The Riveting History of SEO: From the '90s to Today

For decades, digital marketers were all vying to create content optimized for SEO, an acronym for "search engine optimization," but how did this practice come about in the first place? Read on to learn all about the history of SEO, how it has evolved to join with AEO (or GEO), and where it's headed.

When did SEO begin?

The concept of SEO began before the inception of Google. According to (true!) legend, the rock band Jefferson Starship was at the center of SEO's birth in 1995.

Bob Heyman, who was working as a music lawyer for formerly famous rock bands at the time, recalls the moment that changed everything. "One of the formerly famous rock bands was Jefferson Starship, which at various times was called Jefferson Airplane and Starship," Heyman explains. "It was 1994, and they wanted a website because they were a sort of futuristic sci-fi oriented band who had actually popularized the word Starship and they wanted to be early adopters."

Heyman built them a website at the URL "jstarship.com" with plenty of sci-fi imagery and starfields. The band was proud of it and liked showing it off. But one night after a gig in Cleveland, they wanted to show it to their promoter and nobody in the band or their entourage could remember their own URL.

"They looked it up on Lycos along with Alta Vista, the search engines that were there back then," Heyman recalls. "They came up, not only on page 2, but the bottom of page 2, and they were ripping mad as only a rock band can get, because their point of view was they were 'the Jefferson Starship and anybody looking for Jefferson Starship was looking for them.' Why weren't they number one?"

The band deputized their road manager to call Heyman up and yell at him. "Clearly, we had done a terrible job building their website since it came up on the bottom of page 2 in search results," he says. "The only way I could get them off the phone was to promise to make them number one."

Several fan sites had been writing so passionately about "Jefferson Starship" that they surpassed the actual band's page on SERPs. The next day back at the office, Heyman's web builders looked at the websites that ranked ahead of them. They discovered that the criteria Lycos was using were how many times the keyword being searched for appeared on the home page of the website.

"My webmaster had the bright idea that we will put Jefferson Starship in tiny black type against one of these black starfields and run it 2 miles down the page so no one could read it except a search engine," Heyman remembers. Within a week, they were number one and the band was as happy as they had been mad.

Who invented the term SEO?

When the band asked what to call this great thing Heyman had done for them, he and his partner looked at each other and, without a better answer, said, "Well, we call it 'search engine optimization.'" The band told them they should do it for other people, and so they did.

This first optimization technique that worked became known as "keyword stuffing," though it wouldn't work for long. When search engines first noticed people were optimizing for their algorithms, they adapted. What initially boosted rankings—repeating keywords endlessly—soon triggered penalties instead of rewards.

As search engines evolved their algorithms, early SEO practitioners had to evolve too. By the mid to late '90s, the focus shifted from pure keyword repetition to a more sophisticated approach: combining inbound links, outbound links, and strategic (but not excessive) keyword placement on websites that functioned properly. Several tech pioneers began using these tactics to see significant results, and the cat-and-mouse game between SEO practitioners and search engines had officially begun.

When Heyman and his partner Leland Harden began explaining SEO to clients in 1997-1998, the pitch was straightforward. "We explained that we knew how to make them come up number one in these new things called Search Engines," Heyman says.

In 1997, the Webstep Marketing Agency was the first group to use the phrase "search engine optimization" in their marketing materials. Around 1998, Danny Sullivan, founder of Search Engine Watch, started popularizing the term and helping clients optimize their content to rank well in search engine results.

By 2003, the term "search engine optimization" appeared in Wikipedia for the first time, cementing its status within internet culture as an industry of consultants and analysts formed to help companies rise to the top of search engine results.

The failed attempt to copyright the term "SEO"

Although the SEO industry was coming into its own, many marketers were using black hat tactics or word stuffing to improve search performance. In 2007, Jason Gambert tried to own the trademark to the term "SEO." Gambert allegedly wanted to protect the integrity of search engine optimization and save the internet from companies preying on consumers.

Not surprisingly, other content marketers and SEO experts weren't too excited about this development, nor was the U.S. Patent Office, which denied the trademark by 2008.

SEO and the rise of Google

While SEO predates Google, the rise of this search engine juggernaut started by Larry Page and Sergey Brin has dominated SEO attention for nearly 20 years. So even though people refer to generic search engines, Google's the one that matters most in the history of SEO. Considering that Google accounts for almost 93% of search engine use, this dominance probably isn't going away any time soon.

One of the main reasons Google broke through the pack of Yahoo, AltaVista, Dog Pile, Infoseek, Ask Jeeves, and others is because it provided better search query results. It has invested heavily in training machines to perform data augmentation and constantly improve its process. As of 2026, it evaluates more than 200 factors when determining SEO rankings, a number that has grown over time.

How has SEO evolved?

Since Google has been the dominant force in the SEO industry for years, many key dates revolve around the Google Core updates. Looking at the history of search engine optimization through a Google lens is a logical way to track how conventional search has changed over the years and which criteria matter most.

Google has frequently introduced new algorithms to offer different features that improve the overall quality of results from searches. Matt Cutts, the head of webspam and search engineer at Google from 2001 until 2016, led many of these updates. Every algorithm update can bring agony or ecstasy to content marketers, as well as a shuffling of indexing of domains and determining what's actually "relevant content."

How have Google algorithms changed?

The history of SEO is full of changes to Google's algorithms, and they all work together to achieve the goal of providing more relevant content for the users. These updates tend to do one of three things: filter out spam and black hat tactics; prioritize fresh, relevant, local content; or provide relevant results for semantic searches.

This evolution shows how conventional search has become increasingly refined. You can also see how different algorithms build on past ones. However, keep in mind that Google upgrades and refines each new core update. So even though an algorithm might be over a decade old, it's still impacting search results today.  

How BERT/Gemini has changed the history of SEO

Google has updated BERT many times. Let's look at the timeline of how it has evolved.

December 2019: BERT expansion

Google announces that BERT is now being used across multiple languages beyond English. This expansion helps improve search result relevancy for a wider audience by understanding the context of queries in different languages.

January 2020: passage ranking

Google integrates BERT into its Passage Ranking system. This update, known as the “Passages” update, allows Google to understand and rank individual passages within a web page more effectively. This enhances the ability to retrieve relevant information from long documents based on specific query intent.

November 2021: improved language understanding

Google updates BERT to further refine its ability to handle nuanced language and complex queries. This includes improvements in understanding conversational queries and contextually rich language, enhancing the overall search experience.

March 2022: enhanced multilingual capabilities

BERT’s integration is further enhanced to support more languages and regional dialects. This update continues to refine how BERT understands and processes queries in different languages, improving search relevancy globally.

April 2023: integration with Google’s AI ecosystem

Google announced advancements in BERT’s integration with its broader AI ecosystem. This update enhances BERT’s performance on complex and conversational queries, benefiting from new AI technologies and techniques developed by Google.

May 2023: Google's search generative experience

Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) launches at its I/O conference, marking the beginning of AI-powered search results. SGE generates conversational AI summaries at the top of search results for selected queries, synthesizing information from multiple sources with citations. This fundamentally changes the search results page structure and raises new questions about traffic distribution, content visibility, and the future of traditional organic rankings.

You've probably noticed these AI-generated summaries, now called AI Overviews, appearing at the top of some search results. While Google has been vague about the exact technical architecture powering them, they represent a fundamental shift in how search results are displayed and consumed. They don't appear for every search. Google deploys them selectively for queries where information can be synthesized from multiple sources into a coherent answer.

September 2023: Helpful content system update

This update targets AI-generated spam and thin content at scale. Sites that don't highlight their firsthand experience and genuine expertise see dramatic traffic drops. This update is focused on Google's commitment to showing content that demonstrates real value and originality rather than content created solely for search rankings.

March 2024: Introduction of the perspectives filter

Google introduces the "perspectives" filter in search results, prioritizing content from forums, discussion boards, and individual creators. This feature reflects Google's push to surface authentic, experience-based content from real people rather than purely commercial or informational pages.

May 2024: Google API documentation leak

Thousands of internal Google documents leak, revealing detailed information about ranking factors and search quality evaluation. The leak provides unprecedented insight into how Google's algorithm actually works, confirming some long-held SEO theories while debunking others. Key revelations include the importance of click data, domain authority metrics, and author authority signals.

August 2024: Experience signals expansion

Google expands its E-E-A-T framework (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) with stronger emphasis on demonstrable experience. Those who publish content are increasingly expected to provide original research, case studies, and something new and different. Sites without clear author credentials and expertise markers see reduced visibility.

October 2024: Zero-Click search threshold

Industry research reveals that over 60% of Google searches now end without a click, driven by AI overviews, featured snippets, and knowledge panels. SEO strategies shift from pure traffic acquisition to brand visibility and positioning within AI-generated answers.

December 2024-present: algorithm volatility

Search results experience unusual volatility with multiple unconfirmed updates. Traditional SEO playbooks become less predictable as Google continues integrating AI systems and refining quality signals. The focus shifts from pure traffic acquisition to building genuine authority, creating unique value, and adapting to rapid changes in how search results are displayed and consumed.

Where are we now? A new era of SEO-AEO-GEO:

Whether you still call it SEO or have embraced one of the new monikers like AEO (answer engine optimization) or GEO (generative engine optimization), the rules haven't been rewritten entirely. Rather, the goals are shifting. Creating high-quality, authoritative content remains critical, but now you need to think beyond just ranking well.

As machine learning and artificial intelligence evolve, we'll see increasingly specialized search results that are based on relevance.

When you're researching and consider:

• Visibility over traffic. Your brand needs to appear in AI-generated answers, even if it doesn't drive immediate clicks.
• Building authority. Content that demonstrates genuine expertise and original insights is more likely to be cited and featured.
• Going deeper. Surface-level content that simply answers common questions may get absorbed into AI summaries. Unique perspectives, original research, and in-depth analysis are harder to replace.
• Diversifying presence. Don't rely solely on organic search traffic. Build direct relationships with your audience through email, social media, and other channels.

The irony is that while AI Overviews may reduce clicks to individual articles, Google still needs high-quality content to generate those summaries. The challenge is positioning your brand to benefit from this new reality rather than being displaced by it.

What are some basic tenants of SEO and AEO?

Let's look at some of the core elements of SEO/AEO when it comes to content and overall website optimization.

• Keyword research. Identify relevant keywords and phrases that users are searching for. This involves understanding search intent and selecting terms that match your content's topic. While there are lots of SEO tools out there to help you find keywords, this is Rellify's bread and butter. We use deep machine learning to find the right topics and keywords that will resonate well with audiences and search engines.
• On-page SEO. Optimize elements on your own site to improve visibility. Content, meta tags, canonical tags, URL structure, and internal linking are all part of on-page SEO.
• Off-page SEO. This involves external factors that influence your site’s authority and relevance, such as backlinks, social media presence, Google My Business, and online reputation.
• Technical SEO. Make sure that your website’s technical aspects support search engine crawling (robots.txt) and indexing. Optimize page speed, mobile-friendliness, and secure connections (HTTPS).
• User experience (UX). Enhance the overall experience for users, including site navigation, mobile responsiveness, and page load speed. It'll help reduce bounce rates.

This list isn't exhaustive, but it give you a basic idea of how to go about content creation in the context of SEO and AEO. Plenty of web analytics tools can give you insights and help you track every aspect of your SEO and AEO. With Rellify's expert agent, Rex, you can turn those analytics into clear AEO actions like:

• Pinpoint the questions and query intents your page is (and isn’t) answering
• Spot opportunities to win featured snippets/People Also Ask and improve your visibility in AI-driven results
• Get prioritized recommendations to update titles, headings, key passages, FAQs, and schema
• Compare your content to competing pages
• Find gaps in coverage and clarity
• Generate a focused refresh brief so every update is tied to measurable performance

How can I make sure my content remains optimized for SEO and AEO?

Google continues to refine its algorithms, usually offering major updates twice a year. It's pretty clear about some of the ranking factors and guidelines, like prioritizing articles according to E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.) But even if you're doing everything according to the latest guidelines, you might occasionally see an unexpected dip in your analytics.

If you notice your content seems to be losing traffic without any logical reason, don't panic! You might need to tweak a few things, but if your content:

• is well-written ...
• has sound technical SEO ...
• is based on extensive keyword research ...
• and answers the questions people are asking ...

then your organic traffic should return or even improve during the next update. For this reason, you've got to keep the long-term results in perspective. Sometimes you'll see quick wins, but annual performance is often more accurate than monthly metrics.

These algorithm fluctuations are one reason companies like Rellify are so important. With a  custom Relliverse™ from Rellify, you can employ AI-assisted machine learning to crawl and cluster industry-specific data to find what's already resonating with your target audience.

With Rex, Rellify's multi‑agent system, you can distill market and proprietary data into actionable strategies, briefs and content workflows—securely and at scale. Rex enables you to use your own data to create "smart cards," an interactive, purpose-built mini apps that put data in a visualized form that makes it easy for you to explore and manipulate.

Smart cards will tell you what's working and what's not, and then suggest the best steps to take to reach your goals.

Regardless of the next chapter of SEO (or AEO/GEO), with Rex, you can be confident your content marketing efforts deliver strong results. Be sure to reach out to a Rellify expert to learn more about how your business can get 10x the returns with 10x less effort with Rellify tools.

Special thanks to Bob Heyman for contributing his story. Be on the lookout for Bob Heyman and Vik Grant's upcoming book called GEO Is The New SEO. And for expert GEO services, check out Heyman's agency, Digital Engagement Group.