The Unscripted SEO Interview Podcast

What if the biggest SEO opportunity for most businesses isn't a new tool, a new tactic, or a new algorithm hack — it's simply showing up consistently and claiming your authority? In this episode of the Unscripted SEO Podcast, Jeremy Rivera sits down with Jason Wade, founder of Ninja AI and an expert in AI visibility architecture, GEO, and AEO. They go deep on what it actually means to engineer your entity, why most SEOs are still running 2015 playbooks, and why one podcast episode can outperform a year of blogging.  Here's Jason's recap of this Unscripted SEO episode What We Cover in This Episode What 'AI visibility' means and why GEO/AEO is really just visibility engineering Entity optimization: how AI systems recognize authority — and how you train them The content multiplication math: one podcast → 50 assets Why most businesses have never actually said what they do on their website How Google's core algorithm updates have punished hacking and rewarded authenticity The Office Space test: 'What would you say you do here?' — applied to your homepage Why Reddit and podcasts rank instantly compared to traditional SEO timelines E-E-A-T in practice: showing up, speaking up, and having others verify it   Best Quotes from This Episode “If a company can take that friction away and do the stuff they won't do — that's where the magic is.” — Jason Wade “One podcast could become 50 assets. One podcast.” — Jason Wade “You're training the system in the easiest way possible — by simply showing up.” — Jason Wade “Your content gap analysis should be: what are all the competitors missing that you can provide?” — Jeremy Rivera   Resources & Links Mentioned Guest: Jason Wade —    ninjaai.com | jasonwade.com | LinkedIn   Services: AI Visibility | GEO | AEO | AI SEO Strategies   Article: 25 Local SEO Tips — AI Upgrade   Host: Jeremy Rivera | SEO Arcade | Unscripted SEO Podcast More from SEO Arcade: Podcast-Based Link Building Service | Entity Optimization with Jason Barnard   Like what you heard? Subscribe, leave a review, and share with an SEO who needs to hear this. And if you want to explore how podcast-based SEO services could multiply your content and backlinks — schedule a call at SEOArcade.com.

Stephan Bajaio — CEO and co-founder of Vibe Logic, former co-founder of Conductor, and ex-CMO — joins Jeremy Rivera on the Unscripted SEO Podcast for one of the most candid conversations we've had about why the SEO industry keeps losing the narrative about itself — and what practitioners can actually do about it. Stephan built his career from the dot-com era through to co-founding one of the largest enterprise SEO platforms ever built. He's seen the industry from every angle — agency, platform, C-suite — and he doesn't pull punches about where we've gone wrong or how to fix it. What We Cover in This Episode Why the GEO / AIO naming debate is a symptom of a bigger identity problem — and why fixing it starts with SEOs, not executives What SEO actually is when you strip away the jargon: connecting organizational wisdom to the audience that needs it The lonely island problem — why even great SEOs fail when the content team, dev team, and CMO aren't aligned How conflicting KPIs create internal friction and a practical approach to working with — not against — the people who control execution Why the best keyword research is a conversation — Jeremy's concrete-wall installer example and how to build content from real expert interviews Content value beyond organic traffic — why reporting only on organic is leaving most of the story untold Vibe Logic's 'web presence intelligence' framework and the concept of being where decisions are formed, not just where they're made Why passion is the one trait in great SEOs you simply cannot teach

In this episode of the Unscripted SEO Podcast, host Jeremy Rivera sits down with Brandon Leibowitz, founder of SEO Optimizers — a full-service digital marketing agency based in Los Angeles. With nearly two decades of experience in SEO, paid ads, social media, and coaching, Brandon shares his grounded, practitioner-level take on the AI search landscape and what actually moves the needle.   Topics Covered How AI-powered search surfaces (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot) are — and aren’t — changing SEO workflow Why schema markup is the highest-leverage technical tactic for AI visibility The difference between informational and transactional AI search behavior A page-by-page schema architecture strategy for e-commerce and service sites How to use competitor schema analysis as a gap-finding tactic Why content + backlinks + technical SEO must all work together   Key Quotes “The AI overview is just a featured snippet — just a new way to rebrand it for Google. The old tactics, the old strategies already worked.” — Brandon Leibowitz   “The more touch points you have and more places people find you, the more likely they are to want your product or service in the future.” — Brandon Leibowitz   Resources Mentioned SEO Optimizers — Brandon’s agency Free Gift + Classes from Brandon Free Website SEO Analysis Google Search Console Ahrefs Brandon on LinkedIn Unscripted SEO Podcast Jeremy Rivera – About   Connect With Brandon Leibowitz Website: seooptimizers.com Free Gift: seooptimizers.com/gift LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brandonleibowitz   About The Unscripted SEO Podcast The Unscripted SEO Podcast is hosted by Jeremy Rivera, SEO consultant and founder of SEO Arcade. Each episode features candid, unscripted conversations with leading SEO practitioners, agency founders, and digital marketing veterans.

Greg Merrilees is the founder of Studio1 Design — a conversion-focused website agency that has designed for over 2,000 businesses worldwide, including Hollywood A-listers like Sylvester Stallone. He’s the author of Next Level Website Design and has been building websites since 2009. In this episode, Jeremy Rivera sits down with Greg to tackle whether websites are still relevant, how to build for searcher intent, why copywriting beats design every time, and what the rise of AI vibe coding actually means for your brand. Episode Highlights Do you really need a website in 2025? Greg’s nuanced take on social media vs. owned assets The cold / warm / hot traffic model and how to match your CTA to intent Why Microsoft Clarity should be on every website (and how it compares to Hotjar) Website design trends to avoid in 2026 — and what converts instead How to find your unique positioning in a commoditized niche Interactive lead magnets vs. PDF downloads — what actually converts today The AI sameness problem: why vibe-coded websites all look the same Key Resources Mentioned Studio1 Design — Greg’s agency Next Level Website Design (Book) Free Resources — Custom GPT + book companion Microsoft Clarity — Free heatmaps & session recording Enterprise Fitness (macro calculator example) Yoshua Law (case study) Greg’s email: greg@studio1design.com Connect with Jeremy Rivera SEO Arcade — Podcast-based content marketing & link building Studio1 Design Blog — Related Reading Don’t Chase Website Design Trends in 2026 The Hidden Cost of Fancy Website Effects: Lost Conversions How We Turned a Law Firm Redesign Into 60% More Conversions How We Boosted a Fitness Business’ Bookings By 64% AI Killed Your Website Strategy: Here’s What Works Now How to Create a Personal Brand That Attracts Dream Clients

Hosted by Jeremy Rivera In this episode of the Unscripted SEO Podcast, Jeremy Rivera sits down with Charlie Birch, Founder and Creative Director of Humaniz Collective, to explore the collision between brand strategy and modern SEO — and why treating them as separate disciplines is costing founders real revenue. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why Charlie's background in performance, psychology, and crisis intervention makes her uniquely equipped to navigate brand identity How brand strategy and SEO have more in common than most agencies admit The danger of only measuring attraction — and why conversion and retention are the real metrics that matter Why copying your competitors' strategy only makes you more like them — not better than them How Charlie's Brand IdQ Framework turns founder instinct into a shared decision-making lens for the entire team A real-world example of how interviewing the installer — not just doing keyword research — uncovered an angle nobody was targeting How to evaluate whether a campaign is the right fit for your brand before you invest Guest Resources Humaniz Collective Website Brand IdQ — Take the Free Integrity Snapshot The Inner Circle — Apply for Free Monthly Networking (2nd Thursday each month, 1:30 PM ET — mention Unscripted SEO Podcast to get prioritized!) On Raising Brands Newsletter Breaking the Bottleneck — Founder Interviews Charlie on LinkedIn Humaniz Collective on Instagram Referenced in This Episode Spacebar Collective (Chris Tweeten) — 'Publishing more won't fix a weak SEO game. It's about leverage.' Permacast Walls — The precast concrete walls example that revealed the "anti-dig" keyword opportunity SEO Arcade — Content Gap Analysis & Forecasting Tools About Your Host Jeremy Rivera is an SEO strategist with 19+ years of experience and founder of SEO Arcade. He specializes in connecting SEO tactics to real business outcomes, helping brands turn podcast conversations into high-leverage content strategies. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a founder who needs to hear it.

In this episode of the Unscripted SEO Podcast, Jeremy Rivera sits down with Paul Baterina, Senior SEO Manager at REVOLVE — a publicly traded fashion e-commerce brand with over 260,000 products. Paul has been at REVOLVE for 13 years, making him one of the rarest SEOs in the industry: a specialist who went deep on one brand instead of bouncing across industries. What We Cover Why long-tail category pages became REVOLVE's most provable SEO strategy — and how Paul sold it to C-suite The 3-product rule for deciding when a category page is worth creating vs. when to kill it Why luxury fashion brands resist text-heavy SEO content — and how to work with that, not against it The honest state of AI/LLM visibility for a major e-commerce brand: $58K/month in LLM-driven revenue and what that actually means How to reverse-engineer LLM citations to find the best places to get your brand mentioned Link context signals — why what's around a link matters as much as the link itself Bill Slawski's patent analysis work and how it connects to Koray Tugberk's topical authority framework A live SEO test showing a 25% lift in organic traffic from adding content to long-tail pages Resources & Links REVOLVE (revolve.com) — Paul's employer and the e-commerce brand discussed throughout Unscripted SEO Podcast — Subscribe for more unscripted SEO conversations Jeremy Rivera — Host — About your host Keyword Clusters Based on SERP Data — SEO Arcade — Understanding how Google groups related queries Opportunity Sizing in SEO — SEO Arcade — How to quantify SEO wins for C-suite White-Label Link Building Services — SEO Arcade — Community-based and podcast-based link building Podcast-Based Content & Link Building — SEO Arcade — The full PAASS service SEO By The Sea — Bill Slawski's Google patent research (search "Bill Slawski SEO By The Sea") Find Paul Baterina LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-baterina-079ab629/ Twitter: https://x.com/paulbaterina Slack: SEO Community & Asians In Search (run by George Nguyen) Conferences: SearchLove San Diego

Unscripted SEO Podcast ️ Listen: unscriptedseo.com Guest: Timothy Malmros on LinkedIn Full Episode dialog with Timothy Malmros exposing blackhat SEO on SEO Arcade Guest Bio Timothy Malmros is a former gambling affiliate SEO with nearly two decades in the industry. After retiring from active affiliation, he turned his focus to investigating and documenting black hat SEO techniques — particularly in the gambling and sweepstakes space — through detailed posts on LinkedIn. His work offers a rare, transparent look at how spam tactics actually function, why they succeed, and why Google takes so long to stop them.In his own words: "Finished 12th grade. Got fired from Mcdonalds. Moved to Israel back in 2005. Applied to 20 jobs, got one reply and started working as a ”live person” human chatbot in an online casino. Promoted to affiliate manager 10 months later, did that for a bit over a year. Decided, lets try to become an affiliate, if I after a year can earn 3000 euro a month I wont go back to school. Sold my company in 2016 to gaming innovation group, joined as director of seo as employee nr 6 for gig media. Gig media grew to 200+ people and became a bit to pc for me, quit in 2018, rebuilt going hard on grey hat SEO then decided to take a break from the stress of SEO in November 2024 and basically retire but quickly got bored and started writing articles instead." Follow Timothy's ongoing research: linkedin.com/in/timothy-m-59a216b/ Episode Summary In this episode, Jeremy Rivera sits down with Timothy Malmros — a former gambling affiliate SEO turned black hat investigator — for a wide-ranging, candid conversation about how spam evolves, why Google keeps losing the spam war, and what the rise of AI really means for the internet's content ecosystem. Timothy shares his hands-on research into drop domains and the canonical trick, a modern black hat method that combines expired high-authority domains with spam link bombardment and canonical redirects to game Google's rankings in the gambling and sweepstakes space. The conversation expands into Trust Rank theory, click metric manipulation, the collapse of the anti-spam team, and the disturbing implications of AI-generated content replacing original human publishing. A refreshingly honest, technically deep episode for anyone who wants to understand what's actually happening beneath the surface of modern search. Key Topics Covered How black hat SEO evolved from hidden white-text links and site counter injection to the sophisticated drop domain / canonical trick What the canonical trick is and how it creates an infinite $10 ranking loop using expired high-authority domains Why gambling markets reveal emerging black hat techniques before any other niche Trust Rank theory and the Medic update — distance from seed sites and why Healthline beat Dr. Josh Axe overnight Why some drop domains work and others don't — the mixed signals Timothy is still investigating The dismantling of Google's anti-spam team and its connection to the ChatGPT competitive threat HCU as the reintroduction of Panda/Penguin — and whether it's algorithmic or hybrid Google creating then killing its own monsters — from recipe sites to AI overviews Click metric manipulation: Android bot farms with VPN rotation and what fake branding actually looks like Rank tracker visits inflating GSC impressions — and why Google finally cut off 100-page results Reddit as a...

Benas Leonavicius Freelance SEO Consultant & Agency Builder Website | LinkedIn | Substack Benas Leonavicius has spent 10 years in the SEO trenches—from working with large e-commerce sites to navigating the bureaucratic nightmare of enterprise SaaS SEO. Now he's building an agency focused on keynote speakers, authors, and coaches, where basic SEO fundamentals deliver outsized results. In this conversation, we dive deep into: Why AI search optimization is the new frontier (and why tracking is nearly impossible) How to actually appear in ChatGPT and AI overviews The shift from website-centric to entity-centric SEO Why SaaS companies are terrible clients for freelance SEO scalability The #1 thing keynote speakers get wrong (hint: they don't mention their keywords) Whether new people should enter SEO in 2025 If you're a freelancer trying to scale, a speaker trying to get found, or anyone wondering how AI is changing search—this episode is for you. Key Topics Discussed AI Search Optimization (11:11 - 21:03) The biggest challenge with AI search: tracking is nearly impossible How ChatGPT and Perplexity source their answers (training data + tiered Google searches) Why speaker bureaus and listicles dominate AI search results for keynote speakers The 25% consistency problem: AI gives different answers to different users Backlinks, PR, mentions, and social media as the foundation of AI visibility How to reverse-engineer AI sources by simply asking ChatGPT what it referenced The SaaS SEO Nightmare (03:47 - 07:34) Why SaaS companies limit freelancer scalability (1-2 clients max per month) The JIRA ticket trap: submitting tickets just to edit meta descriptions Managing multiple stakeholders with competing priorities How product changes constantly disrupt long-term SEO strategy Why Benas stopped taking SaaS clients despite their lucrative budgets Keynote Speaker SEO Opportunities (02:14 - 03:47, 25:19 - 28:10) Why 90% of speakers have zero SEO optimization The differentiation trap: avoiding keywords to sound unique The highest ROI fix: adding proper meta titles with target keywords Why speakers already have strong websites—they just don't know it Talk Thrive Agency: Benas's keynote speaker SEO service Content vs. Links vs. Technical SEO (07:34 - 09:07) Why Benas focuses on on-page content optimization Link building feels "solved" and basic in 2025 Technical SEO's limitations for most businesses Finding the middle ground between all three domains AI Content Creation Reality Check (09:07 - 11:11) ChatGPT as "your most popular but least trained customer support rep" (Matt Brooks, SEOteric) Why Benas doesn't jump on new AI tools immediately Using AI as a brainstorming and first draft tool, not a final solution The hallucination and authenticity problem with over-reliance Entity SEO vs. Website SEO (15:21 - 20:08) How LLMs use training databases and tiered search results Getting third-party content ranked, even when it's not on your site Why digital visibility is shifting from website-centric to entity-centric Direct traffic increasing as people find brands through AI, not clicks Impressions mattering more than clicks (the Instagram-ification of search) Should You Freelance in SEO Today? (21:03 - 23:24) Why...

In this episode, Jeremy Rivera sits down with Jeremy Yang, founder of Digital Goliath, to explore the often-siloed world of paid advertising and how it intersects with SEO. Managing over $450,000 in monthly ad spend, Jeremy Yang shares brutal truths about Google Ads setup mistakes, the death of exact match keywords, and why most businesses fail at Meta advertising before they even start. From offshore Google support nightmares to the "bullets in the chamber" framework for platform selection, this conversation reveals what seven years of hands-on PPC experience teaches you about digital marketing that no certification ever will. Guest Jeremy Yang Founder, Digital Goliath Website | LinkedIn Jeremy founded Digital Goliath seven years ago and currently manages about $450,000 per month in ad spend across Google Ads and Meta platforms. Based in Sydney, Australia, he works with small to mid-sized businesses and white labels for larger agencies, specializing in high-accountability, hands-on campaign management. Key Topics Discussed The SEO-SEM Divide (00:00 - 05:00) Why paid ads and SEO teams rarely communicate Operational intensity differences between channels Knowledge-sharing culture in PPC vs. SEO communities Why Google gives advertisers more data than SEOs get Google Ads Setup Nightmares (05:00 - 10:00) The fox guarding the henhouse: letting Google set up your campaigns Offshore vs. onshore Google support experiences Most common setup errors (cramming everything into one campaign) Why following scripts doesn't work in modern PPC The Death of Exact Match (10:00 - 15:00) How Google Ads has shifted to theme-based campaigns Everything is "broad-ish" now regardless of match type settings Competitor brands sneaking into your keyword auctions Performance Max and the return of negative lists ROAS-based campaign structuring for e-commerce Display Ads: Remarketing Only (15:00 - 20:00) Why display should only be used for remarketing The spammy site problem and how to exclude them Diminishing returns on display, YouTube, and discovery feeds Strategic use of minimal display budgets ($10-20) for brand presence Platform Selection Framework (20:00 - 30:00) "How many bullets you got in the chamber?" - the content asset question Meta is about burnout: why you need consistent creative production When to go 80% Google, 20% Bing (service businesses without video) When Meta makes sense (businesses with UGC and video capabilities) Real-world example: Bubble.com Casting (children's modeling agency) Cost Realities Nobody Discusses (30:00 - 35:00) High-CPC industries: $200/click for tow trucks, $150/click for credit cards Why $30/click for lawyers isn't unusual Budget requirements for competitive industries When to rely on Performance Max vs. traditional search campaigns SEO Value Proposition for Small Business (35:00 - 45:00) If you run out of ad budget, your campaign's over SEO builds appreciable assets that compound over time The upscale effect vs. the burn rate of paid ads Working with ads teams to target expensive keywords organically Client filtering: not every client is worth acquiring AI Overviews and the Future of Search (45:00 - 55:00) ChatGPT ads platform: $60-80 CPMs for businesses spending $1M+ The "charge and forget" model vs. nuanced ad platforms AI overview impact: 25-40% traffic loss for publisher sites The mea...

Summary In this episode of the Unscripted SEO podcast, Keith Breseé and Cauveé, the inspiration engineer, delve into the intricacies of content marketing. They discuss the importance of platforms like Substack and Beehive for community building, the necessity of finding one's niche, and the long-term strategies required for effective content creation. The conversation also covers the significance of understanding market gaps, leveraging influencer marketing, and the role of paid advertising. Additionally, they emphasize the importance of crafting effective hooks, storytelling, and utilizing AI tools for content creation. The episode concludes with insights on building relationships and the long game in personal branding.   Takeaways Substack is a powerful tool for building a community. Decide whether to follow trends or focus on your passion. Always provide value in your content to generate leads. Content creation is a long-term commitment. Reverse engineer your content strategy from your goals. Understand your market and conduct competitor analysis. Influencer marketing can significantly boost visibility. Paid advertising can help in gaining traction. Mastering hooks and storytelling is crucial for engagement. Building relationships is key to long-term success.  

What happens when a marketing coach who's also an actor sits down to talk about authenticity in business? You get one of the most unfiltered conversations about trust, AI, and human connection in marketing that we've had on this show. Kyle Merrick doesn't pull punches. As the founder of Anarchy For A Day and a marketing veteran with nearly a decade of agency experience, he's seen it all—and he's not afraid to call BS on what's broken in modern marketing. In this episode, we dive deep into the tension between performance and authenticity, why AI-generated content is killing trust, and how businesses can differentiate themselves in commodified markets. Kyle brings a unique perspective as both a marketer and an actor, understanding how to build believability while staying within boundaries. This conversation gets heated, philosophical, and practical all at once. If you're tired of the same sanitized marketing advice, this episode is for you. Key Topics Discussed Trust & Authenticity in Marketing (00:00-10:02) Why marketers have a trust problem The challenge of discerning real vs. fake in the digital age How social media has groomed us to accept mixed messages The importance of delivery over content AI vs. Human Connection (10:02-22:31) Why AI-generated marketing content fails to build trust The role of podcasting as a "safe space" for authentic conversation How LLM tools confidently lie (and why that's dangerous) The laziness trap: when efficiency kills effectiveness The Coloring Book Analogy (22:31-27:39) Finding authenticity within corporate boundaries How to differentiate without going "cray-cray" Showing customer pain points authentically The golden rule applied to business communication Market Understanding & Differentiation (27:39-37:23) Why most businesses don't truly understand their marketplace How to differentiate in commodified industries The importance of speaking your customer's language Interviewing clients as a core marketing strategy Consistency & Long-Term Thinking (37:23-40:15) Why consistency beats overnight success How search engines and humans reward sustained effort Understanding where your audience actually spends time Building trust through reliable, authentic communication Notable Quotes "No marketer is really trustworthy until you actually get to know them. So I'm not even going to try to pitch myself on that." "I don't give a shit about anything your business has to say if you're using AI. Let me see the people behind it, even if they're paid actors." "Human to human podcast. This is the very important bit." "Having been in business for myself for a decade now, it's like, this is the only kind of conversation I actually value because I know it's real, because you can sense the pain behind my words." "People don't truly understand their marketplace. Go talk to the people that you're trying to serve or provide solutions to or sell a product to, whatever. Get to know them, their world." "I always think about it like a coloring book. The lines are really what is within bound and reason for what is going to be believable." "If you want real conversation, dish it out. Maybe that's the best answer to how can we get more genuine conversation in corporate marketing. Fucking do it. It ain't that hard." "Business is still human. And if we're not accounting for that human factor, I wish you the best." "Consistency is key. You need to be doing it a while for these different robotic entities to deem, 'All right, well, you're human and you do this.'"...

Charlie Sells brings 15 years of experience in brand messaging and positioning to discuss how small businesses can cut through complexity and build authentic brands that show up in search. Key Topics Covered Service Business Branding Charlie explains why service-based businesses should "stay hyper local" rather than trying to compete regionally. His advice for finding your competitive advantage? "Don't try to be bigger. Don't try to be flashier. Don't try to be anything other than who you are." Working with a Florida event staffing company, Charlie discovered their retention rate was in the 80-90% range. "They're the most trusted name in conference and event staff"—that became their differentiator, not trying to be the biggest. The Two-Part Brand Audit Framework Charlie always looks for two things: "Are we being really consistent? Every touchpoint of our brand—does it look the same, does it sound the same, does it feel the same on a sales call, social media, website, emails, in-person interactions?" Second: "Are you really leaning into your unique competitive advantage?" Branded vs. Non-Branded Search From his time at Dave Ramsey's Ramsey Solutions, Charlie learned a crucial lesson: "If they will get their branded terms right, then you can focus on the non-branded terms." He warns that "shiny object syndrome is rampant amongst entrepreneurs" who chase non-branded traffic while neglecting the basics. His blunt take: "Search engines are the yellow pages today. You want to make it easy for somebody to just find you like that." The Website Problem Charlie's most surprising piece of advice for clients: "If the weight of your business lands on your website, you have a problem." Why? Your website is just one piece of your ecosystem. "If everything in your ecosystem is speaking the same language, then it's going to work." But when there's "no cohesive experience, no ecosystem," that's when brands struggle. Technical SEO Still Matters Charlie shares a story about his staffing client who had keywords "in the graphic at the top of our page. In a designed graphic that can't be crawled, that had no alt text. I'm like, 'Nobody cares about that and Google's not recognizing it.'" The lesson? "You have to plant a flag in the ground and say, here I am, and make it easy for people to find you." Is SEO Dead? Charlie's take on the AI/LLM disruption: "I don't think traditional SEO is dead still. I think it still matters." While LLMs are changing search, "somebody is still looking for what you have" and "it still matters that you match intent more than anything else." His strategy for the AI era? "I'm pushing folks to go way more grassroots and find ways to get on podcasts with niche audiences that are actually in their ICP." Charlie's Two Essential Switches When onboarding clients, Charlie always starts with: Mindset of Curiosity: "You've got to have a mindset of curiosity. If you are certain, if you are dead set, if you are rigid in your thinking about your brand, then this is not going to go well." His favorite question: "What is it like to be on the receiving end of your brand?" Hold It With an Open Hand: "We've got to zoom out and not just think end of the month, end of the quarter. We've got to think about if where we want to be a year from now is our goal. What has to be true between now and then?" Redirecting Good Ideas One of Charlie's most valuable skills is helping clients understand placement: "Just because it doesn't belong here doesn't mean it doesn't belong somewhere." A direct-to-camera video might be perfect for an email sequence but wrong for the homepage. Resources Mentioned

Wyatt Bonicelli of Evolve Agency shares practical local SEO tactics for home service businesses—from Google Business Profile optimization and location page strategy to creative link building through local sponsorships and a clever gift card referral system that turns every customer into a lead generator. Episode Summary In this episode, Jeremy Rivera on the Unscripted SEO podcast by Be Sharp Digital Marketing sits down with Wyatt Bonicelli, founder of Evolve Agency in Edmond, Oklahoma, to discuss the unique challenges and opportunities in marketing home service contractors. An engineer turned marketer, Wyatt has carved out a niche helping window cleaners, roofers, and other service professionals transition from relying solely on word-of-mouth to building a sustainable online presence that generates leads on autopilot. The conversation covers the full spectrum of local SEO—from the critical importance of Google Business Profile verification to the age-old question of "how many location pages are too many?" Wyatt shares his approach to building local authority through sponsorship link building, Chamber of Commerce memberships, and creative tactics like using ChatGPT to find partnership opportunities. Perhaps most valuable are the practical, low-cost marketing wins Wyatt recommends: car magnets, A-frame signs, door hangers with neighbor referrals, and a brilliant gift card system that creates a built-in affiliate program for service businesses. He also drops a Google Maps "driving directions hack" that sends trust signals to Google daily. The episode wraps with a candid discussion about lead follow-up—why 90% of service calls go unanswered and how the Harvard study showing 400% better conversion within five minutes should change how contractors approach their phones. Key Topics Covered Why home service contractors struggle to invest in marketing (and how to meet them where they are) Google Business Profile optimization for service-area businesses without a physical address The location page debate: How many is too many in 2024? Hub-and-spoke internal linking strategy for multi-location businesses Creative link building through local sponsorships and advanced Google queries The noindex mistake that cost one client years of branded search visibility Steve Hunziker's gift card referral system explained Why LLMs haven't disrupted local SEO (yet) Combining Meta ads with SEO for short-term and long-term growth The $10/day Meta ad strategy that pre-sells door-to-door visits Lead follow-up statistics that should terrify every service business owner Low-hanging fruit: Car magnets, A-frames, and door hangers The Chamber of Commerce SEO bump Google Maps driving directions hack for daily trust signals Quotable Moments "Any page on your website that doesn't have a link internally, externally, it's probably not going to get indexed." "You're 400% more likely to convert if you call within the first five minutes." "Let's turn one lead into more. Let's try to get three or four out of every one. And that pyramid will just continue to grow." "We're kind of in a bubble a lot of times and think that everybody else is using the tools the same way that we are." "If they don't have any web presence at all, no online reviews or a website talking about what they do and where—it's a little harder to trust them with a big check." Guest Bio Wyatt Bonicelli is the founder of Evolve Agency, a digital marketing firm based in Edmond, Oklahoma specializing in web development and SEO for home service contractors. With a background in engineering, Wyatt brings a systematic, results-driven approach to helping small businesses—particularly window cleaners, roofers, and renova...

In this deep-dive conversation, Alejandro Meyerhans shares his journey from Spanish waiter to CEO of a successful link building agency, revealing the mathematical foundations and strategic frameworks that make link building work. We explore the science behind PageRank, the evolving role of links in LLM optimization, Google's HCU updates, and the hard truths about operating within platform ecosystems. Guest Bio Alejandro Meyerhans is the CEO of GetMeLinks, a strategic link building agency serving agencies and CMOs. Since 2016, Alejandro has built his SEO expertise from the ground up—starting with affiliate sites, becoming a forensic SEO auditor, and eventually leading one of the industry's most respected link building operations. He's known for his data-driven approach, combining mathematics, game theory, and rigorous testing to demystify what actually works in modern link building. Connect with Alejandro: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alejandro-meyerhans YouTube: Alejandro Meyerhans SEO Company: GetMeLinks.com Key Topics Discussed From Waiter to SEO Expert (00:00 - 04:03) How Alejandro discovered SEO in 2016 while trying to escape waiting tables in Spain Working with Dominic Wells at Onfolio (now NASDAQ-listed) The transition from building affiliate sites to becoming a forensic SEO auditor How he became CEO of GetMeLinks after being a client first The intersection of math, statistics, game theory, and SEO The Science of Link Building (04:03 - 10:28) Why link building has intentional opacity and FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) Key influencers: Charles Floate, Matt Diggity, and the TEDSEO testing community Understanding what's working versus understanding why it works The importance of analyzing competitive backlink profiles How to read the link graph and replicate winning strategies Core Link Signals Beyond PageRank (10:28 - 14:35) PageRank: The foundational "link juice" model and how it divides authority Anchor text ratios: Why exact match anchors no longer work (0% in most winning profiles) Reasonable Surfer: Link placement matters—body links above the fold carry more weight Passage rank: Surrounding text relevance amplifies or diminishes link value Link velocity: Must be proportional to traffic, brand search volume, and referral sources Container authority: The power of both the linking page AND the linking domain Sequential timing: Why you can't start a new site with 100 digital PR links Related Resource: How to Start a Link Building Campaign Distance to Seed and Verticality (14:35 - 22:03) Understanding Google's seed list: .gov, .edu, and tier one authorities How topical authority spreads from hub sites in each vertical Why locksmith SEO is different from e-commerce which is different from YMYL The completion game: You only need to match top 3 competitors plus a bit more SEO as a jigsaw puzzle—technical foundation, content, user signals, brand signals The logarithmic nature of PageRank (getting from DR 80 to 90 costs exponentially more) Related Resource: Link Building for New Websites Link Gap Analysis Methodology (22:03 - 29:33)...

How a Psychology Degree, Blog Writing, and Storytelling Built a $75K Content Marketing Success About This Episode In this episode of the Unscripted SEO Podcast, host Jeremy Rivera sits down with Alison Ver Halen, founder of AV Writing Services and author of Content Marketing Made Easy. Alison shares how she accidentally fell into content marketing after graduating during the 2009 recession, and how writing blog posts for a law firm led to $75,000 in new business within just six months. The conversation covers the evolving landscape of SEO and content marketing, including E-E-A-T principles, the Helpful Content Update, the "robot sandwich" of AI-driven search, and why storytelling remains the most powerful tool in a content marketer's arsenal. Guest Bio Alison Ver Halen is the founder of AV Writing Services and a content marketing strategist with nearly a decade of experience. With degrees in English and Psychology from Lawrence University, Alison helps professional service providers attract, engage, and convert high-quality leads through strategic blog content, landing pages, and brand storytelling. She is also the author of Content Marketing Made Easy. Key Takeaways The $75K Blog Post Discovery: Alison's first content marketing client saw $75,000 in new business within six months—just from blog posts she was writing for his law firm Information Gain is Everything: The key to standing out isn't just creating content—it's adding your unique perspective, experience, and stories that ChatGPT can't replicate E-E-A-T is About How You Write: Rather than technical markup and author schemas, E-E-A-T signals come from first-person experience and professional perspective woven into your content Don't Propose on the First Date: Match your calls-to-action to where prospects are in the buyer journey—a newsletter signup beats a sales call request for top-of-funnel visitors The Robot Sandwich: With AI tools searching other AI outputs based on human-created content, writing for humans remains the winning strategy It's Still SEO, People: Despite the hype around GEO, AIEO, and AEO, the fundamentals of search engine optimization haven't changed—just the platforms Guest Everything: Podcasts, blogs, newsletters—earned media builds the Know-Like-Trust factor that drives real business results Topics Discussed [00:00] Introduction and Alison's background [02:34] The $75,000 aha moment in content marketing [04:02] Methodology for researching and developing unique content [05:54] E-E-A-T: What it really means for content creators [10:22] The "robot sandwich" of AI-driven search [14:05] Understanding the buyer journey and sales funnel [15:51] Lead magnets and CTAs in the post-ChatGPT era [19:42] The Helpful Content Update and brand identity [26:08] GEO, AIEO, AEO—why it's still just SEO [27:02] Link building in the age of LLMs [36:49] Best practices for content quality and distribution [41:08] Where to find Alison Ver Halen Notable Quotes "After six months, he came back and told me that I had brought in $75,000 worth of business to his law firm just through the blog posts I was writing for him." "We are primed to connect with stories, we are primed to remember stories. So that is critical for getting your point across and for being memorable." "I refer to it as proposing on the first date. Like, well we just met, dude. That is way too much way too soon. And you're gonna scare them off." "AI does not generate anything. It just regurgitates what humans have already created." "It's still SEO, people. Just becau...

Will Wang of Black Belt Consulting joins Jeremy Rivera to discuss his journey from corporate IT analyst to accidentally building a seven-figure marketing agency. In this candid conversation, Will shares the expensive lessons he learned about hiring (including a $500,000 mistake), how he's leveraging AI for market research while keeping humans in the loop, and why he's betting big on YouTube and Instagram while going bearish on LinkedIn for 2025. This episode is packed with practical insights for agency owners, consultants, and entrepreneurs who are scaling their businesses and want to avoid the costly mistakes that come with rapid growth. Listen to the full episode: Unscripted SEO Podcast Guest Information Will Wang Company: Black Belt Consulting Instagram: @blackbeltconsultant LinkedIn: Will Wang Email: will@blackbeltconsulting.co About Will: Will grew up in Sydney, Australia, worked in corporate IT making $130-150K/year before taking the leap into entrepreneurship. After two years of struggles and making every mistake possible, he built a seven-figure marketing agency which he sold 12 months ago. He's also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt (earned 4 years ago) and now runs Black Belt Consulting, helping businesses scale from $25K to $250K per month with strategic marketing consulting. Key Topics & Timestamps The Corporate Escape Growing up as an immigrant in Sydney, Australia The soul-crushing reality of corporate IT ($130-150K salary trap) The difficult decision: when to make the leap with a family to support Two years of stumbling through every possible business mistake The $500K Hiring Mistake Why he hired a general manager when the business wasn't ready The account manager who created an unnecessary layer between clients and strategy The remote copywriter problem: why proximity matters for creative roles Key lesson: "We weren't big enough for a GM. We just needed me to spend less time working in a few of the things on the business" Taking full ownership: "It was all my fault... their abilities were hampered by how I supported them" Building Lean, AI-Enabled Teams The shift to small core teams of highly competent people His new hiring framework: creativity vs. process-driven roles When to hire locally vs. when to leverage cost arbitrage with virtual teams Using online jobs.ph and Upwork strategically "Give people a goal, give people a vision, and then hire people who are competent and disciplined enough to do what they need to do" SOPs and Systems for Non-Operations People Using Loom videos to document processes instead of writing SOPs yourself Having your VA or operations person create the documentation by following your recordings Why being the "big picture creative" doesn't mean you can't systematize AI for Market Research (Not Delivery) How customer research went from weeks to minutes Using ChatGPT and Claude to build detailed customer avatars The critical rule: "Nothing that gets delivered to clients is actually AI done" AI for research, humans for delivery—that's the framework Building AI-enabled teams in 2025 Content Strategy & Platform Bets for 2025 Going all-in on YouTube: "YouTube is the big one for me. I'm investing a lot into that this year" The Instagram surpri...

Jeremy Rivera interviews Kyle Bailey, founder of Front Burner Marketing, about local SEO strategies specifically designed for home service businesses. Kyle brings a unique perspective as one of the few SEO professionals who has actually worked in the trades—framing, roofing, drywall, and kitchen/bathroom remodeling. Kyle Bailey Founder, Front Burner Marketing 15 years in home service digital marketing Former tradesman turned SEO specialist Author of upcoming book: What's Your Story? The Path to Connection with a Homeowner Connect with Kyle: LinkedIn: The Kyle Bailey Website: FrontBurnerMarketing.net Twitter/X: @FrontBurnerMarketing Key Topics Discussed The Unique Challenges of Home Service Marketing (02:00) The attention gap problem: business owners are firefighters and babysitters Why before-and-after photography is critical but difficult to execute Kyle's hands-on approach: driving to clients in Texas to handle photography personally The urgent need to adapt to AI-driven search changes Your Story as Your Superpower (04:00) Every home service business has a unique story that competitors lack How to identify and articulate your core values The difference between shotgun vs. rifle messaging (broad vs. focused) Employee, friend, and customer audits to discover hidden core values Why story-based differentiation creates genuine connection with ideal customers Key Resource: What's Your Story? - Front Burner Marketing The Franchise Limitation (06:30) Why only 3 out of 100 franchises can effectively compete in local SEO Corporate restrictions on messaging, location pages, and customization The Quiznos cautionary tale Due diligence steps before buying a pizza franchise or any franchise Free discovery calls available to assess franchise SEO viability Community Co-Marketing: Driving Past Free Money (10:00) The "barrel of $100 bills at every red light" concept Neighborhood signage opportunities: 30-second content goldmine Co-marketing with complementary trades (painters, siders, window companies) How to create video content on job sites with partners Transcribing videos into blog posts for multiple websites The professional advantage: extracting marketing value from daily activities Related Article: Matt Brooks of SEOteric on nexus-based link building Example Businesses: Permacast Walls (precast concrete walls) Newton Crouch (renovations) Community Cleanups and Local Link Building (21:00) Why community cleanups work on Reddit (when normal promotion fails) Keep America Beautiful: National nonprofit with county-level support Community Clean Links - organizing community cleanup initiatives SEO benefits: event directories, national aggregators, Google event SERP Brand mentions directly in search results Documentation strategy: branded team, photos, no pitching The AI Search Reality (24:00) Michael McDougald's quote: "Your least trained but most popula...

Lisa Corwood, founder of Fuelled Agency, joins Jeremy to discuss how she transformed creative marketing experiments at a UK car dealership into a full-service agency philosophy. From the viral "Where's Wally" campaign that sparked it all to navigating Search Everywhere Optimization in 2026, this conversation covers authentic community engagement, why no industry is truly "boring," and the looming question of AI-generated content quality. Guest Lisa Corwood Founder, Fuelled Agency LinkedIn Instagram YouTube Topics Covered (00:01) Introduction and Lisa's background (00:18) The origin story: From UK car dealership to agency (02:15) Creative community engagement vs. traditional advertising (04:13) Facebook Groups and providing genuine value (06:01) The "spray and pray" problem on Reddit and social platforms (07:05) Ad blindness and brand values alignment (08:51) Building content ecosystems that connect (10:59) Why "boring" industries have the most passionate audiences (13:14) Showing your team and humanizing your brand (15:06) The "20 leads" question: Testing your funnel (16:54) Co-marketing with complementary businesses (18:44) Search Everywhere Optimization: The multi-platform customer journey (21:20) The accelerating pace of change in digital marketing (23:24) AI content, "slop," and the trust problem (25:22) Gen Alpha's skepticism toward AI-generated content (27:57) What's next for Fuelled Agency in 2026 Key Quotes "If you're going to go in there, don't just walk in a room and shout what you're saying and go out. Treat it as if it's a group of people—not a place to just spray and pray." "No matter what business it is—if it's selling a product, if it's shiny, if it's Lamborghinis or diamond rings—behind all of that is a team that makes that happen. Tell everybody about it!" "If you got 20 leads right now into your business, where would they go and what would happen with them? If you don't have an answer to that, there's something you need to look at." "Customers will hop from one platform to the other to get what they are looking for. They won't just take a five-star review as gospel." "I'm not against AI—but use it in collaboration, in conjunction. You can't solely rely on it." Resources & Links Mentioned Lisa's Agency & Socials Fuelled Agency Fuelled Agency Services Creators Club Lisa on LinkedIn Lisa on Instagram Lisa on YouTube Industry Resources Search Everywhere Optimization Guide – Single Grain Search Everywhere Optimization – Backli...

Guest: Tianna Mamalick, SMB Marketing School Episode Overview Tianna Mamalick shares her 12-year journey in SEO and why she's passionate about working with small businesses. With honest insights on managing client expectations, pairing SEO with paid ads, and the current state of AI-generated content, this conversation reveals what's actually working for service-based businesses right now. Key Discussion Points Why Small Businesses? For small businesses, a 10K monthly revenue increase is life-changing. Tianna shares how clients email her about hiring their first employee or taking their first vacation—results that go far beyond vanity metrics. Managing Expectations Brutally honest approach: clients sign for three months minimum, must have budget they can afford to lose, and receive realistic assessments of whether their business model fits the proven formula. SEO + Ads Strategy When done strategically, pairing ads with SEO helps prime new location pages and service pages through engagement, even though ads don't directly impact SEO rankings. The AI Content Reality After extensive testing: AI-generated content isn't ranking. Tianna's agency went 100% back to human-written content, using AI only for outlines based on top-ranking articles. Content Strategy Shifts Focus on service pages over blog posts Every service needs its own detailed page Mine customer support logs and sales calls for real language Create collaboration posts featuring complementary businesses AI Search Adoption Despite the hype, less than 10% of traffic comes from ChatGPT for most small businesses. Prepare by enriching About pages and author bios, but don't panic about immediate massive shifts. Resources Mentioned Andy Crestodina & Content Chemistry SEOteric - Matt Brooks Get Me Links - Alejandro Marinas Gus Pelogia interview on SEO's universal superpower Michael McDougald, Right Thing Agency Precast Walls - service business example Best Quote "People want to work with people they like, know and trust. It's not just about the backlink. We're really looking at conversions—how can we get SEO to convert for you?" — Tianna Mamalick Connect with Tianna Website: smbmarketingschool.com Instagram: @smbmarketingschool Funnel Summit - January 28th Key Takeaways ✓ Service pages first: Make product and service pages comprehensive before worrying about blog content ✓ Human content wins: AI-generated articles aren't ranking—use AI for outlines, humans for writing ✓ Record everything: Mine sales calls, customer support logs, and front-line staff conversations for gold ✓ Every service gets a page: Stop using men...

In this episode of the Unscripted SEO Podcast by Be Sharp Digital Marketing, Jeremy Rivera sits down with Matt Bailey, a digital marketing veteran with nearly 30 years of experience spanning from the pre-Google AltaVista era to today's AI-driven landscape. Matt shares his journey from building real estate websites with journalism principles in 1995 to founding SiteLogic and helping shape the SEO industry through his work with the OMCP (Online Marketing Certified Professional Organization). This conversation explores the evergreen principles that have survived every "SEO is dead" cycle, the critical gaps in SEO education, and why AI is both a productivity tool and a source of strategic confusion for businesses. Matt and Jeremy discuss the importance of conversion optimization, the holistic webmaster approach that got lost in the 2010-2020 era of easy Google traffic, and why understanding content, context, and community remains fundamental to digital marketing success. Key Topics Covered: Why newspaper layout principles from 1995 still drive SEO success today The 18-24 month shelf life of SEO educational content Enterprise red tape horror stories (drug tests for editing 10 pages!) Why LLMs are "like pre-Google search" and the shiny object syndrome around AI The seven strategic questions every business needs to answer before tactics How to remove friction down the funnel and leverage your website correctly Why social traffic behavior differs dramatically from search and blog referrals Guest Matt Bailey Founder & CEO, SiteLogic Marketing 30+ years in digital marketing (since 1995) OMCP contributor and instructional design expert Former Microsoft Worldwide Education consultant Website: sitelogic.com Learning Platform: learn.sitelogic.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mattbaileysitelogic Extended Recap The Origin Story: From Journalism to Pre-Google SEO Matt Bailey's journey into digital marketing began in an unexpected place—journalism school. While he quickly realized journalism wasn't his calling, the education gave him something invaluable: an understanding of how to lay out content for quick consumption. Headlines, subheadings, bullet points—these newspaper design principles became the foundation of his website development approach in 1995-96. Working in real estate at the time, Matt started building websites as electronic versions of printed pages. What he didn't realize initially was that the markup he was using for visual layout was exactly what early search engines needed. This was the AltaVista era, where SEOs would spend entire nights resubmitting pages to chase rankings. When Google arrived, Matt's content-first approach paid immediate dividends. Pages structured with clear hierarchy and reader-focused design performed well naturally. This early lesson—that optimizing for visitors and optimizing for search engines aren't separate goals—would become a through-line in his entire career. The Analytics Awakening A pivotal moment came when Matt was working on real estate websites and asked himself: "What can I do on the website that will have the biggest impact?" He didn't have an answer. That question forced h...