SEO Expert Warns of Legal Implications as AI Answer Agents Transform Search Optimization

The Jason McDonald Consulting Agency announced a new blog post by Dr. Jason McDonald titled "What Is SEO? Why Does It Matter in Court?" The post explains how search engine optimization works and why it increasingly appears in litigation between companies, including trademark cases. Dr. McDonald noted that SEO must now explain how AI answer agents such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini create answers for consumers, with an uptick in inquiries over possible litigation involving AIO (Answer Agent Optimization).

The new blog post explains that SEO, which used to focus primarily on Google, is evolving into what some now call AIO (Answer Agent Optimization). The emerging trend involves optimizing not only for search engines but for newer answer agents like ChatGPT or Google Gemini, as consumers increasingly use these tools instead of traditional search engines. The post investigates how and why companies need to address this change in SEO and can be viewed at https://jasonmcdonald.org/blog/2025/10/what-is-seo-why-does-it-matter-in-court/.

Search engines now compete with AI overviews, summaries, and "People Also Ask" answers, with people using tools like ChatGPT rather than Google or Google's own AI agent, Gemini. Answer agents decide which information to display and how it should be summarized, increasingly recommending which company to deal with and which product or service to buy. They are becoming personal assistants that help consumers make purchasing decisions, meaning SEO now involves optimizing for both Google search results and AI-driven answers.

Dr. Jason McDonald, whose website is https://jasonmcdonald.org/, is actively researching this industry change. His forthcoming 2026 book on SEO explains how the industry can adapt to answer agents, AI summaries, and machine-generated responses, detailing how content, structure, and trust signals affect visibility in the new world of artificial intelligence. SEO is no longer just about blue links but about being chosen by AI to be part of the answer.

Despite new technology, SEO can still create legal risk, as Dr. McDonald has experienced through his work as an expert witness in search engine optimization. Companies pursue litigation over brand names, copied content, and misleading marketing claims, with SEO data showing intent and harm, which is why it often appears in trademark, advertising, and unfair competition cases. Dr. McDonald also offers SEO expert witness services, detailed at https://jasonmcdonald.org/seo-consultant/seo-expert-witness/, to help lawyers, judges, and juries understand SEO complexities.