Most B2B SaaS companies still treat SEO as a Google-only game. Rank for the right keywords, drive traffic, convert. That playbook worked for a decade.
But the way buyers find and evaluate software has changed. They're not just searching on Google anymore. They're asking ChatGPT for recommendations. They're reading Reddit threads for unfiltered opinions. They're watching YouTube walkthroughs before booking demos. And AI Overviews are pulling results from all of these platforms into a single answer.
I recently talked to Jules Davies, founder of Scalerrs, about this on the VISIBLE podcast. His agency has restructured entirely around what he calls "Search Everywhere Optimization." Not just Google rankings. Google, Reddit, YouTube, and AI search engines treated as one connected strategy.
What caught my attention is how far his team has gone with Reddit. Scalerrs has dedicated Reddit writers, account warmers, and a full operational playbook for getting B2B brands mentioned authentically in relevant subreddits. This isn't someone posting links and hoping for the best. It's a production operation.
The counter-argument I hear often is that Reddit mentions are too short for LLMs to pick up on. If your own website has detailed, specific content, ChatGPT will pull from that instead. I've seen that happen with my own clients. But Jules made a point that stuck with me. Reddit builds a different type of signal. It creates third-party validation that your website alone can't provide. Both matter.
YouTube was another surprise. Jules shared that YouTube videos are now showing up inside AI Overviews for more specific queries. And it makes sense. When I search something narrow on Google, I'm already seeing YouTube results embedded directly in the SERP and inside AI-generated answers. Most B2B companies aren't producing video content, which means there's a real gap to fill.
But the part of the conversation I found most valuable was about brand consistency across platforms. When your product is being mentioned on Reddit, reviewed on G2, described in a listicle, and summarized by ChatGPT, those descriptions need to line up.
I call this entity clarity. If you're a field service management platform targeting SMBs, but a popular listicle labels you as "best for enterprises," that mismatch spreads. Every LLM that reads that page now associates your brand with the wrong audience. The fix is auditing how your brand is described on third-party sources and reaching out to get inaccuracies corrected. Most companies never do this.
Google also just published their first official guide to AI search optimization. Their position is clear. AEO and GEO are not separate disciplines. Their exact words: it's still SEO. They also said inauthentic mention-building doesn't work because their spam systems catch it. Interesting timing, given how many agencies are selling "AI mentions" as a standalone service.
The takeaway for me is simple. If your SEO strategy only accounts for Google, you're optimizing for one platform in a multi-platform buying process. Your buyers are on Reddit, YouTube, ChatGPT, and Perplexity. Your brand needs to show up accurately and consistently across all of them.
That doesn't mean you need to be everywhere tomorrow. Pick two platforms where your buyers spend time and go deep. But treating Google as the only surface worth investing in is a strategy that's already falling behind.