Take a few minutes and set aside thoughts of the impact of Search Generative Experience (SGE), AKA AI Overview, on the Google SERPs—and your brand's engagement metrics.

(It won't hurt, I promise.)

While AI and the US government's antitrust case against the search giant have hogged the Google-related headlines, another trend—an arguably more impactful one—has presented search marketing and SEOs with a big growth opportunity.

That trend? Building and optimizing an organic content strategy on platforms other than Google.

In this article I'll talk about why that's a smart play for brands, I'll list a few steps for brands to take to get traction, and I'll explain the various ways Google itself has been not-so-subtly leading SEOs in that direction.

Why Optimize Your Organic Strategy Off of Google

In paid or organic marketing, channel diversification is a good thing—not least as a hedge against seismic single-channel developments like AI Overviews.

That has always been true, but it's especially true now, considering the types of content preferred by today's users: authoritative, personal, and authentic. In other words, the kind of content that thrives on channels like TikTok, Reddit, and Quora.

There are real, Google-centric benefits to focusing on those channels (and relevant industry-specific forums) that I'll touch on in a minute. But setting Google aside, building a brand on Reddit and Quora (for B2B) or TikTok (for B2C) is a great option for helping brands build deeper personal connections with their users.

Those platforms are built around the idea of community-building, which means brands can tap into more than just individual clicks on a SERP if they approach users with respect and authenticity (and not clumsy corporate agendas).

Approached effectively, community-building will help brands get third parties (employees, advocates, and customers) to do the promotions on their behalf, which is a powerful combination of building awareness and delivering social proof.

How to Build Organic Momentum Away From Google

First, find your communities. Quora and Reddit make doing that relatively easy with their topics/subreddits that can achieve remarkable granularity. TikTok is best approached by considering relevant topics that will help you find and engage net-new users (for instance, if you're a swimwear brand, Vegas vacations would be a great crossover).

Second, employ UGC. Particularly for TikTok, but also relevant for B2B platforms, UGC is a less corporate, more authentic form of content that today's users find more appealing than messaging written from the perspective of an organization.

Third, don't try to sell or manipulate. That might work on Google (or at least it might get you a click before the user bounces), but other communities sniff out salesy behavior immediately. Any engagement a salesy brand gets might just be in the form of blowback.