Search.com, a new generative AI platform with ambitions to upend traditional search, just dropped a bold proclamation: keywords are dead. In its first white paper, The Keyword is Dying – Long Live Intent, the company argues that keyword-driven SEO and social feeds no longer define how people find information. Instead, intent-based generative AI tools, interfaces, and agents have become the new Internet front door.

The End of Keywords?

The argument isn’t just academic. Search.com points to behavioral shifts: 42% of users now phrase queries as conversational questions, not keyword strings. That’s a staggering shift for an industry that, for two decades, has lived and died on keyword density and link-building.

Melissa Anderson, President of Search.com, frames it bluntly: “Intent-based AI isn’t the future, it’s happening now. The platforms that adapt to this will shape the next phase of the Internet.”

Big Growth, Bigger Signal

Since its June launch, Search.com claims 90% organic growth, projecting an eye-popping 1,200% annual compounded growth. That’s not a quirky niche spike — it signals what may be a structural reset in how discovery and navigation work online.

The broader implication: If keywords are indeed losing their grip, businesses that still optimize solely for traditional SEO could find themselves invisible in the new landscape.

A Different Take on AI Search

Unlike some AI search platforms that scrape the open web, Search.com is partnering directly with publishers, pulling in content only with permission, and compensating fairly. In return, publishers gain AI tools to modernize how audiences interact with their content. Several major media and content providers are already adopting Search.com’s tech to replace keyword-driven search on their own platforms.

Why It Matters

For marketers and publishers, the white paper is less of a prediction and more of a warning shot: intent is the new currency. If consumer discovery shifts to conversational AI agents, strategies built on keyword rankings and feed optimization may no longer deliver.

And while it’s too early to declare the obituary of SEO, Search.com’s rise suggests the industry’s future will look less like chasing keywords — and more like designing for intent.

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