🔥 The SEOs Diners Club - Issue #171 - Weekly SEO Tips & News

Welcome to another edition of SEOs Diners Club, where we break down the week's most critical developments in search. I'm Mert Erkal, and after 15 years of watching this industry evolve, I can tell you that what we're witnessing today isn't just another algorithm update—it's a fundamental shift in how search works.

Why SEO Remains Critical in the AI Age

Understanding how AI-powered search works and why your traditional SEO foundation has never been more important.

A question is echoing through every digital marketing conference, Slack channel, and strategy meeting these days: Is traditional SEO dead in the age of AI? With ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews reshaping how people find information, it's a legitimate concern that keeps many of us awake at night.

Here's what the data reveals, and it may surprise you.

Recent research from Search Engine Journal, combined with a comprehensive analysis by ZipTie's co-founder, Tomek Rudzki, based on 25,000 user queries, delivers a clear answer: No, SEO isn't dead. It's evolving rapidly and remains critically important.

But here's the nuance that matters: the relationship between traditional rankings and AI-powered results is more intertwined than most people realise.

Traditional Rankings Still Drive AI Visibility

Think about this for a moment. When ZipTie analysed how AI systems select their sources, they found something remarkable: websites ranking first in Google have a 25% chance of being cited in AI search responses. Even more telling, the higher your position in the traditional top 10, the more likely you are to appear in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.

This isn't speculation—it's based on concrete user data across thousands of queries. If you want to show up in AI-powered results, you first need to perform well in traditional SEO. The AI revolution hasn't replaced the foundation; it's built upon it.

How AI Search Systems Actually Work

To understand why traditional SEO still matters, you need to grasp how AI search systems operate. They typically follow a three-stage process that reveals why your current SEO efforts are more valuable than ever:

First comes Pre-selection. The AI system identifies the most relevant content for a user query, typically content that already ranks highly in Google's traditional results. This is your entry ticket to the AI game.

Next is Content Extraction. From these pre-selected sources, the system pulls specific information that directly answers the user's question. This is where your content structure and clarity become crucial.

Finally, AI Synthesis takes over. Large language models like Gemini transform this extracted information into coherent, comprehensive answers. Your content doesn't just need to rank; it needs to be synthesizable.

Google's leaked internal communications confirm what many of us suspected: content from top-ranking pages improves the accuracy of AI outputs. This makes traditional SEO not just relevant but critical for AI visibility.

Why Non-Top-10 Sources Sometimes Appear

You might wonder: if top rankings are so important, why do AI results sometimes include sources that don't rank in the first 10? Two primary reasons reveal opportunities for strategic SEO.

Personalisation and Caching mean search results can vary by user, creating windows of opportunity for well-optimized content to surface in AI responses even without top-10 rankings.

More importantly, Query Fan-Out represents a fundamental shift in how search works. AI doesn't just process your main query—it runs multiple sub-queries in the background. When someone searches for "difference between SEO and SEM," the system simultaneously seeks answers to related questions like "what is SEO?" and "what is PPC?"

Content that ranks strongly for these sub-queries can appear in AI responses even if it doesn't dominate the main search term. This creates new strategic opportunities for SEO professionals who understand this dynamic.

The Mindset Shift: From Best Page to Best Answer

How AI is changing what "optimisation" really means.

Traditional SEO aimed to create the "best page" about a topic—comprehensive, authoritative, covering everything. AI search wants the "best answer"—concise, direct, and immediately useful.

This shift demands a fundamental change in how we approach content creation. Instead of building massive, all-encompassing pages, we need modular, question-focused content that addresses specific user intents with precision.

The content that wins in both traditional SEO and AI responses shares common characteristics: it directly addresses user intent, provides clear value, and can be easily understood and synthesised by both humans and machines.

Practical Actions for the AI-SEO Hybrid World

Based on 15 years of watching search evolve and the latest data on AI integration, here's what you need to do differently:

Don't abandon SEO fundamentals. Traditional rankings remain the foundation. Every AI system I've analyzed draws heavily from content that already performs well in conventional search results.

Modularise your content strategy. Instead of creating massive pillar pages, develop focused, question-specific content pieces. Each piece should provide a complete answer to a specific query while linking to related topics.

Play the sub-query game. Research keyword variations and related questions your audience asks. Optimize for the query fan-out effect by creating content that ranks for multiple related searches.

Write with clarity and directness. Eliminate unnecessary complexity. AI systems favor content that's easily extractable and synthesizable.

Monitor your AI citations. Track which pages get cited by AI systems and analyse the patterns. This data will inform your future content strategy.

Shift your mindset. Focus on providing the best answer to user questions rather than just achieving top rankings. The two goals align more than you might think.

Sundar Pichai Addresses Publisher Traffic Concerns

Google's CEO defends AI features while publishers worry about the hidden costs.

When Google CEO Sundar Pichai sat down with The Verge this week, the conversation inevitably turned to one of the most contentious issues in our industry: how AI features like AI Overviews affect publisher traffic.

Pichai's message was clear and defensive: Google remains committed to sending traffic to websites. "Five years from now, we'll still be sending traffic to websites," he stated with the confidence of someone who's heard these concerns before.

According to Pichai, AI-powered products deliver broader, higher-quality traffic. Users spend more time on pages, and Google has seen a 45% increase in crawled pages over the past two years. These are impressive numbers, but they tell only part of the story.

What Publishers Are Worried About

The publisher community isn't buying Google's reassurances, and their concerns reveal deeper issues about the future of content monetisation.

The "walled garden" worry is real. Many publishers argue that AI Mode is designed to keep users within Google's ecosystem, reducing the traffic that flows to external sites. When users get comprehensive answers directly in search results, why click through to the source?

The News Media Alliance has been particularly vocal, claiming that AI essentially "steals" content without providing adequate traffic or revenue compensation in return. It's an accusation that strikes at the heart of the content economy.

The Verge's editor, Nilay Patel, asked the critical question that many of us are thinking: "If AI provides more traffic, why are publishers so upset?"

Pichai's Nuanced Response

Pichai acknowledged that some publishers might see decreased traffic, but he framed this as a natural consequence of changing user behaviour rather than Google's fault. He emphasised that Google works harder than other companies to drive traffic to websites, even claiming they "suffer more" for this commitment compared to competitors.

This response reveals the tension at the heart of AI-powered search. Google wants to provide immediate, comprehensive answers while maintaining its role as a traffic driver. Publishers want protection for their content and compensation for their contribution to AI training.

What This Means for SEO Strategy

The Pichai interview offers several strategic insights for SEO professionals navigating this transition.

Monitoring is essential. As AI Overviews and similar features occupy more SERP real estate, tracking how these changes affect your traffic becomes crucial. Don't rely on Google's aggregate data—measure your performance.

Quality metrics matter more. If Pichai is right about AI delivering "higher-quality traffic," focus on optimising for engagement metrics like time on page, scroll depth, and conversion rates. These signals will become increasingly important.

Structured data is your friend. To appear in AI summaries, ensure your pages include comprehensive structured data that makes your content easily parseable by AI systems.

Build direct relationships. Since AI might reduce click-through traffic, develop content strategies that drive direct visits through brand recognition, email lists, and social media engagement.

Sergey Brin: "AI Now Synthesises Thousands of Results!"

Google's co-founder reveals how AI is transforming search from link lists to knowledge synthesis.

In a revealing interview this week, Google co-founder Sergey Brin made a statement that should change how every SEO professional thinks about search: AI no longer just lists search results—it reads and synthesises them to provide comprehensive answers to users.

This isn't about incremental improvement. Brin described a fundamental transformation where AI can analyse not just the first 10 results, but the first 1,000, synthesising information across this vast range to deliver superior answers.

The Technical Revolution Behind the Scenes

Brin outlined several key developments that reveal the scope of this transformation:

AI systems can now process and synthesise thousands of search results, not just the traditional top 10. This massively expands the potential source material for any given query.

Different algorithms are converging under unified AI models, creating more cohesive and comprehensive search experiences. The siloed approach of the past is giving way to integrated AI systems.

Google is developing new interaction methods through visual and voice interfaces, suggesting that text-based search is just one part of a multi-modal future.

Voice search is improving rapidly, though Brin admitted it still feels awkward to use in office environments—a surprisingly human insight from one of search's architects.

Free AI services will likely remain limited to older models, while cutting-edge capabilities require premium access.

What This Means for Content Strategy

Brin's revelations have immediate implications for how we approach SEO and content creation.

Depth trumps breadth. If AI can synthesise information from thousands of sources, surface-level content won't cut it. Focus on creating genuinely insightful, original analysis that demonstrates deep topic expertise.

E-E-A-T becomes critical. Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness aren't just SEO concepts anymore—they're how AI systems evaluate whether your content deserves inclusion in their synthesis.

Data-driven content wins. AI systems favour content backed by solid data. Integrate charts, statistics, and scientific sources into your content strategy. Make your content citeable and authoritative.

Prepare for multimodal content. As visual and voice interfaces evolve, content that works across different formats will have significant advantages.

The goal is no longer just visibility—it's about being meaningful enough that AI systems choose your content when synthesising information for users.

The Strategic Implications

Brin's comments reveal that Google's content evaluation process is becoming more holistic. Your pages aren't just evaluated in isolation—they're assessed based on how valuable they are within the broader information architecture of the web.

If AI can do in seconds what would take a human weeks of research, ordinary content has no future. Starting today, create content as if it will be read by an academic researcher, not just a search algorithm.

Google Search Console Gets "AI Mode" Data (With Limitations)

Google will show AI Mode data in Search Console, but you won't be able to filter it separately—a critical development for SEO professionals.

Google's AI-powered search results, known as "AI Mode," will finally appear in Search Console performance reports. But there's a significant caveat that reveals Google's approach to AI transparency: you won't be able to view this data as a separate category.

This means you can't distinguish whether a page was clicked from AI Mode or traditional SERP results. It's a development that creates both opportunities and challenges for SEO professionals trying to understand AI's impact on their performance.

The Transparency Challenge

This limitation isn't just a technical oversight—it reflects Google's broader approach to AI integration. The data will be aggregated under "Web" search type, making it impossible to isolate AI Mode performance from traditional search performance.

John Mueller's explanation was characteristically brief: "Data won't be separable, no API changes, more details coming." This response highlights the ongoing tension between Google's desire to integrate AI seamlessly and the SEO community's need for granular performance data.

The advertising side faces similar opacity. AI Overviews and AI Mode advertising data also lack transparency, making it difficult for marketers to understand ROI across different search experiences.

Strategic Adaptations for SEO Professionals

Despite these limitations, there are several ways to navigate this new landscape effectively.

Redesign your performance analysis. Since AI Mode traffic won't be separated, focus on page-level changes in rankings and click-through rates. Look for patterns that might indicate AI influence.

Correlate with Analytics. Use Google Analytics 4 to identify sudden traffic spikes or drops at the page level, then cross-reference with Search Console data to intuitively track AI Mode effects.

Advocate for transparency. The SEO community should collectively push Google for better data separation. Use Twitter, Google support forums, and industry events to make this request loudly and consistently.

Redefine your targets. Focus particularly on content that appears in AI Overviews. Traditional snippet optimisation and "People Also Ask" sections may become less important as AI summaries take precedence.

The Bigger Picture

AI Mode represents a transformation in how Google delivers search experiences, but this transformation comes with a transparency problem. Our ability to understand why pages rise or fall in rankings becomes more difficult when we can't distinguish between traditional and AI-driven traffic.

Having watched the SEO ecosystem evolve since 2009, I can tell you this represents more than a technical challenge—it's a strategic inflexion point. If Google continues to limit data access, SEO's promise of measurability comes under threat.

The industry needs to adapt to a world where intuition and broad pattern recognition become more important than granular data analysis. This doesn't make SEO less valuable, but it does change the skills required to excel.

This Week in AI Tools and Developments

AI continues to reshape digital marketing with new tools and capabilities that directly impact SEO strategy.

Anthropic Launches Voice Mode for Claude Mobile

Anthropic released the beta version of voice mode for Claude on mobile applications. Users can now give voice commands in English to perform tasks like calendar summaries or document searches. This feature will roll out to all plans within the next few weeks.

For SEO professionals looking to increase mobile productivity, this represents a significant time-saving innovation. The ability to verbally query AI for research, content ideas, or competitive analysis could streamline many routine SEO tasks.

Manus AI Enhances Presentation Editing

Manus users can now directly edit generated presentations and export or share them with a single click. Previously known only for automatic generation, Manus now makes the entire presentation process interactive from start to finish.

This development matters for SEO professionals who frequently create client presentations or internal reports. The ability to quickly generate and refine presentations about SEO performance, strategy recommendations, or competitive analysis could significantly improve client communication.

Wix Transforms Website Building with OpenAI Integration

Wix has completely transformed its website creation process with new OpenAI-powered AI integration. Users can now create fully functional websites simply by describing what they want, without coding or design knowledge.

The AI handles everything from page layouts to text, images, SEO tags, and social media headers within minutes. This isn't just about website building—Wix is preparing comprehensive AI solutions to support entrepreneurs and marketers across the entire digital marketing spectrum.

For SEO agencies, this development creates both opportunities and challenges. While it democratizes website creation, it also raises the bar for what constitutes professional SEO implementation. Agencies need to focus on strategic elements that AI can't replicate: competitive analysis, content strategy, and performance optimisation.

Looking Forward: The New SEO Paradigm

As we close this week's analysis, it's worth stepping back to see the bigger picture of what's happening in our industry.

AI isn't replacing SEO—it's elevating it. The fundamental skills of understanding user intent, creating valuable content, and optimising for discoverability remain crucial. But the execution of these skills is evolving rapidly.

The SEO professionals who thrive in this new environment will be those who understand both the technical mechanics of AI systems and the human psychology that drives search behaviour. They'll create content that satisfies both algorithmic requirements and genuine user needs.

Google's research shows that only 25% of first-ranking content appears in AI results, leaving a 75% opportunity gap for those who understand how to optimise for AI synthesis. This represents one of the largest optimisation opportunities our industry has seen in years.

The future belongs to SEO professionals who can bridge the gap between traditional search optimisation and AI-powered discovery. Those who master this transition won't just survive the AI revolution—they'll lead it.

Until next week, keep testing, keep learning, and keep adapting. The future of search is being written right now, and we're all part of the story.

Mert Erkal

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