Importance of SEO for businesses: why showing up on Google is still key

When someone in Chile needs a product, a service or an answer, they will most likely start on Google: the search engine handles 90.23% of searches in the country, according to StatCounter with September 2026 data. That is the basis of the importance of SEO for businesses: if your business doesn't show up when people look for it, the customer still buys, just from someone else.

90.23%

Searches in Chile made on Google

September 2026

27.6%

Clicks on the first organic result

average

54.4%

Clicks on the top three

average

Source: StatCounter, September 2026; Backlinko, 4 million results

View the data as a table

Searches in Chile made on Google	90.23% | September 2026
Clicks on the first organic result	27.6% | average
Clicks on the top three	54.4% | average

The importance of SEO for businesses, in three reasons

1. Clicks are concentrated at the top. The first organic result gets an average of 27.6% of clicks and the top three get 54.4%, according to a Backlinko analysis of 4 million results. Only 0.63% of people click on the second page. Being in position 11 is almost like not being there.

2. Organic traffic doesn't switch off when you stop paying. An ad stops bringing visits the day the budget runs out. A well-ranked page can keep attracting customers for months. SEO isn't free, because it takes time and work, but what you build adds up.

3. It reaches people at the moment they search. Someone typing "accountant for small businesses in Valparaíso" already has the need. SEO doesn't interrupt: it answers.

More than traffic: trust and sales

Ranking well also signals credibility. And it's not just the blue link: with structured data, a result can show prices, stars or FAQs. Google publishes cases where that changed the numbers: Rotten Tomatoes measured a 25% higher CTR on pages with structured data and Nestlé an 82% higher CTR on its rich results, according to its introduction to structured data.

For an online store, that translates directly into sales. We saw it in our analysis with the SEO Checker on 11 online stores in Chile: even big brands have basic errors that cost them clicks.

SEO also makes you visible in AI

The importance of SEO for businesses has grown with artificial intelligence, not the other way around. Google makes clear that there are no additional requirements to appear in its AI answers (AI Overviews and AI Mode): the page must be indexed and meet the usual basics, according to its guide on AI features. We explain it in detail in SEO and AI: why they go hand in hand.

How to start if your company has never done SEO

1. Set up Google Search Console to see which searches you appear in today.
2. Check your main pages with the SEO Checker, free and with no sign-up: within seconds it shows whether titles, descriptions, H1s or alt texts are missing.
3. Fix the basics following the SEO best practices Google recommends.
4. Create content that answers your customers: the questions they ask you on WhatsApp or in the store are good page ideas.
5. Measure every month and be patient: Google warns in its SEO guide that some changes take months to show.