Your SEO strategy is optimized for a search engine that no longer exists.

Your SEO strategy is optimized for a search engine that no longer exists. | TechCrunch

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Your SEO strategy is optimized for a search engine that no longer exists.

Rebecca Bellan

Theresa Loconsolo

May 27, 2026

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Google I/O made it official: AI-generated answers are now front and center in search, and most brands have almost no visibility into how AI is describing them to their customers. For anyone who has spent years building a strategy around 10 blue links, the rules just changed in a pretty significant way.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan caught up with Matt Thompson, VP of partnerships at Scrunch, a startup positioning itself at the center of the AI search shift, to talk about what Google’s changes mean and what marketers and founders should actually do about it.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

Why AI referrals are converting at 400% higher than traditional organic search, and what that means for how to think about traffic.

How ChatGPT still has the lion’s share of AI search traffic, and why optimizing only for Google means missing most of the market.

Why Google’s own SEO best practices might be leading marketers in the wrong direction.

What it actually means to make your website “agent ready” and why most enterprise sites aren’t.

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Rebecca Bellan

Senior Reporter

Rebecca Bellan is a senior reporter at TechCrunch where she covers the business, policy, and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications. You can contact or verify outreach from Rebecca by emailing rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at rebeccabellan.491 on Signal.

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Theresa Loconsolo

Audio Producer

Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch focusing on Equity, the network’s flagship podcast. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of 2 producers at a four-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered live performances and interviews from guests like lovelytheband. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelors degree in Communication from Monmouth University. You can contact or verify outreach from Theresa by emailing theresa.loconsolo@techcrunch.com.

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Your SEO strategy is optimized for a search engine that no longer exists.

Your SEO strategy is optimized for a search engine that no longer exists. | TechCrunch

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