As I delve into the ongoing data battles, I’m struck by how they’re reshaping the AI landscape and the answers we rely on. It’s fascinating to observe the pivotal deals, restrictions, and lawsuits that are creating a fragmented visibility landscape in AI.
This journey through 2023 to 2026 reveals how platform shifts are altering the way data access impacts AI answers. Each step is integral to understanding the changing dynamics of this tech-driven era.
Inspired by this post on HiGoodie Blog.
As someone deeply engaged in the world of AI, I’m excited to share how leading agencies are empowering brands to achieve AI visibility, optimize LLM citations, and maintain discoverability across tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.
These expert agencies are paving the way for businesses to thrive in an AI-driven landscape, ensuring brands don’t just survive but excel in AI search environments.
Inspired by this post on HiGoodie Blog.
As I delve into the world of social media, I’ve realized the game-changing potential of choosing the right agency. A social media agency that specializes in AEO, or Answer Engine Optimization, can make a world of difference for brands like mine. By turning ordinary social content into AI-enhanced visibility, citations, and growth, these agencies help elevate our online presence to new heights.
Picture this: content I share on social media isn’t just engaging with my current audience. With AEO strategies, it’s also becoming more discoverable to a broader, more relevant audience through artificial intelligence systems. That’s the kind of growth I aspire to achieve, don’t you?
The journey of understanding an AEO-centered strategy is more enriching when I collaborate with experts in the field. It’s not just about boosting AI visibility; it’s about crafting a roadmap that ensures my brand remains ahead of the curve. This is more than mere social interaction—it’s about creating a meaningful impact and fostering genuine engagement numbers that reflect in my brand’s growth.
Inspired by this post on HiGoodie Blog.
I’m thrilled to introduce you to Goodie’s Social Optimization Suite. It’s designed to empower brands by tracking social AI mentions and uncovering what truly enhances visibility. With our suite, you can easily harness platform-specific insights to make informed decisions.
Inspired by this post on HiGoodie Blog.
I’ve always sought ways to streamline my workflow, especially when it comes to managing multiple SEO tools. That’s why I’m thrilled to bring Semrush’s comprehensive SEO data directly into the heart of Profound Agents. This integration allows me to seamlessly access domain metrics, analyze backlink profiles, conduct thorough keyword research, and dive into organic search data—all within the same environment where I monitor AI visibility, generate content, and perform competitive analysis.
Imagine the efficiency of handling everything without the need for exports, constant tab switching, or manual data collation. This integration is more than just a feature; it’s a game-changer for anyone who’s passionate about optimizing their SEO strategy while saving time.
Inspired by this post on Try Profound Blog.
As someone who’s been up to speed with the digital marketing landscape, I’ve realized the immense potential of influencer content beyond just boosting brand awareness. It’s now a critical player showing up in Google SERPs, AI Overviews, and more, making it essential to incorporate keyword strategies into every influencer brief.
When I brief influencers, I don’t just casually mention a keyword; it’s a required part of our strategy. It becomes part of the script, caption, on-screen text, and hashtags.
This approach might seem like blending SEO into an influencer’s space might be overstepping, but the digital landscape in 2026 doesn’t recognize these boundaries anymore.
If influencer marketing programs aren’t built around acknowledging social content as part of search inventory, a substantial share of the voice is going unnoticed.
Today, search journeys are more multifaceted. They span various platforms, formats, and sources, marking a shift from simply optimizing for Google to a more comprehensive view.
Nearly half of U.S. consumers, including Gen Z, use TikTok as a search engine. AI tools like ChatGPT are becoming increasingly popular starting points for search journeys, surpassing even Google for many users.
For example, a user might search for the “best lightweight running shoes” on TikTok, watch videos, ask ChatGPT for a comparison, look for Reddit commentary via Google, and finally visit a brand’s website.
This multi-platform search journey amplifies the importance of treating influencer content as search content from the outset.
As Ross Simmonds highlighted in our conversation, influencers exist on nearly every platform, creating daily content that searchers, whether via Google or through platforms like TikTok, consistently find.
It’s a dream for marketers when influencers grasp the best practices around search and discoverability, allowing their content to rank on both native platforms and directly within the SERPs.
Dig deeper: Why creator-led content marketing is crucial for search
Google’s “What people are saying” SERP feature is a carousel showcasing user-generated content from YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, and more, including opinions that surface during purchase decisions.
While a brand’s website might not always appear in top search results, its content, or that of its influencers, certainly can, making it all more visible.
Meanwhile, AI answers are drawing from social content across the board, making YouTube and Reddit some of the most-cited domains in platforms like ChatGPT.
Samanyou Garg from Writesonic highlighted how comprehensive video descriptions, even from smaller YouTube channels, enhance AI visibility significantly.
Consistent language in influencer content makes AI more confident in recommending your brand. Without SEO keywords in your influencer content, it gets overlooked in crucial search moments.
Dig deeper: Lessons from creators for performance marketers
Influencers should integrate keyword research as a standard practice. Identify targets from organic insights, platform trends, and AnswerThePublic.
Incorporate these keywords into the creator’s script, captions, on-screen text, and hashtags without resorting to keyword stuffing.
Ashley Liddell from Deviation emphasizes mapping search demand across platforms and aligning them with suitable creators for greater discoverability.
The importance of capturing immediate data on keyword positioning across platforms cannot be overstated.
Google’s shifting focus from traditional web content to social and video content is reshaping where search surface area exists.
In a world where younger audiences start their searches socially, it becomes essential to integrate search strategies with influencer content.
Effective search everywhere optimization manifests in appearing where audiences actually search, with content that captures their attention.
Dig deeper: The evolution of social search visibility
Operationally, integrating keyword optimization into influencer programs involves bridging gaps between SEO and influencer teams, usually isolated in different structural parts, with distinct goals and KPIs.
Instead of viewing keywords as creative constraints, treat them as topic signals allowing creators to incorporate them authentically.
Integration involves a few key steps: sharing brief templates between SEO and influencer strategies, selecting keywords specific to each platform, reviewing content for keyword inclusion, and reporting on keyword-based search metrics.
Influencer content shapes both brand perception and search visibility in today’s digital ecosystem.
By applying a search strategy to content channels, brands can optimize these channels that traditionally operated without streamlined search strategies.
Treating influencer videos as part of your search content inventory may just set your brand apart in a content-saturated world.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
Have you ever wondered how ChatGPT sources its information? According to a recent study, it turns out ChatGPT tends to pull pages significantly more often than it actually cites them, concentrating its citations primarily among roughly 30 key domains.
Interestingly, AI citations in ChatGPT are far more concentrated compared to traditional search engines. Approximately 67% of citations within a specific topic are shared among only 30 domains.
From Kevin Indig’s latest study, I learned that comprehensive topical coverage through long-form pages and cluster-based models tend to perform better than the older “one keyword, one page” strategy.
The details. The visibility of citations isn’t spread out evenly. For product comparison topics, the top 10 domains capture about 46% of the citations, while the top 30 account for 67%.
Though AI visibility is slightly less concentrated than classic organic search, the competition for citations is still incredibly centralized. As Indig concludes, without building sufficient authority, you’re likely excluded from these valuable citation “seats.”
What changed. While ranking first on Google remains important, it’s not the sole factor anymore. Interestingly, of the pages ranked No. 1, only 43.2% were cited by ChatGPT, which is 3.5 times more than pages ranking beyond the top 20.
ChatGPT retrieves a vast number of pages but cites only a fraction of them. According to AirOps, about 85% of the pages retrieved were never cited, and a significant portion of citations arose from fan-out queries that lacked search volume entirely.
Why we care. Simply publishing the best answer for a keyword isn’t sufficient anymore. ChatGPT favors domains that offer comprehensive coverage of a topic, giving preference to pages that approach subjects from multiple angles.
The patterns. It turns out, longer pages typically receive more citations, and this trend varies by industry. Notably, pages with 5,000 to 10,000 characters see the most substantial lift. For pages over 20,000 characters, the average number of citations hits 10.18 compared to a mere 2.39 for shorter pages.
However, this pattern is not universal. For instance, in finance, shorter, densely packed pages often shine over lengthy guides. But in Education, Crypto, and Product Analytics, longer pages still hold their ground with little drop-off.
Looking more closely at on-page behavior, ChatGPT tends to cite from the top sections of a page. Particularly, the 10% to 20% section excels across all industries, while the bottom 10% of the page barely garners recognition.
About the data. For this study, Indig analyzed approximately 98,000 citation rows from about 1.2 million ChatGPT responses, using a variety of analytical methods to pinpoint which pages earned citations and their origins.
The study. More about these findings can be found in the study titled The science of how AI picks its sources.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
I recently had the opportunity to attend the Industrial Marketing Summit, where Rand Fishkin delivered a keynote highlighting our current “zero-click world”. His perspective resonated with me, emphasizing that while fewer users are visiting websites, their impact remains crucial.
Diving deeper, it’s evident that the structural dynamics of how information is assessed and trusted online have shifted profoundly. This change has led many to misunderstand the true value of websites today.
Despite the drop in clicks, websites still play a vital role. They are the bedrock of visibility and trustworthiness on the internet.
Why ‘zero-click’ discussions often lead to the wrong conclusion
There’s an undeniable trend: clicks are on the decline, and here’s why.
The focus on zero-click results disrupts traditional metrics for measuring online visibility. For decades, traffic and click-through rates have been the cornerstones for evaluating search performance.
Yet, when answers are given directly by search results or AI systems, often outside our typical analytics frameworks, many assume websites are losing significance. This is far from the truth.
Websites still underpin the information ecosystem. Their role in shaping visibility is arguably becoming more significant, especially with AI and modern information systems relying heavily on widespread, consistent signals from multiple sources on the web.
Fishkin is right about the trend
Information today is discovered in various environments, including search results, social media, and AI interfaces, leading to a real fragmentation of how we consume content.
While these interactions might appear as lost website traffic, the true question is: where does the original information come from?
Although people consume information through expanding platforms, these systems fundamentally depend on credible, original knowledge sources.
Zero-click doesn’t mean zero influence
The critical takeaway is differentiating between traffic and information influence.
AI creates responses based on patterns from the web, and content creators who provide valuable information remain crucial in this ecosystem.
Even without direct clicks, reliable sources continue to influence the information pipeline, helping shape the responses generated by AI systems.
The role of ‘rented land’
In adapting to a zero-click landscape, the focus might shift towards platforms where brands lack control, such as social networks or other “rented lands”.
Visibility stems from both types of territory — owned and rented.
In an AI-driven discovery setting, both are valuable. Owned content serves as essential knowledge sources, while rented platforms amplify these insights.
Yet, authority primarily emerges from robust original content, typically housed on first-party sites, which remains pivotal in influencing AI systems.
Why AI often favors primary sources
Contrary to some beliefs, AI systems value primary sources more than aggregated content.
When AI generates answers, it frequently relies on sources with clear, expert explanations and well-reasoned content, mostly found in single-source publishing like legal blogs or technical documentation.
This move places emphasis on creating authoritative content, which can enhance your influence in an AI-led world even as click metrics may reduce.
The real shift you should understand
Websites are evolving beyond their historical role as mere traffic generators. They are now key players in the AI-mediated informational landscape as sources of knowledge and bastions of expertise.
The goal now is to ensure expertise is accessible and can be assimilated across various digital environments, be it search engines, AI responses, or social discussions.
In our zero-click world, influence takes root earlier, reinforcing the importance of creating valuable, knowledgeable content.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
AI is undeniably evolving search, but I notice that visibility is significantly leaning towards platforms that are dominating the results and capturing user attention.
Much of today’s SEO discussions revolve around AI, from AI Overviews to ChatGPT and other LLMs. There’s genuine concern about these technologies diverting traffic from business websites, urging a shift towards GEO or AEO.
This concern holds merit. AI is indeed diminishing traffic for numerous sites, particularly those dependent on top-of-funnel, informational content. However, data indicates that AI might not be the sole driving force of change.
For years, I’ve observed user behavior splintering across various platforms in my agency work.
Here’s the data on how search behavior is evolving across platforms and why adopting a ‘search everywhere’ strategy is crucial, beyond just focusing on LLMs.
People now turn to TikTok for restaurant suggestions, YouTube for tutorials, Reddit for authentic reviews, and Amazon for purchasing products. These platforms are often replacing traditional search engines like Google and Bing as the initial resource.
This shift isn’t just behavioral; it’s reflected in traffic metrics too. Amazon and YouTube, for instance, drive considerably more desktop traffic than ChatGPT, a trend highlighted by Rand Fishkin.
Recently, I conducted a thorough share of voice analysis for a client, with objectives to identify competitors leading in traditional search, discover keyword and content gaps, and devise a content roadmap to address these gaps.
Interestingly, the analysis revealed that our main competitors weren’t other traditional players, but rather platforms like YouTube and Reddit.
These platforms perform strongly in traditional searches, claim valuable SERP real estate, and redirect users from Google and Bing to their ecosystems.
The key takeaway: neglecting these platforms means missing out not only on visibility in traditional search but also on grabbing valuable user attention when they move away from Google to watch videos or read threads.
It’s not just my client’s site seeing this trend. Undertake this kind of analysis for your site to discover who your actual competitors are in traditional search; the findings might surprise you.
Dive deeper: Why social search visibility is crucial for discoverability
Not only are platforms like YouTube and Reddit securing traditional SERP spaces, but searches within these platforms can sometimes outnumber those on Google or Bing.
For instance, YouTube is a powerhouse for tutorials and “how-to” content. A term such as “how to fix a leaky sink faucet” shows 15 times more search volume on YouTube than in traditional searches globally.
While search volumes are estimates, aligning your content strategy with where users are actually searching is crucial. For topics like the one mentioned, creating a YouTube video is essential.
For a holistic ‘search everywhere’ approach, develop a blog post and embed the related video.
Dive deeper: Why YouTube is essential for SEO in the AI era
‘Search everywhere’ isn’t just about traditional or in-platform searches; it also influences AI-generated content.
LLMs rely on content for answer synthesis, and often, that content is sourced not from business websites, but from third-party and social platforms.
Tools like AI visibility tools can illustrate the impact of ‘search everywhere’ in terms of citations. Consider these examples:
Despite being different brands, a minimal percentage of citations are from their own or competitors’ sites. Nearly 90% originate from third-party news and online publications or social and forum platforms like Reddit or Quora.
Focusing solely on your website in the context of LLM citations offers limited reach. To enhance brand perception or accuracy in AI reflections, influence must reach places beyond direct control.
Dive deeper: SEO’s new battleground: Securing the consensus layer
The competitive arena is transforming, and many marketers focus narrowly on AI. Yet, discovery spans numerous platforms.
YouTube, Reddit, Quora, and others dominate traditional search results and have significant search activity within their platforms. When AI generates answers, it chiefly draws from these sources rather than brand websites.
To achieve success in modern search, it’s vital to understand where your audience is truly searching, which extends beyond just Google. It’s about appearing wherever decisions are shaped.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
I’ve discovered that the most successful GEO and AEO strategies are deeply rooted in traditional SEO. It’s fascinating how these foundational principles seamlessly translate to AI visibility. Let me share why it’s crucial not to overlook these basics.
In our quest to harness the power of AI, many of us might feel tempted to skip straight to advanced strategies. However, without a solid SEO foundation, even the best AI-driven tactics can fall short. The rules that govern traditional SEO are critical to unlocking AI’s full potential in search visibility.
Consider this: AI systems thrive on structured data and clear content hierarchies. It’s precisely these elements that traditional SEO prioritizes, ensuring that our websites are not only user-friendly but also AI-ready. This is why every AI optimization journey should begin with tried-and-true SEO practices.
As someone who loves diving into the nuances of AI and SEO, I’ve seen firsthand how these two fields complement each other. Embracing the basics doesn’t merely prepare us for AI; it catapults our strategy into an era of smarter, more efficient digital marketing.
Inspired by this post on genmark.ai Blog.