How Publishers Can Survive (and Thrive) in the Age of AI Search | Lily Ray

Jun 10· The Search Session

Welcome back to The Search Session. I’m your host, Gianluca Fiorelli, and today I’m joined by Lily Ray, Vice President, SEO Strategy & Research at Amsive.

We’ll talk about how publishers can adapt as AI Overviews, AI Mode, and LLMs reshape search behavior—and why the future of SEO is brand-first, not website-first.

Surviving Google’s AI Overviews & AI Mode: Strategies for Independent Publishers

Gianluca Fiorelli: So let’s talk about the publishing world—something you know very well. Unfortunately, it seems that for many reasons, some of which go far beyond SEO itself, Google is fully committed to pushing AI into search.
What do you think publishers can do—especially smaller, independent publishers—to survive in this new reality, where traffic is sinking, impressions are up, but the business model they’ve relied on no longer seems to work?

Lily Ray: Yeah, I think that’s the big question—it’s the number one thing publishers ask me all the time. I’ve spoken at a few recent events where most of the audience worked in publishing, and everyone there had the same concern.
As it stands, I don’t think there’s a clear answer for how to keep driving the same amount of organic traffic that you’ve always relied on—especially from Google and other search engines. I’m not sure that’s the future we’re heading toward.
But I do think there are a lot of creative ways to continue building organic visibility—both within Google and across other platforms.

How Publishers Can Leverage Google’s Move Toward Hyper-Personalisation

Gianluca Fiorelli: And one thing I’ve been thinking about—and I’d love your opinion on this—is that we know Google will probably start pushing the personalization of the SERPs into a hyper-personalization.
So maybe the strategy now should be to win the attention of a potential reader. To make them engage with your site enough that you become part of their browsing history—so that Google starts pushing your content more, precisely because of that engagement.

Lily Ray: That's a great point. I think one thing to consider—and this is a really nice tie-in to how Google Discover has worked over the past couple of years—is the importance of pushing users to actually follow certain brands, people, or topics they care about.

SERPs as Billboards and Zero-Click Marketing

Gianluca Fiorelli:...creating a compelling, visual presence directly in the SERP—does that feel like a valid path forward?

Lily Ray: I think that’s kind of a different version of what SEOs have been doing this whole time, right?
What we’ve always wanted is—when search engines show our products, services, content, or website—we want to make it as appealing as possible.
So, you know, we’re entering a world now where we might not see the same volume of clicks we did before.

The Challenge of Reporting AI Search Success

Gianluca Fiorelli:...how are you thinking about reporting the success of a strategy in this new landscape?

Lily Ray: Yes, we can only work within the constraints of what Google is giving us—or not giving us.
So, you know, when it comes to reporting from Google, at least everyone is in the same position—we’re all working with the same limitations around what we can and can’t report on.

Impact of LLMs in the Publishing Niche

Gianluca Fiorelli: Now, shifting focus a bit, I’m curious—what kind of impact are you seeing in the publishing space, specifically, from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and the broader LLM ecosystem?

Lily Ray: It's definitely cutting into traffic.
I don't think that's too surprising. There are lots of companies coming out and saying they're seeing declines in organic traffic because people are getting more of their questions answered directly by large language models or by Google's own products.

Adapting E-E-A-T Concepts and Framework to AI Search

Gianluca Fiorelli:...E-E-A-T really becomes a representation of what your broader content and brand strategy should be. Would you agree with that?

Lily Ray:
I used to talk a lot more about E-E-A-T.
I think that part’s kind of clear.
But I do think that a lot of other changes have happened at Google in the meantime.

Fighting Spam and the Ethics of SEO

Gianluca Fiorelli:...what can we do with all these things?

Lily Ray: Well, I like to think, and I’m really trying to be honest with this statement, that the two sides of me—the user and the SEO—are actually the same person.

Lilly's Encouragement for SEOs Facing Burnout and Declining Traffic

Gianluca Fiorelli:...what would you say to all our peers in the industry who are on the verge of a nervous breakdown right now because of AI Overviews, the drop in traffic, all of it?

Lily Ray:...But at the same time, we can’t just stay stuck in this cycle of lamenting lost traffic forever.
So, what would you say to SEOs who need to take a breath, regroup, and figure out how to respond and move forward in this new landscape?

The Cross-Channel Future of SEO

Gianluca Fiorelli:...So, what is the role of SEO in supporting these other channels—and just as importantly, how can these channels support SEO?

Lily Ray:...It’s very much a cross-channel conversation now, more than ever before.

Quick-Fire Personal Questions

Gianluca Fiorelli:...let’s dig in a little more. Quick-fire questions, quick answers—are you in?

Lily Ray: Sounds good.

Gianluca Fiorelli: What’s one place you’ve always wanted to visit but haven’t yet?

Lily Ray: The top place on my list for a long time has been Japan—and I’m really excited because I’ll finally be going there in October!