SEO in 2026

680 Episodes

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Use Anthropic's Claude or Google's Gemini in your day-to-day SEO work - with Chris Byrne

2026-11-1114:18

Chris Byrne shares that other than sometimes using LLMs to summarise long articles / research (which some might consider lazy and not the optimal way to learn), he is also using Anthropic's Claude or Google's Gemini in his day-to-day work with simple quick prompting in the following ways (mostly without using 3rd party data and without using MCPs) for qualitative data analysis. Talking points include: How do you actually spot and report those fake lead-gen agencies disguising themselves on Google Maps? What steps do you take to flag misleading business profiles through Google Search Console spam reports? How can you use Claude to catch fake or incentivized reviews on Trustpilot? What are the legal risks under UK law regarding undisclosed incentivized reviews and reporting them to the CMA? How do you structure a prompt to analyze competitor backlink profiles for hidden PBN footprints? What indicators do you look for when checking if a backlink is non-compliant with search engine guidelines? How do you use AI for qualitative data analysis without getting bogged down in complex tools or MCPs? How can you feed official Google retail UX playbooks into Claude to audit an e-commerce site? What are the most effective ways to combine simple prompting with raw data to audit competitor websites? Why is quick, day-to-day AI prompting often more practical for qualitative SEO analysis than complex third-party setups?

The biggest SEO opportunity is making every product understandable - Lucas Tieleman

2026-11-0414:40

Lucas Tieleman shares that retailers have spent 20 years teaching shoppers to search like databases, but in 2026 the biggest SEO opportunity is making every product understandable as shoppers start searching like people again. Talking points include: The Shift from Database Search to Human Conversation: How shoppers are moving away from robotic keywords like "men's running shoes" toward complex, natural language prompts like cushioning, weather, and budget requirements. The Catalog Context Gap: Why having the perfect product in stock means nothing if your catalog lacks the granular context for search engines, AI assistants, or onsite site search to recognize it. Product Data as a Frontline Discovery Engine: Why treating product data as a mere backend operational concern is failing retailers, and how it now dictates visibility across Google, AI recommendations, Shopping queries, and internal site search. Redefining the Long Tail: How the modern long tail has evolved from a list of low-volume keyword strings into infinite combinations of occasions, use cases, budgets, and personal preferences expressed in conversational queries. Unifying Retail Ecosystems: Why the retail SEO leader's role is expanding to bridge the historical gaps between SEO, merchandising, taxonomy, product content, paid media, and onsite discovery.

You need to educate your B2B SEO clients - with Matt Kohli

2026-10-2816:17

Matt Kohli shares that traditional B2B clients are years behind through no fault of their own, and if you don't actively educate them, they end up making renewal and budget decisions without any real ability to judge the value you're delivering. Talking points include: The Environment Gap, Not an Intelligence Gap: Why traditional B2B sectors like manufacturing, engineering, and construction lag behind in search maturity due to relationship-driven business models rather than a lack of capability. The Danger of Outdated Expectations: How legacy views on SEO from traditional marketing specialists lead to misaligned budgets, and why the few competitors who take search seriously capture disproportionate market share. Baking Education Into the Delivery: Why proactive client education must be integrated into agency workflows to ensure stakeholders can accurately evaluate the long-term value of organic growth. Centralizing Transparency with Custom Tooling: How internal hubs like Fortitude HQ—unifying first-party performance data, transparent task tracking, and streamlined ticketing—eliminate the traditional "black box" of SEO reporting. Proactive Contextual Briefings: The power of delivering regular, bite-sized updates explaining what is changing in search and sector dynamics, translating macro-algorithmic shifts into actionable commercial meaning for clients. The Onboarding and Pitch Advantage: How embedding a dedicated search landscape session directly into client onboarding or initial sales pitches aligns expectations from day one and builds long-term trust.

Build stronger brand–category co-occurrence and contextual signals - Maryanna Franco

2026-10-2116:08

Maryanna Franco shares that citation visibility is very 2025. In 2026 SEO can only move the needle by building stronger brand–category co-occurrence and contextual signals, because being part of AI's bibliography doesn't mean being part of its shortlist. Discussion points include: The Citation Fallacy: Why being cited in an AI response's bibliography is entirely different from being recommended, and how a high volume of citations can create a dangerously misleading illusion of true brand visibility. Co-Occurrence vs. Topical Authority: How establishing strong brand–category co-occurrence connects your entity directly to the exact commercial category you want to dominate, moving far beyond generic topical authority. The Content Volume Trap: Why publishing thousands of pages demonstrating expertise no longer guarantees a spot on AI's shortlist when a buyer asks for recommendations in your category. The Power of External Validation: The crucial role of third-party mentions in forging unbreakable category associations when your brand, expertise, and category consistently appear together across the wider web. Mastering Query Fan-Out: How AI search behavior deconstructs user intent into a wide web of sub-queries, requiring your brand to maintain contextual relevance across the entire conceptual tree rather than just optimizing for a single head term. Redefining Performance Metrics: Why modern SEO measurement must sharply distinguish between being referenced as a background source, being passively mentioned, and actually securing a spot among recommended market leaders.

Never treat localization as the last step - Kseniya Dvarakouskaya

2026-10-1416:02

Kseniya Dvarakouskaya says that the biggest mistake in international SEO in 2026 is treating localization as the last step — real ranking growth in new markets starts with local keyword research from scratch, not translating what already works in English. Talking points include: Why translation is not localization when it comes to SEO — and where teams lose ranking potential - What local keyword research actually looks like (native speakers, local SERPs, market-specific search intent) - Cultural differences in search behavior — examples from Japanese, Korean, German, Spanish markets - Common mistakes: word-for-word translation of English keywords, ignoring local competitors, mixing Simplified and Traditional Chinese, using LATAM Spanish for Spain - Real case: what changes when the localization team is involved from day one vs at the end of the launch - How localization teams and SEO teams should collaborate in practice

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