The rise of AI-powered search summaries is causing a significant debate among digital publishers and SEO professionals. A long-standing strategy of creating “evergreen content” — articles on topics with lasting relevance — is now being questioned, as AI can provide direct answers to users, potentially eliminating the need to click through to websites.
A prominent figure in the SEO community, Tim Soulo of Ahrefs, has suggested that this shift may render evergreen content obsolete. He argues that publishers might find more success by focusing on trending topics, a strategy he calls “Fast SEO,” which is less susceptible to AI summarization.
Key Takeaways
- AI search summaries directly answer user queries, reducing traffic clicks for traditional evergreen articles.
- Some industry experts propose shifting focus to “Fast SEO,” which targets new and trending topics that AI is less likely to summarize.
- Technical challenges like “Query Fan-Out” further complicate SEO by redirecting clicks to sites that answer follow-up questions.
- Despite these challenges, evergreen content may retain value through user trust and the demand for in-depth, authoritative guides.
- A hybrid approach, combining both evergreen and trending content, is emerging as a potential strategy for publishers to adapt.
The Foundation of Evergreen Content Is Shaking
For years, evergreen content has been a cornerstone of digital publishing. Topics like “how to change a tire” or “how to set up a new website” consistently draw traffic because the information rarely changes. The promise was simple: invest in creating a high-quality resource, and it will deliver a steady stream of visitors over a long period with minimal updates.
This established model is now facing disruption. AI-driven features in search engines, such as Google's AI Overviews, are designed to synthesize information from multiple sources and present a concise summary at the top of the results page. For many basic, fact-based queries that evergreen content typically targets, this AI-generated answer may be sufficient for the user.
What is Evergreen Content?
Evergreen content refers to search-optimized material that remains relevant and useful to readers for a long time. Unlike news articles that have a short lifespan, evergreen topics are timeless. Examples include tutorials, foundational guides, and answers to frequently asked questions.
The core issue is the potential loss of clicks. If a user gets their answer directly from the search results page, they have no reason to visit the publisher's website. This undermines the entire economic model that supported the creation of that content in the first place.
A Proposed Shift to "Fast SEO"
In response to this changing environment, Ahrefs' Tim Soulo has sparked a conversation about the viability of evergreen content. He suggested that the era of such content is ending and that publishers should pivot to a more dynamic strategy.
“The era of ‘evergreen SEO content’ is over. We’re entering the era of ‘fast SEO.’ There’s little point in writing yet another ‘Ultimate Guide To ___.’ Most evergreen topics have already been covered to death and turned into common knowledge.”
Soulo’s concept of “Fast SEO” prioritizes spotting and covering new trends, industry shifts, and cultural moments. These topics are often too new or nuanced for an AI to have a well-established base of information to summarize. The goal is to capture short-lived but high-intent traffic opportunities before they become saturated.
This approach mirrors a traditional newsroom model, where the focus is on timeliness and being first to cover a developing story. According to this view, trending topics are where the real opportunity now lies for publishers to attract visitors from search engines.
New Technical Hurdles Complicate Strategy
The challenge from AI summaries is compounded by other technical factors within modern search algorithms. One of the most significant is a phenomenon known as “Query Fan-Out.”
Understanding Query Fan-Out
Query Fan-Out occurs when a search engine's AI not only answers the user's initial question but also anticipates and displays answers to potential follow-up questions. This means even if your website is cited for the primary answer, the click might go to a different website that is cited for one of the secondary, follow-up queries.
This completely changes the dynamics of targeting keywords. A publisher might rank for the main, high-traffic query but lose the click to a competitor who answers a related, more specific question. This makes it increasingly difficult to predict traffic and ROI from content creation.
Other barriers to success with evergreen content have also grown:
- Content Saturation: The internet is flooded with guides on almost every conceivable topic, making it extremely difficult to create something truly unique.
- Multiple Formats: Users now consume information through text, video, and audio, requiring publishers to compete across different media.
- Focus on User Signals: Search algorithms increasingly rely on user behavior signals (like time on page and bounce rate) to determine quality, which is harder to optimize for than traditional signals like backlinks.
The Argument for Enduring Value
Despite the significant challenges, not everyone agrees that evergreen content is dead. There is a strong counter-argument that foundational, in-depth content still holds immense value for users who want more than a brief AI summary.
Many users prefer the stability and authority of a comprehensive guide from a trusted source. An AI summary might explain the steps to tie a bowtie, but a detailed article with high-quality images, a video, and tips for different types of knots offers a richer, more reliable experience.
A well-crafted evergreen resource can become the definitive source on a topic, earning trust and recommendations over time. This generates powerful user signals that reinforce its authority in the eyes of search engines. In contrast, trend-driven content often provides a sharp but brief traffic spike before quickly becoming irrelevant.
Finding a Path Forward: The Hybrid Approach
The debate between evergreen content and trending topics does not have to be a binary choice. Many experts suggest that the most resilient strategy is a hybrid model that incorporates both.
Evergreen and trending content can complement each other. For example:
- Fresh Content Boosts Evergreen: A new article about a trending industry development can link back to a foundational, evergreen guide, driving new traffic to the older asset.
- Evergreen Provides Context: An evergreen article can be updated with links to recent news or trend analysis, keeping it fresh and providing deeper context for readers.
Ultimately, the role of evergreen content is evolving. It may no longer be the simple, passive traffic generator it once was. Creating successful evergreen content now requires deeper planning, exceptional quality, and an ongoing marketing effort. While AI search poses a real threat to clicks, the demand for trusted, comprehensive information remains. The publishers who can successfully meet that demand will continue to find an audience.