SEO Tools and Resources

A new profile of Elizabeth Reid, the head of Google Search, confirms that Google is moving away from its longstanding model of sending its users to websites. As one former unnamed senior executive put it: “Giving traffic to publisher sites is kind of a necessary evil.” As for the iconic Google Search bar? It will slowly lose prominence in the Google Search experience, due to the continuing growth of voice and visual search, Reid said. Necessary evil. Google has been increasingly focused on keeping users inside Google properties, reducing the need to click through to external sites. A former Google senior executive told Bloomberg that supporting publishers was inci…

HubSpot’s SEO collapse has been the talk of the SEO world for the last several days. As a reminder, here’s a screenshot of HubSpot’s organic traffic drop, based on Semrush data: Among the endless reactions and perspectives, two former HubSpot employees shared five good reminders about SEO strategy. 1. SEO takes time Pruning content and focusing on E-E-A-T were among the many obvious remedies SEOs pointed out following the news of HubSpot’s apparent organic traffic decline. Well, these aren’t simple tweaks for a brand the size of HubSpot. They’re massive undertakings, according to this LinkedIn post by Bianca Anderson, HubSpot’s former SEO strategis…

Welcome to our weekly Search Engine Land series, Everything you need to know about Google Ads in less than 3 minutes. Every Wednesday, I’m highlighting a different Google Ads feature, and what you need to know to get the best results from it – all in a quick 3-minute read. Today, we’re discussing exact match keywords – the intuitive and the not-so-intuitive facts you need to know about how keyword match types work today. I’ll cover: What are keywords? Keyword match types in Google Ads: Broad, Phrase, Exact The evolution of exact match keywords When to use exact match keywords The power of negative keywords What are keywords in Google Ads? …

The idea of starting an article series about AI in a time when so many articles are being at least partially generated by AI and potentially primarily consumed by AI might cause one to pause and consider the value of the effort. All of us digital marketers hope to find a future where we can still add value and find fulfillment in a world where our efforts and careers are increasingly at risk of being replaced by AI every day. Sometimes, it all feels a bit empty and potentially useless, but here we are. In case it is not already obvious, I am a bit of a doomer when it comes to AI. So inevitably, I have labored over this article like a true human, almost exactly li…

You’ve probably heard the saying: Fast, cheap, or good – pick two. The concept goes something like this: If you want something fast and cheap, don’t expect it to be good. If you want it good and fast, it’s going to cost more. And if you want it good and affordable, well, you’ll need to give it time. It’s a simple way to explain how tradeoffs work in projects. In SEO, these tradeoffs are especially important to understand because you’re often creating problems that will cost more to fix later. This article looks at variations of this project management concept and how it applies to SEO. Then I’ll explain why a quality-first approach l…

Favicons are those little icons you see in your browser tabs. When you have many open tabs in your browser, they help you recognize and find the page you were looking for. They are important for your branding because Google shows them in the mobile and desktop search results. So, let’s take a closer look at those little icons and your branding here! What is a favicon? A favicon is a tiny, square image that represents a website. You see it in your browser’s address bar, open tabs, and bookmarks. Its main job is to help users quickly identify and find a site among many open tabs or results. Often, these match a website’s logo or theme, making it instantly recognizabl…

Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP) offers more than just a list of links. Its layout can change based on what you’re searching for, presenting various SERP features tailored to your needs. You might see different elements like featured snippets, shopping options, or local listings and also AI Overviews. Understanding these can help you navigate the results more effectively. This guide will help you identify and differentiate between the paid and organic results you encounter. Table of contents What are SERP features? A new SERP feature: Google AI Overviews It depends on what you’re searching for Browsing through the result page Sponsored results and ads Orga…

Journalists have been using the inverted pyramid writing style for ages. Using it, you put your most important information upfront. Don’t hedge. Don’t bury your key point halfway down the third paragraph. And don’t hold back; tell the complete story in the first paragraph. Even online, this writing style holds up pretty well for some types of articles. It even comes in handy now that web content is increasingly used to answer every type of question a searcher might have. Find out how! Table of contents What is the inverted pyramid? The power of paragraphs The pyramid, SEO, and AI Answering questions Summaries vs. the pyramid How to write with the inverted pyramid in…

ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity: these are the new operating environments. Your content must be invokable inside them, or no one will see it. At SMX Advanced, I broke down how to build an AI visibility engine: a system for making your net-new facts reusable by humans and agents across synthesis-first platforms. It goes beyond publishing to show how teams can deploy structured content that survives LLM compression and shows up for buyers during their purchasing decisions. It’s what we’re building with clients and inside XOFU, our LLM visibility GPT. Here’s how it works. Find the FLUQs (Friction-Inducing Latent Unasked Questions) Friction-Inducing L…

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 …

Brandon Saltalamacchia’s office, adorned with a dazzling collection of retro gaming paraphernalia, offers a glimpse into the passions that have driven his professional life. In this interview with Saltalamacchia, you’ll learn about his humble beginnings as an independent publisher to navigating the labyrinthine challenges of SEO in a Google world. The early days: A camper van and a dream Saltalamacchia’s foray into independent publishing began in 2017 while working full-time for Future Publishing. A self-described “newb” in SEO and content marketing, he channeled his love for camper vans into a small passion project — a website dedicated to van life. “It w…

Automation has shaped PPC for decades, and the landscape keeps shifting. I’ve seen that evolution firsthand, from helping build the first AdWords Editor to developing early Google Ads scripts and writing about automation layering. Now we’re entering another major transition. As AI changes how we search and get answers, it’s also transforming how automation itself gets built. And this time, the momentum isn’t coming from ad platforms like Google – it’s coming from AI companies like OpenAI. Until recently, AI mostly helped with human language tasks like writing ad copy, summaries, or reports. But the latest generation of LLMs can increasingly gene…

We rely on search engines to find information every day, but what if there was a better way? Instead of manually gathering details from multiple sources, AI agents can do the heavy lifting for you. They don’t just retrieve information. They analyze, organize, and personalize it in real time. This article explores: How AI agents help businesses create more personalized customer experiences. The key components and frameworks behind AI-powered agents. How multi-agent systems can collaborate to solve complex tasks. From information retrieval to intelligent problem-solving AI agents represent a fundamental shift in how we interact with AI. …

AI Overviews, which place generated answers directly at the top of search results, are improving the search experience for users. For businesses that rely on content to drive traffic from search engines, the impact is far less positive. Google has been moving toward more “helpful” results for years, and zero-click searches are nothing new. AI Overviews accelerate that shift, absorbing much of the traffic opportunity that search has historically provided. How AI changes the work of search For years, search followed a familiar pattern: A user entered a short query, such as “team building companies.” Google returned a page of paid and organic res…

We’ve established the AI resume as the new C-suite-level asset that defines your brand at the bottom of the funnel, and we’ve mapped the strategic landscape that shows how it operates across explicit, implicit, and ambient research modes. So, how do you build this asset to thrive in a three-part environment? The answer is shifting from ranking in search results to the discipline of brand-focused algorithmic education – a multi-speed strategy aligned with the trio of technologies powering all modern recommendation engines. The digital marketing ecosystem has been reshaped by AI assistive engines – platforms like Google AI, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot that no…

Does it feel like your organic traffic is disappearing? You aren’t imagining it. AI Overviews and answer engines are sidelining classic SEO results. To stay visible, brands need to adapt – fast. The good news: you don’t need to rewrite your entire SEO playbook. With a few smart tweaks, you can shift from SEO to GEO and reclaim your share of search in the age of generative AI. GEO, or generative engine optimization, focuses on entities – not just pages. That means your brand, products, services, and experts. By strengthening these signals, you increase the chances your business is cited, referenced, and recommended inside AI-generated answers and conversationa…

Did you know that even a one-second delay in page loading speed can cause up to 11% fewer page views? That’s right, you might have the best content strategy and a solid plan to drive traffic, but visitors won’t stay long if your site lags. Page speed is one of the biggest factors in keeping users engaged and converting. In this guide, we’ll uncover the most common causes of slow websites and explore proven ways to boost website performance. Whether your site feels sluggish or you simply want to make it faster, these insights will help you identify what’s holding it back and how to fix it. Table of contents What do we mean by ‘website performance’ and why is it i…

Google Analytics just made it easier to get quick insights and more accurate attribution. The Reports snapshot section now includes pre-built templates focused on user behavior, sales and revenue, and marketing performance. That means less time building custom reports and more time actually using the data. Alongside the templates, the card library has been updated, making it easier to browse and add the visualizations that matter most to your business. These templates help users quickly surface relevant insights without needing to manually create or configure reports. On the attribution front. Google Analytics will now use aggregate identifiers to att…

Gemini 3 launched in AI Mode just a couple of weeks ago, but now Google is expanding it to about 120 countries and territories for English queries. Google’s Robby Stein said, “Gemini 3 is now available in AI Mode, across nearly 120 countries & territories in English.” What is AI Mode with Gemini 3. Google shared how AI Mode in Search is now using Gemini 3 to enable new generative UI experiences like immersive visual layouts and interactive tools and simulations, all generated completely on the fly based on your query. Gemini 3 is used in AI Mode in Search with more complex reasoning and new dynamic experiences. Just last week, Google automatically began u…

Google is now powering some of the responses you see in the AI Overviews and AI Mode using Gemini 3. We expected this to happen when Google announced Gemini 3 last week, and now it is live for some searchers in Google Search. Nick Fox, Google’s SVP of Knowledge and Information, wrote on X: “The rollout of Gemini 3 in Search continues! We’ve just shipped intelligent automatic model routing to Gemini 3 Pro for your toughest questions in AI Overviews and AI Mode.” Who sees it. “Currently available for Google AI Pro & Ultra subs in the U.S.,” Nick Fox added. You will know if you have it, if you have an option to select it from the carrot menu in the AI Mode…

As generative AI becomes more embedded in search and content experiences, it’s also emerging as a new source of misinformation and reputational harm. False or misleading statements generated by AI chatbots are already prompting legal disputes – and raising fresh questions about liability, accuracy, and online reputation management. When AI becomes the source of defamation It’s unsurprising that AI has become a new source of defamation and online reputation damage. As an SEO and reputation expert witness, I’ve already been approached by litigants involved in cases where AI systems produced libelous statements. This is uncharted territory – and while so…

Traffic from generative AI surged to U.S. retail sites over the holiday season and that trend has continued into 2025, according to new Adobe data. Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, traffic from generative AI sources increased by 1,300% compared to the year prior (up 1,950% YoY on Cyber Monday). This trend continued beyond the holiday season, Adobe found. In February, traffic from generative AI sources increased by 1,200% compared to July 2024. The percentages are high because generative AI tools are so new. ChatGPT debuted its research preview on Nov. 30. 2022. Generative AI traffic remains modest compared to other channels, such as paid search or email, but the …

Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of positioning your brand and content so that AI platforms like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity cite, recommend, or mention you when users search for answers. If that sounds abstract, the results aren’t. For bootstrapped form builder tool, Tally, ChatGPT became the #1 referral source. They’re not alone. Across industries, the shift is already measurable. ChatGPT reaches over 800 million weekly users. Google’s Gemini app has surpassed 750 million monthly users. And AI Overviews are appearing in at least 16% of all searches (significantly higher for comparison and high-intent queries). Th…

Less than 200 years ago, scientists were ridiculed for suggesting that hand washing might save lives. In the 1840s, it was shown that hygiene reduced death rates, but the underlying explanation was missing. Without a clear mechanism, adoption stalled for decades, leading to countless preventable deaths. The joke of the past becomes the truth of today. The inverse is also true when you follow misleading guidance. Bad GEO advice (I don’t like this acronym, but will use it because it seems to be the most popular) will not literally kill you. That said, it can definitely cost money, cause unemployment, and lead to economic death. Not long ago, I wro…

With generative AI tools attracting hundreds of millions of users and AI-enhanced results appearing in more search experiences, the way people discover brands is changing. Traditional SEO metrics alone no longer capture this full picture. Welcome to the era of generative engine optimization (GEO). If you aren’t tracking your brand’s visibility across AI search engines, you’re flying blind. The AI search revolution is already here The numbers are striking: 58% of consumers have replaced traditional search engines with generative AI tools for product recommendations, according to Capgemini research. Traditional organic search traffic is expected to decli…