen as lagging. And even with a $20B incentive to keep Google Search as the default, Apple is behind the times on AI, and consumers are critical. There’s also nothing stopping another partner from stepping in with another cash pay day to offset the loss of Google’s partnership $$$. Who has that deep of pockets and could make a longer term commitment is a big question mark, sure.

So where should SEOs focus? If Apple names a new search partner, the smartest thing you can do is study their platform, learn their ranking logic, and adapt quickly. A pivot like this could create outsized opportunity for early movers.

FAQs

1. What is the impact of Apple dropping Google Search from Safari?
It could redirect over 6 billion monthly visits away from Google, significantly impacting traffic sources for businesses that rely on traditional SEO.

2. Who are the likely AI search partners Apple might work with?
Current speculation includes ChatGPT, Perplexity, and potentially Google’s own Gemini, though antitrust issues may complicate that last one.

3. Should SEOs start optimizing for ChatGPT or Perplexity now?
Yes, particularly if they want to get ahead of a potential platform shift. Learning how these platforms surface and rank content could give a strong early advantage.

4. What is the difference between AIO, AEO, and GEO?

• AIO (AI Overviews): Google’s feature showing AI-generated summaries in search.
• AEO (Answer Engine Optimization): Optimizing for direct answers, often for voice or AI search.
• GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): Tactics aimed at improving brand visibility in AI-generated responses rather than traditional SERPs. We’re not in favor of this one being adopted since the term is widely used.