Search has changed, but most companies are still playing by old rules.
For years, SEO meant one thing: rank pages on Google, collect backlinks, and wait for traffic. That model still works, but only partially. Buyers no longer just “search.” They ask questions. They compare tools. They rely on AI systems like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot to guide decisions before they ever click a link.
That shift is invisible to most teams. And that is exactly why we built this interactive game.
SEO vs AI SEO is a browser-based game designed to make the difference between traditional SEO and AI-driven discovery impossible to ignore. Instead of reading another article or framework, you experience what happens when a brand relies only on classic SEO tactics versus when it actively controls how it appears inside AI systems.
This is not entertainment for entertainment’s sake. It is a visual model of how modern discovery works.
Why We Built This Game
Most founders and marketing teams intellectually understand that “AI search is coming.” Very few understand what that actually means in practice.
AI systems do not rank pages the way Google does. They synthesize answers. They choose which brands to mention. They decide which tools to recommend. And they often do this without sending traffic back to your site.
If your brand is not consistently cited, mentioned, and understood as an entity, it becomes invisible at the exact moment buyers are making decisions.
This game was built to demonstrate that reality in a way no slide deck can.
How the Game Works
The game is structured as a side-scrolling platformer with two distinct worlds.
In the SEO world, you collect backlinks, brand mentions, and traffic signals while avoiding familiar threats like algorithm updates and spam. Progress is steady, but fragile. Visibility increases slowly and drops quickly when something goes wrong.
In the AI SEO world, the rules change. You are no longer rewarded primarily for links. Instead, you collect citations, entity signals, and contextual mentions while avoiding hallucinations, misquotations, and incomplete brand understanding.
Your success is measured by a single metric throughout the game: visibility.
When visibility drops to zero, your run ends. Not because your site is down, but because you are no longer being surfaced when buyers search, ask, or compare.
That is exactly how AI-driven discovery works in real life.
What This Game Teaches You About Modern Search
The core lesson of this game is simple but uncomfortable.
Traditional SEO optimizes pages.
AI SEO optimizes understanding.
In AI systems, it is not enough to rank. You must be referenced correctly. You must appear in third-party content. You must be associated with the right problems, categories, and comparisons. And you must be consistently described the same way across the web.
The game makes this tangible by showing how quickly visibility compounds when citations and entity signals are collected, and how fast it decays when AI systems “get you wrong.”
Most teams never see this happening. By the time pipeline drops, it is already too late.
Where Derivate X Fits In
Inside the game, you will notice special boosts tied to Derivate X. That is not branding for branding’s sake.
Derivate X exists to do in real life what the game shows visually.
We help growth-stage SaaS companies control how their brand appears when buyers:
- search on Google
- ask questions inside AI tools
- compare vendors using AI-generated summaries
That work goes beyond content and backlinks. It includes building citation-worthy narratives, creating third-party proof, strengthening entity associations, and actively monitoring how AI systems talk about your brand.
The game is a simplified model. The outcomes are not.
Who This Game Is For
This tool is built for:
- SaaS founders who want to understand why AI traffic is rising while organic clicks stagnate
- Marketing leaders who sense a shift but lack a clear mental model
- SEO professionals who want to move ahead of the curve instead of reacting late
- Anyone responsible for demand generation in an AI-first buyer journey
If you are still measuring success only by rankings and traffic, this game will challenge that worldview.
Try the Game
Play the game. Beat your score. Share it with your team.
Then ask a harder question:
If AI systems described your brand today, would they get it right?
If the answer is unclear, that is the problem Derivate X was built to solve.
