SEO Tools and Resources

AI search platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google’s AI Overviews are reshaping how people discover information. Digital marketing agencies feel the impact firsthand and must adapt quickly. They need to keep their services relevant, their processes outcome-driven, and their results easy to prove. This article explores how 10 agencies have updated their strategies, services, and client relationships to win in the AI search era. What AI search changes for digital marketing agencies Semrush predicted that AI search will surpass organic traffic in 2028. It’s easy to see why. A growing number of people now start their searches with AI inste…

Organic search traffic is down just 2.5% year over year — nowhere near the 25% to 60% drops often cited in industry commentary. That’s one big takeaway from a new large-scale analysis by Graphite using Similarweb data from more than 40,000 of the largest U.S. websites. This finding challenges the idea that generative AI tools like ChatGPT are rapidly replacing traditional search and gutting SEO. What’s happening. Surveys, anecdotes, and case studies have fueled claims that organic traffic has collapsed and large language models are pulling demand away from search engines. Graphite’s data tells a different story. Using Similarweb visit data, the study compared…

Google Shopping API migration deadlines are approaching, and advertisers who don’t act risk disrupted Shopping and Performance Max campaigns. What’s happening. Google is sunsetting older API versions and pushing all merchants toward the Merchant API as the single source of truth for Shopping Ads. Advertisers can confirm which API they’re using in Merchant Center Next by checking the “Source” column under Settings > Data sources, where any listing marked “Content API” requires action. Why we care. Google is actively reminding advertisers to migrate to the new Merchant API, with beta users required to complete the switch by Feb. 28th, and Content API users …

The debate around llms.txt has become one of the most polarized topics in web optimization. Some treat llms.txt as foundational infrastructure, while many SEO veterans dismiss it as speculative theater. Platform tools flag missing llms.txt files as site issues, yet server logs show that AI crawlers rarely request them. Google even adopted it. Sort of. In December, the company added llms.txt files across many developer and documentation sites. The signal seemed clear: if the company behind the sitemap standard is implementing llms.txt, it likely matters. Except Google pulled it from its Search developer docs within 24 hours. Google’s John Mueller sai…

AI has quickly risen to the top of the corporate agenda. Despite this, 95% of businesses struggle with adoption, MIT research found. Those failures are no longer hypothetical. They are already playing out in real time, across industries, and often in public. For companies exploring AI adoption, these examples highlight what not to do and why AI initiatives fail when systems are deployed without sufficient oversight. 1. Chatbot participates in insider trading, then lies about it In an experiment driven by the UK government’s Frontier AI Taskforce, ChatGPT placed illegal trades and then lied about it. Researchers prompted the AI bot to act as a trader f…

With new updates in the search world stacking up in 2026, content teams are trying a new strategy to rank: LLM pages. They’re building pages that no human will ever see: markdown files, stripped-down JSON feeds, and entire /ai/ versions of their articles. The logic seems sound: if you make content easier for AI to parse, you’ll get more citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews. Strip out the ads. Remove the navigation. Serve bots pure, clean text. Industry experts such as Malte Landwehr have documented sites creating .md copies of every article or adding llms.txt files to guide AI crawlers. Teams are even building entire shadow versions…

Around the turn of the year, search industry media fills up with reviews and predictions. Bold, disruptive ideas steal the spotlight and trigger a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out). However, sustainable online sales growth doesn’t come from chasing the next big trend. In SEO, what truly matters stays the same. FOMO is bad for you We regularly get excited about the next big thing. Each new idea is framed as a disruptive force that will level the playing field. Real shifts do happen, but they are rare. More often, the promised upheaval fades into a storm in a teacup. Over the years, search has introduced many innovations that now barely raise an eyeb…

Search visibility isn’t what it used to be. Rankings still matter, but they’re no longer the whole story. Today, discovery happens across traditional search results, local listings, brand knowledge panels, and increasingly, AI-driven experiences that surface answers without a click. For marketers, that makes visibility harder to measure — and easier to lose. SEO teams now operate in a landscape where accuracy, consistency, and trust signals matter as much as keywords. Business information, reviews, and brand authority determine whether a brand shows up at all, especially as AI-powered search reshapes how results are generated and displayed. As a result, many bran…

Google now uses Gemini 3 Pro to generate some AI Overviews in Google Search. Google said for more complex queries Gemini 3 Pro is used for AI Overview. This was previously announced for AI Mode results back in November and then in December Google began using Gemini 3 Flash for AI Mode. Now, Google is taking Gemini 3 Pro to AI Overviews for complex queries. Gemini 3 Pro is used to generate AI Overviews for complex queries in English, globally for Google AI Pro & Ultra subscribers. What Google said. Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google Search wrote: “Update: AI Overviews now tap into Gemini 3 Pro for complex topics.” “Behind the scenes, Search wil…

We fully decrypted Google’s SearchGuard anti-bot system, the technology at the center of its recent lawsuit against SerpAPI. After fully deobfuscating the JavaScript code, we now have an unprecedented look at how Google distinguishes human visitors from automated scrapers in real time. What happened. Google filed a lawsuit on Dec. 19 against Texas-based SerpAPI LLC, alleging the company circumvented SearchGuard to scrape copyrighted content from Google Search results at a scale of “hundreds of millions” of queries daily. Rather than targeting terms-of-service violations, Google built its case on DMCA Section 1201 – the anti-circumvention provision of copyright law…

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…

Before you apply for a new role, it’s important to prepare for marketing salary negotiations and learn how to pursue fair pay with practical, realistic guidance. Whether you work in SEO, PPC, or somewhere in between, salaries remain a contentious topic. They are often hard to discuss, difficult to quantify, and challenging to change. While many resources cover salary negotiations in general, this article focuses specifically on negotiating pay for marketing roles. Difficulties with marketing salaries Several factors make marketing roles harder to benchmark than many other professions, complicating salary expectations and negotiations. No industry s…

Five days compressed into five minutes. Six weeks into six days. These aren’t marginal improvements. They’re what happens when marketing organizations remove the structural barriers that prevent talented people from acting at the speed of customer behavior. As Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, warned in “Managing in Turbulent Times,” “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” Markets are volatile. Customer behavior shifts in real time. Channels are always on. Yet many marketing organizations still operate with structures designed for a slower world, and the cost is measured in missed m…

Spending on Google search ads rose 13% year over year in Q4 2025, up from 10% in Q3, based on Tinuiti’s latest benchmark report. Click growth for advertisers hit its strongest rate since early 2021, while average CPCs declined slightly for the second consecutive quarter. AI-driven results continue to expand overall query volume, including commercial searches. Why we care. Google search ad clicks are surging while CPCs remain flat, a trend fueled in part by Amazon stepping back from U.S. Google Shopping auctions. Advertisers are seeing both opportunity (CPC mostly stable) and disruption as spend patterns shift across search and shopping. Additionally, AI-driven que…

On episode 337 of PPC Live The Podcast, I speak to Amy Hebdon, an international paid search expert and founder of Paid Search Magic. The show focuses on the real stories behind paid media work, including mistakes, surprises, and lessons learned, rather than just tactical advice. Amy’s breadth of experience spans multiple industries and digital marketing disciplines, making her insights particularly valuable for marketers navigating complex campaigns. Early career mistakes and learning experiences Amy shares a formative experience early in her career managing a fitness client’s creative assets that were incompatible with Google Ads. Despite her intention to protect …

Google Ads is running a limited test that allows some advertisers to A/B test different product titles and images within Shopping Ads. The feature appears as “product data experiments” and promises results within three to four weeks. Who gets it. The test is currently live for a small number of merchants, according to Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin. Broader availability is expected later. Why we care. Product titles and images can make or break Shopping ad performance, but advertisers have had limited ways to test changes without risking live results. This update could bring much-needed experimentation to product feeds. What it does. Advertisers can compar…

OpenAI will begin testing ads in ChatGPT in the U.S. in the coming weeks. Ads will appear at the bottom of chatbot responses, be clearly labeled, and will only show when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service tied to the conversation. Who will see ads: Logged-in adult users on the free tier Users on ChatGPT Go, OpenAI’s $8/month low-cost subscription Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans will remain ad-free Users under 18 will not see ads Why we care. Ads inside ChatGPT open a new, high-intent placement where users are actively asking questions and making decisions. Unlike traditional search or social ads, these placements appear directly with…

Google Ads simplified access to Manual CPC during campaign setup. Instead of navigating through the “Select a bid strategy directly (not recommended)” option, advertisers now see “Manually set bids” directly under the Conversions goal. The change: Manual CPC is surfaced within Google’s primary bidding flow. Advertisers no longer need to bypass Google’s recommended strategies to access it. The update is visible in campaign bidding settings across the UI. Why we care. Manual CPC remains a go-to bidding strategy for advertisers who want hands-on control, but Google’s setup flow has increasingly nudged users toward automated bidding. This update lowers …

Most of the health advice summarized in Google’s AI Overviews relies on non-medical sources, a new analysis shows. This follows fresh concerns about users receiving misleading or unsafe guidance on sensitive health topics. What’s happening. The Guardian recently reported that Google’s AI Overviews sometimes surface incorrect or dangerous health advice. The reporting drew on reviews by medical charities and experts. Examples included flawed guidance on pancreatic cancer diets and misleading explanations of liver blood test results. Google disputed the findings. The company said the examples were taken out of context and argued that most AI Overviews are accurat…

Over the last 12-18 months, the rhetoric across Search Engine Land has shifted. There’s now broad agreement that people don’t just “Google” to discover brands anymore. Audiences are finding brands on TikTok, researching on Reddit, watching YouTube, and increasingly asking AI to summarize everything for them – determining whether a brand is found or ignored. Discoverability is no longer about ranking first on a single platform. It’s about showing up consistently across the touchpoints that make up your audience’s search universe, wherever decisions are actually being made. In this new landscape, two tactics are quietly doing much of the heavy lifting…

In 2026, AI is no longer something marketers are debating. It’s actively shaping nearly every part of digital advertising and creative. Because the human brain processes visuals far faster than text, video ads are becoming more important and more effective, especially as creative costs continue to fall. The question is no longer whether PPC teams should use AI for video advertising. It’s how to use it to drive better results, produce stronger creative, and avoid issues like hallucinations and governance gaps that can undermine performance. Why AI adoption alone no longer drives PPC performance Nearly 90% of advertisers now use generative AI to build o…

Key Takeaways Choosing an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO impacts your online presence and future growth. Yoast offers reliability with over 15 years of experience and millions of active installations, unlike newer competitors. Innovations such as AI integration and a unified schema graph set Yoast apart from other plugins. Yoast provides comprehensive support, education, and a multi-platform ecosystem tailored for long-term success. Trust industry leaders like Microsoft and Spotify who use Yoast SEO to enhance their online visibility. Estimated reading time: 11 minutes Table of contents What really matters when choosing an SEO plugin Why legacy and pr…

Marketers can now set a total budget for a campaign over a defined period. Google automatically optimizes spend to fully use the budget by the campaign’s end date. The feature, earlier only available for Performance Max, is now available Search and Shopping campaigns, reducing the need for daily adjustments. Why we care. Managing budgets for short-term campaigns — like product launches, sales events, or promotions — hasn’t been easy. Marketers often tweak daily budgets manually to avoid overspending or underutilizing spend. Google’s new campaign total budgets, now in open beta, aim to solve that. Big picture. The update lets campaigns run confidently without overs…

Google Ads is adding account-level placement exclusions, letting advertisers block unwanted inventory across all campaigns from a single setting. What’s new. Advertisers can now apply one exclusion list at the account level. Exclusions apply across Performance Max, Demand Gen, YouTube, and Display campaigns. Previously, blocks had to be set at the ad group or campaign level. How it works. Once a placement is excluded at the account level, Google Ads automatically prevents spend on those websites, apps, or YouTube placements across all eligible campaigns. Why we care. Placement controls have long been fragmented. Managing exclusions campaign by campaign was…

Google AdSense publishers are reporting sharp drops in earnings over the past 24 hours, with many seeing eCPM and RPM declines of 50–70%, according to widespread forum complaints. Why we care. For publishers that rely on AdSense to fund operations, sudden revenue swings can threaten sustainability — especially when traffic hasn’t changed and costs remain fixed. What’s happening. Complaints spiked late Jan. 14 into early Jan. 15. Publishers across the U.S. and Europe report severe drops in page RPM and eCPM. Multiple sites within the same accounts were simultaneously affected with some publishers saying ads partially or fully disappeared. What publishers are sa…