If you’ve been anywhere near digital marketing over the last 20 years, you’ve probably noticed one thing: SEO keeps getting renamed.

We’ve had SEO, then SEM. Then content-led SEO. Then inbound. Then organic growth. More recently, we’ve been introduced to AEO, GEO, SXO, E-E-A-T-led optimisation, and an ever-expanding list of three-letter acronyms that all claim to be the next evolution of search.

And yet, for UK businesses trying to grow through search, the outcome has never really changed. You want the right people to find you, trust what they see, and take action.

Here is our straight-talking history of SEO: where it came from, why it keeps getting new names, what all those acronyms actually mean, and why, at Hatch, we still call it SEO. Not because we’re behind the times, but because we understand everything it has grown to include.

The Birth of SEO: Why It Existed at All (Late 1990s)

SEO emerged in the mid-to-late 1990s alongside early search engines such as AltaVista, Yahoo and Lycos. These platforms faced a fundamental challenge: as the web expanded, they needed a way to understand what pages were about and decide which ones deserved to appear first.

When Google launched in 1998, it introduced PageRank, an algorithm that evaluated links as a signal of authority and trust. For the first time, search results were ranked not just by keywords, but by perceived relevance and credibility. SEO, as a discipline, was born from this need to help search engines interpret content.

Early SEO theory was simple and, by today’s standards, deeply flawed. If keywords and links influenced rankings, then more keywords and more links must be better. The market was sold a very narrow version of SEO: rankings above all else. It delivered quick wins and cheap traffic, but at the cost of poor content, weak user experience and widespread manipulation.

Google responded with early algorithm updates such as Florida (2003) and Jagger (2005), which made it clear that SEO could not remain a loophole-driven game. Even then, the underlying purpose of SEO remained unchanged: help search engines return the best possible result for a user’s query.

SEM: When SEO Was Repackaged for Commercial Scale (Early–Mid 2000s)

As Google Ads (then AdWords) gained traction in the early 2000s, the industry introduced Search Engine Marketing (SEM). SEM was positioned as a broader commercial umbrella, combining paid search and organic search into a single visibility strategy.

The theory was sensible. Businesses could dominate search results by combining immediate paid visibility with longer-term organic growth. The market was sold on integration, speed and scale.

In practice, SEM created long-term confusion. Over time, the term became shorthand for paid search only, while SEO was quietly sidelined or treated as a slower, secondary activity. The pros were clear: fast traffic and predictable spend. The cons were less obvious at the time, SEO lost strategic ownership and was often misunderstood as something separate from real business growth.

Crucially, SEO itself did not change during this period. It still required technical optimisation, content quality and authority building. SEM didn’t replace SEO; it simply sat alongside it. This misunderstanding still surfaces today, which is why at Hatch we treat SEO as a core discipline within a wider digital marketing strategy, not an optional add-on.

Content Marketing & Inbound: SEO Learns to Behave (2010–2015)

By the early 2010s, SEO had a credibility problem. Years of keyword stuffing, link farms and thin content forced Google to intervene aggressively. Panda (2011) targeted low-quality content, while Penguin (2012) penalised manipulative link practices. Together, they fundamentally reshaped search.

In response, content marketing and inbound marketing gained prominence. These approaches reframed SEO around usefulness, storytelling and long-term value rather than technical tricks. The market was sold trust, authority and sustainability, and rightly so.

The pros were significant. Content quality improved, brands became more credible, and SEO strategies became more aligned with real customer needs. The cons were largely semantic. SEO hadn’t gone anywhere, but many businesses stopped calling it SEO altogether, as if the name itself were the problem.

In reality, content marketing wasn’t a replacement for SEO. It was SEO responding to better algorithms. Google had simply become better at rewarding what it always wanted: genuinely helpful content created for users, not search engines.

AEO: When Search Became About Answers (Mid–Late 2010s)

As user behaviour evolved, search queries became longer and more conversational. Instead of typing “best accountant London”, people began asking full questions. Featured snippets, “People Also Ask” results and voice search reinforced the idea that Google was becoming an answer engine.

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) emerged alongside algorithm updates such as Hummingbird (2013) and BERT (2019), which significantly improved Google’s ability to understand natural language and intent. The theory behind AEO was simple: structure content clearly enough that search engines could extract direct answers.

The market was sold visibility in snippets and voice results. The benefits were real, clearer content, better structure and stronger alignment with user intent. The downside was the suggestion that AEO was something fundamentally new.

It wasn’t. Google had always been trying to answer questions. AEO was SEO adapting to improved language processing. Well-structured, intent-driven content had always been good SEO; the algorithm was simply catching up.

E-E-A-T: Trust Becomes Explicit (2018–Present)

Google formalised E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness) in its Search Quality Rater Guidelines in 2018, later expanding it to E-E-A-T by adding Experience in 2022. This framework became particularly important for “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) topics, including finance, health and business advice.

The theory was that content should not only be accurate, but demonstrably credible and created by people with genuine experience. The market was sold reassurance and safety in an increasingly crowded and noisy digital landscape.

The pros were obvious: a stronger emphasis on quality, legitimacy and accountability. The cons were confusion. E-E-A-T is not a direct ranking factor, it is a quality lens used to evaluate whether content deserves to rank (Google Search Central, 2024).

SEO had always been about trust. Links, brand mentions and reputation were early proxies for authority. E-E-A-T didn’t change SEO’s purpose; it gave long-standing principles a formal name.

GEO: SEO Meets Generative Search (2023–Present)

With the rise of AI-driven search experiences such as Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) entered the conversation. GEO focuses on how brands appear within AI-generated summaries rather than traditional blue-link rankings.

The theory is that content must be clear, factual and trustworthy enough to be cited by generative systems. The market is being sold future-proofing, reassurance that businesses won’t be left behind as search evolves.

The pros are genuine. GEO reinforces the importance of clarity, authority and accuracy. The cons are familiar. GEO is often positioned as a new discipline, when in reality it relies entirely on existing SEO foundations.

AI models draw from the same signals search engines always have: content quality, trust, consistency and relevance. If your SEO is weak, GEO will not rescue it.

“What you call it doesn’t matter, but ‘AI’ is not going away, but thinking about how your site’s value works in a world where ‘AI’ is available is worth the time,” - John Mueller, Google Head of Search

Why SEO Keeps Getting New Names

SEO keeps acquiring new names for three reasons. First, the industry wants distance from its own past. Second, technology evolves faster than language. Third, marketing loves novelty.

It’s the digital equivalent of Jif becoming Cif, Marathon becoming Snickers, or Opal Fruits becoming Starburst. Same product. Different wrapper. Brief confusion. Life goes on.

What SEO Actually Is Now and Why Hatch Still Calls It SEO

SEO is broader, deeper and more commercially aligned than ever. It encompasses technical performance, content quality, user experience, trust, local relevance, compliance and AI visibility.

For UK businesses, it also intersects with GDPR, accessibility and transparency, all of which influence trust and engagement (ICO guidance). It is not simpler, but it can be clearer.

At Hatch, we understand every acronym. We account for AEO, GEO, SXO, E-E-A-T and the realities of AI-led search within every strategy we build.

We just don’t believe in hiding behind jargon.

We call it SEO because that is what it is: the practice of making your business visible, credible and competitive in search. Our SEO services are built on transparency, education and long-term value, supported by a customer-service-led approach that prioritises clarity over complexity.

Same discipline. Better execution. Fewer buzzwords. Because sometimes, the simplest name is still the right one.

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