John Mueller of Google said that sometimes doing SEO can cause sites more problems with search and search rankings. Sometimes not doing SEO, might be better, John implies.
John said this on Bluesky in response to a post about doing SEO and its benefits. John replied:
Though sometimes "doing SEO" will cause a site more problems than not doing anything at all.
Here is a screenshot:
I assume he means things that push the envelope that can end up hurting you with SEO, that may go against Google's guidelines.
Forum discussion at Bluesky.