About the Author

Corey Morris

Corey Morris

President and CEO

Corey is the owner and President/CEO of VOLTAGE. He is also founder and author of The Digital Marketing Success Plan® and the START Planning Process. Corey has spent 20+ years working in strategic and leadership roles focused on growing national and local client brands with award-winning, ROI-generating digital strategies. He's the recipient of the KCDMA 2019 Marketer of the Year award and his team at VOLTAGE has won nearly 100 local, national, and global awards for ROI-focused client work in the past decade.

As 2026 begins, search teams face a familiar challenge in a new form. More automation. More AI-driven insights. More surfaces where visibility can occur.

But based on what surfaced in 2025, the biggest risk isn’t falling behind technologically. It’s losing the ability to explain what’s happening and why.

Here are the priorities that matter most heading into the new year.

Prioritize Integrated Visibility Over Channel Ownership

The distinction between SEO, paid search, AI-driven discovery, and brand visibility will continue to blur.

Articles like Integrated Search in an AI World and SEO vs. GEO vs. AEO vs. LLMO pointed to the same conclusion. Teams that cling to channel boundaries struggle to coordinate messaging, measurement, and performance.

In 2026, leaders should focus less on labels (and any buzzwords and trends) and more on how visibility works across the full ecosystem.

Build Measurement Systems That Explain Performance

Measurement came up repeatedly in 2025 because it continues to be a foundational and focal point in 2026.

Whether it is ROAS misapplication or incomplete analytics setups the underlying issue is the same. Teams can see performance change, but they struggle to explain it.

In 2026, analytics should be designed to answer questions, not just collect data. That includes tracking emerging traffic sources like LLMs.

Use AI to Accelerate Thinking, Not Replace It

AI will continue to speed up execution, but strategy remains a human responsibility.

We hit hard on this in The Key Component to Your SEO and AI Strategy: Patience and Are Keywords Still Relevant in SEO?

In 2026, the teams that win will be the ones that use AI to support prioritization and insight, not to shortcut decision-making.

Strengthen the Operations Behind Search

Search performance depends on execution quality, and execution depends on systems.

In The Tools Behind Great Partnerships we highlighted how often visibility issues stem from broken workflows, unclear ownership, or misaligned timelines.

For 2026, leaders should invest as much in process and coordination as they do in platforms.

Anchor Search Strategy to Business Outcomes

Finally, search efforts must stay connected to strategy.

This was a recurring emphasis in:

Visibility only matters when it supports business goals. In 2026, search leaders will need to reinforce that connection more clearly than ever.

Looking Ahead

The future of search and AI isn’t about chasing every new capability. It’s about maintaining clarity in an increasingly complex environment.

Teams that integrate channels, design smarter measurement, invest in operations, and anchor decisions in strategy will be better positioned to adapt.

In 2026, visibility matters. Understanding it will matter more.