Topical Authority Score is Here

Wave 258; Topical Authority Scoreboard; AI Mode Referral Data; Technical SEO for AI Visibility; Schema and AIO; How Americans View AI; and Much More!

Author

Yoyao
September 27, 2025 • Est. Learning Time: 16 minutes

In partnership with

FIRST …

I built TopicalMap.com into one of the best topical map services, which led to the Topical Maps Unlocked course. For years I did not think you could automate much of that work.

Now Floyi does. It automates a big slice of mapping and research, and it aligns the map to your brand and audience from the start.

It still does not beat expert human craft, which is why TopicalMap.com keeps getting orders. But it is a real alternative to generic chat models. The quality of Floyi’s topical maps is in a different class.

Then came the bigger pain. Upkeep. SERPs and AI responses move. Teams publish. Competitors shift. Managing and updating a map ate more time than making it. That is why we shipped Topical Authority beta yesterday.

Watch the walkthrough:

You get one scoreboard: Coverage, Visibility and Share of Voice, plus the Topical Authority Score. TAS blends the same inputs behind those metrics, including importance-weighted topics, rank-weighted presence and breadth across your map. It rolls up how much meaningful content you have shipped and how broadly you show up. When the signals improve, TAS rises.

Action is the win. Scorecard shows tiles and trends you can explain. Competitor tracking highlights leaders and fast movers. SERP and AIO evidence shows what wins and why.

The Planner turns that into next steps. Prioritize by importance, mark published, add links, generate a brief and ship. No more tab hopping or spreadsheets. Manage your map, topics and briefs in one place and focus on pages that lift Coverage, Visibility and Share of Voice.

If you’re not on a paid plan, now’s a great time to lock in current prices forever. Monthly plan prices will increase on Oct. 1st!

This is what it feels like having launched the Topical Authority feature 🌊 

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CONTENT CREATORS

SEO + GEO

Google has officially finished rolling out its August 2025 spam update, which ran from August 26 to September 22. While there have been some removals and demotions of spammy sites, the update has not caused major shifts in rankings.

Garrett Sussman dives into the early referral data insights of Google’s AI Mode. AI Mode delivers far fewer clicks compared to traditional search, with referral rates hovering below 3%. The data shows users engage with large, trusted platforms like Reddit, YouTube, and Wikipedia, but post-click sessions are shorter, signaling a quicker check of the AI’s answer. The query length is growing, reflecting a shift toward conversational search. This means focusing on presence and credibility rather than just traffic, with an emphasis on earning citations where AI Mode is already active.

By Nik Ranger

In this talk from the Shenzhen SEO Conference, Nik Ranger lays out a six-part framework to help brands diagnose and influence their visibility in AI-driven search results. The key is to understand how AI works at both the interpretative and agentic layers. Nik emphasizes the importance of content authority, AI Rank tracking, and using tools like Query Fan-Out and Tree Walker analysis to optimize AI interactions and improve brand visibility in search results.

Mateusz Makosiewicz outlines how AI is reshaping brand visibility and why monitoring brand mentions in AI is important. Unlike fleeting social media mentions, AI-driven brand mentions are more stable and can influence consumer behavior for years. Track how AI assistants like ChatGPT mention your brand and spot gaps where competitors are mentioned instead. To increase AI visibility, create comprehensive brand content, get featured on trusted sites, offer solutions through free tools, and strengthen your presence on platforms like YouTube, Reddit, and Quora.

Cloudflare's new Content Signals Policy allows website operators to control how their content is used after being accessed by crawlers. Integrated into robots.txt files, this policy allows creators to specify preferences on whether their content can be used for search indexing, AI input, or training AI models. This gives creators more control in the face of growing data scraping issues, offering a clear "yes" or "no" signal. But Google hasn’t committed to honoring these instructions. Here’s an example:

User-Agent: *
Content-Signal: search=yes, ai-train=no
Allow: /

SEO personas are powerful tools, but they often sit stagnant in slide decks, underutilized. Kevin Indig highlights how to transform SEO personas from theoretical documents into actionable insights that drive results across your entire organization. The goal is to make search personas dynamic and valuable at every stage of the customer journey. Some of the key takeaways:

  • Personas should be a living document, not static.

  • Use personas across SEO, content, and customer touchpoints.

  • Create internal knowledge hubs like Notion or Airtable for easy access.

  • Build narratives explaining how personas benefit each department.

  • Train teams to use personas for customer-facing content.

  • Integrate real customer language from search queries.

  • Apply personas to content briefs, focusing on pain points.

  • Map persona data to improve page structure.

  • Leverage personas for paid media copy and creative.

  • Regularly update personas based on customer feedback.

My Take: Exactly why personas are threaded throughout from start to finish in Floyi. That includes topical research, topical maps, content briefs, and tracking/measuring results in the new Topical Authority tool.

Molly Nogami and Ben Tannenbaum shared a recent experiment testing whether well-implemented schema boosts visibility in Google’s AI Overviews. The results were clear: only the page with properly executed schema appeared in the AI Overview and achieved the highest ranking. While pages with poor or no schema struggled to rank, the one with robust schema stood out. This highlights that it’s not just about having schema, but how well it’s implemented.

My Take: This is the other side from the tests mentioned last week that said schema had no effect on AIO. Same as I said last week - it’s easy and quick to add schema with AI, so there’s no reason not to add it.

AI

Hidden prompt injections, once a clever way to manipulate AI outputs, are now a thing of the past. Myriam Jessier explains how these black-hat techniques were used to bypass AI defenses, such as embedding invisible commands in HTML or CSS. However, modern large language models (LLMs) have outgrown these tricks, thanks to advanced filtering systems like pattern recognition and boundary isolation. AI now detects and discards hidden instructions, ensuring content remains authentic and trustworthy.

Google's new AI-powered tool, Mixboard, helps you explore and refine your ideas through a visual brainstorming platform. With an open canvas and generative AI capabilities, Mixboard allows you to create concept boards from text prompts, generate images, and fine-tune visuals using natural language. Whether you're working on home decor, product concepts, or DIY projects, the tool enables easy edits and quick idea regeneration. Available in beta in the U.S. for now.

OpenAI has unveiled ChatGPT Pulse, a new feature for Pro mobile users that flips the script: instead of waiting for your questions, ChatGPT now proactively researches and delivers personalized daily updates. Pulse pulls from your chats, feedback, and optional integrations like Gmail and Google Calendar to create focused visual cards with relevant insights. You can guide what it tracks, refine results with feedback, and save useful updates for later.

Meta has launched Vibes, a fresh feature in the Meta AI app designed to let users discover, remix, and create AI-generated videos. The feed offers a blend of inspiration and creativity, showcasing AI content from diverse creators. With new tools, users can customize videos by adding music, changing styles, or starting from scratch.

A recent Pew Research survey reveals that while Americans see AI’s potential for tasks like weather forecasting and medicine, there’s growing concern over its broader societal impact. A majority of U.S. adults believe AI will erode human creativity and relationships. These are some of the interesting takeaways:

  • 53% believe AI will worsen creative thinking.

  • 50% think AI will harm relationships.

  • 74% favor AI for weather forecasting.

  • 66% support AI in medicine development.

  • 57% view AI societal risks as high.

  • 29% think AI will improve problem-solving skills.

  • 50% desire more control over AI use.

  • 76% want to distinguish AI content from human-made.

  • 38% are equally excited and concerned about AI.

  • 73% oppose AI in advising on religion or matchmaking.

AI Ripples

  • Google has made Grounding with Google Maps in Vertex AI generally available, letting developers build AI apps that tap live geospatial data from over 250 million businesses and places. Developers can deliver real-time details like restaurant hours, create personalized property summaries, or combine Maps and Search data for richer answers. Early adopters in travel, real estate, and local discovery are using it to add trustworthy context to recommendations.

  • OpenAI adds three things teams can use today with ChatGPT Business. First, shared projects keep chats, files, and instructions in one place so every response starts on brand. Second, smarter connectors pull context from Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Google Drive, GitHub, Dropbox, and Box. Third, stronger guardrails with ISO certifications, expanded SOC 2, role based access, OIDC SSO, and IP allowlisting.

  • Aakash Gupta reveals how he scored a $879 flight for $299 using AI-driven strategies. In his Twitter thread, he shares eight prompts to help travelers save on flights, such as finding the cheapest dates, discovering hidden discounts, hidden city ticketing, and negotiating upgrades.

CONTENT

Glenn Gabe dives into the challenges of syndicating content in the era of AI search, analyzing how third-party sites like Yahoo or MSN affect visibility across AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini. His findings reveal mixed results, with syndicated content sometimes outranking the original. Glenn stresses that noindexing syndicated content is the safest way to ensure the original ranks higher. For site owners, he recommends monitoring visibility trends, negotiating syndication contracts carefully, and leveraging AI visibility tracking tools to maintain control over rankings across both traditional search engines and AI search platforms.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Freya Laskowski’s guide reveals actionable strategies for boosting TikTok views and mastering the platform’s algorithm. Key tactics include creating engaging hooks in the first 1-3 seconds, optimizing video length (15–60 seconds), and using trending audio. Consistency is crucial, with recommendations to post 1 to 4 times a day. To increase discoverability, use a mix of relevant hashtags, engage actively with your audience, and provide value through entertainment, inspiration, or education. Freya says to optimize for TikTok’s search functionality and leveraging community engagement to grow your reach and visibility.

My Take: I’m not a real TikTok user, but it’s a good overview if you want to get started with TikTok.

WAYS WE CAN WORK TOGETHER

Floyi - The only AI-powered tool that builds 4-level topical maps. Don’t just plan your content strategy - make it unstoppable.

TopicalMap.com Service - Let us do the heavy lifting. We handle the research, structure, and strategy. You get a custom topical map designed to boost authority and dominate your niche and industry.

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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