What changed in search results
For many informational questions, Google and Yandex show a short summary above the links. The reader gets a quick answer and may never open a site. That is why "what is…" articles bring fewer visits than they used to. Pages where someone can choose and order, such as service pages, terms and examples of work, matter more. You cannot book a renovation crew or a delivery inside a summary, so the customer still has to visit a website.
The results page has also become busier: maps, videos, question blocks, product cards. Plain links sit lower, so you compete not only with a web page but with a map profile, a video and your reviews.
Mass-produced content no longer works
Generating a hundred articles is easy now, which is exactly why search engines look for signs of real experience: original photos, examples of work, data, authors with clear credentials. A text that retells the top ten results adds nothing and loses.
Picture a dental clinic in Tashkent. A generic piece on how to choose a clinic will lose to a page where the doctor explains the course of treatment, shows real cases with patient consent and breaks down what the price consists of. Everyone can publish the first page. Only you can publish the second.
Brand, mentions and maps
More people now look for a company by name after meeting it on Instagram or Telegram. Recognition, reviews and mentions in media and directories help ordinary rankings and also the chance of being used as a source in AI answers. Today SEO sits closer to reputation work than to keyword picking.
For local services in Tashkent and the regions, Google, Yandex and 2GIS maps are often more important than the website. A complete profile, current opening hours, fresh reviews and replies from the owner are the minimum, and without them you lose customers who are ready to come today.
What stayed the same
The foundation works as before, and it is the easiest part to forget while chasing new terms.
- A crawler must be able to find and index the page
- The page must answer the query better than competitors do
- The site must load quickly on a phone, including on mobile internet outside the capital
- Structure and internal links show what matters most on the site
- Bought links and artificial behaviour signals still lead to penalties
The Uzbekistan context
Search here is bilingual and split across two engines: part of the audience uses Google, part uses Yandex, and queries come in Russian as well as Uzbek. In most niches strong Uzbek-language pages are still rare, so competing for those queries is usually easier. The condition is that the text is written for people rather than run through machine translation.
Telegram is the second point. Many companies lead the customer from search straight into a messenger. If a Telegram click and a phone call are not set up as goals in analytics, the contribution of SEO looks smaller than it is. The third is trust: customers compare companies through map reviews, photos of work and answers to their questions. Clear prices or terms, payment options such as Click and Payme, an address and contacts help both the visitor and a search engine trying to pick a reliable source.
How to plan SEO work now
A sensible order for 2026 looks like this.
- Check the technical base and analytics setup
- Rebuild the keyword set: which queries are now closed by an answer in the results and which still lead to a site
- Strengthen commercial pages: terms, examples, reviews, contacts
- Add what others lack: your own experience, photos, worked-through cases
- Work on mentions and map profiles
- Measure more than clicks: enquiries, Telegram clicks, calls and branded demand
What to avoid
Do not abandon SEO because of AI answers: when people are ready to choose and buy, they still go to a site. Do not publish dozens of unedited pages or create a separate page for every spelling of a query. And do not judge the work by rankings alone. Impressions may grow while clicks fall, which is fine if enquiries hold steady.
If you want to understand where your own site should start, the markdev team can review it as part of SEO optimisation in Uzbekistan and discuss the task with your niche and audience in mind.
FAQ
Has AI killed SEO?
No. Informational queries bring fewer clicks, but commercial and local ones still lead to websites, because a service cannot be ordered inside a summary answer. The emphasis shifts; the need for a site that is found and trusted remains.
Should I optimise for Uzbek as well as Russian?
In most niches, yes. Strong Uzbek-language pages are still scarce and competition is lighter. The text should read naturally, not like an automatic translation.
How do I know SEO works if clicks have dropped?
Look at the whole chain: impressions, clicks, on-site behaviour, enquiries. Count calls and Telegram clicks too. If enquiries are stable or growing, a fall in informational clicks is not alarming.
Is a map listing enough without a website?
For some local services a listing brings many customers, but a website carries prices, examples of work and trust, and is needed for ads and analytics. They work best together.
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