The Edward Show

E1035: Breaking down the risks of using AI to fully automate SEO. The man… the myth… the legend… Gagan Ghotra returns to the podcast!!! We get into why so many founders, startups, and small businesses are being tempted by viral posts promising that Claude, ChatGPT, or other AI tools can replace an SEO team, an agency, or a group of writers. The problem is that a lot of these workflows turn into scaled content abuse. They create hundreds or thousands of pages quickly, often without enough original information, human review, or real value per page. The traffic can go up fast, but the drop can be just as fast. We talk about: - What scaled content abuse means - Why Google introduced the policy - How AI SEO pages can grow for a few months before falling hard - Why "fire your SEO team and use AI" advice is dangerous - The difference between programmatic SEO and scaled AI content - When scaling content can be useful - Why unique data, original opinions, and internal knowledge matter - How Google might detect bad scaled content - Why engagement signals, brand signals, and social presence may matter more over time - What happened with Shopify's scaled content issues - Why VC-backed startups are especially vulnerable to AI SEO hype - How short-term growth can hurt fundraising if the site gets hit later - Why boring local businesses may be able to use AI differently than competitive startups - Why social profiles, PR, and brand recognition can help support SEO - What companies should be doing now if they want to win search over the next three years - Why brand building and SEO are becoming harder to separate - How to use AI as part of the writing process without letting it take over the whole page Gagan's main point is simple: AI can help with SEO, but it should not replace judgment, original information, or human editing. If you are building a real company, your domain is an asset. Burning it for a few months of traffic is not the same as building a search channel that lasts. ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra on 𝕏 - https://x.com/gaganghotra_ ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gagan-ghotra/ ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra's website - https://gaganghotra.com/ 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 AI SEO Automation Hype 01:51 Scaled Content Abuse Explained 03:43 Using AI With Human Writers 08:09 Programmatic SEO Vs Abuse 10:00 How Google Detects Scaling 13:43 Brand Signals And PR Buffer 15:05 Shopify Case Study Fallout 17:22 SMBs Vs VC Startups Risks 22:07 Boom Bust And Fundraising 28:32 Churn And Burn Ethics 31:02 Social Profiles As Trust 34:34 AI Tools For Omnichannel 41:35 Winners Build Brands 48:08 Wrap Up And Outro The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #generativeengineoptimization #answerengineoptimization #seo

E1033: Breaking down a dense set of notes from the BrightonSEO conference and turning them into a practical playbook for modern SEO. These are real observations about what you have to do to win search and conversions - especially with AI, generative engine optimization (GEO), and the growing importance of conversion-focused content. I recorded this episode from a rooftop in Manhattan, and we cover everything from technical SEO foundations to how AI systems actually discover, evaluate, and cite content. If you care about getting customers from search - not just traffic - this episode will give you a clear direction. What we cover: - The modern SEO framework: technical SEO as the foundation, content and PR as the catalyst, social media as the amplifier, and GEO as expanding your presence across AI systems - A decision framework before creating content: demand, winnability, indexability, visibility, differentiation, and trust - How AI search works: query fan-outs, partial page reading, citation behavior, and why influence happens at the prompt level - Key data points shaping strategy: AI overviews reducing clicks, more journeys involving AI, homepages getting more AI traffic, and low overlap with top Google rankings - Content strategy shifts: optimize for passages, answer one question per paragraph, use neutral language, and focus on problems instead of keywords - Conversion-focused SEO: why bottom-of-funnel pages matter, how intent-driven pages perform, and how to structure pages to convert - AI and content quality: using LLMs effectively, spotting mistakes, and validating outputs with multiple systems - Brand and trust: the role of reviews, sentiment, consistency, and where AI pulls brand signals from - E-commerce and AI search: what gets products cited, how to structure product pages, and the importance of attributes and Q&A - Practical takeaways: mining fan-out queries, aligning navigation with customer language, focusing on leading metrics, and combining engineering with storytelling This episode is packed. You may want to slow it down or take notes. Subscribe if you want daily episodes on SEO, AI, and building a business through search. ⭐️ Malte Landwehr's write-up - https://x.com/MalteLandwehr/status/2050268682115272994 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 BrightonSEO Notes 00:41 GEO KPI Checklist 01:16 GEO Like Poker 01:52 Indexability And Speed 02:29 Intent Driven Categories 03:17 AI Visibility Mindset 03:47 Using LLMs Wisely 04:44 AI Mode Metrics 05:36 Passage Level Optimization 06:07 Grounding And Fan-outs 06:36 AI Overviews And BOFU 07:37 Trust And Disinformation 07:58 Conversational Search Future 09:19 Brand Terms And Navigation 10:20 Ecommerce Content Playbook 11:10 Content That Gets Cited 11:36 AI Shopping Tactics 13:00 Grow And Protect Brand 13:29 Wrap Up And Thanks The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #generativeengineoptimization #ecommerce #seo

E1031: Wil Reynolds, founder of Seer Interactive, joins the show to break down what's actually working in SEO right now - and what most people are getting completely wrong. This conversation goes beyond tactics. Wil explains why chasing shortcuts, automations, and "quick wins" is a losing strategy, and why the future belongs to people who understand how humans think, search, and make decisions. We talk about AI, agents, brand, keyword strategy, client work, and the mindset required to stay relevant in a rapidly changing industry. In this: - Why most SEOs are focused on the wrong things - The difference between tenure and tenacity in SEO - What's actually changing with AI search and LLMs - Why "talking to real humans" is still the biggest edge - How to find keywords that actually drive revenue (not vanity traffic) - Why ranking #1 can still be a waste of time - The problem with listicles, loopholes, and copycat strategies - How to use PPC data to validate SEO decisions - What real marketing looks like in a search-driven world - How brand perception impacts both Google and AI results - Wil's experiments with LLMs and how fast results can change - Why most agencies lose trust (and how to avoid it) - The role of agents and automation in modern workflows - Why internal linking and SEO processes are becoming fully automatable - The importance of playing the long game vs chasing short-term wins Key ideas from Wil: - Just because you rank doesn't mean you'll win customers - SEO without understanding people is incomplete - If your strategy depends on a loophole, it won't last - Brand matters more than ever in AI-driven search - The fastest wins are often the least durable - The best insights come from watching real users, not tools - You have to earn trust, not automate it ⭐️ Wil Reynolds' agency - Seer Interactive - https://www.seerinteractive.com/ ⭐️ Wil Reynolds' 𝕏 - https://x.com/wilreynolds ⭐️ Wil Reynolds' LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilreynolds/ ⭐️ Wil Reynolds' YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/wilreynolds ⭐️ My mom passed away, what kind of son was I to her? - https://wilreynolds.medium.com/my-mom-passed-away-what-kind-of-son-was-i-to-her-af28b8e40c3e 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Meet Wil Reynolds 00:32 SEO Origins and Tenacity 05:18 Talk to Real Searchers 10:51 Intent and Keyword ROI 15:21 Listicles Versus Strategy 18:44 Buyer Psychology Reading List 21:28 AI Agents and Orchestrators 28:05 Internal Linking Automation 34:10 Meaningful Impact and Teaching 42:17 Creative Campaign Sex Toy Day 49:43 Influencing LLMs and Reputation 01:02:45 Long Game SEO Mindset 01:09:30 Accountability Beyond SEO 01:15:18 Closing Thoughts and Outro The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #seo #digitalmarketing #growthhacking

E1029: How e-commerce brands should build backlinks, especially Shopify brands. Kai Cromwell, an e-commerce SEO legend, joins the show for his second time. We cover what links are worth paying for, what links to avoid, how to evaluate link marketplaces, when to use cold email, and why most e-commerce brands should be careful about building too many links directly to product pages. Topics covered: - Where e-commerce brands should build backlinks from - When a new brand should avoid spending money on links - How much Kai recommends spending if you use link marketplaces - Why link insertions are often better than guest posts - How to check whether marketplace metrics are outdated - Red flags to look for before buying a link - Why traffic history matters - How to evaluate a site's outbound link ratio - What topical relevance should look like - What makes a link insertion look natural - How Kai uses cold email for link building - Why niche sites are often more useful than big news sites - How to think about building links to the homepage, collection pages, blog posts, and product pages - Why Kai usually avoids building links to product pages - Anchor text ratios for e-commerce sites - How smaller brands can build links without a large budget - Why free foundational links still matter - How link exchanges, journalist requests, and PR can fit into a link building strategy - What makes one backlink more valuable than another - Why having a real brand and useful content makes link building easier Kai also shares a few link building stories, including one involving a food blogger, a cookie company, and a fake cookie recipe made with ChatGPT. If you're in e-commerce, this episode is a must. ⭐️ Kai's first time on the podcast - Full Shopify SEO breakdown - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu8J3ldS9mQ ⭐️ Kai Cromwell on 𝕏 - https://x.com/KaiCromwell ⭐️ Kai Cromwell on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kai-cromwell/ ⭐️ Kai Cromwell on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@searchnewseas ⭐️ Kai Cromwell's Shopify SEO Agency, New Seas - https://newseas.co/ 🎯 The AI System to Find Relevant Journalists, Land Coverage, and Earn Ongoing High-Authority Backlinks - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/articles_ai-system-find-journalists-earn-high-authority-backlinks/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Backlinks for Ecommerce 00:24 Choosing Link Sources 01:52 Best Marketplaces and Pricing 03:14 Buying Links Mistakes 06:53 Red Flags to Avoid 09:15 Topical Relevance Checks 10:18 Great Link Insertions 12:32 Cold Email Link Building 15:46 Natural Link Profiles 17:53 Where to Point Links 19:03 Blog Links and Internal Juice 20:57 Branded Search and Anchors 22:39 Branded Anchors Only 22:57 Why News PR Is Hard 24:33 Press Releases And Tools 26:33 Scaling Outreach With Rechecks 28:50 Link Building On A Budget 31:16 HARO And Reporter Platforms 32:45 Picking High Value Links 35:44 Creative Link Building Stories 39:28 Make A Site Worth Linking 40:38 Viral Assets And Trend Surfing 43:05 Brand Quality Beats SEO 45:31 Wrap Up And Where To Find Kai The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #ecommerceseo #shopifyseo #linkbuilding #searchengineoptimization

E1027: Tryggvi Rafn rejoins the show to screenshare (on YouTube) the AI-powered SEO system he built from scratch over four months. This is not another "AI writes blog posts" workflow. The system is designed to discover, prioritize, and build revenue-driving pages automatically, using a combination of data pipelines, keyword clustering, and agent-based workflows. We walk through how it works end-to-end, including how it finds opportunities, creates content, and routes everything through a structured review process. What we cover: - How the system builds a "keyword universe" from multiple data sources - Using Google Search Console, scraped content, forums, and product data together - Turning website content into a vector database to better understand topics - Automatically generating and scoring new keyword opportunities - Clustering keywords into topics and mapping them to the right pages - Why most tools focus too much on blog content (and what to do instead) - Building commercial pages, landing pages, and product-driven SEO content - How the system identifies missing pages and creates them - The role of intent analysis and why it needs to be tracked over time - How "striking distance" and information gain are used to improve rankings - The content pipeline: research → brief → draft → review → publish - Why human review is still a critical step in the workflow - How agents are used for research, analysis, and execution - The difference between stateful agents and task-based agents - How the team iterates on content quality and improves outputs over time - What actually makes AI-generated content useful instead of generic - The biggest challenges in building a system like this (and what broke along the way) - How much time this saves compared to manual SEO workflows - Real-world results, including ranking for competitive keywords and driving high-ticket sales We also get into the technical side: - Building data pipelines that don't break at scale - Error handling and workflow reliability - Managing handoffs between different agents - Designing systems that continuously improve with feedback This episode is especially useful if you: - Run SEO for an e-commerce or service business - Want to move beyond manual keyword research and content planning - Are thinking about building internal tools using AI - Care about ranking pages that actually drive revenue, not just traffic ⭐️ Tryggvi Rafn on 𝕏 - https://x.com/ecomtryggvi ⭐️ Tryggvi Rafn on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tryggvi-rafn/ ⭐️ Tryggvi Rafn on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@Ecomtryggvi ⭐️ Tryggvi Rafn's agency - https://www.nordicamarketing.com/ 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Auto SEO Overview 01:20 Why Page Types Matter 02:06 Brand DNA Brain 03:05 Keyword Universe Pipeline 06:38 Clustering Explained 07:47 Results and Human Review 08:46 Command Center Workflows 11:02 Intent and Commercial Focus 11:57 Images and Alt Text Automation 14:29 Project Brain Knowledge Base 17:46 Information Gain Briefs 19:45 Backlog to Review Workflow 24:54 Writing Quality Controls 26:36 Building Lessons and Roadblocks 29:52 Five Keyword Sources 32:54 Impact on Rankings 33:47 Wrap Up and Next Features The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #seo #programmaticseo #growthhacking

E1025: Matt Diamante breaks down how he built a simple one-page tool that ranked #1 on Google with almost no content and no traditional SEO work. The site is LinkGap.io, a backlink gap analysis tool he built in a single afternoon using AI. It has roughly 35 words on the page, no meta description, no analytics, and almost no backlinks - yet it ranks and generates thousands of leads. This conversation walks through exactly how it was built, how it gained traction, and why it's working despite breaking most SEO "rules." What you'll learn: - How Matt built a working SaaS-style tool in a few hours using AI - The exact setup process (hosting, APIs, and basic structure) - Why he ignored traditional SEO best practices - and still ranked - How the tool generated 14,000+ emails as a lead magnet - The simple marketing strategy that drove initial traffic - User behavior signals vs. on-page SEO - How to come up with similar tools in any niche - The difference between building a brand vs. a standalone tool - How to turn simple tools into long-term products or SaaS Key takeaways: - You don't need a full website to rank - a useful tool can be enough - Distribution (even a single video) can kickstart traction - AI can handle most of the technical build if you guide it properly - Small, focused tools can outperform large, "optimized" sites - There are still many underserved niches outside of marketing Topics covered: - AI-assisted development (Claude Code) - Backlink gap analysis and SEO tools - Lead generation through free tools - Ranking factors beyond traditional SEO - Building and testing ideas quickly If you're trying to grow a business, build tools, or get traffic without overcomplicating SEO, this episode gives a practical example of what's possible right now. ⭐️ Backlink Gap Analysis - https://linkgap.io/ ⭐️ Matt Diamante on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/heytony.agency/ ⭐️ Matt Diamante on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@heytonyagency ⭐️ Matt Diamante on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@heymattdiamante ⭐️ Matt Diamante's agency - https://heytony.ca/ 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 SEO Without SEO 00:35 What LinkGap Does 01:22 Costs and Email Leads 03:12 Build Time and Setup 04:23 Hosting and Tooling 06:57 Vibe Coding WordPress 09:16 Back to LinkGap Build 11:37 No Tracking or GSC 11:54 Marketing With Videos 12:31 Ranking Against Giants 14:01 Exact Match Domain Twist 14:30 SEO Signals vs UX 15:01 Chrome Data Theory 16:36 Ranking Wins and AI Overviews 18:03 Monetizing the Tool 18:32 Simple Weekly SEO Actions 19:09 The Best SEO Course 20:03 Lead Magnets for Any Niche 21:09 Rank Report Card Idea 21:43 Focus and Team Execution 23:49 Subdomain vs Standalone Brand 26:56 Underserved Niches Beyond Marketing 27:54 Wrap Up and Thanks The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #linkbuilding #backlinks #searchengineoptimization #seo

E1023: How Google Discover works and why it can outperform traditional SEO by a massive margin. Google Discover isn't driven by search queries. It's driven by attention. If you understand how to stop the scroll, you can unlock traffic levels that most publishers never reach. This episode is based on insights from Guilhem Chauvin, along with real-world experience publishing daily content and testing what actually gets clicks. We cover the key differences between SEO and Discover, why most content fails in the Discover feed, and what you need to change if you want consistent traffic from it. What you'll learn in this episode: - Why Google Discover is not SEO and how the algorithm really works - The importance of "stopping the scroll" vs. answering search queries - How Discover is more similar to TikTok than Google Search - Why your title matters more than your content in Discover - How to write headlines that increase click-through rate from 2% to 14% - The role of images and how they impact performance - Why stock photos kill your traffic and what to use instead - How audience signals determine whether your content gets distributed - Why publishing more content can actually reduce your traffic - The "sniper approach" to getting millions of clicks with fewer articles - What changed in the latest Discover updates and what it means for publishers We also talk about: - How to combine SEO and Discover strategies effectively - Why engagement signals matter across both Discover and search - The importance of building an audience that already trusts your content - Why having something to sell (product, SaaS, or service) makes your traffic more valuable If you're a publisher, SEO, or content creator, understanding Google Discover can completely change how you approach content. ⭐️ The thread - https://x.com/GuilhemChauvin/status/2046855653554110626 ⭐️ Google Discover's New Rules, March Core Update Fallout & AI Content Penalty Risks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfno63QEiQQ 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Why Discover Wins 00:36 Secret 1 Discover Not SEO 01:27 Secret 2 Audience Clicks Rule 02:33 Secret 3 Headlines That Hook 03:37 Secret 4 Scroll Stopping Images 04:18 Secret 5 Audience Signals First 06:15 Secret 6 Sniper Not Volume 07:21 Updates Volatility Opportunity 08:12 Monetize Beyond Traffic 08:39 Course Testimonial Pitch 09:43 Wrap Up Credits Goodbye The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #googlediscoveroptimization #searchengineoptimization #seo #googlediscover

E1021: A simple SEO strategy built around Google's "People Also Ask" questions - and how to turn them into a system for building topical authority, generating consistent traffic, and driving real conversions. Most marketers either ignore these questions or treat them as an afterthought. This episode shows how to structure them into a scalable content framework that not only ranks, but also feeds authority into your highest-value pages. The process is straightforward, but the leverage comes from how you connect everything together: question pages, internal links, and bottom-of-funnel landing pages. What you'll learn: - How to find real "People Also Ask" questions directly from Google - Why you should start with a small set of questions instead of scaling too fast - How to generate clean, concise answers and refine them for your brand voice - How to structure an FAQ hub and individual question pages for SEO - Why these pages are easier to rank than traditional content - How to identify which pages are gaining traction and expand them - How to use internal linking to pass authority to commercial pages - What "satisfied clicks" are and why they matter for SEO performance - How to turn informational traffic into leads using simple calls to action - Why you still need backlinks to support long-term growth - How to avoid creating an unnatural authority profile This strategy is especially useful if you're building a newer site or trying to grow traffic in a competitive niche without relying entirely on backlinks. If you apply it correctly, you end up with a network of pages that generate their own authority and continuously support your most important pages. ⭐️ E902 - The 5-Minute SEO Hack: Turn 'People Also Ask' Into Instant Topical Authority - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHFrWBzg9c4 ⭐️ Find People Also Ask questions - https://alsoasked.com/ ⭐️ Turn People Also Ask Questions Into Easy Traffic, Authority, and Sales - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/people-also-ask-seo-traffic-authority-sales/ ⭐️ The SEO Colonies Strategy: Turn One Ranking Page Into Dozens - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/seo-colonies-strategy-turn-one-page-into-dozens/ 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 People Also Ask Power 00:37 Collect PAA Questions 01:43 AI Answers Workflow 02:09 Build FAQ Hub Pages 03:35 Get Indexed And Rank 04:20 Funnel Authority To Money Pages 06:29 Colony Linking Strategy 07:53 Backlinks And Balance 08:53 Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #seo #growthhacking #digitalmarketing

E1019: One of the most uncomfortable truths in SEO: yes, duplicate content can still rank - and in some cases, it can even OUTRANK the original. I walk through real experiments, what Google actually does when it finds duplicate pages, and why higher authority sites can take your content and win in the search results. We also cover the common misconception around a "duplicate content penalty," what actually happens instead, and where the real risks come from (including DMCA and quality signals). Most importantly, I explain what you should do about it - both to protect your own content and to build an SEO strategy that isn't vulnerable to this problem in the first place. Topics covered: - How Google handles duplicate content in search results - Why higher authority pages can outrank the original source - The difference between duplicate content and a penalty - What the SERPs hijacking experiments revealed - Real examples of content being copied and beating the original - Why Google sometimes takes action after SEO experiments go viral - The risks of copying content (including DMCA and quality issues) - How to defend your site from content theft - The role of canonical tags and internal linking - Why authorship signals have changed over time - What "bottom of funnel SEO" is and why it protects you - How to build authority so your content is harder to outrank If you've ever worried about someone copying your content, or wondered if duplicate content actually matters, this episode will give you a clear, practical understanding of what's going on and how to approach it. ⭐️ The experiment - https://seosherpa.com/seo-experiments/ ⭐️ Does SEO Authorship Matter? - https://victorious.com/blog/google-authorship/ ⭐️ How to not get penalized by legitimate duplicate content (not plagiarized)? - https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/1f1y1fd/how_to_not_get_penalised_by_legitimate_duplicate/ ⭐️ Google Does Take Action Against Content Scrapers - https://dejanmarketing.com/google-against-content-scrapers/ 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Duplicate Content Risk 00:40 How Google Chooses Originals 01:37 SERPs Hijack Experiment 03:02 Defending Against Scrapers 03:24 Authorship Signals Today 05:10 Why Copying Backfires 06:02 Duplicate Penalty Myth 08:44 Dejan Update And Reality 09:59 Ethics And DMCA Risks 10:17 Protect Yourself With BOFU SEO 12:02 Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #seo #blackhatseo #digitalmarketing

1017: Breaking down the latest changes in Google Search and what they mean for publishers, SEO teams, and content-driven businesses. We cover the first-ever Google Discover-specific update, the March 2026 core and spam updates, and what's really happening with AI-generated content in search. This is a practical discussion based on real observations. Edward is joined by Gagan Ghotra, Harpreet Singh, and David Quaid to analyze what's changing, what still works, and where most teams are getting it wrong. Topics covered: - What Google changed in the Discover update and why it matters - The shift toward more local content in Discover feeds - Google's attempt to reduce clickbait titles and images - Why many publishers haven't seen major changes from the update yet - How Google Discover works and why it can drive massive traffic - The feedback loop that determines whether content scales or gets suppressed - How to approach Google Discover without risking long-term penalties - Why staying within your topical authority is critical - How to expand into new topics without losing visibility - Using trending conversations without relying on low-effort content - Finding content gaps that large publishers ignore - The technical setup for Discover, including images, RSS feeds, and sitemaps - Why technical SEO alone does not guarantee Discover visibility - What happened in the March 2026 spam update - What happened in the March 2026 core update - Why sites using scaled AI content were hit the hardest - The difference between acceptable AI use and scaled content abuse - Patterns of deindexing seen across affected sites - Why publishing more content is not a reliable growth strategy - The gap between enterprise SEO advice and what works for smaller sites - Why authority matters more than content volume - How large, well-funded companies get away with aggressive strategies - The role of brand, PR, and overall marketing in SEO performance - How Google Discover traffic is monetized in practice - Why ads and affiliate revenue dominate Discover monetization - Why Discover traffic rarely converts well for e-commerce - The case for publishers building products or SaaS - Why relying only on ads and affiliates is risky long term - How companies are using multiple domains to expand search visibility - Early results from running secondary domain strategies - How AI search is changing content distribution - The risks of applying performance marketing thinking to SEO - Why executive pressure is leading to overuse of AI content - How misaligned KPIs create poor SEO decisions - Why SEO should be treated as a long-term investment - The risk of damaging a domain with short-term tactics - How to balance growth with protecting existing rankings If you're running SEO for a startup, SaaS company, or publisher, this episode is a clear look at what's working right now and what's likely to fail over the next 6 - 12 months. ⭐️ David Quaid on 𝕏 - https://x.com/DavidGQuaid ⭐️ David Quaid on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidquaid/ ⭐️ David Quaid's agency - https://primaryposition.com/ ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra on 𝕏 - https://x.com/gaganghotra_ ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gagan-ghotra/ ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra's website - https://gaganghotra.com/ ⭐️ Harpreet Singh's Personal Site - https://harpsdigital.com ⭐️ Harpreet on X - https://x.com/harpreetchatha_ ⭐️ Harpreet's Newsletter - https://seoespresso.com ⭐️ Harpreet on LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/harpreetsingh8/ ⭐️ Harpreet on TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@seoharp ⭐️ Harpreet on YouTube - https://youtube.com/@harpsdigital 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Top SEO Minds Reunite 00:25 Google Discover Update Breakdown 02:46 Why Google Discover Matters 03:59 Avoiding Google Discover Penalties 05:34 What Google Discover Is 09:45 Google Discover and Publisher Politics 11:17 Content Strategy That Wins 13:26 Technical Setup and Randomness 15:00 The Viral Feedback Loop 18:26 Monetization Reality Check 20:25 News Cycle Gap Hunting 22:53 Small Publisher Throttling 25:45 Publishers Should Build Products 31:19 Vertical Integration and Media Buys 33:13 Publishers Missed Window 34:25 GEO Hype Versus SEO 35:27 March Spam Core Updates 37:20 Scaled AI Content Abuse 38:27 Big Brands Get Away 42:25 Enterprise Advice Trap 44:47 Performance Marketer Mindset 49:13 Board Level SEO Metrics 55:06 Protect Revenue Rankings 57:20 Satellite Domains Strategy 01:01:36 Multi Handle Brand Growth 01:02:38 Wrap Up And Thanks The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #generativeengineoptimization #googlediscoverseo #seo

E1015: Why niching down is one of the most effective ways to make SEO easier and more profitable. Most people approach SEO by trying to target everything at once. They go after broad categories, spread their content too thin, and end up competing with bigger players without any real advantage. Instead, the better strategy is to focus on a narrow niche, dominate it completely, and then expand outward. I recorded this with the Lower Manhattan skyline behind me, and the idea came from how different NYC neighborhoods operate like their own ecosystems. Even a small area can support a full business if you own it. SEO works the same way. Once you understand this, everything gets simpler: keyword research, content strategy, link building, and conversions. In this episode, I cover: - Why targeting a small niche is more profitable than going broad - How niching down makes ranking for competitive keywords easier - What happened to large sites like HubSpot when they spread too far outside their core topics - How topical authority compounds over time - Why branded searches and recognition matter more than most people think - How niching down improves click-through rates and trust - Why you naturally attract backlinks when you dominate a niche - How staying focused improves your copy and conversions - The role of testimonials and reviews in building authority - When and how to expand into adjacent niches after you've established dominance If you're starting out, your niche already has more than enough opportunity. The goal is not to reach everyone. The goal is to become the obvious choice for a specific group of people. Once you've done that, growth becomes a lot easier. 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Why Niches Win 00:22 Manhattan Neighborhood Analogy 00:51 HubSpot Topical Authority Lesson 02:04 Own One Category First 02:48 Top of Mind SEO Flywheel 03:36 Natural Links From Being Known 04:26 More Niche Down Benefits 05:46 Expand Into Adjacent Niches 07:33 Final Thanks and Sign Off The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #seo #marketingstrategy #searchmarketing

E1012: How IBM managed to rank at the top of Google for some of the most competitive keywords in the world, including "AI," "AI agent," and "what is AI." We go through a real case study of IBM's content strategy, based on analysis from Lars Lofgren, and look at what they're doing right, what they're getting away with, and what you can apply to your own SEO strategy. This is one of the clearest examples of what Google currently rewards in B2B content. What you'll learn in this episode: - How IBM structures top-of-funnel content to rank for extremely competitive keywords - Why answering the search query immediately (above the fold) matters more than ever - How internal linking is used to pass authority across an entire content ecosystem - The role of media (images and video) in keeping users engaged and improving rankings - Why "perfectly optimized" content often feels bland - and why that's working - How IBM removes obvious AI-writing signals on high-value pages - Where IBM is over-optimizing (keyword stuffing) and why they still get away with it - The risk of expanding too far beyond your core topics (and what happened to HubSpot) - Why most companies fail when they try to scale content too aggressively - How legacy authority plays a role - and how to adapt these tactics if you don't have it I also share how I approach SEO differently, focusing first on bottom-of-funnel, high purchase intent keywords before expanding into top-of-funnel content like this. If you're trying to understand what it actually takes to rank for highly competitive terms today, this episode gives you a clear, practical breakdown. ⭐️ Lars Lofgren's breakdown - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/larslofgren_this-might-be-the-most-successful-b2b-seo-activity-7447692784615981057-qG8u/ 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 IBM Dominates AI Keywords 01:05 Lars Lofgren Breakdown 01:56 HubSpot Greed Warning 03:09 Inside IBM What is AI Page 04:29 Internal Linking Flywheel 06:39 AI Agent Page Wins 07:06 Keyword Stuffing Critique 09:18 Podcast Outro The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #seo #digitalmarketing #performancemarketing

E1011: Why the rise of AI-built ("vibe coded") websites is going to make SEO easier, despite the slight increase in websites properly targeting keywords. Most people think AI will increase competition because it makes it faster to create pages targeting keywords. That part is true. But they're missing the more important point: most AI-generated pages are not built to convert, and that creates an opportunity. I walk through a real example from a company I'm funding, where we used AI to build a site from scratch and then had to rethink the entire approach. The result led to a clear strategy for using AI the right way in SEO. We cover: - Why AI-generated pages will rank but often fail to convert - How anchoring affects the way you build pages with AI - The difference between letting AI create everything versus using it as an assistant - Why outlining your pages yourself leads to better engagement and conversions - How better structure improves link building, branding, and outreach - Why engagement signals like click-through rate, bounce rate, and time on page matter more - How to think about search intent beyond what AI generates - The process we use to build higher-converting pages - Writing page structure manually before using AI - Using AI to refine and improve clarity instead of generating from scratch - Reviewing pages for benefits, completeness, and positioning - Adding elements like FAQs, testimonials, and strong calls to action - Why topical authority improves when pages are planned intentionally - How to align SEO pages with link building, outreach, and overall marketing The main idea is simple: AI is a powerful assistant, but a poor architect. If you rely on it to generate entire pages, you'll likely end up with content that ranks but doesn't perform. If you guide it with clear structure and intent, you can outperform fully AI-generated competitors. If you're doing SEO right now, this change in thinking is worth paying attention to. 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Vibe Coding Changes SEO 00:50 Real Project Case Study 01:41 Why AI Pages Convert Worse 02:11 Anchoring Explained 05:30 Better Workflow With AI 05:50 Outline to Publish Process 07:33 Rankings vs Conversions 08:08 Beating Vibe Coded Brands 09:27 Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #aiseo #digitalmarketing #seo