But here’s the uncomfortable truth: AI doesn’t care about any of that. Not the way Google’s traditional algorithm did.

AI search systems (Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and others) are reading your website right now, breaking it into tiny chunks, and deciding whether your content is worth citing in their answers. Most of the time? It isn’t. Not because your content is bad, but because it was built for a different era.

The good news: you don’t need to start from scratch. You need to reform what you already have. And I’m going to show you exactly how.

The Shift You Need to Understand First

I wrote recently about how AI search results are created using a process called “query fan-out.” Instead of matching your page to a single keyword, AI breaks a user’s question into dozens of sub-queries, searches multiple sources simultaneously, and synthesizes one comprehensive answer.

Think about what that means for your content. In the old world, you needed a page that ranked for a keyword. In the new world, you need content that provides clear, extractable answers to the specific sub-questions AI is asking behind the scenes.

Here’s the critical distinction: AI isn’t ranking your pages. It’s citing them. And the difference between getting ranked and getting cited is the difference between showing up on a list and being quoted as an authority.

Why Your Current Content Probably Isn’t Getting Cited

Let me walk you through the most common problems I see when auditing client sites. You’ll probably recognize a few of these.

1. Your content answers broadly instead of specifically.

If your page title is “Everything You Need to Know About Kitchen Renovations,” AI has a problem. It doesn’t need everything. It needs the answer to “What’s the average cost of replacing kitchen countertops in 2026?” or “How long does a kitchen renovation typically take?” Your everything-page tries to cover it all but answers nothing precisely enough for AI to extract and cite.

2. Your expertise is buried.

You’ve got 20 years of experience, real client stories, and hard-won insights. But they’re hidden in paragraph seven of a 2,000-word blog post. AI systems are looking for content where expertise is front and center, not buried under filler. As I discussed in The Superpower Paradox, human expertise and real-world examples are becoming your greatest differentiators in a world flooded with AI-generated sameness.

3. Your structure was built for scanners, not extractors.

You formatted your content for human readers who scan (good!), but AI needs something more specific. It needs clear hierarchical structure where each section stands on its own as a citable answer. Your H2 says “Our Services,” but AI needs it to say “What Does a Full-Service SEO Audit Include?” See the difference?

4. You’re still writing to hit word counts instead of answering questions.

Thin “SEO content” written to target long-tail keywords but offering no real substance? AI filters that out fast. These systems evaluate semantic similarity and vector distance (fancy terms for “how closely does this actually answer the question?”), and padding doesn’t fool them.

The Reform Playbook: Seven Steps to AI-Citable Content

Alright, let’s get practical. Here’s the process I use with clients, and it works whether you have 50 pages or 5,000.

Step 1: Audit Your Existing Content With New Eyes

Before you change anything, you need to understand what you’re working with. Go through your top-performing pages (find them in Google Analytics cross-referenced with Google Search Console) and ask three questions about each one:

1. What specific question does this page answer?

2. Could AI extract a clear, standalone answer from any section of this page?

3. Does this page demonstrate real expertise, or could anyone (or any AI) have written it?

If you can’t answer questions one and two clearly, the page needs reform. If the answer to question three is “anyone could have written it,” that’s your biggest problem.

I talked about this “interview” concept in Google Is Interviewing Your Website Right Now. Google evaluates whether it can KNOW you, LIKE your content, and TRUST you. AI search takes this even further. It’s not just interviewing your website; it’s deciding whether to quote you in its answer. That’s a much higher bar.

Step 2: Restructure Around Questions, Not Keywords

This is the single biggest change you can make, and honestly, it’s the one I see the fewest sites doing well.

Take each page and rewrite your H2 and H3 headings as the actual questions your audience is asking. Not marketing-speak. Not clever wordplay. Clear, specific questions.

Before: “Our Approach to Link Building” After: “How Does Strategic Link Building Improve Search Rankings?”

Before: “Why Choose Us” After: “What Should You Look for in an SEO Consultant?”

Why does this work? Because AI search starts with a question, breaks it into sub-questions, and then goes looking for content that directly answers those sub-questions. If your heading is the question, you just made AI’s job a whole lot easier.

Then, directly under each question heading, provide a concise answer in 40 to 60 words. Think of it as the “answer block.” Follow that with your deeper explanation, examples, and evidence. This structure gives AI the extractable snippet it needs while still giving human readers the depth they want.

Step 3: Make Your Expertise Extractable

Here’s where most businesses drop the ball, and where you have an enormous opportunity.

AI systems are built on a concept called Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). In plain terms: before generating an answer, AI retrieves relevant pages and uses them as evidence. Pages that present clear facts, specific data, and verifiable expertise are far more likely to be selected as that evidence.

So stop hiding your credentials. Weave them into the content itself:

• Instead of “We recommend regular site audits,” write “In our experience auditing over 500 websites since 1997, the most common issue we find is...”

• Instead of “Site speed matters,” write “A recent client saw their bounce rate drop 23% after we reduced their page load time from 4.2 seconds to 1.8 seconds.”

• Instead of generic advice, share the specific tools you use, the exact steps you take, and the real results you’ve achieved.

This aligns directly with what I outlined in The Evolving Role of an SEO in the AI Era: documenting your expertise isn’t just good for credibility anymore. It’s how you get cited.

Step 4: Go Beyond Schema Markup (Because AI Doesn’t Read It the Way Google Does)

This is where I need to challenge some conventional wisdom, including advice I’ve given in the past.

Yes, you should have Schema.org markup on your pages. Article schema, FAQ schema, HowTo schema, Author schema, Organization schema with consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) information. That’s table stakes. Tools like Yoast or Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper make implementation straightforward even if you’re not a developer.

But here’s what most people don’t realize: Schema markup alone barely moves the needle for AI citation.

Recent research from WordLift (a tool we use for many clients at StepForth) studied this across four different industries and found something that should change how you think about structured data. When they added standard Schema.org JSON-LD to pages, the improvement in AI answer accuracy was marginal. Almost negligible.

Why? Because traditional search engines like Google and Bing have dedicated pipelines that extract JSON-LD from your code and store it separately. They’re built to read it. AI systems work completely differently. They ingest your entire page as one continuous stream of text, convert it into mathematical vectors (called embeddings), and work within limited context windows. Your carefully crafted JSON-LD? It gets truncated, diluted, or flat-out ignored because it’s competing for space with everything else on the page.

So what actually works?

The WordLift research found that when pages were redesigned as structured “entity hubs” (where the knowledge graph is brought to the visible surface of the page, not hidden in code), AI answer accuracy jumped by up to 34%. That’s not a marginal improvement. That’s a fundamentally different result.

What does an entity hub look like in practice? Think of it as making your invisible structured data visible and navigable:

• Surface your attributes in natural language. Instead of only declaring “founder” in JSON-LD, write it on the page: “Founded by [Name] in [Year], [Company] specializes in...” Make the relationships human-readable.

• Expose connections through explicit internal links. If your service page references a methodology, link to a dedicated page explaining that methodology. If you mention a case study, link to the full case study. Create a navigable web of interconnected knowledge that AI can traverse.

• Provide clear signposts. Use descriptive anchor text, clear section labels, and logical page hierarchy so an AI system (or an AI agent acting on a user’s behalf) can understand where it is and how to find related information.

• Translate “invisible” data into visible context. Every important relationship in your knowledge graph should exist both in your code AND in your on-page content. If it’s only in the code, AI is likely missing it.

The WordLift team calls this concept an “AI memory layer,” and it aligns with something I’ve been saying for years: structure matters. But the kind of structure that matters has shifted. It’s no longer enough to structure your data for machines behind the scenes. You need to structure your content for AI systems that read the page itself.

This is a significant finding, and it’s one reason we implement and manage WordLift for clients who want to take their entity optimization seriously. Building proper entity hubs at scale is exactly the kind of thing that benefits from dedicated tooling.

The bottom line: implement your Schema.org markup (it still matters for traditional search and rich results), but don’t stop there. The real AI citation advantage comes from making your knowledge graph visible, connected, and navigable on the page itself.

Step 5: Build “Answer Blocks” Into Every Key Page

This is a proven technique.

An “answer block” is a concise, self-contained paragraph (40 to 60 words) placed directly after a question-formatted heading that provides a complete, factual answer. Think of it as writing the answer you’d want AI to quote.

Example:

H2: How Long Does SEO Take to Show Results?

Most businesses begin seeing measurable improvements in organic traffic within 4 to 6 months of implementing a comprehensive SEO strategy. However, competitive industries may require 8 to 12 months. The timeline depends on your site’s current authority, the competitiveness of your target keywords, and the quality of your existing content.

That’s 53 words. It’s specific. It’s factual. It’s citable. And it’s followed by 300 or more words of deeper explanation, client examples, and nuance that demonstrate your expertise.

The beauty of this approach is that it works for humans, too. Nobody is annoyed by getting a clear answer upfront. They’ll keep reading for the details because you’ve earned their trust.

Step 6: Enrich With Multimedia (Yes, This Matters for AI Too)

If you read my piece on how to add AI-generated multimedia to your content, you know I’m a big believer in enriching text with charts, infographics, and video. But here’s why it matters specifically for AI citation.

Multimedia signals depth. Pages with supporting charts, comparison tables, and embedded video are evaluated as more comprehensive. When AI systems are choosing between two pages that answer the same question, the one with richer content gets the nod.

A few quick wins:

• Turn key statistics into simple charts (ChatGPT can generate these for you in seconds)

• Create comparison tables for any content that involves evaluating options

• Add a short video summary at the top of your most important pages (NotebookLM makes this remarkably easy)

• Use infographic summaries for complex processes

This doesn’t need to take hours. Ten minutes with the right tools (I walk through exactly how in the article linked above) and your page goes from a wall of text to a multimedia resource that AI and humans both prefer.

Step 7: Refresh, Don’t Abandon

Here’s something the “start fresh” crowd won’t tell you: your existing content has value that new content doesn’t. It has age, backlinks, existing rankings, and (ideally) real traffic. Throwing that away is like demolishing a house because you want to update the kitchen.

Instead, reform it:

• Update statistics and references to reflect current data

• Add your answer blocks under restructured question-headings

• Weave in recent client examples and personal expertise

• Implement structured data markup and entity optimization

• Add multimedia where it strengthens the content

AI freshness matters. Studies show that AI systems use recency as a “hard filter,” meaning outdated content is less likely to be retrieved at all. A page that was last updated in 2022 with statistics from 2020 is essentially invisible to AI citation systems, no matter how many backlinks it has.

Set a calendar reminder: review your top 20 pages every quarter. Update data, add new examples, refresh your answer blocks. This ongoing maintenance is what separates sites that get cited from sites that get ignored.

The Content AI Loves (And the Content It Ignores)

Let me give you a quick cheat sheet based on what I’ve seen working (and not working) across dozens of client sites.

AI cites content that:

• Answers specific questions directly and concisely

• Demonstrates real expertise with concrete examples and data

• Uses clear hierarchical structure (question-headings, answer blocks, supporting detail)

• Gets referenced and validated by third-party sources

• Stays current and freshly updated

• Takes a neutral, informative tone (educational over promotional)

AI ignores content that:

• Covers topics broadly without depth on any single question

• Reads like it could have been written by anyone (or any AI)

• Buries key information under marketing fluff

• Hasn’t been updated in over a year

• Is overly promotional or sales-focused

• Lacks supporting evidence, data, or real-world examples

Notice a theme? AI is essentially asking the same question your best customers ask: “Does this person actually know what they’re talking about, and can I trust what they’re telling me?”

If you’ve read my piece on why Google has lost its way, you know I have concerns about where the search giant is headed. But here’s the irony: AI search systems, including Google’s own AI Overviews, are actually better at rewarding genuine expertise than the traditional algorithm ever was. Gaming the system with thin content and link schemes is getting harder, not easier. And that’s a good thing for businesses that do real work.

(Video note: NotebookLM let me down a bit with the following video… it is having problems with text overlap and contrast, but it’s still a bit better than nothing)

Your 30-Day Reform Plan

Don’t try to reform your entire site at once. That’s a recipe for burnout and half-finished work. Instead:

Week 1: Audit and Prioritize
Identify your top 10 pages by traffic and conversion value. Run each one through the three-question audit from Step 1. Rank them by how much reform they need.

Week 2: Restructure Your Top 3 Pages
Rewrite headings as questions. Add answer blocks. Weave in expertise and specific examples. Implement FAQ or Article schema. Contact me about Wordlift if you are interested in better AI results (ask about our special rates).

Week 3: Enrich and Update
Add multimedia to your reformed pages. Update any outdated statistics or references. Add recent client examples where relevant.

Week 4: Measure and Expand
Check your Google Search Console for any changes in impressions or click patterns. Use a tool like Semrush to monitor AI overview appearances. Pick your next three pages and repeat.

Then keep going. This isn’t a one-time project. It’s a new way of maintaining your content.

The Bottom Line

Your content isn’t broken. It was built for a world that’s shifting under our feet. The businesses that thrive in AI search won’t be the ones that produce the most content. They’ll be the ones that reform their existing content to be clear, authoritative, extractable, and unmistakably human.

AI has handed everyone the same superpower; when everyone’s super, no one is. But here’s the thing: reforming your content with genuine expertise, real examples, and clear structure isn’t something AI can do for you. That takes the one thing no algorithm can replicate: your actual knowledge and experience.

The question isn’t whether AI will cite your content. It’s whether your content is worth citing.

Let’s make sure the answer is yes.

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That’s genuinely great. I mean it.

But here’s what I’ve seen after nearly three decades in this industry: knowing the basics and winning with them are two very different things. And in 2026, the basics alone won’t get you where you need to be.

As I wrote in a previous article, The Superpower Paradox: Why AI Means Working Harder on What Really Ranks, AI has handed everyone the same superpower. When every competitor has access to the same AI tools, using them isn’t an advantage anymore. It’s table stakes. The real opportunity is in what you do beyond the basics, and that’s where things get interesting (and, admittedly, more complex).

The DIY Trap: When “Good Enough” Isn’t

Let me be clear: I’m not here to scare you away from doing SEO yourself. If AI helps you get the essentials right, that’s a win. What concerns me is what I see regularly in my consulting work: business owners who used AI to handle their SEO, got the fundamentals mostly right, but missed the strategic layers that actually move the needle. Worse, some implemented AI suggestions incorrectly without realizing it, and didn’t catch the problem until their traffic had already dropped.

The tricky part? Even when AI gives you the right advice, the implementation still matters enormously. A 301 redirect is simple in concept. Implementing a redirect strategy across hundreds of pages without creating loops, chains, or orphaned content? That’s where experience earns its keep.

So think of this article as an honest look at what lies beyond the basics. These are four tactics (among many) that can meaningfully improve your visibility in both traditional and AI-powered search. Some of them you can start on your own. Others will show you exactly why this work has layers that AI alone can’t navigate.

1. Entity Optimization: Teaching AI Search Engines Who You Are

Most SEO guidance (including what AI will give you) focuses on keywords: what terms to target, where to put them, how often to use them. That’s important, but it misses a fundamental shift in how search engines (and AI systems) actually understand the web now.

Modern search engines don’t just match keywords. They build an understanding of entities, which are the people, businesses, places, and concepts that exist in the real world. Google has been doing this for years with its Knowledge Graph. AI search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews take it even further, pulling together information from multiple sources to build a picture of who you are and what you’re known for.

Here’s why this matters for your business: if search engines can’t clearly identify your business as a distinct entity with specific expertise, you’re invisible in this new landscape. And if the information about you across the web is inconsistent, you’re actively confusing the systems that decide whether to recommend you.

What to focus on:

• Structured data markup (sometimes called schema markup): This is code you add to your website that explicitly tells search engines what your business is, what you do, and how to categorize you. Organization schema, LocalBusiness schema, Person schema for key team members. Ask AI to help you generate the code, but make sure someone who understands the nuances reviews the implementation.
  Tip: You can even take it to the next level (we do for many clients at StepForth) to create a knowledge graph from your own website that you can hand to Google and AI.

• Consistent identity across the web: Your business name, address, phone number, and description should be identical everywhere. Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, industry directories, your website. Inconsistencies confuse entity recognition.

• Google Knowledge Panel: If you don’t have one, work toward earning it. If you do, make sure it’s accurate. This is essentially Google’s public statement of who you are as an entity. If you’d like to earn yourself a Google Knowledge Panel (a powerful benefit in AI results), contact me, I can direct you to obtain what is needed and then help you secure it.

The catch? AI tools can help you generate schema markup, but they won’t audit your entity presence across the web, identify inconsistencies, or build a strategy for strengthening your entity signals over time. That takes a systematic approach and experienced eyes.

2. Strategic Internal Linking Architecture (Not Just “Add More Links”)

If you ask AI for internal linking advice, you’ll get something like: “Link related pages together using descriptive anchor text.” That’s correct. It’s also like telling someone learning to cook that they should “combine ingredients and apply heat.”

Strategic internal linking is one of the most powerful (and most misunderstood) SEO tactics available. Done well, it tells search engines which pages are your most important, how your content topics relate to each other, and where your deepest expertise lives. Done poorly (or not at all), you end up with orphan pages that nobody finds, content that competes against itself (called keyword cannibalization), and authority that’s spread so thin it doesn’t help anything rank.

I’ll be honest: this is an area where I’ve invested significant effort developing a comprehensive process for my clients. It involves analyzing a business’s various customer personas, evaluating existing rankings, auditing all website content for overlap and cannibalization, and then building a topical SEO strategy that provides clear, prioritized guidance for implementation. I’ll be writing about this process in more detail in an upcoming article, but I can tell you this: I tried to have AI handle this process on its own, and it couldn’t come close. The analysis requires judgment calls, contextual understanding, and strategic thinking that current AI simply doesn’t have.

What you can start doing now:

• Identify your core topics: What are the 5 to 10 subjects your business should be known for? Each one should have a comprehensive “hub” page with supporting content linking back to it.

• Check for cannibalization: Search your own site (use “site:yourdomain.com keyword” in Google) and see if multiple pages compete for the same terms. If they do, evaluate their reason for existing individually; if they don’t have a good reason, that’s a problem AI likely won’t flag for you.

• Audit your orphan pages: Pages with no internal links pointing to them are essentially hidden from search engines. Your site likely has more of these than you think.

This tactic is a perfect example of something that sounds straightforward but has enormous depth. The more content your site has, the more complex (and more valuable) a proper internal linking architecture becomes.

3. Earning Citations in AI Training and Retrieval Sources

Here’s a question most businesses aren’t asking yet: Where do AI search tools get their information about your industry?

When someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google’s AI Overview a question your business should be answering, those systems pull from sources they trust. If your business (or your content) isn’t referenced in those sources, you’re not part of the conversation. Period.

This is the modern evolution of link building, but with an added dimension. Traditional link building focused on earning links to improve your PageRank (a measure of your site’s authority in Google’s eyes). AI citation building focuses on getting your business, your expertise, and your content mentioned in the places AI systems actually reference when generating answers.

Sources that AI systems tend to trust:

• Well-established industry publications and trade journals

• Reputable, well-maintained directories specific to your field

• High-authority blogs and media outlets

• Wikipedia and its references (if relevant to your field)

• Government and educational (.gov, .edu) resources that mention your business

• Professional association sites

What you can do:

• Write guest articles for respected publications in your industry, not with a sales pitch, but with genuine insights from your experience

• Make sure your business is listed in the directories that matter for your specific field (not generic, low-quality directories)

• Contribute expert quotes to journalists (services like Help a Reporter Out, or HARO, can facilitate this)

• If your business has original data or research, publish it. AI systems love citing primary sources

The challenge here is that this isn’t a one-time task. Building the kind of presence that AI systems reference requires sustained effort and a genuine reputation in your space. There’s no shortcut, and AI tools certainly can’t build this reputation for you.

4. Reverse-Engineering AI Search Results for Your Niche

This is my favourite tactic to share because it’s something you can start doing today, and it will immediately change how you think about your SEO strategy.

Here’s the exercise: Open ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google (with AI Overviews enabled). Type in the questions your customers actually ask before they buy from you. Not your keywords. The real questions. “What should I look for in a [your product/service]?” or “How do I choose between [option A] and [option B]?” or “Is [common concern in your industry] something I should worry about?”

Now study the results carefully:

• Who gets cited? Are your competitors showing up? Are industry publications you could contribute to showing up? Are you showing up?

• What format do the answers take? Do AI systems prefer listicles, step-by-step guides, comparison tables, or narrative explanations for your type of queries?

• What content patterns emerge? What topics keep appearing that you haven’t covered on your site?

• What’s missing? Where are the AI answers incomplete, generic, or just plain wrong? Those gaps are your opportunity.

This kind of competitive intelligence is incredibly valuable, and it’s something most businesses (including many that hire SEO agencies) aren’t doing yet. It shows you exactly what AI systems consider authoritative in your space, and reveals where your content needs to improve.

A practical starting point: Create a spreadsheet. List 20 questions your customers commonly ask. Run them through ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google. Track who gets cited, what format the answers use, and where your business is absent. That spreadsheet becomes a roadmap for your content strategy.

The thing is, doing this exercise once is useful. Doing it systematically over time, tracking changes, identifying trends, and adjusting your strategy accordingly? That’s where the real competitive advantage lives.

There’s More to This Story

These four tactics are a starting point, not the full picture. There are additional strategies (from technical optimizations like crawl budget management and log file analysis, to advanced content approaches like programmatic content and multi-format publishing) that can further separate your business from competitors. I may cover more of these in future articles, but you are always welcome to post your questions in the comments or book a free strategy call with me on StepForth.com.

But here’s the honest takeaway: the gap between “AI-assisted SEO basics” and “comprehensive, competitive SEO strategy” is wider than most people realize. That gap isn’t something to be afraid of. It’s something to be aware of, so you can make informed decisions about where to invest your time and resources.

Where Do You Go From Here?

If you’ve read this and feel confident tackling some of these tactics yourself, go for it. Start with Tactic 4 (reverse-engineering AI search results) because it costs nothing, takes about an hour, and will give you a clear picture of where you stand.

If you’ve read this and feel like there’s more complexity here than you want to navigate alone, that’s a perfectly reasonable conclusion too. This is what we do every day at StepForth Web Marketing. Whether you want strategic consulting to point you in the right direction or a team to handle the full scope of work, we’d love to hear from you. Sometimes a single conversation can save months of trial and error.

Either way, the worst thing you can do is assume AI has SEO handled. It’s a powerful starting point. But starting points, by definition, aren’t where the journey ends.

If your site has started appearing in Google’s AI Overviews, you have probably seen a pattern like this in Google Search Console:

• Impressions are climbing

• Clicks are flat or dropping

• Click-through rate (CTR) looks worse than it used to

On the surface, this feels wrong. You have finally been pulled into the shiny AI box at the top of the search results, visibility jumps, and yet users read the AI answer and move on without visiting your site.

So you start wondering:

• How do I increase clicks along with impressions?

• Should I optimize titles and descriptions specifically for AI Overviews?

• Should I structure content to “hold back” part of the answer so users have to click for the full story?

Here is the uncomfortable truth: some of those clicks are gone. Users really are getting more from the search results page itself.

But that is not the whole story.

We can acknowledge the loss of some clicks and still recognize that being cited in AI Overviews is a major positive signal for your site. You do not win this game by trying to claw back every last click. You win by treating every AI citation as a vote of confidence and using that momentum to grow your overall footprint.

Let’s unpack how to think about this.

1. What AI Overviews Are Actually Telling You

When your content is selected as a source in an AI Overview, Google is effectively saying:

“Of all the content we could have used to construct this answer, your page was one of the best options.”

That matters.

To reach that point, your page usually has to:

• Be technically accessible and easy for Google to crawl and parse

• Be tightly aligned with the query’s intent

• Provide a clear, well structured answer

• Sit on a site that appears credible and relevant for that topic

In other words, AI selection is a quality and authority signal, even if it does not immediately show up as more clicks for that specific query.

SEO has always had a lag between work and payoff. Think of AI citations as:

• Early evidence you are moving in the right direction, and

• A reputational asset that influences how search engines see you across many related queries, not just one AI result.

Is it frustrating that some users do not click? Of course. But this is the new search reality. Complaining about it will not change the interface.

Our job is to adapt strategically.

2. Why Chasing AI CTR Is A Dead End

Two reactions are very common when people see impressions up and clicks down:

• “Maybe I should rewrite my titles and meta descriptions specifically for AI Overviews.”

• “Maybe I should only give part of the answer so people are forced to click.”

Both are understandable. Neither is where you should spend your energy.

2.1 “Optimizing” titles and meta descriptions for AI Overviews

You should absolutely keep writing strong titles and meta descriptions:

• Clear and specific

• Matched to search intent

• Written for humans first

Those still matter for classic organic results.

However, AI Overviews do not behave like traditional snippets where Google might directly reuse your meta description. The AI is generating its own wording, then linking out to sources.

That means:

• It may paraphrase your content

• It may ignore your title structure

• It may use anchor text that is completely different from your carefully crafted meta

Trying to control the exact language AI uses to describe your link is like trying to control how every blogger summarizes your article when they cite you. You can influence them with clarity, but you cannot script them.

So:

• Keep writing excellent titles and descriptions for users and standard search results

• Make sure they honestly reflect the content of the page

Just do not expect AI to respect your preferred phrasing. That way lies a lot of effort for very little impact.

2.2 Holding back the answer to “force” clicks

Another instinct is to structure content so the page gives only a partial answer, with the idea that:

“If I do not give everything away, users will have to click through for the full picture.”

This might sound clever, but it is usually counterproductive.

If you deliberately withhold the core answer, you:

• Give users a worse experience when they do visit your page

• Make your content less useful as an AI source

• Risk being passed over in favor of a competitor who answers fully and clearly

Both users and Google are looking for complete, trustworthy answers. When content feels thin or evasive, it is less likely to be picked up as a source and less likely to earn long term trust.

If the AI Overview can answer the core query using your content, that is actually a positive sign. It means you have created something dense and useful enough to power a summary.

Instead of holding back, focus on:

• Thorough, well structured answers to the primary question

• Deeper layers of context, examples, and implementation details that go beyond what a quick AI summary can fully capture

• Clear “next steps” for users who do click and want more than the basics

Let the AI handle the quick overview. Your job is to own the deeper journey.

3. What To Focus On Instead: Exposure And Footprint

The real strategic question is not:

“How do I get every AI impression to result in a click?”

It is:

“How do I turn AI citations into long term authority and more total business, even if some individual CTR metrics go down?”

That requires a shift in focus.

Instead of fixating on the click rate from one AI result, concentrate on:

1. Being cited in AI Overviews for more queries in your topic area

2. Being recognized as a reliable source across an entire cluster of related topics

3. Turning that perceived authority into traffic, leads, and revenue across your whole footprint

Here is how to do that in practice.

3.1 Study what got you cited and replicate it

If you are already being used as a source in AI Overviews, something about that page is working.

Audit that page:

• How is the content structured?

  • Are there clear headings that map to specific questions?

  • Is the language concise and direct?

• What questions does it answer particularly well?

• How comprehensive is it compared to your other pages?

Then, use those strengths as a model for adjacent content:

• Build out pages on closely related questions

• Cover supporting topics, common problems, comparisons, and “what next?” queries

• Create a cluster of content around the topic rather than a single heroic article

The goal is to become the obvious source for an entire topic ecosystem, not just one query. That is how authority compounds over time in both AI Overviews and traditional organic search.

3.2 Make your pages obviously “worth the click”

Even when the AI Overview does a solid job answering the initial query, some users will still click if they believe there is more value on the other side.

Increase the perceived value of a click by:

• Adding elements AI cannot fully replicate, such as:

  • Detailed comparison tables

  • Step by step checklists

  • Calculators, tools, or downloadable resources

  • Real world case studies or examples

• Using subheadings that promise depth beyond the basics, for example:

  • “Real world examples from the field”

  • “Step by step implementation guide”

  • “Common mistakes and how to avoid them”

Think of the AI Overview as the appetizer. Your page should clearly signal that it is the main course.

3.3 Expand the number of ways people can “meet” your brand

If you consistently publish solid, well structured content around a topic, several things tend to happen over time:

• You get cited in more AI Overviews for related queries

• You rank for more long tail and supporting searches in traditional results

• Users who do click start to recognize your brand, name, or site as a recurring authority

You are not playing for one click on one query.

You are playing for:

• More branded searches involving your name or company

• More direct visits from people who now trust your expertise

• Better performance across dozens or hundreds of thematically related queries

AI is, in a sense, advertising your expertise at the top of the page. Even when it does not deliver an immediate click, it is still planting seeds.

4. How To Measure This Without Going Crazy

If you only look at CTR for a handful of AI‑influenced queries, you will almost certainly feel like you are losing.

Instead, adjust what you measure:

1. Total impressions for the topic cluster

   • Look at all relevant queries for that topic, not just one keyword

   • Evaluate trends over 3, 6, and 12 months

2. Total clicks from the topic cluster

   • Some specific queries will have worse CTR due to AI

   • Others may gain as your authority grows and you rank for more variations

3. Branded search and branded CTR

   • Monitor searches that include your brand or domain name

   • If those are trending upward, AI and organic visibility are doing their job

4. Leads and revenue tied to that topic

   • Are you getting more qualified inquiries in that area?

   • Are closed deals or signups increasing even if some CTR numbers look worse?

The key question becomes:

“Is my growing presence in AI and organic search driving more overall business and authority, even if certain traditional metrics are noisier?”

If the answer is yes, then a declining CTR on one AI influenced query is not a disaster. It is simply a side effect of a changing interface.

5. The One Thing Not To Obsess Over

It is tempting to fixate on:

• Micromanaging titles and descriptions in the hope that AI will use your preferred phrasing

• Continually tweaking wording to “entice” more clicks from the AI box

• Attempting to engineer partial answers so users are forced to visit your site

These tactics are fragile. They rely on implementation details of today’s interface that can change tomorrow.

What is far more durable is:

• Demonstrable expertise

• Clear, comprehensive, well structured content

• A growing body of work that covers your topic area thoroughly

• A brand that users start to recognize and seek out directly

That approach survives interface changes, algorithm updates, and new AI features far better than any short‑term trick.

6. Bringing It All Together

If your impressions are rising from AI Overviews while clicks and CTR are falling, here is a practical way to respond:

1. Accept the tradeoff.
   Some clicks will stay on the results page. Fighting that reality is wasted energy.

2. Recognize the upside.
   Being cited in AI Overviews is a strong vote of confidence in your content and your site’s authority.

3. Replicate what worked.
   Use the pages that are already being cited as models for additional content around the same topic cluster.

4. Make every visit count.
   Add depth, examples, tools, and implementation details that AI cannot fully replace.

5. Measure the bigger picture.
   Focus on topic‑level impressions, total clicks, branded search, and business outcomes, not just CTR on a single AI influenced query.

If you keep producing the kind of content that AI wants to cite and that humans want to dig deeper into, your authority will grow.

AI is not just “stealing” clicks. It is also repeatedly signaling to search engines and users:

“This site is a reliable source on this topic.”

Your job is to keep giving it more reasons to say that, across more of the queries that matter to your business.

On one side, you still have universal Google search results: perhaps an AI Overview, ads (and more ads), map packs, Google Business Profiles, and some blue links interspersed with more hard-to-detect ads.

On the other, you now have AI-only results: Google’s AI Mode, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and a growing crowd of “answer engines” that skip the ten blue links and tell your customers what they should do, who they should hire, and where they should go.

In 2026, your small business has to pass two interviews at once:

1. The old interview with Google’s ranking systems.

2. The new interview with AI systems that read the whole web, summarize it, and choose which businesses to name (hopefully, your business will be included)

The good news: the things that help you win in one almost always help in the other. The bad news: “good enough” content and neglected profiles are being quietly buried.

This article is your operating manual for both.

Small Business Playbook for AI & SEO

1. The New Reality: People Search In Two Ways Now

Here is what has changed in plain language:

• Many people still type “dentist near me” into Google and click a local result.

• A growing number type or say:

  • “I am terrified of dentists. Who is good with anxious patients in Victoria, and what should I ask during the first visit?”

  • Then they read a single AI answer that references 2 or 3 dentists and gives very specific advice.

Behind the scenes, both Google and AI tools are:

• Reading your website

• Scanning your Google Business Profile

• Analyzing your reviews and mentions

• Comparing you to your competitors

• Deciding whether you are safe to recommend

In other words, your online presence is being “interviewed” constantly.

I have written before about how Google interviews your website. In my example, I suggest that Google needs to know KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST your business. That same framework is now quietly influencing whether AI tools ever speak your business name out loud.

To win in 2026, you need to understand both interviews and deliberately prepare for them.

2. How Google Thinks: KNOW, LIKE, TRUST

Let us start with Google’s side of the table.

Google’s ranking systems are essentially asking three questions about your business:

1. KNOW: Are you real and legitimate?

2. LIKE: Do people get value from what you offer?

3. TRUST: Why should we believe you and recommend you?

If you fall down in any one of these, your rankings suffer. In 2026, AI systems are reading the same signals and quietly using them again.

2.1 KNOW: Can We Verify You Exist?

This is Google’s basic due diligence check.

They look for:

• Consistent NAP
  Your Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) should be consistent on:

  • Your website

  • Your Google Business Profile

  • Major directories (Apple Maps, Bing, Yelp, industry-specific sites)

• If your name, address, and phone are a mess, Google and AI systems hesitate. They do not like recommending mysteries.

• Basic technical health

  • HTTPS (padlock in the browser)

  • A site that loads reasonably fast on mobile

  • No accidental “do not index me”(noindex) instructions in robots.txt or meta tags

  • Navigation that a spider and a human can both understand

Think of KNOW as: “Can I even be sure you are who you say you are, and that you want to be found?”

2.2 LIKE: Do People Enjoy The Experience?

Once Google is reasonably sure you exist, it moves on to value.

Key LIKE signals:

• Helpful, plain language content
  Pages that actually answer real questions your customers ask, not just a pile of keywords.

• Reasonable page speed and user experience

  • No “click here and wait 15 seconds while the site chokes on 19 tracking scripts”

  • No full-screen pop-ups covering the main content

  • Text that humans can read on a phone without zooming and pinching

• Clear explanation of your services
  If a visitor cannot figure out the following within 10 to 15 seconds, your LIKE score will suffer.:

  • What you do

  • Who you do it for

  • Where you operate

• Visuals that show reality
  Real photos, videos, and examples give visitors confidence and keep them on the page. Google notices.

2.3 TRUST: Why Should We Recommend You?

This is where many small businesses underinvest, and it now affects both Google and AI results.

Trust signals include:

• Reviews and ratings (on Google, and often elsewhere)

• Detailed testimonials (on your site, with names and stories)

• Backlinks and mentions from relevant, trustworthy sites

• Evidence of expertise:

  • Years in business

  • Certifications and training

  • Media features, speaking, guest posts

  • Detailed case studies with real outcomes

For AI systems like ChatGPT and Claude, these are the clues that separate a genuine expert from a template site spun up last week.

3. How AI Search Works (In terms a business owner actually cares about)

Think of your AI of choice as a super-smart librarian who reads all the books before recommending which ones to show you. Instead of just matching keywords like the old card catalogue system, AI now understands what you’re really asking and synthesizes information from multiple sources. This means your website needs to be written for this intelligent assistant, not just for keyword matching.

Here is a more nuanced breakdown that’s still for human consumption:

When someone asks an AI:

“Who is the best physiotherapist in Kelowna for runners with knee pain, and what questions should I ask before booking?”

Under the hood, the AI does what is called query fan-out.

Instead of asking one giant question, it silently explodes that prompt into many small ones, such as:

• Which physiotherapists are actually in Kelowna?

• Which of them mentions helping runners or sports injuries?

• Who has pages or articles about knee pain?

• Which ones have good reviews mentioning “runner”, “knee”, “sports injury”, or similar phrases?

• Which sites look trustworthy, current, and not spammy?

Then, very quickly, it:

1. Hits multiple sources: Google results, websites, directories, sometimes PDFs and other data sources.

2. Reads and compares everything.

3. Synthesizes a single, confident-sounding answer.

4. Chooses 1 to 3 businesses to name, if any.

This happens in milliseconds, but the logic is familiar: the AI is basically doing what a careful human researcher would do, only at machine speed.

Now pair that with the “superpower paradox”:

• Everyone, including your competitors, can now use AI to pump out content.

• So content volume is no longer a differentiator.

• Real-world experience, proof, and clear structure are the differentiators.

AI tools love sources that:

• Clearly explain topics in structured sections

• Contain specific, real-world details

• Look and feel like they were written by someone who has actually done the work, not just read about it

If your business relies on Google and local discovery, ignoring this is not just risky. It is an invisible, slow leak in your pipeline.

4. The 2026 Checklist: 30+ Things Small Businesses Should Actually Do

Here is a long, practical list.

Think of this as your 12-month roadmap.

You do not need to do everything in week one.

You do need to decide which 5 or 6 moves are highest impact for you right now.

I grouped them by theme.

A) Make Your Business “Legible” To Google And AI

1. (Local Businesses) Fix Your NAP Everywhere

If your Name, Address, and Phone number are not consistent, fix that pronto.

• Ensure the exact same name, address, phone, and primary URL appear on:

  • Your website

  • Google Business Profile

  • Apple Maps, Bing Places, Yelp, and any major industry directory

• Avoid cute variations. “Rob’s Plumbing & Heating Ltd.” and “Rob’s Plumbing and Heating” seem like small differences, but if it happens enough, it can look untrustworthy.

2. Repair Technical Landmines

If Google cannot crawl or index you, everything else is irrelevant.

At minimum:

• Check you are using HTTPS and your SSL certificate is valid.

• Ensure key pages are not blocked in robots.txt and do not have a meta noindex.

• Make sure your main navigation uses normal links, not fancy JavaScript that hides everything from search engines.

• Run a basic speed check using Google PageSpeed Insights and fix catastrophic issues (20 second loads, huge uncompressed images).

3. Clarify Your Services And Locations

Avoid one vague “Services” page that lists twenty things in a paragraph.

Instead:

• Create one focused page per core service.

• If location matters, create dedicated pages like:

  • “Teeth whitening in Victoria”

  • “Emergency plumbing in Nanaimo”

Each page should spell out:

• What this service is

• Who it is for

• Where you offer it

• How to get started

4. Improve Your Titles and Meta Descriptions

Your page titles and meta descriptions are still the front door of your search presence.

• Title format that works:

  • “Family Dentist in Victoria, BC | XYZ Family Dental”

• Meta description example:

  • “XYZ Family Dental helps anxious patients and busy families in Victoria with gentle checkups, cosmetic dentistry, and same-day emergency appointments. Call for new patient availability.”

If your titles are all “Home” and “Services”, you are leaving rankings and clicks on the table.

B) Turn Your Content Into The “Best Answer” In Your Niche

5. Build A Few “Big Answer” Pages

For each of your most valuable services, create one page that tries to be the best explanation in your region.

Include:

• A short, plain English summary at the top

• What the service is and who it is for

• How it works, step by step

• Pricing, or at least realistic price ranges

• Pros, cons, and alternatives (even if that alternative is “go to a competitor”)

• A FAQ section answering common questions and objections

• Real examples or case stories, with outcomes

AI systems and Google both gravitate to comprehensive, structured pages like this.

6. Write In Question & Answer Form

You want your content to line up directly with the questions real people ask.

Use headings exactly like:

• “What is [service]?”

• “How much does [service] cost in [city]?”

• “How long does [service] take?”

• “Is [service] worth it?”

• “What are the risks of [service]?”

This is not “SEO trickery”. It is simple: most users and AI tools are literally asking those questions.

7. Document Real-World Experience

Do not just say “we are experienced”. Prove it.

Create case studies with:

• The situation: who the client was (at least type, if not name) and what they struggled with

• What you did: the process, decisions, and tradeoffs

• The outcome: numbers where possible, or at least tangible improvements

• Lessons: what you learned and what you would do differently next time

These are gold for both:

• Visitors who want evidence you can do what you claim

• AI systems looking for specific, non-generic details

8. Upgrade Your About Page Into An “Expertise Page”

Most About pages say almost nothing useful to search engines or customers.

Instead, include:

• Years in business and why you started

• Relevant training, certifications, and memberships

• Notable wins: awards, big projects, media features

• Your philosophy and how it is different from common industry mistakes

• A photo and a real, human story

This strengthens your E E A T signals, which both Google and AI engines care about.

C) Treat Reviews and Local Reputation as a Ranking Factor Twice

9. Aim For Steady, Ongoing Reviews

Google and AI tools prefer businesses with a healthy, recent review profile.

Practical approach:

• Ask every happy client within 24 to 48 hours of the work, using email or SMS.

• Make it easy with a direct Google review link.

• Ask 1 or 2 specific questions to guide better reviews:

  • “What problem did we solve for you?”

  • “What would you tell a friend who is unsure about hiring us?”

A slow, steady stream of genuine reviews beats a one-time burst of 30 reviews from 2019.

10. Respond to Reviews as if Future Customers are Reading Them

Because they are.

• For positive reviews:

  • Thank them by name.

  • Mention a specific detail of the service they received (if allowed).
    

• For negative reviews:

  • Stay calm and professional.

  • Acknowledge the issue.

  • Explain, briefly, what you did or will do.

  • Offer a direct line to resolve.

You are not just replying to that one person. You are sending a signal to everyone else, including AI systems, about how you handle problems.

11. Have a Playbook for Fake Reviews and Extortion

Sadly, fake review extortion has grown into a real problem. The playbook is:

• Document everything: screenshots, emails, messages.

• Flag each fake review in your Google Business Profile.

• Use Google’s Merchant Extortion form.

• Report to national fraud or cybercrime agencies where applicable.

• Never, ever pay.

Your article can link to the proper forms and agencies by country. This alone can be a life saver for some readers.

D) Make Your Content Easy for AI to Quote

You want to make it very simple for AI systems to lift accurate, well-structured chunks (of content) from your site.

12. Use Clean, Logical Headings

Basic structure:

• One H1 per page for the main topic

• H2s for major sections

• H3s for sub sections

• Bullet lists for steps, pros and cons, and key points

Do not overcomplicate this. You are helping machines map topics to answers.

13. Add Short Definitions and Key Point Summaries

At the top of important pages, include:

• A 2 to 3-sentence definition or summary

• A short “Key points” list

For example:

“Teeth whitening is a cosmetic dental treatment that lightens the colour of your teeth. In our Victoria clinic, we use a professional strength, dentist-supervised process that removes deep stains more safely than store-bought kits.”

Key points:

• Safe, dentist-supervised treatment

• Results in 1 to 2 visits for most patients

• Suitable for coffee, tea, and wine stains

These pieces often get reused in snippets and AI answers.

14. Prefer Authoritative Guides Over Throwaway Posts

You are better off publishing one strong, 2,000 to 3,000-word guide than ten 300-word posts that all vaguely say the same thing.

In 2026, “blogging often” without depth is mostly noise. Google and AI systems have enough shallow content. They are actively hunting for genuine expertise.

15. Show That Your Content Is Current

You do not need to update every page weekly, but:

• Add “Last updated” dates on important guides.

• Review them at least once, preferably twice, per year.

• Update anything that has clearly changed: prices, processes, laws, technology.

It signals that you are still actively practicing and paying attention.

16. Answer Niche, Specific Questions Your Competitors Ignore

This is one of the easiest ways to stand out.

Examples:

• “Do you work with patients who use wheelchairs?”

• “Is there parking on site?”

• “What should I bring to my first appointment?”

• “Do you work with this specific insurance provider?”

• “Can I bring my dog if I am traveling from out of town?”

You would be amazed at how much goodwill (and how many conversions) these “small” details generate.

E) Use Multimedia to Make Your Content Stick

AI has made it dramatically easier to add charts, videos, and infographics. Google loves this. People love this. And yes, AI systems also use it as a quality hint. See the article I wrote on how to add AI-generated multimedia to your content for tutorials.

17. Turn Numbers Into Simple Charts

Whenever you talk about:

• Timelines

• Cost breakdowns

• Before and after metrics

• Comparison between options

Turn that into a chart or simple diagram.

18. Add Short Explainer Videos To Key Pages

You do not need a studio production.

A 60 to 180 second video that:

• States the problem

• Explains your approach in 3 steps

• Tells them how to get started

And is enough to:

• Increase time on page

• Build trust quickly

• Give AI tools a transcript full of useful phrasing

19. Create Visual Checklists and Process Diagrams

Infographics and simple process visuals are perfect to:

• Clarify “what happens when I hire you”

• Reassure nervous customers who hate surprises

• Give other sites and social accounts something to embed and link to

You have already written a full guide on using AI to generate multimedia from existing content. Link to it for detailed prompts and tool recommendations.

F) AI Has Raised The Bar

This is the awkward part, but small businesses need to hear it plainly.

20. Accept That “Average” Content Is Now Worth Very Little

If your content looks like it could have been pumped out by a generic AI prompt in five minutes, do not expect it to drive significant business in 2026.

AI has flooded the web with:

• “Top 10 tips”

• “Beginner’s guides” that never get concrete

• Content that sounds right but says nothing specific

Search engines and AI tools are learning to ignore that kind of fluff. So are your customers.

21. Invest In Documenting Real Proof

Your unfair advantage is not that you can type into ChatGPT.

Your unfair advantage is that you:

• Have actually done the job

• Have real clients, real results, real failures, and real lessons

Collect:

• Before and after photos

• Screenshots of dashboards and metrics

• Quotes from clients

• Project timelines and budgets (even rough ranges)

• Mistakes you used to make and how you fixed them

These are exactly the kinds of details that AI systems cannot safely invent, and that Google values most.

22. Use AI As An Assistant, Not a Replacement For Strategy

In my experience, the pattern is always the same with new technology:

• Tools get cheaper and louder.

• Strategy gets more valuable, not less.

In 2026, your job (or your SEO’s job) is to:

• Decide which topics matter

• Decide which proof to show

• Prioritize what to fix first

• Maintain brand voice and accuracy

Then, yes, use AI tools to:

• Draft versions faster

• Turn text into video outlines and infographics

• Summarize and reorganize raw material

But do not hand it the keys to your positioning or your ethics.

5. Helpful AI Prompts

Customize the following AI prompts to suit your needs.

Important: These prompts do not replace real strategy, but they dramatically lower the effort required to obtain decent first drafts that you or an SEO can refine.

Note: Over the next few weeks, I will be adding links to custom generators for each.

5.1 Prompt: Create a Strong Case Study for Your Business

You are an expert SEO and copywriter for small local businesses.

I will describe a real client job we completed.

Please:
1. Ask me 5 to 7 specific questions to capture the story (situation, what we did, results, quotes).
2. Then write a case study formatted for my website with these sections:
   - Client
   - Problem
   - Our approach
   - Results (with numbers if I gave you any)
   - What this means for similar customers

Use plain language that my non-technical customers will understand.
Do NOT invent any details I did not provide. 

Do not use em-dashes
Do not hallucinate

Ask your questions now.

Run the case study builder GPT here

5.2 Prompt: Upgrade a Boring Service Page Into a “Big Answer” Page

You are an experienced copywriter and SEO helping a small local business rank in Google and appear in AI search answers.

Here is the current content of my service page:
[PASTE YOUR EXISTING TEXT]

Please:
1. Identify the top 10 questions a skeptical customer would have about this service.
2. Rewrite the page to:
   - Clearly explain what this service is and who it is for
   - Answer each of the 10 questions in plain language
   - Include a short definition at the top (2 to 3 sentences)
   - Add a “Key points” bullet list
   - Add a short FAQ section with 4 to 6 common questions

Format the result with headings (H2, H3), bullet lists, and short paragraphs.
Do not change my prices or make up guarantees.
Do not use em-dashes
Do not hallucinate

5.3 Prompt: Turn One Article Into Charts, Video, and an Infographic

Note: your mileage may vary wildly on this one. If you want a more measured approach to doing this, check out my article on this very topic.

You are a content strategist helping me turn one blog post into multiple visual assets.

Here is my article:
[PASTE ARTICLE]

Create:
1. A list of 3 charts or diagrams I could add, with:
   - A title for each
   - The data or points each chart should show
2. A simple script outline for a 90-second explainer video that:
   - States the problem
   - Explains my solution in 3 steps
   - Ends with a clear call to action to contact my business
3. A text-only outline for an infographic with 5 to 7 sections.

Return your answer in clear bullet points that I can give directly to a designer or AI design tool.

Do not use em-dashes
Do not hallucinate

5.4 Prompt: Build a Simple 3 Month SEO + AI Content Roadmap

You are an SEO strategist from StepForth Web Marketing specializing in helping small local businesses in 2026.

My business:
[WHAT YOU DO, WHERE YOU ARE, IDEAL CUSTOMERS]

My top 3 most profitable services:
[LIST]

My current online situation:
[BRIEFLY DESCRIBE]

Create a 3-month content roadmap that:
1. Lists 8 to 12 high-priority content pieces (service pages, guides, FAQs, videos).
2. Labels each piece as:
   - SEO core (for ranking in Google)
   - AI visibility (for being cited in AI answers)
   - Trust building (reviews, case studies, proof)
3. Explains, in 1 or 2 sentences each, why this piece matters and how it helps me show up in Google and AI.

Keep this realistic for a busy small business with limited time.

Do not use em-dashes
Do not hallucinate

I repeat: These prompts do not replace real strategy, but they dramatically lower the effort required to obtain decent first drafts that you or an SEO can refine.

Like this? Leave me a tip!

6. The Part Nobody Likes: Google’s Volatility and AI’s Hunger

You can be doing many things right and still see:

• Sudden traffic drops after an algorithm update

• AI Overviews or other AI answers giving information without sending a click

• Competitors who seem to “cheat” the system temporarily with spam tactics

I have written at length about how far Google has drifted from its “do not be evil” era and how often small businesses are collateral damage in its experiments.

The practical takeaway is:

• You cannot control Google’s decisions.

• You cannot fully control how AI tools choose to use your content.

• You can control:

  • The strength of your brand in your market

  • The quality and clarity of your online footprint

  • The depth of your customer relationships

  • Your ability to adapt faster than your competitors

So your 2026 mindset should be:

• Use Google and AI as powerful channels, not as benevolent overlords.

• Invest heavily in durable assets:

  • Email lists

  • Remarketing audiences

  • Clear positioning

  • Documented expertise

  • Word of mouth powered by a strong review profile

• An SEO to, at the very least, guide you (see below)

7. Why You Still Need a Human SEO In An AI World

If you are a small business owner, here is the blunt truth:

• You should absolutely use AI tools. They are incredible leverage.

• You should absolutely not expect them to think strategically for you.

The gap between “we used ChatGPT to write a blog post” and “we consistently show up in Google and AI answers for our most profitable services” is still large.

Bridging that gap requires:

• Understanding how Google and AI actually evaluate your business

• Prioritizing in the right order (fix technical issues before chasing AI visibility badges)

• Translating real-world experience into content and proof that systems can understand

• Avoiding the many quiet pitfalls that can nuke visibility overnight

That is where my work now lives: at the intersection of classic SEO, AI literacy, and real business constraints.

Together, we can:

• Pick the 3 to 5 most important actions for your situation

• Use AI to do the heavy lifting without losing your voice or accuracy

• Build an asset base that survives the next wave of algorithm and AI changes, instead of relying on fragile tricks

If this article has surfaced three or four uncomfortable “we really should fix that” moments in your mind, that is a good sign. It means you are seeing the same landscape I see every day.

You do not need to tackle all 30 items at once. You do need a plan, a sequence, and someone in your corner who has already seen the horrors that haunt me when businesses ignore this stuff for too long.

If you’d like help, my team and I are here to support you.

Feel free to book a zero-pressure, free strategy call with me here.

What used to be “SEO Grok” is now “SEO Dunn.”

This was not the result of a massive rebrand project with agencies, storyboards, and a six‑figure budget. It was much simpler and a little humbling.

It was me, an SEO with nearly three decades of experience, proving that even seasoned marketers can still sprint ahead with an idea without fully thinking through how it lands with real people.

The problem with “Grok” (and my blind spot)

I have owned SEOGrok.com for around 15 years. I have always loved the word “grok” from Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. To “grok” something is to understand it so thoroughly that you almost merge with it.

To me, that perfectly describes how good SEO works:

• You deeply understand the business

• You deeply understand the search landscape

• Then you connect the dots so clearly that the strategy feels obvious in hindsight

So when I started this Substack a couple of months ago, “SEO Grok” felt like finally putting that long‑held domain and idea to work.

Yes, I was fully aware that Elon Musk’s “Grok” AI already existed.

I just dismissed it.

I thought:

• “It is a pretty bad AI tool.”

• “Most of my audience will not be using it.”

• “The overlap will be minimal.”

In other words, I assumed the dictionary definition of “grok” would dominate and that “his” Grok would be a small, forgettable blip.

That was the mistake.

Because what started trickling in was feedback like:

• “Is this related to that Grok AI thing?”

• “I had no idea that was what grok really meant!”

So instead of “SEO Grok” evoking deep understanding and hard‑won expertise, for many people it evoked:

• Confusion

• AI tool fatigue

• Or simply “not for me”

That is a branding problem.

Why “SEO Dunn” works better

Once I accepted that “Grok” came with baggage I did not want, the solution was straightforward.

Go back to basics.

What am I actually trying to do here?

• Teach SEO in a way a smart non‑technical reader can understand

• Share what I have learned watching Google evolve

• Help people avoid painful, expensive SEO mistakes

• Keep everything grounded in real‑world business outcomes

“SEO Dunn” might not have the sci‑fi cleverness of “SEO Grok,” but it does three important things better.

1. It is instantly clear.

   If you see “SEO Dunn” in your inbox, you do not need a glossary or a Heinlein reference.

   • SEO is in the name.

   • My name is in the name.

   That clarity matters more than cleverness.

2. It supports a simple promise.

   A line like “Discover how SEO is Dunn right” is playful, but it also gets to the heart of what I want this publication to be: an example of what careful, principled, long‑game SEO looks like.

3. It raises the bar for me.

   When your name is the brand, every piece of content is a direct reflection on you. That is a healthy kind of pressure to be accurate, practical, and honest.

The marketing lesson hiding in this rebrand

There is a bigger lesson here that goes beyond my specific naming saga.

It is this:

You can know the market very well and still underestimate associations in people’s minds.

In my head, the logic went like this:

• “Grok” is a classic tech/sci‑fi term I love

• Elon’s Grok is a weak AI product my audience will not care about

• Therefore, conflict risk is minimal

In reality:

• Many people now associate “Grok” primarily with Elon’s AI because they had no idea it was a real word

• Some have AI fatigue and are actively avoiding anything that smells like another tool

• A portion of readers hesitated or ignored the newsletter because the name created instant uncertainty

A few takeaways you can apply to your own brand or product:

1. You do not control the dominant association with a word.
   It does not matter if you have a richer, older, or more elegant meaning in mind. The market’s first association wins.

2. “But my audience is savvy” is not a strategy.

   I told myself that my readers are marketers, business owners, and tech‑comfortable people who would “get it.” Some did. Enough did not, and I shouldn’t have expected people to have to.

3. Shared names with big brands are rarely a fair fight.

   If a major platform or personality is using a term loudly and frequently, you will always be in their shadow, whether you like it or not.

4. Sentiment matters as much as semantics.

   Even if people intellectually understand that your “grok” is different from “that Grok AI,” the emotional reaction may still be “ugh, more AI stuff” before they even read your byline.

What is not changing

While the name on the masthead has changed, the mission of this Substack has not budged.

Here is what you can continue to expect from SEO Dunn:

• Plain‑language explanations of SEO.

  Whether we are talking about crawling, Core Web Vitals, internal linking, TTFB, or structured data, the priority is always: explain it so a smart business owner can follow along without needing a technical handbook.

• Practical, step‑by‑step guidance.

  Checklists, frameworks, examples, and “do this first, then this” breakdowns. Not hand‑wavy “just create great content” advice.

• Real‑world stories and scars.

  After many years of watching algorithm updates, penalties, recoveries, and quiet wins, there is no shortage of real examples. I will keep sharing those so you can borrow what works and sidestep what hurts.

• A focus on business outcomes, not just rankings.

  Rankings and traffic are means, not ends. We will keep talking about leads, sales, defensible visibility, and long‑term resilience instead of chasing vanity metrics.

Moving forward

So yes:

• I launched this Substack as SEO Grok after Elon’s Grok already existed.

• I underestimated how strong that association would be.

• And I overestimated how much my preferred meaning of “grok” would carry the day.

That is on me.

But if there is any upside to having a slightly embarrassing branding story, it is that it makes for a useful lesson I can share with you:

Even experienced marketers still make calls based on what they love, not what their audience will immediately understand.

If you have been here since the SEO Grok days, thank you for sticking around through the name change. If you are new and only know this as SEO Dunn, welcome. You are exactly who I am writing for:

• Curious, practical people who want SEO explained clearly

• Readers who prefer tested strategy over shiny hacks

• Business owners and marketers who care more about results than buzzwords

The name has changed.

The goal is the same.

To show you how SEO is Dunn right.

Not because AI is replacing SEO (it isn’t). Not because everything we knew is obsolete (it’s not). But because AI handed everyone the same superpower, and when everyone’s super, no one is… unless they spend the extra time to perfect their powers.

Here’s the thing, though: this isn’t the catastrophe the fearful (or the fear-mongers) want you to believe. It’s actually liberating. Let me explain why, and more importantly, show you exactly how to thrive when the playing field has been levelled.

The Superpower Paradox

Remember the movie “The Incredibles”? When the villain Syndrome declares, “When everyone’s super, no one will be”? That’s exactly what’s happened with AI.

AI tools are superpowers. They let you generate content in seconds, analyze competitors in minutes, create images instantly, and optimize pages faster than ever before. But here’s the paradox: when every business owner has access to ChatGPT, when every marketer uses Claude, when every competitor has the same AI-powered tools, these superpowers stop being super. They become the new baseline.

Think about it. Twenty-five years ago, having a website was a competitive advantage. Then everyone got one, and suddenly it was just table stakes. The same thing happened with SEO. Early adopters who understood meta tags and keyword optimization had an edge. But once everyone had access to the same SEO tools and knowledge, success came down to who executed better, who understood their audience deeper, and who created genuinely better content.

AI is following the exact same pattern, just faster. Your competitors now have the same AI tools you do. They can generate content at the same speed. They can analyze data just as quickly.

The superpower isn’t the advantage anymore. The advantage is how you use the superpower combined with what only you can bring: your expertise, your experience, your unique understanding of your customers.

Why This Is Actually Liberating

I use AI to analyze competitor content in minutes instead of hours, but then spend those saved hours creating genuinely unique insights that AI can’t replicate. AI helps me generate content outlines, but I spend more time than ever adding real client examples and tested strategies that come from decades in the trenches.

This is the paradox: AI makes the easy stuff easier, which means we need to work harder on the hard stuff, the stuff that actually moves the needle and will set us well above the average competitor.

And you know what? That’s fantastic news. Because while everyone else is pumping out AI-generated mediocrity, those of us willing to combine AI efficiency (and AI know-how) with genuine expertise stand out like beacons in the fog.

The Reality Check That Should Calm Your Nerves (For Now)

Before we dive into strategy, let’s get grounded in reality. AI search platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and others) currently capture between 0.14% and 5.6% of total search traffic. Google still commands about 90% of the search market.

Yes, AI search is growing exponentially. Some projections suggest it could reach 15-20% of search traffic within 2-3 years. That’s significant growth, but notice we’re still talking about capturing a portion of the market, not replacing it entirely.

This gives you time, precious time, to adapt thoughtfully instead of scrambling in panic. You’re not behind; you’re right on schedule if you start taking this seriously now.

More importantly, these AI systems aren’t using some mysterious new way to evaluate content. They’re accessing the same Internet Google does, evaluating similar trust signals, rewarding the same quality indicators. Google has been using AI systems like RankBrain since 2015. The foundation has been building for a decade; we’re just now seeing it break through to consumer consciousness.

Tip: If you want a superb read on how AI has shifted SEO from “ranking pages to reasoning with content”, check out my friend Duane Forrester’s article.

The AI Content Backlash That’s Already Beginning

Here’s something the AI evangelists won’t discuss: people are already getting tired of AI-generated content.

You’ve seen it yourself. Those articles that feel oddly similar. The LinkedIn posts that all follow the same formula. The blog content that’s technically correct but somehow soulless. Readers are developing an unconscious radar for AI-generated content, and they’re starting to scroll past it.

Google is actively working on detecting AI-generated content. While they haven’t said they’ll penalize it directly, they’ve made it clear that content must demonstrate expertise, experience, and value: things that pure AI generation struggles to provide.

This backlash creates a massive opportunity. As the Internet floods with AI-generated sameness, human-created, experience-based content becomes MORE valuable, not less. Your genuine insights, real-world examples, and authentic voice are becoming your greatest assets.

Your Practical Path Forward: What’s Really Changing (And What Isn’t)

Let me break down exactly what’s shifting and how to adapt. Fair warning: while the fundamentals haven’t changed, the execution bar has been raised significantly.

Authority Building: From Links to Genuine Influence

What Used to Work: Building dozens of mediocre backlinks, directory submissions, link exchanges.

What Works Now: Real authority signals that would matter even if search engines didn’t exist:

• Earned media from legitimate sources (because you did something noteworthy)

• Guest articles on trusted industry sites (with genuine insights, not fluff)

• Podcast appearances where you share real expertise

• Local event sponsorships and community involvement (those hyperlocal connections are golden)

• Industry recognition, awards, and certifications

Why It’s Harder Now: Everyone can use AI to create “thought leadership” content. Standing out requires actual thoughts worth leading with. You need documented proof of real-world expertise.

Your Action: Choose one authority-building activity this month. But here’s the key: make it something AI couldn’t help you fake. Sponsor a local charity event. Share real data from your business. Speak at an industry event. Real authority compounds over time.

Content Structure: From Formula to Clarity

What Used to Work: Keyword stuffing, word count targets, formulaic blog posts.

What Works Now: Content structured for genuine understanding:

• Brief summaries or key takeaways at the beginning (respect your reader’s time)

• Natural hierarchies with clear, descriptive headings

• Mixed media when it genuinely adds value

• Real examples, specific numbers, actual case studies

• Unique perspectives that challenge conventional wisdom

Why It’s Harder Now: The bar for “helpful content” has skyrocketed. AI can produce technically correct content in seconds, so yours needs to provide insights that only come from real experience.

Your Action: Take your best-performing piece of content. Add three specific examples from your actual work, including at least one failure and what you learned from it. This is what AI can’t fake.

Expertise Documentation: From Claims to Proof

What Used to Work: An “About” page with a bio and maybe a headshot.

What Works Now: A comprehensive expertise hub that includes:

• Your education, certifications, and ongoing training

• Links to everything you’ve published or contributed to

• Speaking engagements and media appearances

• Professional affiliations and memberships

• Specific achievements with real numbers

• Client testimonials tied to concrete results

• Documented case studies with before/after data

Why It’s Harder Now: AI systems are getting better at detecting genuine expertise versus manufactured authority. You need receipts for everything.

Your Action: Create or enhance your professional profile page this week. Add three specific achievements with real numbers. Document one detailed case study. Link all your content back to this central authority hub.

Signs You’re Doing It Right (And Not Just Keeping Busy)

How do you know if you’re on track? Here are the indicators:

✓ You’re spending less time on repetitive tasks and more time on strategic thinking
✓ Your content includes specific examples that only you could provide
✓ You’re building relationships, not just links
✓ People would value your content even if search engines didn’t exist
✓ You’re using AI as a starting point, not an endpoint
✓ Your expertise is documented and undeniable across multiple platforms
✓ Readers can immediately tell your content wasn’t purely AI-generated
✓ You’re getting actual engagement, not just traffic

The Competitive Advantage Hidden in Plain Sight

Here’s what most people miss: while everyone races to implement the latest “AI SEO tactics,” the real opportunity is in doing the fundamentals exceptionally well, at a much higher level than before.

I see businesses panicking about whether to optimize for GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) or AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) or whatever three-letter acronym someone invented this week. Meanwhile, they haven’t even documented their genuine expertise or created content that truly serves their audience at the new, elevated standard required.

The irony? The businesses that will thrive in the AI era are those that focus on being genuinely helpful at a level AI can’t reach. Whether someone finds you through Google, ChatGPT, or some platform that doesn’t exist yet, they’re still looking for real expertise and authentic value that goes beyond surface-level information.

Your Three-Step Action Plan (With Realistic Expectations)

Instead of drowning in AI anxiety, here’s exactly what to do. But let me be clear: this isn’t easy. It’s necessary.

1. Audit and Document Your Expertise (This Week)

Create a comprehensive professional profile that makes your expertise undeniable. Include everything: education, experience, publications, speaking engagements, certifications, achievements with specific numbers. This is harder than it sounds: you need proof, not claims. Update it monthly. This becomes your foundation for authority across all platforms.

2. Enhance Your Best Content (This Month)

Take your top three performing pieces of content. Add clear summaries, improve structure with descriptive headings, but most importantly: add three real examples from your experience, including failures and lessons learned. Add specific data points. Challenge at least one common assumption in your industry. This is what separates you from AI-generated content.

3. Build One New Authority Signal (Every Month or Two)

Choose one meaningful authority-building activity monthly. But make it count: write for an industry publication (with real insights), speak at an event (sharing actual case studies), or create original research your industry actually needs (not just another survey). Remember: in a world of AI-generated content, real authority is your moat.

The Bottom Line: We’re All Working Harder, But On What Actually Matters

Yes, I’m working harder than ever. The execution bar has been raised dramatically. What used to be “good enough” is now table stakes. But I’m working harder on things that actually matter: building genuine relationships, creating truly helpful content that AI can’t replicate, learning how to leverage AI smarter, and demonstrating real expertise that can’t be faked.

The tools have changed, and yes, the game is significantly harder. But success still goes to those who provide genuine value; it’s just that “genuine value” now means something much more substantial than it did two years ago.

While everyone else chases the latest AI panic trend or looks for shortcuts, you can focus on what’s always worked, just at a higher level: being genuinely helpful to your audience in ways that only someone with real experience can be.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this pattern. SEO itself followed the same trajectory: early adopters had an advantage, then everyone got the same tools, and suddenly it was all about execution. AI is just the latest iteration of this cycle, but it’s moving at warp speed.

The winners will be those who understand that superpowers don’t replace expertise, genuine value, or real human connection. They just raise the bar for what all three mean.

» Note: this article was originally posted on my company site here.

As AI incorporates itself into every facet of business, it’s overwhelming to everyone, especially busy business owners trying to make the best decisions for their companies.

Sure, AI gives us more tools to simplify and even eliminate certain tasks we don’t like or find time-consuming. But that just raises the bar for what we all need to do to stay ahead of the competition.

After all, this advantage isn’t unique to us.

The competition has these same tools and advantages, and we have to assume they’ll also utilize them as effectively as possible.

So where does that leave SEOs? What do we need to do to evolve in the AI era?

I’m growing increasingly certain that a significant part of an SEO consultant’s role will become guidance for the effective implementation of AI to support client efforts. That will likely include suggesting the best AI models, prompts, and aiding in the choice of soon-to-be ubiquitous SaaS SEO DIY platforms, providing third-party oversight to ensure AI processes are delivering smart recommendations (heaven knows that’s required), or combining that oversight with careful implementation of AI suggestions by an expert hand (the ideal solution for clients).

Many of these additions to the SEO role are already underway.

I’m seeing more businesses conducting their own SEO and competitive research at varying levels of competency. Sometimes our clients share their research findings with us, and the ideas aren’t half bad. We encourage everyone to use AI to inform themselves and learn more about their online marketing. If it doesn’t immediately help them, it at least helps them understand and appreciate what SEOs do.

Thankfully, I have yet to speak with any of our clients who have applied recommendations without first reviewing them with us. However, there’s no doubt that many businesses are implementing AI-generated SEO advice independently to cut outside expenses, and will continue to do so. Unfortunately, there’s always a chance that recommendations beyond the most basic could backfire and reduce search engine visibility instead of improving it. Heck, even Google’s documentation emphasizes the importance of human expertise and oversight in content creation and optimization.

Before long, I expect there will be enough horror stories of poor AI SEO DIY implementations that SEOs will be called upon to be a guiding light, at the very least.

So How Should an SEO Prepare for These Changes?

AI Immersion

If you haven’t already been spending untold hours testing and iterating with AI to build it into your SEO processes, you need to get on it yesterday.

There are so many aspects of AI that you need to experience to understand, appreciate, or simply recognize its limitations. Many times, I’ve spent countless hours testing, trying to utilize AI in ways it’s simply not capable of, and leaving my computer in a fit of frustration.

The thing is, I’m always convinced I can find a way to get it right, but I never really know if I can. Sometimes I don’t succeed, and I have to move on to another approach.

That’s the additionally frustrating part of AI: it’s a rabbit hole!

There always seem to be other ways of accomplishing what you’re trying to do, yet sometimes those ideas bear no fruit, and you find yourself another 20 to 100 hours behind your main objective.

At any rate, in my opinion, learning AI and recommending solutions to clients will take hands-on experience. You don’t want to be left behind without any insight into how to bend it to your will successfully.

If you’re wondering where to start with AI, I suggest buying a pro account with ChatGPT or Claude (my favorite) and trying to create actionable insights you can evaluate. The Search Engine Journal’s AI guide provides excellent starting points for SEO-specific applications.

Just ensure you never take what AI provides as gospel! Always verify the data it provides and review it thoroughly before acting upon it.

A diagram of the importance of reviewing an AI output and then refining before implementing it to any content.

Deepening Client Relationships

SEOs should also become even more familiar with their clients’ businesses so they can be more proactive and insightful with marketing advice.

Thankfully, it’s now easier than ever to do so at scale.

Ask AI to analyze their company and their competitors. Grab their buyer personas and dig into them. See if you can expand upon them, or use AI with an API from Semrush or Moz to enhance them for SEO purposes.

AI has given SEOs a mind-blowing, endlessly malleable toolset we can use to explore our clients’ worlds. Use these new insights to your advantage and become an irreplaceable part of your clients’ future plans.

Keep Your Nose Clean

SEOs should also realize that we’re approaching a time when your reputation as a provider of quality SEO services will mean more than ever—and I don’t just mean learning how to leverage your authority in SERPs (that’s next).

Anyone interested in hiring you or your company can now simply ask AI to research your business. Within minutes, an interested party can view a sentiment analysis of your results from publicly available information, discover your average pricing, verify whether your business claims are true, and more.

I’m quite hopeful this new method of reviewing vendors will cut bad vendors off from any income. With time, maybe the SEO industry will be whittled down to the most reliable providers and only a small percentage of the bad actors that give us all a bad name.

Truly Own Your Expertise and Authority

It’s time for those of us who prefer to avoid the limelight to embrace it. We need to make it undeniable to the online world that we are experts in our field. This means connecting our credentials (video or podcast appearances, articles, press, education, etc.) to a single, canonical persona that AI and search engines can vet to determine our expertise, authority, and ultimately, trustworthiness. This aligns with Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines, which increasingly value demonstrable expertise.

I finally tackled this a couple of years ago, but only took it seriously these past few months by tying as many profiles and content pieces as possible to a single URL, RossDunn.com. This way, I have maximum control over my personal identity, and it’s business agnostic; important since I have a couple of companies, and I expect not all references I point here will be business related. My site is far from complete, but I feel great finally having built some momentum on this task.

I suggest all SEOs, from fellow entrepreneurs to employees, create their own personally controlled URL and begin this process immediately. This will remove your reliance on your bio at your current employer and give you the extra control you need to build out and own your online authority, no matter where you work. This also applies to any professional who wants to control their persona online.

As I mentioned, this will pay dividends when you change jobs, but it will also allow you to apply your hard-earned authority to content you create anywhere online.

A diagram showing the important connection between a person’s canonical bio site and their author page on any site

For example, if you decide to write for a third-party site and want to ensure your author profile there benefits from your authority, you only need to link to your bio site from your author page (using sameAs schema) and back to the author page from your bio site (“I am an author at [site name with URL to your bio]”). This closed loop demonstrates authenticity and will allow your pre-built authority to transfer to the new author page and corresponding content, while also passing any authority you gain from your writing back to your bio site.

Educating Clients

Lastly, I believe it’s our role, more than ever, to educate clients regularly on what they should and should not pay attention to online.

They’re being inundated with noise! Falsehoods, half-truths, and some genuinely great ideas abound. Sadly, there’s little doubt this is only going to get worse—much worse—as everyone and their dog tries to capture business by leveraging this AI boom of information and misinformation.

Be their rock.

Consider creating a client-only newsletter. Its purpose would be to clarify and guide them by sharing news you find insightful while clearly identifying what should be ignored. The Google Search Central Blog and Search Engine Land are excellent sources for verified updates worth sharing.

Adapt or Get Left Behind

I’m sure I’m missing numerous ways our jobs as SEOs are going to change, and I may update this article when more come to mind. That being said, I think this is plenty enough to get us started on the right path. The key is to begin adapting now, before the wave of change leaves us behind.

1. The Ghost of “Don’t Be Evil”: A Motto Lost to Time (and Profit)

• Birth of an Ideal: The “Don’t be evil” genesis is fascinating. Not some top-down marketing gimmick, but a ground-up sentiment, whispered among engineers like Paul Buchheit, the mind behind Gmail, sometime around the turn of the millennium. It was a subtle dig at the more established players, a self-imposed constraint, a moral checksum if you will. And it wasn’t confined to internal memos; it was enshrined in the 2004 IPO prospectus, a public declaration of prioritizing long-term societal benefit over fleeting financial gains, a pledge to keep search results pure and unbiased. A noble aspiration, indeed.

• The Cracks Begin to Show: Of course, even in those early days, not everyone was convinced. Some dismissed the motto as naive, even “stupid.” Yet, it served as a crucial internal counterbalance. The murmurs began to grow louder around 2012, as Google’s ambitions expanded, and user tracking became increasingly pervasive, particularly with the rise of Google Plus. Was this expansive data collection truly in the spirit of “not being evil?” The question hung in the digital air, unanswered.

• The Unofficial Retirement: The real turning point came in 2015 with the Alphabet restructuring, a corporate mitosis that birthed a new parent company for Google. Alphabet adopted the less provocative, more corporate-friendly “Do the right thing.” The shift was subtle but telling. The final nail in the coffin arrived between April and May 2018, when “Don’t be evil” was quietly excised from the preface of Google’s code of conduct, replaced by the more sterile “ethical business conduct.” It survived, clinging by a thread, as a mere footnote in the document.

• The Maven Scandal: This wasn’t simply a branding exercise; it was a reaction, perhaps even a cover. The removal coincided almost perfectly with the burgeoning controversy surrounding Project Maven, a military contract that saw Google developing AI for drone strikes. Employee outrage was palpable, leading to protests and resignations. The removal of the motto felt less like a natural evolution and more like a desperate attempt to distance itself from a rapidly escalating ethical crisis. A symbolic gesture, perhaps, but one that spoke volumes.

An important note from Ross Dunn about this article: it was recently discovered by Nate Hake on X that “Google is now selling a *literal* AI spam machine.”

Allow me to briefly explain: Google Labs has released “Opal”, a no-code AI app builder that says very clearly that “creators and marketers have also quickly adopted Opal to help them create custom content in a consistent, scalable way.” The Opal intro page clearly notes how the tool will “instantly generate optimized blog posts…”

This goes against Google’s own AI-generated content documentation. More on that at Search Engine Roundtable.

Now, I’ve been annoyed a lot as of late by Google’s questionable morality, so this news sparked me to use Opal’s handy Blog Post Writer app to create this very article.

I gave the app a fairly straight-forward prompt to write an article on how far Google has fallen since it dropped the “don’t be evil” motto; its many foibles and annoying lack of investment in services that truly help people but don’t support its bottom line (local business is a real sore spot for me).

This article was the result.

It is completely unedited (screenshot of original), which wasn’t easy for my OCD! Certain stats and points seem off such as Google’s annual income (not $200b/yr, but $350b/yr in 2024), it mentions stats in the helpful content update I can’t confirm… I even left in “SEO-optimized” despite the cringe.

The only change was to insert this section add the links to the sourced content wherever possible.

So, kudos Google!

You did a great job with Opal.

I really appreciated the slam-dunk image you built, too. Here it is in it’s full sized majesty.

Back to the article, created by Google Opal about Google’s questionable ethics.

2. Your Data, Their Treasure: Google’s Privacy Tightrope Walk

• The All-Seeing Eye: Let’s be frank: Google’s empire is built on data. It’s the lifeblood of its business model. They collect *everything*. Your search queries, your location history, your browsing habits, your app usage, even the inflections in your voice. The sheer scale is breathtaking, and much of it happens passively, invisibly, even when you believe you’re operating in a private, offline sphere.

• “Incognito” – More Like “Sorta-Cognito”: The very notion of privacy seems to be a commodity bartered for convenience within Google’s ecosystem. That comforting sense of anonymity offered by Incognito Mode? Apparently, even that was a mirage. A massive $5 billion lawsuit alleged that Google continued to track user activity even in Incognito mode, culminating in a recent settlement that mandates the deletion of billions of records and improved transparency. A stark reminder that in the digital realm, true invisibility is a rare and precious thing.

• Location, Location, Contradiction: The saga continues with location tracking. Even with “Location History” disabled, Google allegedly found alternative routes to monitor your movements through other settings, such as “Web & App Activity.” This led to a settlement with forty US states for a staggering $391.5 million over these deceptive practices. The question arises: Is our data truly ours to control, or are we merely tenants in Google’s digital panopticon?

• Kids’ Data & Data Breaches: The ethical implications become even more troubling when children are involved. YouTube Kids was slapped with a $170 million fine for illegally harvesting data from children under the age of 13 without parental consent. Then there’s the Google+ data breaches, where the private information of over 500,000 users was exposed, a breach that Google reportedly attempted to downplay initially.

• The Schmidt Doctrine: Perhaps the most chilling insight into Google’s data philosophy comes from a statement made by then-CEO Eric Schmidt in 2009: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” A sentiment that perfectly encapsulates the “surveillance capitalism” critique often leveled against Google, where our personal information is not just a commodity, but a form of currency in a transaction we never fully consented to.

3. King of the Hill: Google’s Endless Antitrust Battles

• The Monopoly Machine: Google’s dominance isn’t just about market share; it’s about control. It’s about wielding power in a way that stifles innovation and manipulates markets. Regulators around the world, particularly in the EU and the US, have taken notice, hitting Google with massive fines for abusing its monopolistic position.

• EU Slaps Galore: The European Union, in particular, has been a persistent thorn in Google’s side, levying over €8 billion in fines since 2010. Google Shopping was fined €2.4 billion for prioritizing its own service over competitors. Android faced a staggering €4.34 billion fine for blocking rivals on its mobile operating system. AdSense incurred a €1.49 billion penalty for restrictive advertising practices. The list goes on.

• America Catches Up: The United States is finally catching up, with the Department of Justice and numerous states launching multiple lawsuits against Google. In 2024, a judge ruled that Google had illegally monopolized online search and digital advertising by paying companies like Apple billions to remain the default search engine. This was followed by a 2025 ruling that found them guilty of illegally monopolizing the ad tech market.

• App Store Wars: Even its Google Play Store is under fire, with companies like Epic Games (Fortnite) and Match Group (Tinder) alleging monopolistic practices and mandatory billing systems. Google stands accused of “self-preferencing” its own products and crushing competition at every turn.

4. The Algorithm Ate My Business: When Google’s “Helpful” Becomes Harmful

• The Shifting Sands of Search: Google’s algorithms are in constant flux, a relentless dance of updates and tweaks, all supposedly aimed at rewarding “people-first” content. Algorithms like the “Helpful Content Update” (HCU) and various Core Updates (2023-2025) are supposed to promote quality and relevance. But in reality, these changes often have devastating consequences for legitimate businesses.

• Collateral Damage: Many businesses, through no fault of their own, have seen their organic traffic plummet by as much as 50-95% overnight, leading to catastrophic revenue losses. One owner of a fitness gear review site described his business as “completely shattered.” A harsh indictment of the often-unintended consequences of Google’s algorithmic tinkering.

• Why Good Businesses Get Burned:

  • Quantity over Quality: In the past, quantity was often rewarded. Businesses focused on churning out SEO-optimized content, articles that Google now deems “unhelpful” or “surface-level.”

  • Small Business Strain: Small businesses often lack the resources to continuously produce the deep, authoritative content that Google now demands, making them vulnerable to penalties for generic or outsourced material.

  • AI’s Double-Edged Sword: Google champions AI, yet generic, unedited, or low-effort AI-generated content is being penalized, catching some unsuspecting businesses in the crossfire.

• A Constant Treadmill: Google makes an average of 13 search system changes *per day*. Businesses are forced into a relentless, often confusing race to keep up, often guided by vague and shifting criteria. It’s a game where the rules are constantly being rewritten, and businesses are left to pick up the pieces.

5. The Wild West of Local Search: Google Business Profile Spam

• Rampant Fakes: Despite Google’s vast resources and sophisticated algorithms, the local search ecosystem, particularly Google Business Profiles (GBP), is rife with spam. We’re talking keyword-stuffed business names, fake “ghost” listings, duplicate profiles, and a deluge of fabricated reviews.

• A Losing Battle?: Google claims to be fighting back. In 2020, they removed 3 million fake GBP profiles and 55 million policy-violating reviews. In 2022, they removed 20 million. Their AI systems are supposedly blocking millions more. Yet, local SEO experts confirm that spam has been “prevalent... for a long time,” with a significant portion of users reporting an *increase* in spam activity.

• The Hypocrisy of Ad Spend: Here’s the rub: Google pours “mountains of money” into its advertising capabilities, which generate the vast majority of its $200+ billion annual revenue. They have sophisticated AI to ensure ad quality and block fraudulent ads. But the integrity of *free* platforms like GBP, which are crucial for small businesses, seems to be a lower priority, forcing legitimate businesses to waste time reporting spam. It creates unfair competition, distorts search results, and erodes consumer trust.

6. Ethical Crossroads: From Worker Rights to AI Morality

• Workplace Woes: Google’s internal landscape hasn’t been without its storms. The 2018 global walkout, involving 20,000 employees protesting sexual harassment payouts to executives, sent shockwaves through the company. Allegations of retaliation against employees who dare to speak up continue to surface. There have even been NLRB complaints about surveilling and firing workers for engaging in activism, such as protesting Google’s collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

• Contractor Class Divide: The company also faces criticism for its “two-tier” system, where temporary, vendor, and contractor (TVC) workers often receive fewer benefits for similar work, fostering anxiety and stifling dissent. A stark reminder that even within the walls of a technological behemoth, inequality can persist.

• The AI Ethics Exodus: This is where the ghost of “Don’t be evil” truly haunts Google. The controversial departures of leading AI ethicists like Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell sent a clear signal that the company’s commitment to ethical AI development may be wavering. These individuals were allegedly fired or pushed out for research that raised concerns about bias in Google’s AI systems.

• AI for War, Not Peace: Most recently, in 2025, Google quietly *removed* previous commitments from its AI Principles that restricted developing AI for military applications or technologies causing overall harm. This move, coinciding with projects like Project Nimbus (a cloud computing contract with the Israeli government and military), further highlights a significant shift from its original ethical stance.

So, what are we to make of a company that once championed “Don’t be evil” but now finds itself embroiled in constant legal battles, privacy scandals, and accusations of algorithmic harm and ethical compromises? The idealistic startup of yesteryear is gone, replaced by a multi-faceted conglomerate operating under the banner of “Do the right thing.”

But is “doing the right thing” synonymous with “not being evil?” For many, the answer is a resounding no. As Google faces ongoing antitrust lawsuits around the world, increasing regulatory scrutiny (such as the UK’s 2025 probe into Google’s search dominance), and the ever-present challenge of balancing profit with the pervasive development of AI, its ethical tightrope walk is far from over. The real question isn’t whether Google *can* do the right thing, but whether it truly *wants* to – especially when “a little bit evil” seems to come with such substantial financial rewards.

The Anatomy of a Review Bombing Attack

Here’s how the scam typically works: Your business suddenly receives a flood of one-star reviews (often 10 to 20 or more) within a short timeframe. These aren’t your typical disgruntled customer complaints. Instead, they’re carefully orchestrated attacks using what appear to be legitimate Google accounts with established review histories.

Shortly after the negative reviews appear, you receive a phone call or message. The scammer, often claiming to be from overseas, explains that someone has “ordered” negative reviews against your business. They offer to remove them immediately for a fee, typically ranging from $250 to thousands ($100/review in some cases), payable only through cryptocurrency or other untraceable payment methods.

One business owner recently shared their harrowing experience: within hours, their Google Business Profile was bombarded with 16 one-star reviews. The scammer called immediately, claiming someone had ordered 50 negative reviews total. Feeling they had no choice, they paid $300 in cryptocurrency, and the reviews vanished, for now.

According to reporting from The New York Times, fraudsters are systematically extorting businesses for hundreds of dollars each by threatening to post fake negative reviews on Google Maps, with industry watchdog Fake Review Watch tracking more than 150 businesses worldwide targeted in this way.

Reddit’s small business communities have been flooded with similar accounts. One business owner posted: “Someone is blackmailing me over my Google Business Profile. They left 15 bad reviews and are demanding money ($300 at first).” Another reported on r/GoogleMyBusiness that scammers often use Pakistani phone numbers to post baseless negative reviews and then extort money to remove them.

Why This Scam Is So Effective

The effectiveness of this extortion scheme lies in its exploitation of three critical business vulnerabilities:

First, online reputation is everything in today’s digital marketplace. Studies show that 87% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, and a single star difference in rating can impact revenue by 5 to 9 percent. Business owners understand this reality all too well.

Second, Google’s review removal process, while improving, can take days or weeks to resolve. During that time, potential customers are seeing those damaging reviews and making decisions based on false information. For many small businesses operating on thin margins, even a few days of reduced customer traffic can be catastrophic.

Third, the scammers use sophisticated techniques to make their fake reviews appear legitimate. They employ aged accounts with review histories, vary the posting times, and sometimes even include specific (though fabricated) details about supposed negative experiences. This makes it harder for Google’s automated systems to immediately flag them as fraudulent.

The FBI’s 2024 Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Report shows extortion was among the top three cybercrimes by complaint volume, with cyber-enabled fraud accounting for nearly 83% of all losses reported and a staggering $16.6 billion in total reported losses across more than 859,000 complaints.

What You Should Do Instead of Paying

If you find yourself targeted by review extortionists, resist the urge to pay. Paying only encourages more attacks. Here’s your action plan:

1. Document Everything Immediately

Screenshot all fake reviews, including reviewer profiles and posting times. Record any phone calls (where legally permitted) or save all text/email communications with the extortionist. This evidence will be crucial for both Google and law enforcement.

2. Report to Google Using Their Merchant Extortion Form

Google has created a specific reporting mechanism for these situations. Use the Google Merchant Extortion Form to report the attack immediately. This form fast-tracks your case to Google’s specialized team handling extortion attempts.

According to Google’s official guidance, when filling out the form, you should provide:

• Screenshots of all fake reviews

• Any communication from the extortionist

• Timeline of when reviews appeared

• Payment demands made

Google specifically states: “If someone offers to post, remove, or update reviews in exchange for payment, this is a violation of Google policies. Document the interaction and report it to Google.”

3. Flag Individual Reviews

While waiting for Google’s response to your extortion report, flag each fake review individually through your Google Business Profile dashboard. Select “Flag as inappropriate” and choose the most relevant violation category.

4. File a Report with Law Enforcement

Extortion is a federal crime in many countries. Here’s how to report in your jurisdiction:

United States: File a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Include all documentation you’ve gathered. While individual cases might not result in immediate action, the FBI uses these reports to identify patterns and build cases against organized cybercrime rings.

Canada: Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre through their online reporting system at reportcyberandfraud.canada.ca. You can also call toll-free at 1-888-495-8501. The RCMP recently launched a new National Cybercrime and Fraud Reporting System to streamline these reports.

United Kingdom: Report to Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. You can report online or call 0300 123 2040 (Monday to Friday 8am-8pm). In Scotland, you should also report to Police Scotland by calling 101.

Australia: Report through ReportCyber, operated by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC). You can also contact the Australian Cyber Security Hotline at 1300 292 371. Additionally, report to Scamwatch to help warn others.

Additionally, contact your local police department to file a report. Having an official police report number can sometimes expedite Google’s review removal process.

5. Report to Consumer Protection Agencies

United States: The FTC’s new rule on fake reviews, which went into effect October 21, 2024, specifically prohibits the sale or purchase of fake reviews. While primarily targeting the perpetrators, reporting to the FTC helps build the case for stronger enforcement and platform accountability.

Canada: File a complaint with the Competition Bureau Canada if the extortion involves misleading or deceptive practices.

6. Respond Publicly (But Carefully)

While you cannot directly state you’re being extorted (this could escalate the situation), you can post a general response to the sudden influx of reviews. Something like: “We’ve noticed an unusual pattern of reviews posted on [date] that don’t align with our customer records. We’re working with Google to investigate this matter and ensure the authenticity of all reviews on our profile.”

7. Rally Your Genuine Customers

Contact your loyal customers through email or social media (not mentioning the extortion) and encourage them to share their genuine experiences. A surge of authentic positive reviews can help offset the impact while you work on removal.

Prevention Strategies

While you cannot completely prevent these attacks, you can minimize their impact:

Build Review Resilience: Consistently encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews. A business with 200 reviews will weather a 15-review attack better than one with only 20 reviews.

Monitor Your Profile Daily: Set up Google Alerts for your business name and check your Google Business Profile regularly. The faster you spot an attack, the quicker you can respond.

Maintain Customer Records: Keep detailed records of customer interactions. This documentation helps prove to Google that the reviews are fraudulent.

Create a Crisis Response Plan: Have contact information ready for Google support, law enforcement, and your web team. Know exactly what steps you’ll take if attacked.

The Bigger Picture

These review extortion schemes have exploded globally in 2024 and 2025. Businesses across the United States, Europe, Australia, and beyond are being targeted daily, with scammers operating primarily from overseas locations where prosecution is difficult.

Google has acknowledged the problem and claims to be implementing new detection systems and response protocols. However, the reality is that small businesses remain vulnerable while these improvements are rolled out. As one frustrated business owner posted on Reddit: “Google Maps is a lawless zone, rife with extortion gangs who had never been to your business.”

A Final Word of Caution

If you do pay the extortionist (and I strongly advise against it), understand that you’re likely to be targeted again. These scammers quite likely maintain lists of businesses that have paid, selling them to other criminal groups. One payment often leads to repeated extortion attempts.

Remember, legitimate review management never involves cryptocurrency payments or threats. If someone contacts you claiming they can remove negative reviews for a fee, or threatening to post negative reviews unless you pay, you’re dealing with a scammer.

The fight against review extortion requires all of us (business owners, platforms like Google, and law enforcement) to work together. By refusing to pay, reporting attacks promptly, and supporting fellow businesses facing these threats, we can make this crime less profitable and protect our online marketplace.

Stay vigilant, have a plan, and remember: your genuine customer relationships and authentic business practices will ultimately prevail over these criminal tactics.

This illegal activity should also give us pause when considering a company strictly by its star rating. If you are serious about finding a company to work with or buy from, dig deeper and remember that they may very well be victims of fake-review extortion.

Why does this matter for your SEO? Generative search engines (like Google’s AI Overviews and Perplexity) increasingly favour content with diverse media formats. If you’re not optimizing for these changes, you’re leaving rankings on the table.

Creating Data Visualizations That Google (and Users) Love

Let’s start with something every content creator needs: compelling charts and graphs. Instead of wrestling with Excel or paying for expensive visualization tools, you can generate professional data graphics in minutes.

Why Charts? Charts earn seconds you may otherwise have lost to the back button.

The Graph Creation Prompt That Works Every Time

Here’s a prompt to use with ChatGPT:

Prompt:

“Create a bar chart comparing [your data points]. Use these specific values: [list your data]. Make the chart clean and professional with clear labels. Include a title that says ‘[Your Title]’ and use colours that are accessible for colorblind viewers. Format as a table first.”

Example:

Let’s say I need to very simply visualize SEO ranking improvements for a client presentation, I could use:

“Create a bar chart comparing organic traffic growth across 4 quarters. Use these values: Q1: 12,000 visits, Q2: 18,500 visits, Q3: 24,200 visits, Q4: 31,000 visits. Make the chart clean with a title ‘Organic Traffic Growth 2024’ and use blue gradient colours. Format as a table first.”

The AI provided the formatted data table and step-by-step instructions for creating the chart in Google Sheets. Total time invested: 3 minutes. The result was simple, but accurate and a graphical cue for content. Sure, I could have created this with a spreadsheet, but not in 3 minutes.

Why This Matters for Rankings

Search engines can now understand and index chart data when properly formatted. By including the data table alongside your visual (which the AI prompt provides), you’re giving search engines structured information they can parse while providing users with an engaging visual experience.

Note: If you don’t want to embed the table, that’s perfectly fine. The chart itself will improve the look and feel of your content. If you’d prefer to include but hide the table because it is unsightly, you could always use an accordion-style layout and make the image in the first tab (open by default) and the table in the closed section; this way data that made up the chart is still available for crawlers. Sorry, I couldn’t demonstrate that within Substack.

Below is an alternative to using ChatGPT: using Graphy.app to generate a graph. You could just screenshot a simple free account chart designed in Graphy, but you would miss out on the interactivity of embedding the chart using Graphy’s embed code; the screenshot below shows what you see if you hover over a bar in an interactive Graphy chart.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t embed it because I don’t have a paid account. I haven’t tested to see if this interactivity includes the benefits of SEO friendliness, but it sure is a step up from a static graphic!

The thing is, you would need the data already in a table first, before being able to create the chart in Graphy, so it isn’t a 3-minute task, unlike ChatGPT.

Consider this a premium-tier option.

Turn Your Articles into Video Content with NotebookLM

Google’s NotebookLM recently launched a feature that should be in every content creator’s toolkit: automatic video creation from your existing content. This isn’t just text-to-speech; it creates engaging, narrated video overviews with visual elements.

Did you know? According to Wyzowl’s 2025 Video Marketing Statistics report, 89% of businesses now use video as a marketing tool, with 82% of video marketers reporting that video has helped them increase web traffic.

How to Use NotebookLM’s Video Overview Feature

1. Upload your article or document to NotebookLM

2. Click on “Generate Video Overview”

3. Wait 5-20 minutes for processing.

4. Download the video for embedding in your content.

The system automatically identifies key points, creates relevant visuals, and adds professional narration.

As a perfect example, I utilized NoteboookLM to create a video of this very article.

It isn’t perfection, but it’s definitely close enough.

NotebookLM Video Placement Tips

Position these videos strategically within your content. I’ve found the best placement is after your introduction (to hook visual learners) or as a summary at the end. If you can, include a link to a text transcript below the video for accessibility and additional SEO value.

Remember to optimize your video file names and add proper schema markup. Search engines can’t watch videos, but they can read the metadata and surrounding context you provide.

Creating Infographics from Existing Content

Your best-performing articles are goldmines for infographic creation. Instead of starting from scratch, use AI to transform your existing content into shareable visual assets.

Why Infographics? When shoppers compare options, visuals win. Infographics turn skim into understanding.

58% of B2B buyers say infographics are among the most valuable content types in the early stage of the buying journey (up from 42% the year prior). src. DemandGen

61% of consumers say infographics help them retain information better.
src DemandSage

The Infographic Generation Prompt

Master Prompt:

“Transform this article into an infographic outline with 5-7 key sections. For each section, provide: 1) A compelling header, 2) 2-3 bullet points with specific data or tips, 3) Suggested icon or visual element. Keep text minimal and focus on the most impactful information. Format this so I can easily input it into Canva or Piktochart.”

Working Example:

I asked Piktochart.com to create an infographic based on the content in this article. Here is the process I used:

1. I created a free account and clicked on the AI generator option.

2. I selected the tab where I can paste my article content, then, in the additional notes section, I said I wanted it to create an infographic based on this article’s title (I pasted the title there).

3. I chose a style and immediately was able to see how the infographic would look with my content.

4. I downloaded it. And below is the result.

Now, this infographic is exceedingly basic… it only basically, and literally, qualifies as an infographic. If I really wanted this to be an infographic worth sharing, I would first use AI to generate the ideal data for Piktochart to build with. Here is what I might use for a complex audit I did and wanted to share with the world:

“Transform this technical SEO audit process into an infographic with 6 sections: Site Speed, Mobile Optimization, Crawlability, Content Quality, Link Profile, and Technical Health. For each section, extract the most critical action items and one key statistic.”

The AI would then produce a perfectly structured outline that I could drop into Piktochart’s AI infographic maker. With data so well structured, the infographic quality would be much higher if I had a paid account.

Distribution Strategy for Infographics

Don’t just embed the infographic and forget about it. Create multiple versions:

• Full-size for your article

• Square format for Instagram

• Horizontal layout for LinkedIn

• Individual sections as carousel posts

Each version extends your content’s reach and creates additional indexable assets for search engines. You just might have to pay for a pro account at Piktochart, or your infographic creator of choice, to do this.

BONUS TIP: NotebookLM can also create mindmaps in seconds. They are super cool and easy to fan out in any way you wish. When you get to a place you like, you can easily download a snapshot and post it to your article. Here is an example:

Your Practical Implementation Checklist

Before you dive in, here’s your action plan:

• Work on your top 10 performing articles - These are prime candidates for multimedia enhancement

• Start with data-heavy content - Articles with statistics or comparisons work best for initial graph creation

• Test NotebookLM on one article - Choose something 1,500-2,000 words for optimal video length

• Create one infographic per month - Focus on evergreen content that will generate long-term value

• Track engagement metrics - Monitor time on page, scroll depth, and social shares before and after adding multimedia

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Through testing these approaches with dozens of clients, I’ve identified several mistakes that can sabotage your efforts:

1. Over-automation syndrome: While AI tools are powerful, don’t let them run wild. Always review and refine the output. I’ve seen catastrophic results when people blindly publish AI-generated charts with incorrect data labels.

2. Ignoring mobile optimization: That beautiful infographic might look stunning on desktop, but if it’s unreadable on mobile (where 60% of searches occur), you’ve wasted your time. Always test visual content on multiple devices.

3. Forgetting accessibility: Include alt text for all images, provide transcripts for videos, and ensure colour contrasts meet WCAG guidelines. This isn’t just good practice; it directly impacts your SEO performance.

The Competitive Advantage Nobody Talks About

Here’s what most SEO guides won’t tell you: multimedia content creates a compound effect. When you add relevant visuals, users spend more time on your page. This improved engagement signals to search engines that your content satisfies user intent. The result? Better rankings, which drive more traffic, which improves engagement metrics further.

I’ve watched clients move from page 3 to page 1 simply by enriching their existing content with appropriate multimedia elements. No link-building campaigns, no technical overhauls - just strategic visual enhancement using these AI tools.

Tools and Resources

For those ready to implement these strategies, here are the specific tools I recommend:

For Graphs and Charts:

• Claude AI or ChatGPT for prompt processing

• Google Sheets for chart creation (free)

• Graphy.app for more advanced visualizations

For Video Creation:

• NotebookLM (free with Google account)

• Video transcription: YouTube’s automatic captions

For Infographics:

• Piktochart AI (free tier available)

• Canva with Magic Design feature

• Venngage AI generator: my test of this created a far more robust infographic, with many options for editing. I really liked it, but it would take a fair bit of editing to make it shareable, and it was nowhere near as graphical as Piktochart. Unfortunately, the better quality options that were graphical were not available for the free tier. All-in-all, though, I do believe this to be the better choice if you go premium.

• Coming Soon: NotebookLM is apparently coming out with an infographics tool that will generate visuals from notes, but it has not yet been released. I hope this comes soon, since I’ve been very impressed with NotebookLM’s capabilities thus far.

Moving Forward

The gap between content with multimedia and text-only pages will only widen as search engines become more sophisticated. Generative search engines already show a preference for content that provides multiple formats and perspectives. By implementing these AI-powered techniques now, you’re positioning your content for both current and future search landscapes.

Start with one piece of content this week. Choose your best-performing article, add a data visualization using the prompts I’ve provided, and monitor the results. Once you see the impact (and you will), scale the approach across your content library.

Remember, the goal isn’t to add multimedia for its own sake. Every visual element should enhance understanding, improve user experience, or provide information in a more digestible format. When you achieve that balance, both users and search engines reward your efforts.

The tools are free, the prompts are proven, and the potential impact on your rankings is significant. What’s stopping you from transforming your content today?

Here’s how Google decides whether your website deserves to rank well: it evaluates your site almost exactly like an employer sizing up a job candidate.

Think about it. When you’re hiring someone, you don’t just check one box and hand them the job. You verify their credentials, assess whether they’re actually good at what they do, and determine if you can trust them to represent your company.

Google does the same thing with websites.

Google needs to know who you are, like what you’re offering, and trust that you’re legitimate before it’s willing to put you in front of searchers. Most businesses obsess over just one of these elements and then wonder why their rankings never improve.

The truth is, you need all three working together.

KNOW: Google needs to verify you’re a real business

Google starts by confirming your identity, just like an employer checks your resume and references.

Your business information (name, address, phone number) needs to match everywhere it appears online. If your website says one thing, your Google Business Profile says another, and your directory listings show something different, Google gets suspicious.

We (us geeky SEOs) call this NAP consistency, which just means keeping your contact details identical across the web.

You also need to pass Google’s verification process, which often involves recording a video showing your actual location, your signage, and proof that you manage the business.

If you operate in multiple locations, create dedicated landing pages for each one that Google’s software can easily read and understand (we call this making pages crawlable).

Whatever you do, if you have multiple locations (just reiterating that distinction), don’t redirect visitors from one location page to another or send them to some generic page. I’ve seen this cause catastrophic results for multi-location businesses.

Make sure Google’s bots can access your site without obstacles. Remove CAPTCHA challenges (those “prove you’re human” tests), IP blocks, login requirements, or anything else that might stop Google’s automated crawlers from reading your pages.

These crawlers are just programs that visit and analyze your website.

You should also back up your business claims with structured data (special code that helps Google understand your information) and get references from authoritative third-party sources.

LIKE: Google needs to see you’re valuable to users

Once Google knows you’re real, it evaluates whether you’re actually good at what you do. This is where an employer would assess your skills and personality fit.

For websites, Google looks at whether you’re creating helpful content that answers real questions and solves actual problems for searchers.

Your site needs to work beautifully on mobile devices and offer visually engaging formats that people enjoy using.

Take full advantage of your Google Business Profile by encouraging reviews, posting stories, and showcasing user-generated content like customer photos.

Build an accessible, positive public image. If your business focuses on sustainability or inclusion, highlight those attributes because Google values this information when determining whether searchers will appreciate your site.

TRUST: Google needs proof you’re credible

This is the final evaluation, just like an employer checking your references and doing a background check. Google wants to see that other people vouch for you.

Collect reviews and testimonials on Google and other trusted platforms that demonstrate real customer engagement. These reviews show Google that actual people interact with your business and have positive things to say.

Earn mentions and links from reputable, industry-relevant websites. These citations act as votes of confidence for your business.

Keep your verification current and provide ongoing signals that prove you’re legitimate by maintaining business documents and continuously monitoring your Google Business Profile.

Make it easy for users to take action directly from Google, whether that’s calling you, getting directions, or making a reservation, without jumping through hoops.

The Website Owner’s Bottom Line

The websites ranking well in search results aren’t just optimizing for search terms. They’re building genuine authority across all three areas simultaneously because they understand that Google’s evaluation process works like any business relationship.

When you nail the technical foundation (know), create valuable content (like), and earn credible trust signals from other sources (trust), that’s when you start seeing real visibility, traction, and conversion for your business.

Which of these three areas needs your attention first?

If you’ve ever wondered how Google finds your website or how ChatGPT learned to write like a human, the answer starts with something called a web crawler.

Think of a web crawler as a digital librarian that visits websites, reads their content, and takes notes.

These automated programs (also called bots or spiders) work 24/7, hopping from link to link across the internet, collecting information for search engines, AI training, and other purposes.

Here’s a simple example: When you publish a new blog post, Google’s crawler (called Googlebot) eventually visits your site, reads that post, and adds it to Google’s massive index; visit this for the more detailed version.

That’s how your content shows up when someone searches for topics you’ve written about.

Why We Need Rules for Crawlers

A well-behaved crawler is like a polite guest who knocks before entering and doesn’t overstay their welcome.

A badly-behaved crawler can be catastrophic, essentially hammering your server with so many requests that your website slows to a crawl or crashes entirely (taking your business offline in the process).

With the explosion of AI companies training their models on web content, crawler traffic has increased dramatically.

Some website owners have reported their servers getting pounded by dozens of different AI crawlers and various bots, each one gobbling up bandwidth and computing resources without asking permission.

It’s like having uninvited guests show up to your house party, eat all your food, and leave without saying thank you.

“For the first time in a decade, automated traffic surpassed human activity, accounting for 51% of all web traffic” (src. Thales)

Partly because of this, Cloudflare, a global cloud services company that provides security, performance, and reliability solutions for websites, has been very publicly trying to control the access AI crawlers have to its websites.

Cloudflare is even backing a method of being paid in exchange for allowing AI to utilize the content on your website; it’s called the RSL Collective (sign up for free!).

Reddit, People Inc., Yahoo, Internet Brands, Ziff Davis, Fastly, Quora, O’Reilly Media, and Medium among first to support new Really Simple Licensing (RSL) standard, available to any website for free today, to define licensing, usage, and compensation terms for AI crawlers and agents. (src. RSL Standard)

With all of that said, three people (Gary Illyes, Dr. Mirja Kühlewind, and AJ Kohn) have taken another direction.

They drafted new best practices for crawler operators under the umbrella of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). These guidelines aim to create a voluntary standard that separates the good crawlers from the bad ones.

Let’s break down what really matters in this “Crawler best practices” document.

The Six Rules That Actually Matter

1. Respect the Robots.txt File

Every website can create a file called robots.txt (it sits at yoursite.com/robots.txt) that tells crawlers which parts of the site they can and cannot visit. It’s essentially a “Do Not Enter” sign for specific areas of your website.

The new guidelines make it clear: all crawlers must respect this file. Period. If you tell a crawler not to access your private customer portal or your staging site, it should listen. Sadly, not all crawlers follow this rule today, which is exactly why this document matters.

Additionally, crawlers need to respect something called the X-robots-tag in the HTTP header (technical instructions your server sends with each page). This gives you another way to control crawler access, especially if you don’t want to use a robots.txt file.

2. Identify Yourself Clearly

Imagine someone knocking on your door wearing a mask.

You probably wouldn’t let them in, right? The same principle applies to crawlers.

Every crawler must include a clear identifier in something called the user-agent string (essentially the crawler’s name tag). This identifier should tell you who operates the crawler and provide a link to more information. For example, Google’s crawler identifies itself and links to a page explaining what it does.

The name should make it obvious who owns the crawler and what it’s doing. If a crawler is collecting data to train an AI model, it should say so. No hiding behind vague names or anonymous identities.

3. Don’t Break the Website

This is the big one.

Crawlers must include logic that backs off when they detect they’re causing problems.

If your server starts returning error messages (like the dreaded 503 “Service Unavailable” error), the crawler should slow down or stop entirely.

Smart crawlers go even further.

They monitor how long your server takes to respond and adjust their speed accordingly. If responses that normally take 100 milliseconds suddenly take 2 seconds, that’s a sign the server is struggling.

The guidelines also recommend that crawlers:

• Avoid crawling during your peak traffic hours (if a crawler can estimate when those are)

• Do not send multiple requests for the same page simultaneously

• Limit how deeply they dig into your site to prevent getting stuck in loops

• Stay away from areas that require login, have CAPTCHAs, or sit behind paywalls (unless you’ve given explicit permission)

• Stick to simple GET requests rather than POST or PUT requests (technical jargon for different ways of requesting web pages)

• Be careful about running JavaScript, which can put a significant load on your server

Think of it this way: a polite crawler is like a guest who knocks before entering, stays in the rooms you’ve said are okay to visit, and doesn’t slam all your doors repeatedly until the hinges break.

4. Use Caching Properly

Caching is like taking a photograph instead of visiting the same place repeatedly.

If a crawler visited your homepage yesterday and you haven’t updated it, there’s no reason for it to download the entire page again today.

Websites can send caching instructions that tell crawlers “this page doesn’t change often, so you don’t need to check it again for a week.”

Crawlers must respect these instructions, which reduces unnecessary traffic to your site and saves everyone time and resources.

5. Publish Your IP Addresses

This requirement is new and particularly important.

Crawler operators must publish a list of the IP addresses (the unique numbers that identify computers on the internet) they use for crawling.

This list needs to be in a standardized format and kept reasonably up to date.

A crawler’s IP address helps website owners verify that it is who it claims to be.

Some malicious bots pretend to be Google’s crawler to bypass security measures.

If Google publishes its official IP addresses, you can check whether traffic claiming to be Googlebot actually comes from Google’s servers.

The IP address list should be linked from the crawler’s documentation page and included in the page’s metadata (information about the page that’s readable by machines).

6. Explain What You’re Doing with the Data

Transparency is critical.

Every crawler must provide a documentation page (linked in its user-agent string) that explains:

• How the collected data will be used (indexing for search? Training an AI model? Market research?)

• How to block the crawler using robots.txt (with specific examples)

• How to verify the crawler’s identity

• Contact information for the crawler’s operator

If the crawler operator has chosen not to follow any of these best practices, they must explain why on their documentation page.

This is about respect and informed consent. Website owners deserve to know who’s taking their content and what they’re doing with it.

Update: Here is a great example of how bots/crawlers (not necessarily interchangeable) can have negative effects on websites. This may not have caused any site speed issues (or maybe it did), but it did skew valuable data.

Your Takeaway

If you own a website, these guidelines give you more control and protection.

You’ll have clearer ways to identify legitimate crawlers and block problematic ones.

You will also have better tools to prevent crawlers from overwhelming your server and causing downtime.

If you operate a crawler, following these voluntary practices marks you as a responsible player in the ecosystem.

It builds trust with website owners and reduces the likelihood that your crawler will get blocked.

The internet works because of cooperation.

Search engines need content to index, AI companies need data to train their models, and website owners need visitors to sustain their businesses.

Assuming these voluntary guidelines are approved and they are adopted, they will help maintain that balance by ensuring crawlers behave like good citizens rather than digital vandals.

I immediately felt a kinship with this person because, in the past 28+ years, I’ve run into this issue multiple times. It is easy to run out of steam and feel bone-tired from the drudgery of doing the same thing day in and day out.

In my case, I have been lucky enough to change aspects of my employment to keep things interesting because I’m the owner. I’m blessed to have excellent staff who can take on tasks that I have no interest in anymore. But even that doesn’t make up for the overall weariness of being in the same business for a long time.

Reconnect With Your “Why”

So, my answer has always been to reconnect with what drives my passion: the people and the technology. I thrive off the positive impact our clients receive from our services, and I sometimes get so disconnected doing the day-to-day work that I forget to reconnect with the results that I sometimes take for granted.

Here’s what I mean: when you’re buried in spreadsheets analyzing keyword rankings, optimizing meta descriptions (the title and description that appear in search results), or troubleshooting technical issues like crawl errors (when search engines can’t access your pages properly), it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. You forget that the work you’re doing is directly impacting someone’s livelihood.

That restaurant owner who’s now fully booked on weekends? Your local SEO work made that happen.

The e-commerce site that’s finally competing with the big players? Your technical optimization and content strategy got them there.

The service business that had to hire three new employees to handle the influx of calls? That’s your doing.

I suggested to the Reddit poster that he reconnect with the impact his work is making on his clients, just in case those successes drive him as well. Sometimes we need to step back from the technical minutiae and remember that we’re not just moving numbers on a graph; we’re changing businesses and, by extension, people’s lives.

If you’re feeling burnt out, try this: schedule a call with your three most successful clients. Don’t make it about upselling or reporting. Just ask them how their business has changed since you started working together. Listen to their stories. Let them remind you why your work matters.

Embrace the Evolution (Even When It’s Exhausting)

The other part of my career that reignites my passion is the never-ending changes in tactics and technology. It is invigorating to stretch the mind continually and apply new marketing methods after learning them.

Think about how much has changed just in the past several years. The industry has largely moved from obsessing over exact-match keywords to understanding search intent (what the user is actually trying to accomplish). It has evolved from basic link building to sophisticated digital PR strategies. It has moved from desktop-first to mobile-first indexing (Google now primarily uses the mobile version of your site for ranking). And now we’re all navigating the seismic shift of AI integration into search results and SEO workflows.

Each of these changes represents an opportunity to learn something new, to experiment, and to gain a competitive advantage for your clients. When Core Web Vitals (Google’s metrics for page speed and user experience) became a ranking factor, those of us who dove in early and mastered the technical aspects had a genuine edge. When AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude AI emerged, early adopters found ways to streamline research, content outlining, and competitive analysis.

Don’t get me wrong, never-ending is definitely a form of wear in itself. I’ve thought more times than I can count that I wish I were at the stage of retirement before AI came into the SEO mix. After all, it is a BIG change, one that’s fundamentally altering how we approach content creation, keyword research, and even how search engines deliver results.

But here’s the thing: If you chose SEO as a career, you probably have a natural curiosity about how things work. You likely enjoy problem-solving and figuring out puzzles. Our industry’s constant evolution feeds that curiosity, even when it feels overwhelming.

Practical Steps to Reignite Your Passion

If you’re feeling the burnout creeping in, here are some concrete actions you can take:

1. Delegate or eliminate the soul-crushing tasks. If you’re spending hours on repetitive work that doesn’t challenge you, find ways to automate it or hand it off. There are countless tools now that can handle routine reporting, rank tracking, and basic audits. Free up your mental energy for the strategic work that actually engages your brain.

2. Learn something completely new within SEO. If you’ve been focused on content and on-page optimization (improving individual pages for search), dive into technical SEO. Learn about server response times (TTFB or Time To First Byte, which measures how quickly your server responds), schema markup (code that helps search engines understand your content), or JavaScript rendering. If you’re a technical SEO, explore the content and psychology side. The cross-pollination of skills can be remarkably refreshing.

3. Connect with other SEO professionals. The Reddit poster reached out to a community, which was a smart move. Whether it’s online forums, local meetups, or industry conferences, talking with peers who understand your challenges can be incredibly energizing. You’ll discover new approaches, commiserate over shared frustrations, and remember that you’re part of a larger community.

4. Take on a passion project. Build your own site in a niche you genuinely care about. Whether it’s a hobby, a cause you believe in, or just an experiment to test new tactics, having a project where you control all the variables and can see direct results from your efforts can reignite that spark. Plus, you’ll learn lessons you can apply to client work.

TIP: Remember to set boundaries to prevent burnout before it happens. I’ve had to learn this the hard way over and over again; I’m a bit thick that way. The SEO industry rewards those who stay on top of every algorithm update and emerging trend, but you can’t sustain that pace indefinitely. Give yourself permission to step away, not read every industry blog post, and take actual vacations where you don’t check rankings.

The Opportunity in Front of Us

So, I hope this person, along with anyone else feeling exhausted in the SEO industry, finds a way to reignite their passion. It is a phenomenal time to be in this business if you love to challenge yourself and make a real difference for businesses.

Yes, the landscape is more complex than ever. Yes, AI is disrupting our established workflows and forcing us to rethink our approaches. Yes, Google’s algorithm updates can sometimes feel like they’re specifically designed to give us gray hair.

But consider this: businesses need our expertise more than ever. The digital landscape is so complex now that the average business owner is completely overwhelmed. They don’t understand the difference between organic search and paid ads. They don’t know why their site isn’t ranking or how to fix technical issues that are holding them back. They’re terrified of AI replacing their visibility online.

We have the knowledge and experience to guide them through this complexity. We can be the steady hand that helps them navigate algorithm changes, adopt new technologies strategically, and build sustainable organic traffic that doesn’t disappear when their ad budget runs out.

That’s not just a job. That’s a valuable service that has real-world impact.

If you’re nine years in and feeling burnt out, you’re at a critical juncture. You have enough experience to be genuinely skilled, but you’re not so far in that change feels impossible. This is actually the perfect time to reassess what aspects of SEO light you up and which ones drain you, then make intentional choices about your career direction.

Maybe you transition from agency work to in-house, where you can go deep with one brand instead of juggling multiple clients. Maybe you specialize in a particular industry or type of SEO that fascinates you. Maybe you start teaching or consulting, sharing your knowledge in a different format. Maybe you double down on the technical challenges and become the go-to expert for complex migrations and audits.

The point is, you have options. SEO burnout doesn’t have to mean leaving the industry. It can mean reshaping your relationship with it.

After 28+ years, I can tell you that the passion ebbs and flows. There are seasons where I’m energized by every new challenge and seasons where I’m struggling to stay engaged. The key is recognizing which season you’re in and taking intentional steps to shift back toward engagement.

Reconnect with your impact. Embrace the learning opportunities, even when they’re exhausting. Find your community. And remember why you got into this field in the first place: because you’re good at solving puzzles, you enjoy the challenge, and somewhere along the way, you discovered you could make a real difference for businesses.

That’s worth holding onto.

Why? Generally, AI results handle the tire-kickers and window shoppers.

You know, the people who are just browsing or looking for quick answers.

When people are ready to make a significant purchase decision, they dig past the AI summaries and visit websites to get the full story, read reviews, compare options, and ultimately buy.

Serious decisions require serious research, and that means visiting actual websites when it counts.

But wait, didn’t ChatGPT just launch Instant Checkout?

Yes, in the USA, ChatGPT users can now purchase products within the ChatGPT environment without visiting a website, which appears to complicate my previous explanation.

However, I did say significant purchase decisions would likely incentivize people to do more homework and visit websites.

Unfortunately, I think it’s fair to say that businesses that sell lower-cost items will see less traffic to their websites due to Instant Checkout. It’s my estimation that the less something costs, the less likely people are to do as much research, and they will be more open to checking out (pun intended) and following the AI’s suggestion.

In that case, those business owners will have to hope they have built the necessary authority to be in ChatGPT’s pick of vendors (I’ll cover that in another post).

Time will tell if enough people become comfortable relying on AI shopping assistance for higher ticket items. If they do, the future need for a company website will change faster than expected.

Technically, we call this process of taking a single question and exploring many related queries to create a comprehensive answer, query fan-out.

If you’d like a real-world example of how query fan-out works, consider this.

When you tell yourself, “I need to pack for vacation,” your brain doesn’t just think about one thing. It automatically explodes into a checklist:

• What’s the weather like there?

• How many days am I going?

• Will I need workout clothes?

• What about phone chargers?

• Do I have enough toiletries?

• Should I bring fancy shoes or just sneakers?

You’re mentally checking your closet, the weather app, your itinerary, and past travel experiences all at once - then you synthesize everything into one packed suitcase.

Google’s AI Mode works the same way.

You ask one question, and Google’s AI system automatically breaks it into dozens of sub-questions, then actually searches multiple sources in Google’s index simultaneously (web pages, maps, shopping, videos), and packages everything into one answer.

The key difference?

You pack one suitcase in over 30 minutes. Google’s AI “packs” one answer from hundreds of sources in a few milliseconds to seconds.

The best part is that now that you understand this, I have great news!

This is how all AI search works right now, except they usually check their own databases before providing a comprehensive answer.

Moving Forward

Now that you understand how AI search actually works, hopefully you don’t see it as magic and you can see it for what it is: another evolution in how people find information online. And like every evolution before it, the businesses that understand the mechanics are the ones that figure out how to make it work for them.

Thanks for grokking with me - Ross

For those who don’t know me (most of you, I imagine), my name is Ross Dunn. I have been practicing SEO since 1997; before it was called SEO. At that time, I created a business that I’m the CEO of now, StepForth Web Marketing Inc. Ever since, we have helped countless small and medium-sized companies attract and convert more business from their websites.

In the 2000s, StepForth had a blog with fresh content written multiple times a week. In addition, we had an active newsletter that reached thousands of subscribers eager to stay ahead of the constantly shifting SEO landscape. Back then, Google algorithm updates were called Google Dances, but they often felt like earthquakes; sudden, unpredictable, and capable of reshaping entire businesses overnight.

But life got busier, priorities shifted, and like many well-intentioned content initiatives, our regular publishing schedule fell by the wayside. I’ve missed it, honestly. There’s something uniquely valuable about sharing knowledge in real-time, capturing insights as they emerge rather than waiting until everything is “perfectly polished.”

That’s what the SEO Dunn is all about: getting back to that rhythm of sharing, teaching, and yes, learning alongside you.

What You Can Expect

This Substack will be a mix of quick-hit insights and deeper dives. Some posts will be brief observations about algorithm changes or tool updates I’m testing. Others will be comprehensive guides walking through complex topics like technical SEO audits, content optimization strategies, or the emerging world of AI-powered search (think ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s Search Generative Experience).

I’ll share real examples from client work (anonymized, of course), competitive analysis techniques that actually work, and the occasional cautionary tale about SEO disasters I’ve witnessed over nearly three decades in this industry.

Why Now?

SEO is undergoing its most significant transformation since Google became the dominant search engine. AI is fundamentally changing how people search for information, how search engines deliver results, and what it means to “rank well.” AI SEO isn’t just a fad; it’s becoming essential for businesses that want to remain visible in an AI-first search landscape.

After 28 years in this field, I’m more excited about SEO than I’ve been in a long time. And I want to bring you along for the ride.

Let’s practice SEO together.

- Ross

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