I Didn’t Build the Shiny Thing. Here’s Why.

SEO + GEO

Google June 2025 Core Update Rollout Is Now Complete

The 2nd Google core update finally finished after 16 days. What was the main purpose of the update? In Google’s own words: “designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites” 😂 

Marie Haynes breaks down why certain pages soared after the core update. The winners are the ones that go beyond surface-level answers with thorough guides, step-by-step instructions, original visuals, and transparent, first-hand expertise. The best pages anticipate every follow-up question and make navigation effortless with strong structure and scannable lists. They create one-stop resources so complete that users have no reason to return to the search results.

Carolyn Holzman also has a nice unpacking of Google’s Helpful Content Update and shares a data-driven guide. The old “just write helpful content” advice is useless unless you understand how Google measures topical radius and penalizes pages that drift too far from your site’s main themes. Her research proves that topical cohesion across your site is the new ticket to search visibility.

So Carolyn is saying … if you build it, they will come (meaning - if you build a topical map, Google will come 😉 )

The Fifth Search Intent Is Generative: Here’s How to Get Seen

Yoyao Hsueh makes the case for “generative intent” as the fifth search intent and the new driving force in search. He explains how users expect AI Search to do more than fetch answers - they want summaries, plans, and even content created on the spot. To win, brands must design assets and content that AI engines can use directly, not just traditional articles. identify real user requests, build ready-to-use resources, and make your expertise the go-to source for AI-generated answers.

Think about it, the less synthesizing and processing the “visitor” (AI and users) has to do, the more likely they’re going to steal use your content in a response. That is what we all want, right? Have our content stolen used and hopefully cited? 😁 

I don’t get into another list of: write great content, create author bios, schema, E-E-A-T, and so on. Those are all givens (although I should write that article too for topical coverage).

My Take: Yes, it’s-a me, Yoyao! I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to summarize myself in a newsletter written by me - and now I know 😅 

AI Search Is Booming, but SEO Is Still Not Dead

Lily Ray calls out the media frenzy claiming SEO is dead. Her bottom line is clear: while generative AI tools are shaking up how we search and find information, the fundamentals of SEO matter more than ever. She argues that seasoned SEOs are actually best positioned to lead in this new landscape, since many “AI search” techniques are just smart SEO in disguise.

But she’s not dismissing AEO/GEO either. She says “Yes, AI search is creating a massive shift in our industry. And yes, optimizing for answer engines (AEO) requires a new set of tools, skills, and considerations.”

My Take: Whether or not you have a different take, she’s pulled together a lot of information that’s good research to go through to support or disprove your own claims.

My real take is “I don’t care - just don’t be a hardliner clinging to old SEO or blindly hyping every AI acronym.” SEO has changed, so you can’t say “It’s all SEO.” But you can’t say “GEO/AEO/LEO/LLMO/OOO/ABC/ETC is completely different” either, because it’s not. It’s just the next evolution as technologies advance.

And you want to know why Google’s suggestions to show up in AIO and AI Mode are so similar to “SEO?” It’s because they use the same Google Search technologies. So of course their recommendations are the same as Google Search. Remember, Google is for-profit and non-profit. They’ve poured so much into researching how to maximize their revenue with Google Search - you think they won’t use that same data to maximize revenue with AIO and AI Mode?

Can AI Responses Be Influenced? A Controlled GEO Experiment

Reboot Online and Oliver Sissons put AI to the test: Can you actually influence what large language models like ChatGPT or Perplexity say? Their answer: yes, but with caveats. By publishing content across low-authority expired domains, they managed to get their CEO crowned “sexiest bald man of 2025” in AI outputs. Results varied by model, with ChatGPT and Perplexity more easily swayed, while Gemini and Claude stood firm.

Google Discover Adds AI Summaries, Threatening Publishers With Further Traffic Declines

Sarah Perez discusses AI-generated summaries now appearing in Discover on iOS and Android, giving users the gist of trending lifestyle news before they ever click through. This change puts publisher traffic at even greater risk, as users get answers upfront while seeing only logos and snippets. Interesting stats too:

• “worldwide search traffic [falling by] 15% year-over-year as of June”

• “no click-throughs to news websites had grown from 56% in May 2024, when [AIO] launched, to nearly 69% as of May 2025.

My Take: I mean…that’s kind of what I do here, but I take a lot longer than AI. I also know that I want people to click through to source, so I try to make it interesting enough for you to still want to click through.

LLM Seeding: A New Strategy to Get Mentioned and Cited by LLMs

Leigh McKenzie and Shannon Willoby deliver a sharp playbook for becoming a name that ChatGPT, Claude, and Google AI Overviews love to mention. LLM seeding outline ways to get cited in AI responses, focusing on formats, distribution, and tracking success. Some of the takeaways:

• LLM seeding means publishing content designed for AI models to scrape and cite.

• Carousels, tables, and chunked content help LLMs extract and reference your work.

• Real reviews and first-person product tests build LLM-friendly credibility.

• Seed content on platforms LLMs crawl most, like Reddit, Quora, Medium, and Substack.

• Over 90% of ChatGPT citations come from content outside Google’s top 20.

NEGSEO: SEO for the Bad Kids

Robert “RSnake” Hansen exposes the shadowy tactics behind negative SEO - everything from spammy links and DMCA abuse to physical break-ins and AI prompt attacks. He reveals how bad actors sabotage competitors with tricks Google can’t (or won’t) catch, and why AI is making new exploits possible. SEOs can’t afford to stay naive. Understand the hacker mindset, learn the spectrum of digital sabotage, and shore up your defenses.

SEO + GEO Ripples

• Google is rolling out Gemini 2.5 Pro and Deep Search to AI Mode for AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers, bringing its smartest AI yet directly into Search. Deep Search runs hundreds of queries and delivers a full, cited report in minutes. Gemini 2.5 Pro tackles advanced reasoning, coding, and research tasks with precision. Plus, a new AI-powered calling feature lets Search contact local businesses and collect real-time pricing, so you never have to pick up the phone.

AI

Introducing ChatGPT Agent: Bridging Research and Action

OpenAI just unleashed the ChatGPT agent that takes actions online: browsing, booking, analyzing, even editing files, all on its own virtual computer. Want your inbox summarized? Just ask. The agent navigates apps, uses APIs, and keeps you in control, always asking before big moves.

AI Ripples

• Emma Roth reports that Netflix just crossed a major production threshold, using generative AI to craft a dramatic building collapse in its sci-fi series, The Eternaut. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos revealed this AI-powered VFX sequence was completed ten times faster and for a fraction of the cost compared to traditional methods, marking a first for a Netflix original.

• Hayden Field reports that Anthropic is facing a class-action lawsuit filed by US authors who claim their copyrighted books were downloaded from pirated libraries to train Anthropic’s models. The judge ruled that all US writers whose works were allegedly scraped can join the suit. The case spotlights the line between fair use and outright copyright infringement in AI, with claims that as many as seven million books were taken “Napster-style.”

CONTENT

Google Thinks AI Mode Is Good for Users, but the Content Isn’t Good Enough to Rank in Google

Patrick Stox put Google’s AI Mode content to the test and found that even on a high site like Ahrefs, AI-generated pages failed to rank well in organic search.

My Take: I'd actually like to see Patrick take this and expand a little more on whether it's OpenAI ChatGPT-generated content, Claude content, or Perplexity content, and see how/if they rank. But even if it’s just AI Mode - there are other factors, such as internal links and backlinks, that also affect the ranking. So, there are more factors than just the AI-generated content itself. If you threw internal links and backlinks to it to be about the same as the existing content - what would rank better? I’d just throw internal links at it though to start, so they’re not orphans. No extra money spent.

However, what it shows is that the AI Mode pages are indexed and they are ranking for some terms, even if mostly branded.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Meta Follows YouTube in Crackdown on Unoriginal Content

Matt G. Southern covers Meta’s new move to combat unoriginal content across Facebook, echoing YouTube’s stance against mass-produced reposts. Meta will strip monetization and limit reach for accounts that recycle others’ work without permission or meaningful edits. Ten million fake or impersonator profiles are already gone. The message is clear: originality, commentary, and authentic storytelling will get rewarded.

How I Helped a CEO Hit 3M LinkedIn Views in 4 Months

Devin Reed shares his playbook for executive LinkedIn success. His five-step framework helped CEO Christina Ross rack up 3 million views and double her audience - all without ads or shortcuts.

• Clarify your point of view

• Pick two or three content pillars

• Lean into personal stories

• Post three times a week

• Iterate based on monthly performance, not perfection

Data Shows Best Content Format on Social Platforms in 2025: Millions of Posts Analyzed

Kirsti Lang at Buffer analyzed millions of posts across TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Threads, and X, to reveal a clear truth: video isn’t always the answer. The top format shifts by platform, and engagement, not just reach, should guide your strategy. Lots of interesting data points in here to visit:

• TikTok: Videos get 18% more views than text and 7% more than carousels.

• Instagram: Reels lead reach, but carousels outperform for engagement by 12%.

• Facebook: Photos drive 35% more engagement than text and 44% more than video. Posts with links see the lowest engagement of all formats.

• LinkedIn: Carousels deliver 278% more engagement than video and 596% more than text.

• X (Twitter): Text posts get 30% more engagement than video, 37% more than images.

But she reminds us that:

• What works best depends on your audience and platform goals.

• The most effective format is the one you can create and sustain reliably.

• Consistency can yield up to 5X more likes, comments, and shares across platforms.

WAYS WE CAN WORK TOGETHER

Floyi - The only AI-powered tool that builds 4-level topical maps, so your content strategy isn’t just planned—it’s unstoppable.

Topical Maps Unlocked 2.0 - The blueprint for ranking dominance. Learn how to structure content the way search engines (and audiences) crave.

Topical Map Service - We handle the research, structure, and strategy. You get a custom topical map delivered that builds authority, so your content dominates its niche.

Content Strategy and SEO Consulting – No guesswork, no gimmicks, no generalizations. Just you and me, refining your personal strategy into a clear, proven roadmap for traffic, authority, and conversions.

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