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Do cross-functional teams lead to greater project success? It depends on who you ask. Some people believe cross-functional teams can be very productive, given they have clear governance, accountability, specific goals, suitable project management tools, as well as the organization to invest in and prioritize their success. Usually, cross-functional teams are created to spark innovation, break bureaucratic boundaries and reduce production cycle times by granting a more collaborative environment. Others argue that cross-functional teams just aren’t worth it. According to a study cited in the Harvard Business Review, 75% of cross-functional teams are dysfunctional. The study found that they fail on at least three of five criteria, which are meeting the planned budget, staying on schedule, following specifications, meeting the expectations of their customers and remaining aligned with company strategy. But that failure rate doesn’t necessarily mean that cross-functional teams should be rejected. Rather than throw the baby out with the bathwater, maybe cross-functional teams require a more systemic approach to set them up for success. Furthermore, sometimes if you’re a small company, building a cross-functional team is your only option, and if that’s the case, what’s the best way to set up these teams? But first, let’s define what constitutes a cross-functional team. What Is a Cross Functional Team? A cross-functional team is a team in which the members have different skill sets, but are all working towards a common goal. It often includes people from different departments and from all levels of the organization, though it can also include participants from outside the organization. These teams are usually self-directed. They are assigned tasks, which are then uniquely approached because of the various expertise of the team members. Each participant can offer their own perspective, leading to a more “out of the box” solution. This creative approach can lead to innovation, which can be a substantial market advantage over the competition. Cross-functional teams often exist in small or startup environments. Because startups usually have a small number of employees, team members might have to perform a variety of tasks in different departments, thereby collaborating with those departments as well. This certainly creates a cross-functional team environment, even if the organization hasn’t acknowledged it yet. ProjectManager is an online project and portfolio management software that connects cross-functional teams with the tools they need to do their work. Managers can schedule tasks, resources and costs on Gantt charts, which also link dependencies, filter for the critical path and can set a baseline to track progress in real time. Those plans are shared across the software and teams can access their assignments on kanban boards that visualize workflow, allow teams to manage their backlog and collaborate on sprint planning. There’s also task lists that can set priority, add tags, attach files, create to-do lists, add comments and much more. Even stakeholders can stay updated by using the calendar view for a monthly look at progress. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Gantt-CTA-2025.jpgProjectManager’s Gantt charts schedule projects and share plans across multiple project views. Learn more Experts vary on whether these teams work best cooperatively or in competition or even both. Because members of cross-functional teams come from many different departments (marketing, sales, finance, etc.), they can subconsciously compete with each other by defending the interests of their core department. As far as the overall direction of a CFT, decisions can be made by consensus or by a team leader. Cross-functional agile teams are common. If a cross-functional team mixes specialists from different fields, agile teams take this a step further. They make them combine and require each team member to expand beyond their area of expertise. Also, agile demands self-organizing teams, which dovetails nicely into the way a cross-functional team works. How to Manage a Cross Functional Team Managing a cross-functional team involves leading a group of individuals from different departments, each bringing unique expertise to complete a project or achieve a common goal. Effective management requires strong communication, collaboration and alignment to ensure the team functions efficiently despite varying backgrounds and priorities. Here are key strategies to successfully manage a cross-functional team. Develop Cross-Functional Training Providing cross-functional training helps team members understand each other’s roles, responsibilities and workflows. This fosters a greater appreciation for different skill sets and reduces knowledge gaps, leading to smoother collaboration. Training can include job shadowing, workshops or knowledge-sharing sessions to enhance teamwork and adaptability. Foster Cross-Functional Collaboration Encouraging collaboration across departments is essential to ensure a unified approach to project goals. Establishing clear objectives, leveraging each team member’s expertise and promoting a culture of teamwork help break down silos. Team-building activities, joint problem-solving sessions and shared performance metrics also contribute to more effective project collaboration. Create Cross-Functional Communication Channels Effective communication channels prevent misunderstandings and keep all stakeholders aligned. Using project management tools, regular status meetings and digital collaboration platforms ensures smooth information flow. Clearly defining roles, expectations and reporting structures helps maintain accountability and transparency within the team. Establish Cross-Functional Team Leadership While it’s not a prerequisite to have one person lead a cross-functional team, the benefits outweigh the risks. First and foremost, everyone on the team needs to take responsibility. Find a leader who can give the team accountability and develop self-leaders in each team member. A team leader needs to educate, delegate and give autonomy while following up on their progress. Collaborate with the team, too, by inviting them into the project planning process. If you can, get mentors to help shepherd the team and give them direction as needed. While cross-functional teams are collaborative, there needs to be a leader that is held accountable for the project’s success. Without that leader, there’s a greater risk of a rudderless ship that never makes it to the dock. Cross Functional Team Management Tools As noted above, communication is key to success in cross-functional teams. They are working on different ends of the project at the same time, which involves a great deal of coordination. Communication makes sure no one is blocking another’s progress. But, as also noted, communications can be a challenge as team members might be scattered geographically. This can be a hindrance to collaboration. That’s where software tools come in handy. A project management software can offer a platform that facilitates communications and collaboration.It provides a communication platform and can be integrated into the greater project, helping to plan, monitor and report on projects. If you follow the six tips and give your cross-functional team the right tools, you’ll find a winning combination that steers your project to success. Timesheets Timesheets are used to track the hours team members spend on tasks and projects. They help managers monitor productivity, allocate resources efficiently and ensure accurate payroll or billing. Digital timesheets often integrate with project management tools for real-time tracking. Workload Management Charts Workload management charts visually display team members’ assigned tasks and capacity. They help managers balance workloads, prevent burnout and reallocate resources as needed to maintain productivity and efficiency. Gantt Charts Gantt charts provide a timeline-based view of project tasks, deadlines and dependencies. They help teams track progress, identify potential delays and ensure tasks are completed in the correct sequence. Gantt charts are essential for managing complex projects with multiple phases. Cross-Functional Flowcharts Cross-functional flowcharts map out workflows that involve multiple departments or teams. They clarify responsibilities, improve communication and streamline processes by showing how tasks move across different functions, reducing inefficiencies and bottlenecks. Cross Functional Flowchart Example To better understand how to manage cross-functional teams, here’s an example for a real-life scenario. In this case, it’s the purchase of a home. This process touches on many different teams, from sales to customer relations. /wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Process-Map-Template.png Looking at the above flowchart makes it easy to understand how these different teams interact in the client’s purchase of a residence. The arrows point to each activity as it is completed and moves to another team. For example, the property appraisal, which is part of the mortgage team’s responsibility, leads to the title team’s title services processing for the home. Cross Functional Flowchart Template Download this free process map template for Excel, which illustrates the cross-functional flow of activities. It visually maps workflows that span multiple departments or teams. This free template helps clarify roles, responsibilities and task handoffs, ensuring smooth collaboration across different functions. Strategies to Develop Cross-Functional Teams Why develop cross-functional collaboration in your teams? Because team collaboration can help you work more productively and efficiently. Cross-functional collaboration can be a great team-building measure and can build a more creative atmosphere. Here are six practical measures you can take to get the most out of your cross-functional team. Assemble the Right Team There are a set of skills that are required to have an effective cross-functional team. The project will dictate some of these. The work is going to require a range of expertise from the team, and therefore that team must have people on it who have the various skills needed. But often overlooked is the shared skills each team member must have to create a well-oiled machine. It takes a certain type of person to work together in such a unique setting. These are independent self-starters who have the authority to make decisions. Ideally, they should also have experience working in such conditions. Some team members need to have their hands held and to be assigned task after task. These are not the best candidates for a cross-functional team, which requires collaborative members who can work in a less-defined space. Building a cohesive project team will facilitate team management as you progress through project execution. Clearly Defined Goals Just like any team, if a cross-functional one isn’t given clear objectives they can find themselves going off in directions that lead to a dead end. Therefore, it’s crucial to have goals defined and in place before even assembling the team. Some of the ways to get those objectives defined are the same as in any project. For example, you want to have the charter to define the project’s priorities. An approved budget gives everyone a financial roadmap. What are the outcomes you want and what time frame have you scheduled to have them completed? The sooner these markers are determined, the easier time you will have. Team members will be able to go off on their own, with greater autonomy, knowing what is expected of them, when it’s expected and what resources they need to achieve those expectations. Shared Success When you have a cross-functional team, you have different team members with different goals. While all those goals should lead to the overall success of the project, that is not always the case. People can focus on their own small aspects of the project execution plan and neglect its part in the whole. Yes, the individuals on the team might not always align with other people on the team, which can lead to conflict, but that’s where the team leader comes in. They must lead the entire group to a shared success. It is, after all, the project and not the tasks that are the measure of success. Communication Good communication is the hallmark of any successful project. You need to be able to articulate your needs and they must be heard and understood to move the project forward. The problem with cross-functional teams is that they are often not under the same roof, which makes communications more difficult. Communications need be open and frequent, so what can you do? The best plan of action is to find the right platform that speaks to your team. It can be a collaborative tool like Skype or Slack, or a more robust project management software that offers more functionality. More on that later. Constantly Reevaluate The beauty of cross-functional teams, and one reason they’re so often seen in agile environments, is that they are flexible and able to adapt swiftly to change. A cross-functional team is ideal when you want to speed innovations to market. To achieve that goal means reevaluating priorities and processes are needed. This includes performance reviews. Because to remain effective, teams must always be measuring their progress and success. And this happens not only as a post-mortem at the end of the project but throughout its execution. Were objectives achieved? If not, why not? Adjust accordingly. How ProjectManager Supports Cross-Functional Teams How can there be one tool that will give a team of differently skilled members everything they need to do their job and the ability to coordinate those tasks with others on the team? It sounds like an impossibility, but it’s not. ProjectManager is award-winning software that gives managers and teams the features they need to organize and get productive. Robust Resource Management and Cost Tracking Tools Managing cross-functional teams requires resource management features that can balance workload across different departments. Our workload chart is color-coded and provides a view of resource allocation over all project teams. This makes it easy to see who is overallocated or underutilized, and the team’s workload can be balanced without leaving the workload chart. There’s also a team page that offers a daily or weekly summary of the team’s activities. Our secure timesheets not only streamline payroll, but track labor costs to keep projects within their budget. /wp-content/uploads/2024/05/timesheet-lightmode-good-version-lots-of-tasks.png Online Cross-Team Collaboration Tools Communications are enhanced by our software, as it fosters conversations in groups or in one-on-one situations. Better than mere dialogues, team members can share documents, links and other related material to help them collaborate. These conversations can even occur at the task level of an online kanban board, Gantt chart or task list. /wp-content/uploads/2024/04/notification-collaboration-gantt-light-mode-construction.png Plus, with ProjectManager you get real-time data, which means that wherever a team member is located, they’re getting an accurate picture of the project’s progress. This helps cross-functional teams stay in touch and be in sync. ProjectManager is a cloud-based project management software that gives cross-functional teams real-time data and a collaborative platform. See how it can help your teams today by taking this free 30-day trial. The post How to Manage a Cross-Functional Team appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

UK prime minister talks to around 20 countries about joining ‘coalition of the willing’View the full article

Crisis meeting called after £6.6bn NHS England deficit predicted and national medical director resigns View the full article

The National Flood Insurance Program, estimated to cover over 4 million homeowners, is set to lapse next Friday along with the federal budget. View the full article

A new study finds Google's expansion of AI Overviews correlates with declining clickthrough rates for informational queries. The post Google CTR Study: AI Overviews Rise As Click Rates Decline appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Andrew Kakabadse, Nada Kakabadse, and Linda Davies on leading to learn: “It is clear that successful leadership is never truly mastered as it is an organic service which must be ever refreshed and refined. The changing nature and demands of the follower and the changing nature and demands of the external environment mean that even once the leader has reached a point of maximum provision for their troops in their current state, they must put some serious planning into the next likely situation they will face. There is no rest. Learning to lead never stops and the truly successful, the truly great leader knows that they are leading to learn.” Source: Leading for Success: The Seven Sides to Great Leaders II. Greg Satell on identifying a keystone change: “To create real change, change that sticks and won’t be soon reversed, you need to identify a fundamental issue that encapsulates the value of the mission—a keystone change that is concrete and tangible, unites the efforts of multiple stakeholders, and paves the way for greater change. Revolutions don’t begin with a slogan—they begin with a cause. “It is never enough to merely state grievances to challenge the status quo. To create meaningful change, you must put forward an affirmative vision for what you want the future to look like. You have to define an alternative that is actually better, not just for those who agree with you, but for the vast majority of those who will be affected by the change you seek. ” Source: Cascades: How to Create a Movement that Drives Transformational Change * * * Look for these ideas every Thursday on the Leading Blog. Find more ideas on the LeadingThoughts index. * * * Follow us on Instagram and X for additional leadership and personal development ideas. View the full article

With tax season in full swing, it's prime time for married couples to maximize all the tax breaks available to them. One strategy that you don't want to leave on the table: making spousal IRA contributions. If one spouse isn't employed, they might be missing out on putting retirement assets in their name—not to mention reducing the tax-deferred growth possibilities as a couple. Spousal IRA contributions can double your retirement tax breaksThe IRA contribution limits for 2024 are $7,000 for those under age 50, and $8,000 for those age 50 or older. To clarify: You can make 2024 IRA contributions until the tax deadline on April 15, 2025. Generally, you can only contribute up to these limits for your own IRA, meaning you must have an income that will allow you to do so. And as always, you can and should max out these limits, if possible. However, with a spousal IRA, your spouse can also contribute up to the limit in an IRA under your name. That effectively doubles the amount your household can sock away in IRAs (pre-tax or Roth) each year. The only requirement is that the spouse who owns the IRA must have enough earned income to cover both contributions. For example, let's say Alex earns $100,000 per year and her husband Kevin is a stay-at-home dad with no income. Alex can contribute $7,000 to her own IRA. She can also contribute $7,000 to an IRA that is under Kevin's name. That's $14,000 total that the household can now save in IRAs, rather than just Alex's $7,000 limit. How spousal IRAs workA spousal IRA isn’t actually a separate type of IRA account—rather, it’s just a traditional IRA or Roth IRA set up in the name of a spouse who has little to no income. This may include those who are caregivers for children or other family members, workers who have returned to school, or people who have left the workforce for another reason. To be eligible for a spousal IRA, you have to meet a few requirements: You must file taxes as “married filing jointly.” The earning/contributing spouse must make enough to cover the contributions to both their own IRA and the spousal account. There are income-based contribution limits for Roth IRAs and tax deduction limits for traditional IRAs based on your tax filing status. These may affect which type of account you select. One key to a spousal IRA is that ownership stays with the person named on the account, no matter which spouse is contributing the funds. This also means that an existing IRA—funded while the owner of the account was in the workforce—can function as a spousal IRA if that person is no longer earning income and their partner simply contributes to the account on their behalf. The bottom lineEligible couples can use a spousal IRA to double their contributions to traditional individual retirement accounts (IRAs) even if only one partner has an income, and deduct a total of $14,000 (rather than $7,000 for the individual income earner) for 2024, as long as they do so by April 15. So there is still time for married couples to make spousal IRA contributions and double their tax-advantaged retirement savings—just be sure to specify which spouse the contribution is for when sending funds to your IRA provider. With a little planning, a spousal IRA strategy can significantly boost your households' retirement funds. And you can get an immediate tax deduction on your taxes if you make the contributions prior to tax day—so don't leave this tax break on the table. View the full article

The Top 50 Firm is acquiring a firm based in the northwest suburbs of Chicago that specializes in real estate clients. View the full article

YouTube's recent price hike has clearly left a hole in the market. If you want a fully ad-free YouTube experience, you currently need to pay $13.99/month (up from $11.99) or use a third-party workaround. But now, YouTube has a compromise. The service's new Premium Lite plan comes in at $7.99/month ($6 cheaper) and is supposed to block ads on most, but not all, content. With YouTube Premium Lite, YouTube won't show ads on popular categories of long form video, like gaming, fashion, beauty, news, and more. That's a bit vague, but in a video with Johanna Voolich, YouTube's Chief Product Officer, she says this means that all "core creator content", including podcasts, gaming streams, and makeup tutorials will all be ad-free. The catch is that other content, like music and music videos, won't be. That said, I am curious where the line between "core creator" content starts and stops—it'll take some time before subscribers really test the boundaries of this system. What if a smaller creator has a gaming video that doesn't get flagged as being part of YouTube Gaming? Missing features Credit: YouTube Aside from ad-free play, the cheaper plan misses out on two other big Premium features. Namely, you won't get offline downloads or background play. There's no access to YouTube Music either, since that would give you ad-free listening. YouTube Premium Lite is designed for people who want to watch creator-uploaded long form content in peace, without ads, and who don't care about supplemental features or YouTube spin-offs. If you instead prefer to watch offline or like listening to long podcasts in the background or have playlists saved in YouTube Music, the $13.99/month YouTube Premium plan will probably still be more up your alley. YouTube is rolling this out as a pilot test program in the US, so how the subscription works might change in the future. The company plans to expand the testing to Thailand, Germany, and Australia in coming weeks. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. Okay, federal workers and others affected by All This, you asked for an open thread to talk about what’s happening, and here it is. Have at it. View the full article

Japan’s Seven & i, the parent company of the Japanese 7-Eleven convenience store chain, said Thursday it is selling its supermarket store assets to Bain Capital for about $5.4 billion. The company announced the deal a day after naming Stephen Dacus, its board chairman, to be its president and CEO. It also said it plans an initial public offering in the U.S. of 7-Eleven or SEI, its convenience store business in North America, by the end of 2026. Funds from the IPO and the sale to Bain will be returned to shareholders in the form of share buybacks worth 2 trillion yen ($5.4 billion). Seven & i’s share price jumped 6.1% in Tokyo. The deal follows Seven & i’s rejection of a takeover bid by Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard. Dacus said earlier that the offer had undervalued the potential of the convenience store business and failed to fully address U.S. regulatory concerns. The 7-Eleven franchise includes 86,000 stores in the U.S., Japan and other Asian nations. Last year, Seven & i announced a restructuring plan to strengthen its U.S. operations and streamline operations, closing some Ito-Yokado supermarkets in Japan. The omnipresent 7-Eleven convenience stores remain popular in Japan, having replaced many mom and pop shops. Convenience stores are a mainstay in many neighborhoods. Seven & i earlier sold its Sogo & Seibu department stores in Japan to Fortress Investment Group, a U.S. fund, for $1.5 billion. It said it also plans to reduce its share in Seven Bank —Elaine Kurtenbach, AP Business Writer View the full article

Remember when “team building” meant awkward icebreakers and trust falls? Well, the hybrid work revolution has tossed that playbook (and the mandatory nametags) out the window. With hybrid job postings skyrocketing from 9% in Q1 2023 to nearly 23% by the end of 2024, it’s clear that the workplace landscape is evolving faster than you […] The post Has anyone seen Jeff? How hybrid work shakes up team dynamics appeared first on RescueTime Blog. View the full article

Move would expand one-month carve-out for car imports to include all USMCA-compliant goodsView the full article

Aside from the launch of the sky blue M4-powered MacBook Air, this week's flurry of Apple announcements saw the introduction of the most powerful Apple silicon desktop processor yet. Given Apple's numbering scheme for its own chipsets, you'd think that would be one with an M4 label attached, but it's actually the M3 Ultra, which will power the newest Mac Studio. Since Apple started releasing its own chipsets with the M designation, we've seen a variety of different labels attached. First came the standard processor, then the Pro, then the Max, and then the Ultra, with performance improving with each iteration. We're now up to the M4 Max and the M3 Ultra. When preordering directly from Apple, you can fit the latest Mac Studio with either the M4 Max or the M3 Ultra, but the latter's superior capabilities are evident in the pricing: The starting price of an M3 Ultra Mac Studio is double that of an M4 Max Mac Studio. The M3 Ultra is available in the new Mac Studio. Credit: Apple Here's what's going on: As with previous generation chipsets with the Ultra moniker, the M3 Ultra is essentially two M3 Max processors fused together and appearing as one, using a technique Apple calls UltraFusion. You're basically getting twice the performance: This piece of silicon features an incredible 184 billion transistors. So many coresHere are some more stats: The M3 Ultra offers up to 32 CPU cores (compared to 24 on its most comparable predecessor, the M2 Ultra. It sports up to 80 CPU cores (compared to 76 on the M2 Ultra), 32 neural cores (the same as the M2 Ultra), support for up to 512GB of memory (compared to 192GB on the M2 Ultra), and up to 819GB/s of memory bandwidth (compared to 800GB/s). Overall, performance is around 1.5x of the Apple M2 Ultra. While the M2 Ultra chipset is the direct forebear to the M3 Ultra, if you're buying a Mac Studio, you'll be choosing between the M3 Ultra to the M4 Max—the latter being the processor that launched last year with the refreshed MacBook Pros. The M4 Max gives you up to 16 CPU cores, up to 40 GPU cores, 16 neural cores, support for up to 128GB of memory, and up to 546GB/s of memory bandwidth. One of the benefits of the M3 Ultra supporting so much RAM—more than half a terabyte—is that users can run more powerful AI models locally, on their own machines. A Mac Studio with an M3 Ultra inside should have enough oomph to run something like DeepSeek R1 locally, without having to connect to servers in China. Apple's two latest chipsets, compared. Credit: Apple The M3 Ultra also comes with a Thunderbolt 5 upgrade, doubling the maximum data transfer rates from Thunderbolt 4, up to 120Gb/s. This means you can even link multiple Mac Studios together (if you've got the budget for them), while the display engine on the M3 Ultra is capable of driving more than 160 million pixels—the equivalent of eight Pro Display XDRs. "M3 Ultra is the pinnacle of our scalable system-on-a-chip architecture, aimed specifically at users who run the most heavily threaded and bandwidth-intensive applications," says Johny Srouji, a senior vice president of hardware technologies at Apple. And what of the M4 Ultra? Apple hasn't said anything about it yet, but intimated to Ars Technica that it might not add an Ultra model this time around. That would make the M4 series the first to go without an Ultra variant, but as these super-powerful, super-expensive chipsets are only of interest to those with the most demanding needs and the deepest pockets, less frequent launches may be the most logical course of action. View the full article

“I’d go through cancer again before I’d go back to not having confidence.” Accounting ARC With Arpan Grewal Center for Accounting Transformation Go PRO for members-only access to more Center for Accounting Transformation. View the full article

“I’d go through cancer again before I’d go back to not having confidence.” Accounting ARC With Arpan Grewal Center for Accounting Transformation Go PRO for members-only access to more Center for Accounting Transformation. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you need an extra set of eyes at home without spending a lot, the TP-Link Kasa KC410S indoor security camera is currently down to $26.99 from its usual $44.99. Kasa 2K QHD Security Camera Pan/Tilt $29.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $44.99 Save $15.00 Get Deal Get Deal $29.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $44.99 Save $15.00 You can swivel the KC410S 360 degrees horizontally and 113 degrees vertically for full-room coverage and motion tracking (though its pan and tilt controls can reportedly feel a bit jerky at times). As for its video quality, it delivers clear 2K footage during the day, with vibrant colors and good detail, but its nighttime performance depends on ambient light—if there isn’t enough, its Starlight sensor struggles, leaving the image dark and washed out. That said, according to this PCMag review, its black-and-white infrared night vision is crisp and well-lit. The KC410S also has sound and motion alerts, pushing notifications to your phone when it detects movement or a loud noise (intelligently differentiating between people and general motion, so you’re not getting spammed with alerts every time the AC kicks on). However, if you want to store video recordings, you’ll need to buy a microSD card (up to 256GB) or subscribe to Kasa Care. The Plus plan costs $3 per month for a single camera and gives you 30 days of video history, manual clip recording, and activity notifications with screenshots. If you have multiple cameras, the Premium plan, at $10 per month, supports up to 10 cameras and unlocks all features. Inserting a microSD card also lets you keep the camera running 24/7, regardless of motion or sound detection, if you prefer a continuous recording mode, The Kasa Smart app gives you full control over the camera, letting you view live footage, talk through the built-in mic, adjust motion sensitivity, enable night vision, and set patrol routes, among others. It integrates seamlessly with other TP-Link Kasa smart devices but doesn’t support Apple HomeKit. It does, however, work with Alexa and Google Assistant, so voice commands are still on the table. For a slightly higher price, the eufy Security Indoor Cam E220 ($34.99, down from $54.99) offers another solid indoor security camera with a high-res option. View the full article

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google launched its AI mode, but it is in beta and you need to be added to a waitlist...View the full article

Paschal Donohoe’s comments come as investors speculate over shift in US dollar’s dominant roleView the full article

Tax season can reduce even the most organized individuals to stressed-out procrastinators. And if you're anything like me, you're not exactly the most organized individual in the first place. The complexity of gathering documents, understanding deductions, and meeting deadlines creates anxiety that many of us dread each year. But with a well-designed tax preparation checklist, I've been able to turn my taxes into a manageable (maybe even even satisfying?) task well before the April 15 deadline. Here's how you can, too. A tax preparation checklist serves as your personalized roadmap through the filing process. Luckily, I've create this template to get you started. It includes sections for personal information, income documentation, deductions and credits, a tax preparation timeline, and a final verification check-list. All you need to do is to download it or make a copy in Google Docs for your own use. Here's how to make the most of this checklist, or build your own from scratch. Gather personal informationStart with the basics. Your checklist should include spaces to confirm you have: Social Security numbers for yourself, spouse, and dependents Birth dates for all dependents Last year's tax return (helpful for reference) Bank account and routing numbers for direct deposit Identify your income sourcesList all potential income sources to ensure nothing gets missed: W-2 forms from employers 1099 forms for self-employment, investments, etc. Income records from gig work or side hustles Alimony received Rental property income Social Security benefits Unemployment compensation Document potential deductionsThis section often represents the biggest opportunity for tax savings: Homeownership documents (mortgage interest, property taxes) Educational expenses (tuition, student loan interest) Medical expenses exceeding threshold amounts Charitable donations with receipts Business expenses for self-employed individuals Retirement contributions Childcare expenses Organize by timelineStructure your checklist with time-based sections: January: Collect arriving tax documents (W-2s, 1099s). February: Organize receipts and deduction documentation. March: Schedule appointment with tax professional or prepare software. April: Complete final review and file. Include verification stepsAdd verification checkpoints to ensure accuracy: Compare this year's return to last year's for consistency. Double-check math and entries. Verify all Social Security numbers. Confirm all required forms are signed. Make copies of everything for your records. Making the most of your tax prep checklistWhile the template provides a comprehensive starting point, your personal tax situation may require additional items. Customize your checklist so that it suits your tax needs. Review last year's return to identify recurring items specific to your finances. Digital vs. physical organizationChoose the system that works best for you: Digital: Use a spreadsheet, note-taking app, or dedicated tax software. Physical: Create a folder system with labeled sections for each category. Hybrid: Scan physical documents and organize them in digital folders. Begin earlyThe biggest tax preparation mistake is waiting until the last minute. Begin organizing as soon as all your documents first arrive, and you'll avoid the mid-April stress entirely. Review and improve annuallyAfter filing, take a few minutes to note what worked well and what didn't. Add a "Notes for Next Year" section to your checklist to remember adjustments needed for the coming tax season. The bottom line A personalized tax preparation checklist transforms tax filing from a dreaded chore into a methodical process. By breaking down the complex task into manageable steps, you'll not only reduce stress, but potentially identify additional deductions you might otherwise miss. Again, here's my downloadable template for you. Feel free to add or remove items based on your financial circumstances and filing requirements. With this system in place, you'll be able to approach tax season with confidence rather than anxiety. View the full article

Causal dining chains had a pretty bad 2024 when it came to solvency issues. Major chains, including Red Lobster, TGI Fridays, and Roti, all filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year. And 2025 doesn’t seem to be fairing better for more restaurants. The latest restaurant chain to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is the Tex-Mex casual dining chain On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina. Here’s what you need to know about the company’s bankruptcy filing. Why is On The Border filing for bankruptcy? On March 5, OTB Holding LLC, owner of the On The Border chain, announced it had voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Georgia. In the press release announcing the bankruptcy filing, the restaurant chain did not explicitly state why it filed for Chapter 11 protection. However, many casual dining chains have struggled with declining foot traffic in recent years as inflation-weary consumers opt to save money by staying home and cooking instead of eating out. On The Border’s president, Chris Rockwood, said that the “restructuring is the best path forward for On The Border. It allows us to address several financial and operational challenges and emerge stronger and re-focused on our growth.” In a court filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Georgia, OTB’s chief restructuring officer, Jonathan M. Tibus, said the company had faced a “rapid loss of liquidity” in recent months, which resulted in it having to “quickly institute holds on vendor payments and rent payments to maintain cash.” This, in turn, has led landlords and vendors “to cut off service, withhold goods, repossess leased premises or exercise set-off rights,” which “resulted in the Company losing stores, additional operational challenges, and a severe liquidity crisis.” How many restaurants does On The Border have? According to the company, there are 80 On The Border restaurants across the United States and South Korea. A court filing reveals that the majority of those are in the United States. As the filing states, OTB currently operates 60 restaurants in the United States across 18 individual states. Are On The Border locations closing? The company hopes to continue operating. However, a court filing indicates that it has already closed at least 77 locations that were deemed underperforming or were expected to drive losses. On The Border has asked a court to allow it to reject the leases on these locations The list of locations it has closed spans 24 states: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia. “The Debtors are no longer occupying, nor have use for, the Leased Premises,” the court filing states. By filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company hopes to restructure itself and look for a buyer who would presumably keep operating the brand. In the company’s press release announcing its Chapter 11 filing, OTB stated, “The Company intends to use the proceedings to drive operational improvements and pursue a sale of substantially all of its assets.” The company also said that its remaining locations will remain open and operating as normal throughout the Chapter 11 process. What about On The Border employees? According to court documents, On The Border currently employs about 2,800 workers. Of those, 375 are full-time hourly employees and 216 are full-time salaried employees. The remaining 2,210 workers are part-time hourly employees. The court documents state that the company has filed “first day” relief pleadings in which it seeks permission to keep paying worker’s wages. View the full article

Clustering keywords lets you target more than one keyword, which can lead to more traffic. To help you get there faster, use the Keyword Strategy Builder. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Corporations are a driving force behind almost every part of American life—including the movies we watch. It sometimes feels like they hold all the power, and, actually, they kinda do. But if the power of capitalism can’t be overcome, it can at least be checked once in a while. And it can be extremely satisfying to watch a crusader standing up for the rest of us. Here are 15 movies about heroes defying big corporations, most of them at least inspired by true events. Usually, reality is at least as wild as what made it to the screen. As The Constant Gardener author John le Carré observed in the afterward to (and the end credits of the film adaptation of) his almost entirely fictional novel: Nobody in this story, and no outfit or corporation, thank God, is based upon an actual person or outfit in the real world. But I can tell you this. As my journey through the pharmaceutical jungle progressed, I came to realize that, by comparison with the reality, my story was as tame as a holiday postcard. Erin Brokovich (2000) Real life provides plenty of examples of individuals standing up to corporations—with varying degrees of success. This is one of the more inspiring ones: Steven Soderbergh's crowd-pleasing legal drama was a box office triumph and an Oscar season contender, and it made a star of its titular real life activist. Julia Roberts plays Brokovich, who in 1993 was an unemployed single mother who couldn't keep out of her own way. Given a pity job as a paralegal by the man who served as her lawyer in an injury case, she stumbles onto some troubling medical documents while researching a real estate case. It soon becomes clear that Pacific Gas and Electric Company is hiding something in Hinkley, California—specifically, they've been dumping chromium-contaminated waste into several ponds around the town, and cancer incidents are way up in the region. It's here that Erin's dogged determination (and utter refusal to keep her mouth shut ,even when she'd be better off to do so) come in tremendously handy for the people of Hinkley, who now have an unlikely champion. You can stream Erin Brokovich on Netflix or rent it from Prime Video. Erin Brokovich (2000) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Dark Waters (2019) Dark Waters, from director Todd Haynes, kicks off with farmers discovering that their livestock are dying by the hundreds from exposure to waste in the water produced by a local DuPont chemical plant—which is just the beginning, as cancer rates among humans are also unexpectedly high. Mark Ruffalo stars as lawyer Robert Bilott, who takes on the farmers' case. It's based on the New York Times Magazine article "The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare" by Nathaniel Rich, and Haynes and company do a masterful job of dramatizing the high-stakes legal battle, as well as the problem of buy-in—parties to the legal action become pariahs in their community because many would rather take their chances with cancer than risk losing a big employer. This all happened within the last decade, so many of the issues related to so-called "forever chemicals" (those that never leave the bloodstream once exposed) are very much ongoing, and will only become more prominent in the current era of deregulation. You can rent Dark Waters from Prime Video. Dark Waters (2019) Learn More Learn More The Insider (1999) Michael Mann's account of tobacco industry shenanigans did only middling business at the box office, but nonetheless earned seven Oscar nominations—including one for Best Picture. It comes at the story from a smart, sideways angle: The focus is on the 60 Minutes piece that broke wide open the story of big tobacco's malfeasance over the risks of smoking—a story that made clear that these companies knew the true dangers of smoking, and lied about it to keep their customers addicted. In the movie's largely accurate telling, CBS producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) coaxes former tobacco-company chemist Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) to reveal what he knows, only to face pushback from fearful executives and threats from the tobacco industry. The narrative makes clear the high cost of telling even the most straightforward of truths. You can stream The Insider on The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video. The Insider (1999) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Even the Rain (2011) In 1999, a group of investors lead by the American company Bechtel invested in a dam near Cochabamba, Bolivia. The thus contained water was then sold back to the locals at vastly higher rates. The resulting protests saw tens of thousands of people take to the streets. In director Icíar Bollaín's wildly ambitious film-within-a-film, a crew, led by director Sebastián (Gael García Bernal), comes to Cochabamba to make a movie based on Christopher Columbus' first voyage. His thoughtless executive producer Costa (Luis Tosar)stirs up trouble with his lack of consideration for the locals as the water protests simmer in the background. Weaving in themes that consider the long history of colonization, the film isn't shy about drawing clear lines between past and present. You can stream Even the Rain on Netflix. Even the Rain (2011) at Netflix Learn More Learn More at Netflix Into the Weeds (2022) The jury is still out, I suppose, on the risks of glycophosphate (a prime ingredient in Monsanto's herbicide Roundup) in typical doses, but there's nevertheless much to cheer in Dewayne "Lee" Johnson's case against the chemical company. A school groundskeeper in California, Johnson was exposed to hundreds of gallons of the stuff over the years. He was diagnosed with a terminal case of non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 42, and as this documentary reveals, Johnson won his case against the chemical giant—an extremely rare victory that, if even in only a small way, put these companies on notice. You can stream Into the Woods on Hoopla or rent it from Prime Video. Into the Weeds (2022) Learn More Learn More The Constant Gardener (2005)Ralph Fiennes stars as Justin Quayle, a British diplomat in Kenya, trying to solve the murder of his wife Tessa (Rachel Weisz, who won an Oscar for the role), an Amnesty International activist. It seems that Tessa had been investigating the deaths related to drug trials around something called Dypraxa. The movie alternates between the harrowing investigation and the story of the development of the relationship between the two. An adaptation of the John le Carré, both book and film were inspired by a Pfizer drug trial in Nigeria in 1996 that left 11 children dead. You can rent The Constant Gardener from Prime Video. The Constant Gardener (2005) Learn More Learn More The Informant! (2009) Nearly a decade after Erin Brockovich, Steven Soderbergh took on another real-life whistleblower, this time puncturing the self-importance and self-seriousness of white-collar criminals with a dose of dark comedy. (As we ought to have learned by now, capitalism rewards the goofy and dumb at least as often as it does those with half a brain.) Matt Damon plays corporate executive Mark Whitacre, who confesses to a couple of FBI agents (Scott Bakula and Joel McHale) about his involvement in a scheme to fix the price of commercial livestock-related chemical lysine. Whitacre gets increasingly loopy during his time wearing a wire for the Feds, a period during which his various other infractions come out. Oh, and during which he also embezzles a ton of money from the company he's purportedly trying to expose. You can stream The informant! on Prime Video. The Informant! (2009) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Radium Girls (2018) A fictionalized account of the real-life radium girls (oddly, it's not based on Kate Moore's nonfiction bestseller of the same name), this film follows Josephine and Betty Cavallo, sisters employed painting watch dials at an "American Radium" factory in New Jersey. In real life, radium workers were often called "ghost girls" for the ways in which the radium they worked with made their clothes and hair glow. Workers were assured the radioactive element was entirely safe, and even encouraged to lick their brushes to make the points finer for painting clocks and watches. In real life, much as in the movie, it was the United States Radium Corp. that fought to keep the truth about the dangers of radium from coming out, blaming illnesses and deaths on syphilis long after it was clear what was happening. The back half of Radium Girls dives into the famous court case that resulted, one that wasn't entirely a triumph at the time but that did pave the way for the creation of OSHA and other safety reforms that protected workers for decades—until very recently. You can rent Radium Girls on Prime Video. Radium Girls (2018) Learn More Learn More Michael Clayton (2007) A legal drama with a bit of extra swagger, Michael Clayton is from writer/director Tony Gilroy, the filmmaker who wrote and/or directed most of the Bourne movies. It manages to be just as thrilling, if in an entirely different way. George Clooney stars as the eponymous fixer, working at a major law firm finding legal loop holes that will benefit clients—until he starts to develop a conscience after discovering that his firm is working to clear a path for an agricultural chemical concern to escape the consequences of knowingly selling a cancer-causing weedkiller. The drama and action are on point, as following Clayton as he is hunted by chemical industry goons. It earned seven Academy Award nominations, including for one for Best Picture. You can stream Michael Clayton on Prime Video. Michael Clayton (2007) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Harlan County, USA (1976) Filmed as its history unfolded, Barbara Kopple's essential documentary chronicles what became known as the “Brookside Strike” against the owners of the Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, Kentucky. Kopple’s original intent was to create a film about efforts to unseat the wildly corrupt leader of the United Mine Workers of America union at the time, W.A. Boyle, who seemed to many to be in the pockets of the mine owners (he was later convicted of conspiracy in the murders of a reformist opponent’s entire family). That explosive story turned out to be a side-note to the brutal, bloody, violent opposition faced by the striking mineworkers and their families. These workers were no pushovers when it came to their rights and mine safety; nor were their wives and mothers. It's a throwback to an era when what we might call the "white working class" (though it was not exclusively white) would still fight fiercely against government and corporate greed. You can stream Harlan County USA on Max and The Criterion Channel. Harlan County USA (1976) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max North Country (2005) Though occasionally a bit formulaic, there's no faulting North Country for its ability to rouse, at least in moments, nor for its acting: both Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand earned Oscar nominations for their roles. While fictionalized, the film is based on the nonfiction book Class Action, by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler, which examines Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co., the first-ever class-action sexual harassment lawsuit in the U.S., which took place in 1989. Theron plays Josey Aimes, who moves back to her hometown in northern Minnesota and takes a well-paying job in the local iron mine at the behest of an old acquaintance (McDormand). No rabble-rouser, Aimes nonetheless immediately sees how women at the mine are treated: Their skills are dismissed, and they're viewed as low-cost replacements for more deserving men. What's more, sexual harassment and even sexual assault are daily occurrences. With the (initially reluctant) backing of the local union, Aimes takes the mine to court on behalf of all the women workers, facing down a massive company more than willing to make an issue of her own sex life. You can stream North Country on Hoopla or rent it from Prime Video. North Country (2005) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Philadelphia (1993) Andrew Beckett isn't a traditional "little guy," instead a successful senior associate at a major corporate law firm in Philly. He's also gay and closeted, and starts displaying lesions (Kaposi's sarcoma, specifically) related to the AIDS diagnosis that he's been concealing. When he's fired with little reason given, he hires Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), one of the few lawyers who will take his wrongful termination suit. There were few mainstream films about about the darkest days of the first HIV/AIDS crisis (and we're living through another, as effective treatments and miracle preventatives have become increasingly scarce and unaffordable), and none had more cultural impact than this all-star legal drama. It's based loosely on the real-life case of attorney Geoffrey Bowers and his own lawyer, Clarence Cain, who took on the law firm Baker McKenzie under similar circumstances, though the Hollywood version has a somewhat happier end—Bowers' own case wasn't settled until eight years after his death. You can rent Philadelphia from Prime Video. Philadelphia (1993) at Prime Video Get Deal Get Deal at Prime Video The Rainmaker (1997) Matt Damon stars in this John Grisham adaptation, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, as Rudy S. Baylor, a poor kid who just barely made it through law school only to find himself in a profession that mostly makes him uncomfortable—not helped by the fact that his first boss is a smarmy con man played by Mickey Rourke. Convinced by scrappy paralegal Deck Shifflet (Danny DeVito) to join him in a little storefront operation, the two take on three cases around which the movie revolves, but the emotional core is in the one about a kid with cancer whose treatment his insurance company refuses to fund. It quickly becomes clear that Donny's life can't be saved, but there's hope that the insurance company can be forced to treat him like a person and not a line item anyway. It's still timely, except for the "hope" part. You can stream The Rainmaker on Pluto TV or rent it from Prime Video. The Rainmaker (1997) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Salt of the Earth (1954) Once of the first films that we'd recognize as independent in the modern sense (the writer, director, and producer were all blacklisted), Salt of the Earth was suppressed and dismissed as propaganda for its wild, still controversial propositions that racism is bad, women should maybe have some rights, and working conditions ought not be awful. Commie nonsense, to be sure, but presented not without dramatic flair. Based on a real 1951 strike, the movie is set in "Zinc Town, New Mexico" among mostly Mexican-American miners who are agitating for better working conditions—at least as good as those of their white counterparts. The strikers are arrested and the strike is put down by use of the real, and then recent, Taft-Hartley Act, the nation's most significant anti-union legislation (it's still in force, by the way). A loophole allows the miners' wives to march in their places, and the movement is lead by Esperanza Quintero (Rosaura Revueltas), the spouse of a jailed striker. You can stream Salt of the Earth on MGM+, Tubi, Pluto TV, and Prime Video. Salt of the Earth (1954) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The China Syndrome (1979) The Meryl Streep-starring Silkwood, the acclaimed film based on the real-life case of a nuclear whistleblower, isn't streaming or digitally rentable anywhere (conspiracy!), but The China Syndrome isn't a terrible substitute. Jane Fonda plays a reporter who begins to smell something fishy at the Ventana nuclear power plant, the owners of which are handing out radiographs that don't make much sense. It turns out there's a leak that they can't be bothered to fix, and rather than shelling out that money, they're putting out faked test results suggesting that all is fine, and surely the tragic accidents that befall anyone who considers speaking up are mere coincidences. Nuclear industry executives were initially livid at the suggestion that anything could ever go wrong at one of their plants, but got much quieter 12 days later, when the Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurred in Pennsylvania. Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon both earned Oscar nominations for their performances. You can rent The China Syndrome from Prime Video. The China Syndrome (1979) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video View the full article

Robert Rodriguez wants to give you a cut of the action—in more ways than one. The director, writer, and producer behind movies including El Mariachi, From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids, and Sin City recently announced Brass Knuckle Films, a new initiative inviting fans to become investors in action films. Powered by global investment platform Republic, Brass Knuckle Films will allow everyday fans to back projects from Rodriguez’s production company Troublemaker Studios, share in the profits, and access perks including exclusive previews, set visits, discussions with Rodriguez and his creative team, and even the chance to have their own idea made into a movie. Each Brass Knuckle Films investor will have the opportunity to submit a movie concept, which Rodriguez and his team at Troublemaker Studios will review based on originality, feasibility, and market potential. Ten finalists will be selected to pitch their concepts directly to Rodriguez, who will choose one to be developed into a full-length feature as part of the Brass Knuckle Films slate. “When I talk to studio execs, they’re like zombies in suits. They don’t watch movies. They’re not fans of movies. They’re in it for a business,” says Rodriguez, cofounder of Brass Knuckle Films. “You talk to a fan—you see the passion. They should be making the money.” Brass Knuckle Films is coming to the scene behind a similar company Legion M that launched in 2016 and billed itself as “the world’s first fan-owned entertainment company.” What could set Brass Knuckle Films apart is Rodriguez himself who’s built something of a cult fandom from his body of work, as well as how streamlined his Austin, Texas-based production company, Troublemaker Studios, operates with him as the writer, director, producer, and editor of his projects. “Studios have never made things efficient,” says Alexis Garcia, cofounder of Brass Knuckle Films. “So if you can offer [efficiency with] less cooks in the kitchen or because you own and control more of the food chain to making movies like we do with a studio here, that’s a value that nobody would argue with.” What’s also unique about Brass Knuckle Films is its specific focus on action films. Not only is it Rodriguez’s go-to genre, it’s what he’s seeing is in high demand—and that he could fill quickly and profitably. Rodriguez recalls a conversation with an executive at Netflix a few years ago where he was told the streamer needed more family films. Rodriguez took the prompt and wrote, directed, and produced the 2020 film We Can Be Heroes. To this day, the film remains in the top 10 most popular Netflix films globally. “Now when I ask, what do you need?, [studio executives] say, action, action, action. We just don’t have enough action movies,” Rodriguez says. “There’s such an appetite for these movies. [Studios] don’t care where they come from as long as they come. They can’t make them fast enough and they don’t know how to make them efficiently. So you’re solving their problem.” At the core of Brass Knuckle Films is Rodriguez’s desire to amplify his indie approach to action filmmaking and to give fans more equity in movies they’re ultimately supporting at the box office or by hyping them up on social media. “If it’s going to end with the fans anyway with them watching the movie, let’s begin with the fans and let them be a part of it, get a piece of the action,” Rodriguez says. “They’ll be more motivated to go tell their friends to go watch it because they’ll make more money.” “Democratizing and demystifying has always been a part of my DNA as an independent [filmmaker],” he adds. “Now I want to do that with an audience.” View the full article

SEO is evolving faster than a fruit fly colony in a genetics lab – constantly adapting, mutating, and surprising even the experts. One day, long-form content reigns supreme; the next, AI-generated summaries are stealing the spotlight. Staying ahead requires smarter, data-driven insights. AI-powered tools like OpenAI’s Deep Research are reshaping how marketers approach content strategy, competitive analysis, and SERP optimization. Unlike traditional AI models that rely on pre-existing training data, Deep Research can pull real-time insights from external sources, making it a game-changer for SEO professionals. But how does it compare to standard ChatGPT, and how can marketers use it to outperform competitors and create better content? Let’s dive in. Deep Research vs. ‘regular’ ChatGPT Until February, Deep Research was only available to OpenAI’s $200/month Pro+ users. Thankfully, regular $20/month users now have access to this tool that can pull real-time insights from external sources, making it a potential game-changer for research of all kinds. Whether you’re working on SEO strategies or conducting competitive analysis, real-time, sourced information with thorough citations is invaluable. Discovering Deep Research is like switching from gloppy rubber cement to spray adhesive for science fair projects – suddenly, everything is faster, cleaner, and prettier – just like how spray adhesive ensures a smooth, uniform finish without bubbles or unevenness. Deep Research speeds up the process and delivers polished and well-organized results right out of the box, saving time and effort while improving overall quality. So, before diving into SEO applications, let’s examine how Deep Research differs from traditional ChatGPT responses. Regular ChatGPT (GPT-4o, etc.) Generates responses based on its internal knowledge and general training data. Can provide SEO guidance, competitive research, and content ideas but does not cite external sources in real-time. Responses are based on historical knowledge rather than up-to-date, sourced insights. Deep Research Pulls real-time insights from external sources, synthesizing multiple perspectives and providing links to supporting materials. More powerful for research-heavy SEO tasks, such as: Evaluating competitors. Validating E-E-A-T signals. Ensuring factual accuracy in content. Unlike ChatGPT, Deep Research includes thorough citations and footnotes, making it easier to verify and trust the information. Helps SEOs assess the credibility, relevance, and quality of insights by showing exactly where the data comes from. Can also be a valuable tool for discovering new thought leaders, publications, and authoritative sources in the industry. Example of ChatGPT vs. Deep Research in SEO Let’s say you want to understand how Google’s latest core update is impacting search rankings. ChatGPT prompt: “What are the key ranking changes from Google’s latest core update?” ChatGPT will provide insights based on its training data, which may not include the latest updates. Deep Research prompt: “Summarize the latest analysis of Google’s December 2024 core update from industry experts, including changes in ranking factors and who has been affected.” ChatGPT might provide a general summary of past updates but lacks real-time data and direct citations. Deep Research, on the other hand, retrieves insights straight from authoritative sources. For example, when testing this prompt, Deep Research returned a 1,068-word analysis (not counting the list of 13 citations with links). Here’s an excerpt: “Google’s December 2024 update rewards content-rich, trustworthy sites and raises the bar against spam or subpar content[^1]. SEO analysts noted that Google placed even greater emphasis on high-quality, original content demonstrating E-E-A-T[^2]. Sites with thin or duplicate content, especially in YMYL categories, saw declines[^3]. AI-generated content was scrutinized more heavily, with low-quality, auto-generated text being devalued[^4].” The footnotes and citations in Deep Research’s response allow SEOs to see exactly who said what and in which publication, making it easier to evaluate the credibility of the insights and make informed decisions. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. SEO use cases for OpenAI’s Deep Research 1. Competitive analysis and SERP research One of the most practical applications of Deep Research in SEO is real-time analysis of competitors and search engine results pages (SERPs). Example: Identifying content gaps Imagine you’re optimizing a blog for a keyword like “best AI SEO tools 2025”. Using Deep Research, you can prompt: Prompt: “Provide a comparison of the top five AI SEO tools as of 2025, summarizing their features, pricing, and pros/cons with links to sources.” Instead of relying on outdated or generalized knowledge, Deep Research pulls current information from multiple sources, allowing you to craft more comprehensive and up-to-date content than your competitors. 2. Content ideation and topic research Creating unique, high-quality content that ranks well requires more than just keyword research. SEOs often need to find trending topics, authoritative sources, and expert insights to craft engaging content. Example: Finding trending and evergreen topics Prompt: “What are the emerging trends in AI-powered search optimization in 2025? Provide references to industry reports or expert opinions.” Deep Research helps ensure your content is timely, relevant, and backed by authoritative sources, improving both E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) and engagement. Dig deeper: AI optimization: How to optimize your content for AI search and agents 3. E-E-A-T and link building research Google increasingly prioritizes content that demonstrates E-E-A-T. With Deep Research, SEOs can efficiently: Find reputable sources to cite for stronger credibility. Discover link building opportunities by identifying authoritative industry sites that accept guest contributions. Locate credible experts whose insights can add weight to an article. Example: Strengthening content credibility Prompt: “Find peer-reviewed studies or expert analysis on the impact of AI-generated content on SEO rankings.” (Seriously, try this. The footnotes alone are *chef’s kiss*) By embedding sourced insights directly into your content, you enhance trust and authority, which can contribute to higher rankings. 4. Automating SEO research tasks SEO professionals spend a significant amount of time manually reviewing sources, extracting insights, and analyzing SERP trends. Deep Research can automate much of this work, freeing up time for strategy and execution. Example: Generating a content brief Prompt: “Generate a content brief for a 2,000-word article on ‘How AI is Changing SEO in 2025,’ including H2s, key takeaways, and supporting statistics with sources.” This allows SEO teams to move faster and maintain consistency in content quality and depth. Dig deeper: Improving content quality at scale with AI Reevaluating the role of schema in SEO While structured data has long been considered a key element of technical SEO, recent advancements in AI-driven search have lessened its importance for many types of content. In a December 2024 article for Search Engine Land, I discussed how schema markup is not as critical as it once was, with the exception of certain structured data types, such as product schema. Deep Research can still assist SEOs by: Identifying the most relevant schema types for products, events, or structured content that still benefit from markup. Finding industry-specific examples of where structured data is still impactful. Example: Schema relevance in AI search Prompt: “Analyze the role of schema markup in AI-driven search results and identify which schema types still provide ranking benefits.” By leveraging Deep Research, SEOs can avoid unnecessary implementation efforts and focus on structured data that truly matters in today’s search landscape. Why Deep Research feels like an SEO superpower SEO’s evolution is starting to feel like a sci-fi experiment gone rogue – constantly mutating and throwing unexpected changes our way. OpenAI’s Deep Research helps SEOs track these mutations in real time, ensuring they aren’t optimizing for outdated strategies. While traditional ChatGPT responses provide helpful general guidance, Deep Research enables SEOs to produce more accurate, authoritative, and competitive content – a necessity in AI-driven search. Integrating Deep Research into your workflows can improve competitive analysis, content ideation, E-E-A-T optimization, and automation efforts, ultimately leading to higher rankings and stronger organic performance. Deep Research shifts the balance of AI-assisted SEO from guesswork to precision. This tool is a game changer for SEOs who thrive on data-backed decisions. View the full article