The Search Session

What happens when search stops being something people use and becomes something AI agents use on their behalf?In this episode of The Search Session, Gianluca Fiorelli speaks with digital entrepreneur and keynote speaker Bastian Grimm about what agentic search means for businesses, and what they should be doing about it now.From AI-ready data, evolving protocols, and machine-readable formats to brand recognition, experimentation, and the future of SEO, they explore how AI could reshape websites, search interfaces, publishing models, and the way brands are discovered.Bastian offers a pragmatic view of a rapidly changing landscape: rather than chasing every new standard, businesses should focus on reliable data, strong technical foundations, experimentation, and learning what actually works.This is the 80th episode of:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh Here's what you'll learn in this episode:(00:19) Meet Our Guest: Bastian Grimm(04:31) How Do You Give Clients Certainty When Everything Changes?(07:32) The Biggest Misconception About Agentic Search(12:51) How to Audit a Website for Agentic Search(16:18) Markdown and New Formats for Machine Consumption(21:10) Enterprise Risk vs. SMB Agility in AI(24:45) Breaking SEO Out of Its Silo(30:51) Evolving Brand Signals & Trust(37:28) Will Websites Still Exist in the Future?(43:34) Why Publishers Are at Risk and What They Can Do(50:07) What Will the Next Generation of Brand Signals Look Like?(53:38) The Most Important Priority: Organize Your Data👉 Read the full article and explore additional insights:  https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/agentic-search-readiness Where to find Bastian GrimmLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bastiangrimm/ X: https://x.com/basgr Website: https://bastiangrimm.com/  Where to find Gianluca Fiorelli Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/ X: https://x.com/gfiorelli1 Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social Website: https://iloveseo.net/ 🎙 Listen to The Search Session on your favorite platform:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201 Made with ❤️by Advanced Web Ranking, the people behind the world's most accurate and longest-standing rank tracker.Get your free 7-day trial and find your true visibility in organic search for any market: https://www.advancedwebranking.com/Be sure to subscribe for more actionable marketing and SEO tutorials:    / @advancedwebranking

Is your SEO agency practicing what it preaches to clients?In this episode of The Search Session, Gianluca Fiorelli talks with SEO consultant Grant Simmons about what it takes to stay visible and relevant as search evolves. They explore agency positioning, technical SEO for AI search, site architecture, internal linking, knowledge graphs, programmatic SEO, and the growing challenge of query drift.Grant also breaks down what GEO gets wrong, why technical foundations still matter to LLM visibility, and how to scale content without sacrificing quality or topical focus.A practical, no-fluff conversation about building sites and SEO strategies that search engines, LLMs, and users can actually understand.This is the 79th episode of:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh Here's what you'll learn in this episode:00:06 Meet Our Guest: Grant Simmons04:24 Why Agencies Struggle to Adapt and Pitch Value12:28 JavaScript, Site Speed, and the Technical Debt Problem17:50 Site Architecture and Strategic Internal Linking21:48 Knowledge Graphs vs. Databases for Search & LLMs26:56 Programmatic SEO: Scale Without Losing Value30:48 Creating Architectural Taxonomies for User Experience34:38 Communicating with Clarity: Marketing Copy vs. LLM Understanding39:37 Using Entity Maps to Strip Away Ambiguity42:46 Diagnosing and Resolving Query Drift49:06 Debunking AI Search Myths and Pet Peeves51:22 Maintaining Passion Across 25+ Years in SEO👉 Read the full article and explore additional insights:  https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/technical-debt-query-drift-site-architecture-for-ai-search Where to find Grant SimmonsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simmonet/ X: https://x.com/simmonet Website: https://www.grantsimmons.com/  Where to find Gianluca Fiorelli Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/ X: https://x.com/gfiorelli1 Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social Website: https://iloveseo.net/ 🎙 Listen to The Search Session on your favorite platform:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201 Made with ❤️by Advanced Web Ranking, the people behind the world's most accurate and longest-standing rank tracker.Get your free 7-day trial and find your true visibility in organic search for any market: https://www.advancedwebranking.com/Be sure to subscribe for more actionable marketing and SEO tutorials:    / @advancedwebranking

Can AI really understand a brand - or is it still getting confused by conflicting information?In this episode of The Search Session, Gianluca Fiorelli sits down with semantic SEO and structured data strategists Martha van Berkel and Mark van Berkel to explore how AI is reshaping semantic search, structured data, and the web.The conversation goes beyond the buzzwords to unpack knowledge graphs, Schema.org, entity management, data governance, schema drift, NLWeb, MCP, and what it takes to build an agent-ready, machine-understandable brand.Because as search becomes more AI-driven, being visible isn’t enough. AI needs to understand what a brand actually is.This is the 78th episode of:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh Here's what you'll learn in this episode:(00:06) Meet Our Guests: Martha van Berkel and Mark van Berkel(04:44) A New Business Case for Structured Data(08:11) The Growing Sophistication of Semantic Search(15:30) Disambiguation, Identifiers, and Identity on the Web(20:28) Data Governance at Enterprise Scale(24:55) Emerging Standards: WebMCP, MCP, NLWeb and Agent Discovery(33:15) How AI Systems Actually Use Structured Data(40:41) Optimizing for Agents: ARIA, SKOS, and Actionability(46:37) Balancing Creative Tone with Machine Clarity(51:07) Working Together as Co-Founders and a Couple   👉 Read the full article and explore additional insights:  https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/semantic-data-layer-brand-ai-understand Where to find Martha van BerkelLinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/martha-van-berkel X: https://x.com/marthavanberkel Website: https://www.schemaapp.com/ Where to find Mark van BerkelLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markvanberkel/ X: https://x.com/vberkel Website: https://www.schemaapp.com/  Where to find Gianluca Fiorelli Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/ X: https://x.com/gfiorelli1 Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social Website: https://iloveseo.net/ 🎙 Listen to The Search Session on your favorite platform:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201 Made with ❤️by Advanced Web Ranking, the people behind the world's most accurate and longest-standing rank tracker.Get your free 7-day trial and find your true visibility in organic search for any market: https://www.advancedwebranking.com/Be sure to subscribe for more actionable marketing and SEO tutorials:    / @advancedwebranking

What makes B2B marketing truly creative in an age of AI search?On this episode of The Search Session, Gianluca Fiorelli talks with B2B marketing strategist Lee Odden about creativity beyond content production - from understanding complex buyer information journeys to building trust through creators, influencers, executives, and internal experts.The conversation explores why audience understanding will outlast AI visibility tactics, how B2B brands can turn expertise into influence, why informational content still matters, and how prioritization can turn SEO recommendations into real business impact.A practical conversation about making B2B marketing more creative, credible, and useful.This is the 77th episode of: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh Here's what you'll learn in this episode:(00:06) Meet Our Guest: Lee Odden(02:00) Creativity in B2B Goes Beyond Written Content(07:46) Audience Intelligence & Tailoring Content to Stakeholders(11:06) AI Search Optimization vs. Sustainable Information Journeys(15:36) How to Slow Down the AI Optimization Race(19:33) Prioritization in SMB vs. Enterprise B2B(22:56) Connecting B2B Marketing to the Creator Economy(27:40) A B2B Influencer Campaign That Generated 5,000+ Registrations(30:17) How to Find the Right B2B Influencers(36:47) Building Influence From Within the Company(41:34) When Creativity Means Hijacking the Conversation(44:21) Does B2B Still Need Informational Content?(52:29) Returning to the Game: Lee Odden’s Marketing Comeback👉 Read the full article and explore additional insights: https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/creativity-in-b2b-marketing Where to find Lee OddenLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leeodden/ X: https://x.com/leeoddenWebsite: https://www.toprankmarketing.com/ Where to find Gianluca Fiorelli Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/ X: https://x.com/gfiorelli1 Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social Website: https://iloveseo.net/ 🎙 Listen to The Search Session on your favorite platform:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201 Made with ❤️by Advanced Web Ranking, the people behind the world's most accurate and longest-standing rank tracker.Get your free 7-day trial and find your true visibility in organic search for any market: https://www.advancedwebranking.com/Be sure to subscribe for more actionable marketing and SEO tutorials: / @advancedwebranking

Search isn't just becoming more AI-driven. It's becoming harder to define where a search session actually ends.In this episode, Will Scott joins Gianluca Fiorelli to explore what it means to stay visible when users move between SERP features, AI answers, query refinements, agents, and an increasingly fragmented set of search surfaces.This is the 76th episode of:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh Here's what you'll learn in this episode:00:00 Intro00:09 Meet Our Guest: Will Scott05:22 Rediscovering Passion for SEO in the Age of AI 11:51 Entities, Semiotics, and the Evolution of the Web20:22 Building an AI Voice & Tone System24:10 Winning AI Search Through Content Ubiquity28:28 Pinterest, Google Images & Discovery31:52 Personalization, Search Sessions & Prompt Variability34:27 Prompt Tracking vs. Query Refinement39:00 Redefining "Zero-Click" to "Zero-Exit"44:35 Building Custom AI Tools & Workflows55:08 Information Gain: Will Scott's New Orleans Recommendations👉 Read the full article and explore additional insights:https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/visibility-in-zero-exit-search-experiences   Where to find Will Scott LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamscott/ X: https://x.com/w2scott Website: https://www.searchinfluence.com/  Where to find Gianluca Fiorelli Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/ X: https://x.com/gfiorelli1 Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social Website: https://iloveseo.net/ 🎙 Listen to The Search Session on your favorite platform:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201 Made with ❤️by Advanced Web Ranking, the people behind the world's most accurate and longest-standing rank tracker.Get your free 7-day trial and find your true visibility in organic search for any market: https://www.advancedwebranking.com/Be sure to subscribe for more actionable marketing and SEO tutorials:    / @advancedwebranking