May 27th marked one year since the explosive leak of internal Google algorithm documentation, a data breach that sent ripples through the SEO, digital marketing, and publishing industries. Now, with Google’s recent announcements at I/O 2025 confirming many of the leak’s most contested revelations, industry experts say the search landscape has fundamentally changed.

One of the first professionals to decode and share insights from the leak was Michael King, founder and CEO of digital marketing agency iPullRank. A thought leader in technical SEO and the emerging field of Relevance Engineering, King has spent the last year helping enterprise brands and publishers adjust to the shifting terrain.

Here are some of the key takeaways he says businesses, and especially online publishers, should keep in mind:

The Leak Wasn’t Speculation. It Was Confirmation

The leak revealed over 14,000 features tied to how Google stores, analyzes, and surfaces content. Contrary to years of public statements, the documentation showed that Google does factor in click data, Chrome browsing behavior, and domain-level authority in its ranking systems.

Since then, these findings have been reinforced through antitrust trial disclosures and, most recently, Google’s own product roadmap at I/O, particularly the introduction of AI Mode, signaling a move toward a fully AI-native search experience.

AI Mode Is the Future. But It Raises Big Questions

Google’s AI Mode goes beyond snippets and summaries. It represents a shift toward agent-style, hyper-personalized search, in which the engine dynamically interprets user intent, preferences, and context to serve tailored results. This is made possible by vast inputs of user data, including click behavior, search history, and Gmail content.

While the feature promises efficiency, it raises new concerns around privacy, transparency, and user trust, areas businesses should monitor closely.

Publishers Must Rethink Their Approach to Search

AI Overviews are contributing to a noticeable drop in organic clicks, disrupting referral traffic for many content publishers. With advertising models that don’t yet compensate for high-value impressions without clicks, the current monetization gap remains a challenge.

In response, publishers should treat brand visibility, particularly through non-branded impressions, as a key performance indicator. As Google increasingly prioritizes brand strength in its ranking systems, businesses that focus on brand recognition and trust are more likely to maintain visibility in this new environment.

Traditional SEO Tactics Are Becoming Obsolete

The leak and subsequent developments confirm what many already suspected: checklist SEO is insufficient. Google's ranking models increasingly rely on contextual relevance, not just keywords and backlinks, but who created the content, how trustworthy it is, and how it fits into the broader web ecosystem.

King’s solution is Relevance Engineering: a more advanced, AI-era methodology that blends technical SEO, content strategy, information retrieval science, and machine learning to build deeper semantic relevance and long-term search visibility.

Brand Strength Now Drives Visibility

Google’s systems treat brand recognition as a substitute for user trust. Users tend to click on what they already know, and Google’s models learn from that behavior, creating a feedback loop that rewards strong brands with better rankings.

For digital-first businesses, that makes brand equity more than just a marketing goal. It’s now central to search visibility and customer acquisition.

New Tools and Roles will Emerge

The SEO software stack that many businesses rely on has not kept pace. Much of the industry still operates using outdated models that don’t reflect how Google now evaluates content.

King expects a coming wave of innovation: a demand for new roles like content architects and relevance engineers, people who understand the technology and can build for AI-native search. This is the next phase of SEO, and companies that don’t adapt will fall behind.

As Google search continues its evolution into a personalized, AI-driven experience, the past year has made one thing clear: businesses and publishers must evolve with it. Whether that means rethinking how content is created, how discoverability is measured, or how trust is earned, this shift marks the end of SEO as we’ve known it, and the beginning of something far more complex and powerful.