The answer to this question is a resounding YES! At least, for now… It might be the case that future changes to how we search the web and how search engines discover websites could make on-page SEO a thing of the past, but the chances of this happening anytime soon are slim. People still use search engines and visit websites, and search engines like Google still need to crawl, index and order webpages in order to provide the best results to searchers. On-page optimization plays a key role on both fronts (user & search engine) and will likely continue to do so for the immediate future. In fact, it may become even more important as AI starts basing its answers on content available on the web!