One Article Dominated 10 Search Engines - Here’s Why

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SEO + GEO

The AI Search Manual

Michael King and the iPullRank team released an online AI Search Manual as the playbook for staying visible. He explains Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) as the new foundation for digital visibility, moving beyond keyword targeting into intent orchestration. The manual’s 20 chapters break down how search platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google Gemini retrieve, rank, and cite content - and how marketers can adapt with Relevance Engineering. This is a field guide packed with frameworks, templates, and strategies any serious SEO or content leader will need in the AI-first era.

My Take: This is a ridiculous resource with many templates and more. Bookmark it because there’s no way to sort through this in one sitting.

AI Search and JavaScript Rendering – How Client-Side Rendering Causes Visibility and Ranking Problems in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Others

Glenn Gabe highlights a significant challenge for websites relying on JavaScript-rendered conten.AI search platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude can't render client-side JavaScript, resulting in visibility and ranking issues. As AI search features grow, this can severely impact SEO for sites dependent on JavaScript. Gabe walks through a case study where content rendered through JavaScript was invisible to these AI platforms, reducing traffic and citations. To combat this, he advises testing your site, identifying JavaScript-heavy areas, and transitioning to server-side rendering or adjusting content strategies.

Here’s the Google help page on how to disable javascript in Chrome.

AEO Drawbacks: Why Marketers Are Pouring Cold Water on the AI Search Strategy

Asa Hiken at Adge examines why answer engine optimization (AEO) is drawing skepticism despite the hype. Agencies are selling it as the key to visibility in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity, but critics argue it delivers little beyond traditional SEO. Data is thin, attribution is weaker, and the promises often outpace the proof. Google has gone on record saying standard SEO best practices are still enough.

• Many brands fear AEO is SEO rebranded.

• Eli Schwartz warns companies are spending without proof it works.

• Agencies like R/GA, Tinuiti, and Edelman are packaging AEO services.

• 77% of US ChatGPT users treat it as a search engine (Adobe).

• AI search sessions drive about 30% fewer clicks (Ahrefs).

• Structured data remains important, but schema markup still rules.

LLMs.txt: Why Almost Every AI Crawler Ignores It as of August 2025

Flavio Longato (SEO at Adobe) audited 1,000 domains over 30 days and found nearly every AI crawler ignores llms.txt. GoogleBot accounted for 95% of hits, while GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and PerplexityBot were nowhere to be seen. But OpenAIBotSearch and BingBot were about 2% total. His advice is clear. If adding llms.txt is simple, fine, but do not waste resources. Instead, rely on robots.txt, track AI crawler activity in your logs, and stay alert for policy updates from OpenAI, Google, and others.

My Take: Gary Illyes (Google) said they don’t crawl llms.txt files 🙃 In that same article, a Ray Martinez showed OpenAI crawling his llms.txt every 15 minutes. My guess? There might be exceptions for large companies?

I haven’t added a llms.txt file to any of my sites, mostly because it’s not a high priority on the to-do list. I don’t feel it really has any effect at the moment, crawled or not. But I just realized the Rank Math plugin has a switch to turn it on, so it’s easy. To be continued…

Publisher Traffic Sources: Google Steady But Social and Direct Referrals Are Down

A new study by Chartbeat reveals evolving trends in traffic sources for publishers from 2019 to 2025. Google traffic remains steady, while direct referrals and social media traffic have declined significantly. Some of the takeaways:

• Google traffic remains steady, including Google Discover.

• Social media referrals, especially Facebook and Twitter, have sharply declined.

• Reddit's referral traffic to news sites is up 220% since 2019.

• Direct referral traffic has decreased from 16.09% to 11.46%.

• Google News referrals dropped by 28% since 2023.

• Publishers focus more on building direct relationships with audiences.

• Traffic from external links (other sites) has increased significantly.

• There’s been a rise in traffic from external aggregators like Newsbreak.

• Facebook referrals dropped 50% since 2019 but rebounded in 2025.

Is AI Cutting Into Your SEO Conversions?

SEO conversions are slipping across industries, and AI may be playing a role. Kevin Indig breaks down five key factors causing this decline, including a drop in top-of-funnel (TOFU) traffic, shifts to other platforms, and changes in attribution models. While AI Overviews could be reducing organic clicks, the impact on conversions may not be as direct as we think. He highlights the importance of monitoring signals like branded search volume, referral traffic from non-Google platforms, and the shift from organic to paid search.

ChatGPT Is Not Replacing Google - It’s Expanding Search

Luke Harsel explores how ChatGPT adoption isn’t replacing Google Search, but actually expanding the way people search. A study of over 260 billion rows of clickstream data reveals that Google usage remains steady or even increases after users begin using ChatGPT. This highlights that while both tools serve different purposes, they coexist and complement each other in the digital search journey. For marketers, this means investing in both SEO and AI SEO strategies, as generative AI adds new channels without diminishing the value of traditional search.

GPT-5 Made SEO Irreplaceable

Dan Petrovic argues that OpenAI’s GPT-5 is proof that SEO just became more valuable, not less. Unlike smaller models that “know” facts, GPT-5 is trained to reason, not memorize - making it useless without grounding from external data. That grounding comes from search engines. Which means if your content isn’t optimized to be found, cited, and trusted, AI assistants won’t surface you. Dan makes it clear: structured content, semantic authority, and real expertise are no longer nice-to-haves, they’re survival tactics.

SEO + GEO Ripples

• Gary Illyes from Google clarified that using AI-generated images on websites will not result in any SEO penalties. He emphasized that AI images do not directly affect rankings, but warned about the resource demands they may place on servers. While AI images won't harm SEO, they can potentially boost traffic through image search. However, content creators must still ensure that AI-generated images are authentic and align with user expectations, particularly for product representations.

• Google’s new "Preferred Sources" feature for Top Stories is now live in the US and India after a successful trial. This allows users to select their preferred sources, enhancing control over their search experience. By choosing specific sites, users can ensure more content from their favorite publications appears in the "Top Stories" section. For publishers, this presents an opportunity to drive more traffic by promoting their sites for preference. To leverage this, site owners can guide their audience to select their site as a preferred source using a simple deeplink, boosting visibility.

AI

Google Flight Deals is a New, AI-Powered Flight Search Tool

Google’s new AI-powered Flight Deals launched in beta in the U.S., Canada, and India. It’s designed to make travel planning a breeze for budget-conscious travelers. Rather than manually adjusting dates and filters, simply describe your ideal trip and AI handles the rest. Flight Deals taps into real-time Google Flights data to offer the best options, including destinations you might not have considered.

Announcing Imagen 4 Fast and the General Availability of the Imagen 4 Family in the Gemini API

Google released Imagen 4, their next text-to-image model. The lineup includes Imagen 4 Fast for rapid, low-cost generation at just $0.02 per image, the flagship Imagen 4 for balanced quality, and Imagen 4 Ultra for highly detailed, prompt-aligned visuals. Both Imagen 4 and Ultra now support crisp 2K resolution, perfect for marketing assets and creative work. Every image is watermarked with SynthID for responsible AI use. Here’s a poster they made:

Perplexity Is Using Stealth, Undeclared Crawlers to Evade Website No-Crawl Directives

Cloudflare’s Gabriel Corral, Vaibhav Singhal, Brian Mitchell, and Reid Tatoris reveal that Perplexity is sidestepping website directives by disguising its crawlers. When blocked, Perplexity shifts user agents, rotates IPs, and even impersonates Chrome to keep scraping. Tests confirmed it could access content on domains explicitly disallowed in robots.txt, raising serious trust issues. Cloudflare has de-listed Perplexity as a verified bot and added new rules to block its stealth crawlers. The takeaway for site owners: monitor logs, enforce bot management, and recognize that transparency is the dividing line between trusted AI bots and those playing dirty.

Perplexity flatly rejects Cloudflare’s post, arguing that Cloudflare confused user-driven AI assistants with stealth crawlers. In a detailed blog post, Perplexity said its agents only fetch content in response to real user queries, and never store or train on that information. Unlike traditional bots, these requests are “on-demand,” comparable to how a browser retrieves a page when a human user clicks a link.

AI Ripples

• Claude Sonnet 4 now supports 1M tokens of context, five times larger than before. That means developers can load entire codebases, analyze thousands of pages, or run context-aware agents without losing track. Pricing doubles for prompts over 200K tokens, but caching and batch processing cut costs significantly.

• Gemini now learns from your past chats to offer more relevant and natural conversations. For those seeking privacy, the app introduces Temporary Chats, which won’t affect future conversations or personalization. These updates give you greater control over your data, with new settings to manage privacy and improve transparency.

• Perplexity has made a $34.5 billion bid to acquire Google’s Chrome browser. This offer comes amidst antitrust proceedings against Google, which may require the company to divest Chrome. The startup, which has attracted major investors to fund the bid, aims to position itself as a leader in AI-powered web browsing. While the offer is seen as undervaluing Chrome by some analysts, it highlights the growing interest in AI-driven internet platforms.

MARKETING

The Genius Marketing Strategy in Ryan Trahan’s 50 States Challenge

Louise Linehan analyzes how Lectric e-bikes used Ryan Trahan’s viral “50 States Challenge” to generate $7M worth of brand awareness for just $570K. By cleverly integrating their brand into the challenge, Lectric avoided traditional advertising methods, allowing their product to appear authentic and personal. Here are the key takeaways:

• Lectric's $100K donation secured 6M views.

• The brand's bike became a key part of the narrative.

• Lectric spent only $570K for $7M in brand awareness.

• Reddit discussions amplified the brand’s presence.

• Lectric leveraged organic, viral marketing without traditional ads.

• Product integration felt natural and unsponsored.

The Great Diversification: How 8 Companies Are Evolving Their SEO Strategies

Louise Linehan covers how top brands are adapting to the impact of AI search features on their SEO strategies. With Google’s AI Overviews reducing organic click-through rates, companies are shifting focus to diversify their traffic sources. Some of the strategies:

• Diversify SEO strategies to counter AI-driven changes.

• Shift focus from awareness to conversion.

• Invest in thought leadership and social media.

• Gating content can build owned audiences.

• Programmatic content helps scale bottom-of-the-funnel traffic.

My Take: This is more marketing than just SEO. Use it to help kickstart ideas.

CONTENT

How Much Content Do Top-Ranking eCommerce Category Pages Really Have? [Study]

James Brockbank’s study reveals that the key to top-ranking eCommerce category pages isn’t more content but smarter, more relevant content. Analyzing 300 UK pages, he found the average content length to be just 310 words, with most pages having under 400 words. Some of the key takeaways:

• Relevance beats long-form copy.

• Household names can rank with minimal text.

• Avoid “What is [X]?” content.

• FAQs should be tailored to your USPs.

• Don’t overstuff with generic information.

• Optimize for quick decision-making and conversions.

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Elon Musk is taking legal action against Apple, accusing the tech giant of manipulating App Store rankings to benefit rival AI apps, particularly OpenAI. He claims Apple’s political moves are unfairly limiting xAI's visibility and violating antitrust laws. However, his accusations ring hypocritical as Musk himself has faced allegations of manipulating algorithms within X to promote his content.

EDUCATION

How to Speak the Language of Your Top SEO Stakeholders

Helen Pollitt reveals how to effectively communicate with senior SEO stakeholders who don’t always speak SEO. To gain their buy-in, Pollitt suggests two crucial steps. First, identify the outcomes that matter most to them, like ROI or reducing technical debt. Next, adjust your language to match their priorities, focusing on metrics they understand. By aligning your goals with theirs, you’ll ensure your proposals resonate and increase your chances of success.

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Topical Maps Unlocked 2.0 - Unlock the blueprint to ranking success. Master the art of structuring content that search engines (and your audience) love - and watch your rankings soar.

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