For the past two years, the SEO industry has spent a great deal of time trying to determine what, if anything, fundamentally changed when Google introduced generative AI into Search. Do you need to create an llms.txt file? Should you break your content into tiny chunks? Is there a special way to write for AI … Continue reading Google’s New Guidance on AI Search: SEO, Query Fan-Out, and What Still Matters
How Customers Find and Choose Local Businesses Online (Google, Reviews, Websites & AI)
I recently had the opportunity to present a webinar for Boston Business Mentors on a topic at the center of local SEO and digital marketing: how customers find businesses online and decide which one to contact. The presentation, How Your Business Gets Found Online, was designed for small business owners, but the underlying ideas apply … Continue reading How Customers Find and Choose Local Businesses Online (Google, Reviews, Websites & AI)
Google’s Ask Maps and Immersive Navigation: What This Means for Local Business Visibility
Google has announced a major update to Google Maps, introducing Ask Maps and Immersive Navigation. On the surface, these features appear to improve how users explore places and navigate routes. But underneath that, they may also signal something larger: a shift in how Google Maps understands businesses, evaluates relevance, and recommends local options to users. … Continue reading Google’s Ask Maps and Immersive Navigation: What This Means for Local Business Visibility
Streetlight Local: My New Mission to Help Small Businesses Get Found Everywhere
It’s been a while since my last post. If you’ve been following my work, especially my research on Google AI Overviews and AI’s role in search, you’ve probably noticed I’ve been a bit quiet. That’s not because I’ve run out of things to say. Quite the opposite. For the past few months, I’ve been hard … Continue reading Streetlight Local: My New Mission to Help Small Businesses Get Found Everywhere
GEO? AIO? LLMO? No Thanks. I’ll Stick with Search Optimization.
The term “GEO”, short for Generative Engine Optimization, has been circulating more and more in SEO conversations. I’ve written about it before, including early takes on the original study by Aggarwal et al., which (I believe) introduced the term and offered some genuinely helpful insights about visibility in LLM-powered platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity. At … Continue reading GEO? AIO? LLMO? No Thanks. I’ll Stick with Search Optimization.
Measuring the Impact of Google AI Overviews on SEO Performance
Measuring the impact of Google AI Overviews is no small feat. Google Search Console (GSC) includes performance data for URLs featured in AI Overviews, but it doesn’t allow you to isolate this data specifically. During a recent interview with Aleyda Solis, Google’s Danny Sullivan indicated that an AI Overview filter in GSC is unlikely to … Continue reading Measuring the Impact of Google AI Overviews on SEO Performance
How to Optimize for AI Overviews: Patent & Research Insights
Understanding how to optimize for AI Overviews can help you capture significantly more space on the search results page. This is becoming increasingly important as AI Overviews occupy a large amount of real estate, often pushing organic results much lower on the page—especially when users click Show more. An AI Overview for the query "why … Continue reading How to Optimize for AI Overviews: Patent & Research Insights
Announcing the AI Overview Library: The Ultimate Resource on Googles AI Overviews
I’m excited to announce the launch of the AI Overview Library, the largest single collection of information dedicated to understanding Google’s AI Overviews. This comprehensive library is designed to help SEOs, website owners, and content creators like you understand what AI Overviews are, how they work, how to capture visibility in them, measuring performance, and … Continue reading Announcing the AI Overview Library: The Ultimate Resource on Googles AI Overviews
Google AI Overviews Across Industries: Insights, Trends, and Optimization Strategies
This study is the result of a joint effort between Rich Sanger and Authoritas. Google AI Overviews vary across different industries, affecting how information is presented to users and impacting content visibility within sectors like healthcare, finance, and retail. For website owners, content creators, and businesses, understanding how AI Overviews function in your specific industry … Continue reading Google AI Overviews Across Industries: Insights, Trends, and Optimization Strategies
Google AI Overviews: The Role of Large Language Models and Google Gemini
Underlying Google's AI Overviews is a powerful new technology known as Large Language Models (LLMs). These models, which include systems you've probably heard of like Google Gemini, Copilot, and ChatGPT, are designed to process and understand natural language. LLMs enable machines to comprehend and generate human-like text, a critical feature for powering AI-driven summaries in … Continue reading Google AI Overviews: The Role of Large Language Models and Google Gemini