SEO Tools and Resources

Generative AI is no longer a single thing. Ask, “What is the best generative AI tool for writing PR content?” or “Is keyword targeting as impossible as spinning straw into gold?,” and each engine will take a different route from prompt to answer. For writers, editors, PR pros, and content strategists, those routes matter – every AI system has its own strengths, transparency, and expectations for how to check, edit, and cite what it produces. This article covers the top AI platforms – ChatGPT (OpenAI), Perplexity, Google’s Gemini, DeepSeek, and Claude (Anthropic) – and explains how they: Find and synthesize information. Source and train on data. Use…

While online discussion obsesses over whether ChatGPT spells the end of Google, websites are losing revenue from a far more real and immediate problem: some of their most valuable pages are invisible to the systems that matter. Because while the bots have changed, the game hasn’t. Your website content needs to be crawlable. Between May 2024 and May 2025, AI crawler traffic surged by 96%, with GPTBot’s share jumping from 5% to 30%. But this growth isn’t replacing traditional search traffic. Semrush’s analysis of 260 billion rows of clickstream data showed that people who start using ChatGPT maintain their Google search habits. They’re not switching; they’re e…

YouTube today introduced a new Brand Pulse report that gives advertisers a real-time snapshot of their brand’s total presence across YouTube — from paid ads, to creator collaborations, to user-generated videos. A holistic view of brand presence. The new report taps multimodal AI to spot every brand mention on YouTube – from logos and product shots to shoutouts in audio or titles. Even a quick name-drop by a creator gets tracked to show your brand’s real reach. Metrics that connect paid and organic performance. Advertisers can now see how they stack up with metrics like Total Unique Viewers and Share of Watch Time — plus how paid ads boost organic buzz when viewers…

Google Analytics now lets advertisers automatically import cost data from Meta and TikTok through new native integrations, streamlining cross-channel performance tracking. Why we care. This update gives marketers a unified view of ad spend and ROI across major platforms – without relying on manual uploads or third-party connectors – helping them better compare efficiency between Google, Meta, and TikTok campaigns. The details. The integrations automatically pull up to 24 months of historical ad cost data from Meta and TikTok. Users must delete any overlapping manual imports to avoid duplicate or inflated data, as Analytics won’t de-duplicate records between m…

Adding fake publication dates to online content can dramatically boost its visibility across leading AI models, a team from Waseda University discovered. This seems to confirm that tools like ChatGPT systematically favor newer content over older, equally relevant material. Why we care. AI models seem to reward timestamps more than quality. That means your older high-quality content could vanish from AI search results unless it’s regularly updated – apparently, regardless of whether those updates are substantial or artificial. How they did it. Researchers added fake publication dates to passages from standardized test collections with no other changes. Then they as…

The MCP Server for Google Ads is now publicly available on GitHub, Google announced. This marks a major milestone in bringing AI agents closer to real-world marketing workflows. How it works. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that allows large language models to interact with external applications through natural language. The initial version of the MCP Server is read-only, designed for diagnostics and analytics. Developers can integrate it into any MCP-compatible AI system to retrieve insights from Google Ads accounts securely. Why we care. The release of the open-source Google Ads API Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server makes it easier…

For years, SEO success was measured by charts pointing up and to the right. We celebrated traffic spikes, shared screenshots, and treated rising sessions as proof of strategy. But those days are gone. The Great Decoupling represents the decline of informational traffic The SEO playbook that was glorified for the last 10 years prioritized generating useless hordes of informational traffic. Marketing teams and agencies alike bamboozled executives by pumping up traffic numbers to obscene levels. People on LinkedIn celebrated programmatic SEO case studies and “SEO heists” that racked up irrelevant clicks – encouraging copycat behavior that ultimately …

A dominant share – 86% to be specific – of AI citations come from sources brands already control, according to a new analysis of 6.8 million citations across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity conducted by brand visibility platform Yext. Why we care. The findings challenge the perception that forums like Reddit dominate AI answers. Yext’s analysis also suggests that brands can directly influence visibility in generative results by keeping website content accurate, structured, and crawlable. (Yes, SEO.) By the numbers. Across all industries, 86% of AI citations came from sources brands owned or managed. Websites lead: 44% of citations came from first-party sites.…

If you’re still calling it Apple Search Ads, you’re already behind. Earlier this year, Apple dropped the “Search” and rebranded to simply Apple Ads – a move that signals something bigger than a name change. The platform is evolving beyond App Store search, and with that shift, the rules have changed. Tactics that once drove installs and strong ROAS can now drag down performance and waste spend. The upside: for advertisers who adapt, Apple Ads is fast becoming one of the most reliable paid growth engines on iOS. Here’s what’s driving results heading into 2026. Apple Ads’ quiet advantage in the privacy era In the post-ATT world – Apple’s App T…

Google Analytics is making it easier for businesses to compare themselves against industry peers by expanding its Benchmarking feature to include 20 new unnormalized metrics, such as New Users and Total Revenue. How it works. Google Analytics estimates benchmark ranges for absolute numbers by multiplying a peer group’s normalized metric by your property’s active user count. For example, benchmarks for Engaged Sessions are calculated as: Peer group’s engaged sessions per active user × your active users. Details: Benchmarks are offered in percentiles (25th, median, 75th) to show performance ranges. Peer groups are determined by industry categories, …

For years, SEO and PPC defined two sides of search – one focused on organic authority, the other on paid performance. Both aimed to capture traffic but often worked in silos, optimizing toward different goals. Now, that separation is ending. The rise of generative AI has redrawn the map, merging once-distinct disciplines into a single, fluid ecosystem. Search engines like Google and Bing have evolved into conversational AI platforms that deliver instant, often singular answers while seamlessly integrating ads. This shift – marked by zero-click results, conversational interfaces, and pre-packaged information – means no single strategy can guarantee…

In competitive industries where keywords are costly, every edge matters. Beyond keyword targeting, consider layering audience targeting onto your Search campaigns to gather richer performance data. This added layer can improve results within Search and provide valuable insights you can apply to other Google Ads campaigns – or even to PPC platforms like Microsoft Ads, Meta Ads, and TikTok. Key audience targeting options for Search campaigns Here’s a quick overview of audience types you can target in Search campaigns – and how to make the most of each. Demographic audiences. Custom audiences. Remarketing audiences. Interests audiences. Affi…

The search landscape is changing. With the rapid evolution of AI, the Google SERP is no longer a predictable grid of 10 blue links. This shift presents new opportunities for businesses, but it also creates new risks for your brand. Competitors, affiliates, and bad actors can now use sophisticated tactics to hijack your presence, mislead customers, and drain your budget. Your brand’s visibility is never fully secure, and these hidden threats don’t just waste money – they suppress your growth and limit your ability to acquire new customers. Protecting your brand isn’t a defensive chore; it’s a proactive strategy for unlocking budget and fueling your growth. …

If you have ever run your writing through a readability checker like Yoast SEO, you have probably come across the Flesch reading score. This metric was developed more than 70 years ago and is still one of the most widely used ways to measure how easy your text is to read. But what does it actually mean, and how does it affect your writing for the web? In this guide, we will explain how the Flesch reading score works, why it became so prominent in publishing and SEO, and how you can use it effectively today. We will also show you where it fits into the Yoast SEO plugin and why we have introduced new readability checks alongside it. Table of contents What is the F…

Google confirmed an ongoing issue with serving search results in Google Search. This is impacting some locales, Google added. Google said this is an “ongoing issue” and will update us again “witin 24 hours” with more details. What Google said. Google wrote: There’s an ongoing data center issue that may impact serving of some pages in some locales. We’re working on identifying the root cause. The next update will be within 24 hours. When? This was posted at 5:21 pm ET. What is a serving issue. A serving issue is when Google Search has issues showing some or all search results to the searcher. This is when Google is unable to show some or all search res…

Microsoft is rolling out the new and updated Bing Places for Business. “Today, we are excited to announce the launch of the new Bing Places for Business experience —an evolution shaped by deep user research, thoughtful design, and a commitment to help business owners thrive in local search,” the company announced today. What is new. Microsoft updated the overall design and layout for Bing Places, moved the domain name, improved the import process and added a recommendation tool. Microsoft said the updates “move simplifies access, improves trust, and aligns Bing Places with the broader Bing ecosystem.” They also moved from www.bingplaces.com to www.bing.com/forbusi…

On episode 326 of PPC Live The Podcast I sat down down with Aashna Makin, a senior paid ads specialist with more than eight years of experience, who has managed campaigns worth over $2 million a month across a wide range of industries. She takes us through the story of how a best practice she put in place led to poor results and how looking back she should have taking more care in adding unnecessary negatives. A Costly Keyword Error Aashna recalls one of her earliest career missteps: excluding the keyword “meet up” from a client’s dating events campaign. The impact was immediate and severe—leads dropped sharply, and performance tanked. Luckily, her client succ…

Microsoft Advertising is shutting down its Ads for Social Impact grant program, which provided free ad credits to nonprofits. Final grants will be issued November 30, 2025, with a 45-day window to spend them. Why we care. The decision ends a program that helped nonprofits amplify their missions through free advertising dollars. Starting in 2026, nonprofits that don’t pause campaigns risk being automatically charged on the payment methods tied to their accounts. Driving the news: The program officially ends December 2025, with campaigns required to be paused by early January if funds are exhausted. Microsoft says nonprofits will still have access to discoun…

Google is officially retiring Call-Only Ads, with creation ending in February 2026 and full sunset by February 2027. Advertisers relying on phone leads will need to transition to Responsive Search Ads with Call Assets. How to prepare: Switch campaigns to Responsive Search Ads with Call Assets. Enable call reporting and set call conversions as a primary goal. Use smart bidding, like Maximize conversion value, for better ROI. Link your Google Business Profile for location-based relevance. Restrict calls to business hours to avoid wasted leads. Why we care. Call-Only Ads have been a go-to for businesses that rely on direct phone calls, especially in …

Meta unveiled new AI products – including a “Business AI” concierge, generative video, and creative tools – designed to help advertisers scale faster and more efficiently. Driving the news. The centerpiece is Business AI, an always-on sales agent that guides customers from discovery to purchase across Meta ads, messaging apps, and websites. It learns from posts and campaigns to deliver personalized responses. No coding or setup is required. Meta also introduced new generative AI tools for video that help advertisers create more immersive content, including AI-generated music, multilingual dubbing, and HDR video. Shoppers may soon be able to upload a ph…

More than a sales tool, a product demo can be the moment your brand earns credibility and converts prospects. A strong demo proves value in real time, turning curiosity into confidence. Too often, though, demos fall flat – sounding like a scripted feature list instead of a compelling, conversational story. This article shows how to create demos that resonate with real customer needs and differentiate your brand through empathy, consistency, and competitive insight. Know your product, know the problem it solves A demo isn’t about memorizing features. It’s about mastering the problem your product solves. Without this deep understanding, you’re just…

AI-powered search is moving fast. The latest shift? ChatGPT Shopping. Since April, OpenAI has been rolling out a shopping experience that surfaces product cards directly inside ChatGPT. Instead of sending users to a long list of search results, the interface now provides curated recommendations with images, labels, and “buy” links. For ecommerce SEOs, this is a new channel with very different rules. Placement isn’t driven by ads or bids, at least not yet. Instead, visibility depends on the quality of product data, structured markup, and external signals like reviews and mentions. The implications are significant. Results are condensed to just a handf…

Meta will soon begin factoring in how people interact with its generative AI tools to personalize the content and ads they see across Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms. More than 1 billion people use Meta AI monthly, according to their internal data. By turning AI chats and prompts into signals, Meta is making its recommendation engine more data-rich, potentially boosting ad relevance for brands and personalization for users. Why we care. By adding this new signal to it’s recommendations engine, this could reveal real-time interest and intent, making ad targeting sharper and potentially more effective. By tapping into these AI-driven signals, brands can rea…

Spotify is expanding access to its ad inventory through new partnerships with Amazon DSP and Yahoo DSP, marking a major step in broadening brands’ programmatic buying options. The big picture. Amazon DSP users can now buy Spotify’s ad inventory across nine markets: the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. Also: Yahoo DSP buyers gain direct access to Spotify Ad Exchange, the platform’s programmatic marketplace. In Europe, Spotify is teaming with ID5 to boost addressability for programmatic campaigns. Spotify also previewed: A new Split Testing tool for creative experiments. A partnership with Smartly to expand inventory …

Google has been layering AI into Search campaigns for years through features like Smart Bidding, Responsive Search Ads, and Performance Max. In May 2025, it announced the next step: AI Max. The feature is now rolling out globally in beta and appearing in many advertiser accounts. (If you don’t see it yet, expect it soon.) Here’s what it is, how it works, and what it means for your campaigns. What is AI Max for Search? AI Max is a feature within your existing Search campaign that you can toggle on or off. Enabling it provides targeting and creative enhancements in an automated way. According to Google, AI Max: Improves search term match…