Search is changing. Fast. And not just because of AI Overviews or LLMS’ answers. We’re witnessing a shift in how people make meaning online. Queries have stopped being simple keywords: they’re now liquid, personal, and shaped by context, history, and culture.
To understand this shift, we can borrow tools from a surprising place: semiotics, the study of signs and meaning.
Think Umberto Eco meets user intent.
There is an always returning complaint whenever big updates or changes in the SERPs shake the visibility of thousands of websites: Google always favours the big brands. What is certain, for example, is that continuing to create content for a blog that is then indistinguishable from a thousand others by doing a “read-only” test is not the solution to getting this type of visibility: We must remember that all our content must not only respond to a search intent but also, once the click and visit from Search have been obtained, respond positively to the beneficial purpose, which the user expects to satisfy by visiting our page.
