By now, it’s a given that search doesn’t start and stop with Google. What’s changed in 2025 is the sheer complexity of where, when, and how your audience discovers you, and how much (or how little) of that journey you actually control.
A potential customer might see your product in a TikTok explainer, ask ChatGPT for reviews, check Amazon or Reddit for validation, browse your Instagram feed, and only then decide whether to click through to your site. Visibility now means being present, trusted, and genuinely useful on the platforms your audience already turns to.
This is exactly what Search Everywhere Optimization (SEvO) is built for. Popularized by Neil Patel and sharpened by thinkers like Rand Fishkin, SEvO is about being findable in all the right places, in all the right ways that matter to your customer.
Traditional SEO Still Matters
The foundations of SEO still matter: well-structured content, optimized pages, and technical integrity. But only to a point.
Search behavior has changed. Generative AI tools now answer complex questions with summaries, often bypassing websites entirely. A Wall Street Journal piece recently confirmed what many of us already knew: AI has disrupted how users search and how businesses are discovered.
Meanwhile, platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and especially Reddit are seeing massive surges in search intent, especially for local services, product comparisons, and real user experiences. Younger audiences in particular are skipping Google entirely and relying on visual-first platforms and peer recommendations.
Rand Fishkin puts it plainly:
Visibility isn’t about clicks anymore. It’s about presence, reputation, and platform-native trust signals. Search Everywhere Optimization means being active on the platforms that are most relevant to your customers, providing them with content that resonates and builds trust and understanding that this needs to happen from multiple platforms.
To ground this in strategy, build a SEvO Visibility Matrix: a simple internal audit that maps the critical platforms your customers use and how your brand shows up. A good matrix might track:
- Google organic (including Maps if you’re a local based business),
- People Also Ask, and Rich Snippets)
- YouTube search visibility
- Amazon product rank
- LinkedIn and Reddit brand mentions
- TikTok or Instagram engagement
- Generative AI inclusion (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini)
Building a SEvO Strategy by Business Type
Search Everywhere Optimization only works when it’s tailored. The platforms, formats, and content priorities shift significantly depending on your type of business and who you’re trying to reach.
B2B: Lead With Authority Everywhere
For B2B companies, credibility is currency. Professional audiences search LinkedIn for leadership cues and reviews, head to YouTube for detailed how-to videos, and increasingly turn to AI tools like ChatGPT to compare vendors.
Start by posting consistently on LinkedIn. Share what you really know. Be generous. Giving away meaningful knowledge builds authority far faster than holding back. Repurpose your most valuable longform assets including case studies, whitepapers, internal guides, into short, high-intent video explainers that perform well on YouTube and in AI summaries.
Structurally, your site should support AI readability with schema like Organization, HowTo, and FAQ. These help large language models parse your content more effectively. From there, monitor how your brand shows up in AI responses. Search for your own name and your category in platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini using real user queries: “best SaaS platforms for nonprofits” or “top [your industry] firms in Chicago.” Note whether you’re mentioned, what content gets cited, and how your competitors are framed.
When you do find AI references especially in Perplexity, trace them back to the source. Perplexity.ai is one of the few generative AI tools that shows its sources transparently alongside its responses. Unlike ChatGPT or Gemini, which often summarize without attribution, Perplexity links directly to the articles, documents, or web pages it pulls from. That makes it uniquely useful for SEvO and G.E.O. work What made that piece cite-worthy? Was it structure? Schema? The presence of clear, factual statements or questions in subheads? These are the signals AI tools rely on. Reverse-engineer them and fold those patterns into your own content.
E-commerce: Make the Product Findable Before the Site
Today’s shoppers start their shopping journey with TikTok and Instagram, which are now fully functional search engines for product discovery. Users are searching terms like “kitchen gadgets under $25” and scrolling short-form videos for real user validation.
On Amazon, the search behavior is equally nuanced. Shoppers use filters, comb through customer Q&A, and put disproportionate weight on photo reviews. Meanwhile, YouTube remains essential for side-by-side comparisons and “best of” lists, especially for electronics, beauty, fitness, and home goods.
To compete, your brand needs content tailored to these discovery formats. Vertical videos with keyword-rich captions and smart tagging perform best on TikTok and Instagram. On YouTube, Shorts and influencer integrations should include clean metadata, branded search terms, and a clear use case. Amazon listings need optimized backend keywords, rich media, and as many verified reviews as you can ethically gather. Behind the scenes, sync your site’s product schema with Google Merchant Center to support discoverability in both search and AI summaries.
E-commerce SEvO is about your product’s omnipresence, it should feel like it’s everywhere your buyer turns to look.
Local or B2C Services: Show Up to Build Trust
For service-based businesses: doctors, lawyers, home repair pros, therapists, visibility and trust are inseparable. Customers want confirmation that you’re nearby, credible, and recommended.
Start by treating your Google Business Profile like a storefront. Keep it updated with hours, services, photos, and a plethora of reviews. Add fresh content regularly and answer FAQs. From there, create short explainer videos that answer your most common customer questions. Post them on YouTube and Facebook. These not only build trust but also help you rank in localized search and video results.
Instagram and TikTok are increasingly where users check a brand’s legitimacy before calling. Maintain a consistent presence with real photos, behind-the-scenes content, and client highlights. Finally, support discoverability by using schema types like LocalBusiness, Review, and FAQ throughout your site. These help search engines and generative AI tools extract the exact information your potential customers are looking for.
What About Generative AI and G.E.O.?
G.E.O. (Generative Engine Optimization) is a rising focus within SEvO. It’s about structuring your content in ways that AI platforms can understand, summarize, and cite.
Q&A-style content tends to surface more reliably in generative search responses, which is why FAQs, glossaries, and clearly structured explanations are gaining renewed attention. AI models look for concise, authoritative answers framed in natural language, and well-formatted question-and-answer sections give them exactly that. If you want your content cited, start anticipating the kinds of queries users will ask and build structured answers around them.
Schema markup helps AI models connect meaningfully to your website, as does internal linking and clear page hierarchy. Harder to do, but worth attempting, is making your insights cite-worthy. AI often pulls from content that includes distinct, sourceable facts or examples.
What sets Search Everywhere Optimization apart from traditional multichannel marketing is its deliberate focus on how AI engines interpret and present content. Generative Engine Optimization (G.E.O.) has emerged as a critical specialization within this framework, aimed at helping brands appear in AI-generated responses. To improve your visibility in this environment, your content should be structured in a Q&A format whenever possible, as AI tools are more likely to surface clearly framed, question-driven material. Consistent use of schema markup is essential, since large language models rely heavily on structured data to understand context and hierarchy. Factual, cite-worthy statements also carry more weight. When your content contains authoritative insights, it’s more likely to be referenced in AI summaries. Finally, internal links must be logical and crawlable. Clean site architecture not only helps traditional SEO but also improves how your content is ingested and indexed by AI tools.
Tools That Can Help You Scale SEvO
A few trusted tools to consider:
Semrush / Ahrefs for SERP analysis, topic clustering, and keyword trends beyond Google
Screaming Frog for structured data and crawl audits
Yext / BrightLocal for multi-directory local optimization
Lately.ai / Metricool for repurposing content across social
ChatGPT / Perplexity for visibility checks and citation tracking
