About Rich Sanger
SEARCH STRATEGIST. RESEARCHER. ENTREPRENEUR.
I study how technology shapes what gets found, trusted, and chosen online and in the real world.
My work sits at the intersection of search, artificial intelligence, business strategy, and human behavior. I research search systems, analyze patents and technology, study how AI discovers and recommends businesses, and help organizations navigate a rapidly changing discovery landscape.
Search Is Ultimately About People
It’s easy to think about search as a technical problem.
Keywords. Links. Rankings. Entities. Algorithms.
I’m fascinated by all of that. But the technology exists between a person with a need and the information, product, service, or business they ultimately choose.
That’s one reason my background in psychology continues to shape how I think about search.
I’m interested not only in how a system retrieves information, but also in how people formulate questions, how trust develops, how information affects judgment, and why one business or source becomes more persuasive than another.
As search increasingly moves from lists of links toward synthesized answers and recommendations, the relationship between technology and human decision-making becomes even more important.
People
Studying behavior, intent, trust, and decision-making.
Systems
Researching search technology, AI, & information retrieval.
Impact
Turning insights into visibility, growth, and real-world results.
Integration
The intersection is where meaningful strategy lives.
My Path
Psychology & Human Services
BA in Psychology and an MA in Psychology.
+15 years working in human services and special-needs programs.
Business & Entrepreneurship
MBA in Business Management.
My interest in strategy and marketing grew, and I became focused on how businesses grow.
Entrepreneurship First
Professional musician and music educator. I learned first-hand what it takes to attract customers and build something that lasts.
Deep Into Search
Worked across agency, in-house, e-commerce, and consulting roles in SEO, content, local search, tech SEO, analytics, and digital marketing.
Research, Leadership & Entrepreneurship
Head of SEO operations at an agency, focusing on strategy, search programs. Founder of Streetlight Local, helping local businesses grow.
Published, Referenced & Shared
I’m a contributing writer for Search Engine Land, where I write about SEO, Google Search, Google Maps, AI, and the technologies changing digital discovery.
My work and research have also been featured, referenced, or shared by industry publications and communities including SEOFOMO, Search Engine Roundtable, and iPullRank’s DealTown.
Search professionals including Lily Ray, Glenn Gabe, Barry Schwartz, Cindy Krum, and Dr. Marie Haynes have also shared or highlighted my work and research.
My goal is to contribute useful, evidence-based thinking to the broader conversation about how search and AI are evolving.
Beyond Rankings
For much of SEO’s history, success was relatively straightforward to describe: rank higher, generate more traffic, and earn more clicks.
Those things still matter. But they no longer describe the entire discovery process.
FOUND →
UNDERSTOOD →
TRUSTED →
RETRIEVED →
CITED →
SELECTED →
CHOSEN
Increasingly, the challenge is not simply ranking a webpage. It is creating a digital presence that can be found, understood, trusted, retrieved, cited, recommended, and ultimately chosen.
Understanding that broader system is where much of my research is headed.
What I’m Working On
My current research and professional work focus on how search, AI, reputation, and digital identity are converging into a broader discovery system.
AI Search & Discovery
How generative systems interpret questions, retrieve information, and construct answers.
Recommendation Systems
How businesses and brands become surfaced, compared, selected, and recommended.
Entities & Digital Identity
How search and AI systems understand businesses, relationships, authority, and consistency.
Local Discovery
How businesses are found across Google Search, Maps, reviews, websites, and AI assistants.
Reputation & Trust
How reviews, authority, third-party information, and reputation shape machine and human decisions.
Search Systems & Retrieval
Ranking systems, patents, citations, retrieval methods, and the mechanics behind modern search.
Read My Research →
Speaking, Writing & Research
I write, speak, and teach about the future of search, AI, local discovery, entities, reputation, and the technologies changing how information gets surfaced and recommended.
My work has appeared in Search Engine Land, and I’m available for selected speaking, media, and educational opportunities.
Conference Talks
Presentations on search, AI discovery, local visibility, and emerging search systems.
Webinars
Practical sessions for marketers, business owners, and professional groups.
Podcasts & Interviews
Conversations about SEO, AI search, digital discovery, and where search is heading.
Executive Briefings
Focused sessions for leadership teams trying to understand how AI is changing discovery.
Panels
Industry discussions around search, AI, reputation, and digital visibility.
Workshops
More hands-on educational sessions for teams that want practical guidance.
Work With Me
I selectively work with businesses, marketing teams, agencies, and organizations that need help understanding how search and AI-driven discovery are changing.
AI Discovery & Visibility Strategy
Assess how a business appears across AI search, search engines, competitors, citations, and recommendation environments, then identify opportunities to strengthen visibility and understanding.
Search & Discovery Research
Custom research into competitive visibility, entities, AI citations, local discovery, search behavior, and emerging systems.
Strategic Advisory
Executive-level guidance on organic search, AI answers, digital discovery, reputation, and how changing search behavior may affect growth.
Speaking & Education
Presentations, webinars, workshops, and executive briefings on search, AI discovery, local visibility, and the future of digital discovery.
For businesses looking for ongoing local SEO, Google Business Profile, reputation, website, and local visibility services, I also lead Streetlight Local.
Get New Research
Receive occasional research and analysis on AI search, ranking systems, entities, local discovery, reputation, and the changing ways businesses get found and recommended.
No daily marketing emails. Just new research and ideas when I have something worth sharing.