How my time in digital PR taught me where automotive SEO is heading next

Joe Slinn, account manager at automotive PR agency Red Marlin, shares his thoughts on how he sees the future of automotive SEO.

When I worked in digital PR five years ago, success in automotive SEO still often relied on old age tactics: chasing backlinks, peppering keywords across landing pages, and hoping Google would take the bait. 

Back then, I remember obsessively tracking backlinks like a weather app before a holiday, refreshing coverage alerts like Saturday’s football scores, and colour coding outreach spreadsheets until they glowed. 

Turn the pages to 2025, and the SEO playbook reads very different from just five years ago. Some of the tactics I used then would barely work now, and certainly won’t work five years from now. The pace of change in consumer behaviour, search technology and AI means PR and marketing professionals simply can’t afford to stand still. 

So, what does the SEO look like in 2025, and what should we focus on to stay ahead? 

Being the answer, not just an option 

Back in 2020, my main focus in SEO was simple. Get clients on page one of Google.  

While this is still a crucial battleground, AI-powered search means the real goal is shifting to being cited in the answers themselves. Whether it’s Google’s AI Overviews, Bing’s Copilot or ChatGPT, the way people consume information is changing fast. Indeed, 83% of internet users already report using AI over traditional search. 

That raises the stakes. Where we once fought for space among ten blue links, AI might now only credit one or two of the best voices. Being just one option in the crowd will soon not be enough. It will be about being the authoritative answer that stands alone. 

And this is where PR really proves its worth. AI systems, like Google’s early algorithms (but much more sophisticated), are constantly scanning for signs of credibility. And there’s no stronger signal than a namecheck in trusted outlets through PR and media relations. Think of it as a digital stamp of approval, and one that AI can recognise and keep coming back to. 

When being a guest just isn’t enough 

Five years ago, guest posting was one of the most common SEO tactics. I would write articles for third party websites with the simple goal of including a backlink to the client’s site.  

I even remember writing an article about golf clubs for a leisure client that somehow landed on a blog halfway across the world on a site about model trains, of all things! It gave us the backlink, but did it offer authority? Yes, but only in the short term. 

The logic was straightforward: the more places you could get content published, the more backlinks you earned – and the higher your own site could climb. 

In 2025 that approach no longer delivers results. Google and AI can instantly detect low quality or irrelevant placements, and algorithms reward credibility instead of raw volume. What matters now is authority and alignment – placing content on trusted, topic specific platforms that reinforce expertise. 

When executed effectively, guest contributions today are about thought leadership. A bylined article in a respected publication is the kind of signal that readers and AI systems alike will recognise and reuse. 

It’s no longer a word game 

In 2020, SEO was dominated by text heavy blogs and landing pages. Success was often seen as a word game – choose the right keywords, position them carefully, and you’d climb the rankings. 

In time this outlook will feel increasingly outdated. Yes, search and AI systems still prioritise written content. But they also scan video transcripts, analyse imagery, and pull from podcasts and interactive formats. This shift will only accelerate as more people consume TikTok and YouTube.  

Indeed, Ofcom reports that YouTube is now the second mostwatched media service in the UK, behind only the BBC. Meanwhile, TikTok’s staggering 2 billion users worldwide means it reaches around 90% of internet users. (And in typical fashion, I stumbled across that stat on TikTok itself!). 

This means a brand’s stories can’t just live in words. Multimedia is becoming more important from an SEO perspective, ensuring expertise and credibility come through no matter how, or where, the audience is searching. 

Looking ahead for automotive SEO

The rate of change in just five years has been remarkable. Tactics that once delivered quick wins now feel outdated, replaced by strategies built on credibility, authority and multimedia. A lot can happen in five years in any industry – but especially in digital PR, where technology, platforms and consumer habits never stand still. 

For PR professionals, the lesson is clear. Staying on top of these changes isn’t optional. We need to keep adapting, tailoring our approaches to how people search for, consume and trust information. 

By 2030, AI may only give people a single answer. And if you want mine? It’s simple… authority will beat everything else. 

For more information about Red Marlin and our automotive SEO services, and our approach to automotive digital marketing, you can get in touch on our contact page.