What we measured ·
Study data: 12-month demand change for 39 SEO topics
Method: For 40 seed topics we pulled up to 150 related US keywords each from DataForSEO Labs keyword suggestions in October 2026, removed consumer queries such as browser settings, and compared total monthly volume in the latest three months with the same three months a year earlier.
Answer engine optimization keywords grew from about 4,800 to 16,300 monthly searches, up 237 percent, and generative engine optimization from about 13,800 to 21,100, up 53 percent.
SEO automation fell 55 percent, ChatGPT SEO 39 percent, LLM SEO 30 percent, and broad AI SEO terms 18 percent, as 2025 spikes for tool and humanizer queries faded.
Established technical topics grew steadily, including robots.txt up 41 percent, internal linking up 38 percent, and keyword cannibalization up 57 percent.
| Topic | Year earlier (monthly) | Latest (monthly) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answer engine optimization | 4,823 | 16,267 | +237% |
| Generative engine optimization | 13,790 | 21,113 | +53% |
| AI visibility | 15,957 | 27,057 | +70% |
| Programmatic SEO | 1,320 | 1,673 | +27% |
| LLM SEO | 4,063 | 2,833 | -30% |
| ChatGPT SEO | 4,087 | 2,490 | -39% |
| SEO automation | 12,167 | 5,487 | -55% |
The method
We chose 40 seed topics covering AI search, programmatic SEO, technical SEO, content, and platforms. For each, DataForSEO returned up to 150 related keywords with 12 months of US search volume, about 3,200 unique keywords in total. We excluded consumer queries such as how to turn off AI Overviews, then summed volume per topic for the latest three months and for the same three months a year earlier. Three-month windows smooth out single-month spikes.
AI search: AEO and GEO up, broad terms down
The clearest growth was in terms that name the new disciplines: answer engine optimization, generative engine optimization, and AI visibility. Broad terms such as AI SEO, ChatGPT SEO, and LLM SEO fell, largely because several high-volume 2025 queries, such as specific AI detector and humanizer searches and generic 'AI for SEO' searches, declined sharply. The vocabulary appears to be settling on AEO and GEO.
Technical and content topics
Several established topics grew.
| Topic | Change |
|---|---|
| Content refresh | +78% |
| Content gap | +76% |
| Keyword cannibalization | +57% |
| robots.txt | +41% |
| Topical authority | +40% |
| Internal linking | +38% |
| Schema markup | -5% |
| IndexNow | -52% |
Programmatic SEO and automation
Programmatic SEO keywords grew 27 percent, but from a small base of about 1,300 monthly searches; the earlier headline that 'programmatic seo tools' fell sharply reflected that single keyword, not the topic. SEO automation as a topic fell 55 percent. For SerionFlow, that is a direct signal: buyers search for outcomes and new disciplines more than for automation as such, so our pages lead with AEO, GEO, and indexing problems rather than automation.
How we used this data
We prioritised pages for growing topics with validated demand, deprioritised falling ones, and avoided building pages for spikes. Topic trends are one input; each page also had to pass checks for intent, difficulty, and overlap with existing pages.
Limitations
Keyword volumes are modelled estimates and differ between providers. Each topic is represented by its top related keywords, not every possible query. US only. Year-over-year comparisons can be affected by changes in how Google reports volumes. Treat the direction as more reliable than the exact percentage. SerionFlow is the wrong tool for keyword trend research on demand; a keyword tool shows monthly volumes directly.
Clear answers
Frequently asked questions
Is search interest in AEO growing?
+
Yes in our data: US demand for answer engine optimization keywords rose about 237 percent comparing the latest three months with the same months a year earlier.
Is programmatic SEO declining?
+
Not as a topic in our data, which grew 27 percent from a small base. Some individual keywords fell, and SEO automation as a topic fell 55 percent.
About the author
Shadrack Kumi · Founder, SerionFlow
Shadrack builds SerionFlow's site research, page generation, and Search Console tooling, and runs the free tools these guides pair with. Search Console figures cited on these pages come from serionflow.com's own property.
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