BLOG

AI + Google Search Insights

Showing Guide posts · 391 articles

Are Backlinks Still The Secret To SEO In 2026?
October 30, 2026·8 min read

Are Backlinks Still The Secret To SEO In 2026?

Are backlinks still important for SEO in 2026? What Google says, what we found counting links behind 103 top-10 pages, and where links still decide rankings.

Content Marketing Services: What You Get, What It Costs, What To Automate
October 29, 2026·8 min read

Content Marketing Services: What You Get, What It Costs, What To Automate

Content marketing services, read from nine providers' published packages on October 19, 2026: what each includes, from $350 a month with two posts to $2,900 a month with one, what's usually left out, and which parts of the work you can automate.

Does Good SEO Help With Answer Engine Optimization?
October 30, 2026·8 min read

Does Good SEO Help With Answer Engine Optimization?

Does good SEO help answer engine optimization? Yes, but how much depends on the engine. What our ranking check found, what Google says and where SEO stops.

Search Operators For SEO And AI Search Research
October 30, 2026·9 min read

Search Operators For SEO And AI Search Research

Which Google search operators still work in 2026, tested on October 19: site:, filetype: and OR held up, cache: is gone, and related:, info: and link: now act like plain words. Plus SEO research recipes, and what happened when we typed operators into ChatGPT.

What Is Semantic Search? How It Shapes SEO And AI Answers
October 30, 2026·10 min read

What Is Semantic Search? How It Shapes SEO And AI Answers

Semantic search matches what you mean, not only the words you type. We searched 14 pairs of same-meaning queries on Google and ChatGPT on October 19, 2026, and ran three open embedding models, to show what that means for SEO and AI answers.

Topical Authority for AI Search: The Complete Guide
October 30, 2026·9 min read

Topical Authority for AI Search: The Complete Guide

Topical authority for AI search: what it means, what Google has said about it, why AI engines cite focused sites, and how to build and measure it on your site.

Traffic Dropped After A Google Core Update: How To Separate SEO Loss From AI Search Shifts
October 30, 2026·8 min read

Traffic Dropped After A Google Core Update: How To Separate SEO Loss From AI Search Shifts

Traffic dropped after a Google core update? How to tell a ranking loss from clicks lost to AI Overviews and AI Mode, using Search Console, dates and one test.

What Is An AI Citation Engine?
October 30, 2026·9 min read

What Is An AI Citation Engine?

What an AI citation engine is, how ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google decide which pages to cite, why most pages they read never get cited, and how to measure it.

Zero Click Search And AI Answers: What B2B SaaS Marketers Should Track
October 30, 2026·8 min read

Zero Click Search And AI Answers: What B2B SaaS Marketers Should Track

Zero click search and AI answers hide most of your visibility from analytics. What B2B SaaS marketers should track now, where the data lives and how often.

AI SEO Agency: How To Add AI Search Services Your Clients Will Pay For
October 30, 2026·8 min read

AI SEO Agency: How To Add AI Search Services Your Clients Will Pay For

How to add AI search services to an SEO agency: what 14 agencies publicly charge for GEO and AEO work in 2026, what their packages include, and a three-layer offer clients will pay for.

Brand Sentiment Analysis In AI Search: How AI Engines Describe You
October 30, 2026·9 min read

Brand Sentiment Analysis In AI Search: How AI Engines Describe You

Brand sentiment analysis for AI search: we asked ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews 48 questions about 24 brands. Your own site wins the praise, while review sites and Reddit write the complaints.

Content Creation For Brands: A Process That Wins Google And AI Answers
October 28, 2026·8 min read

Content Creation For Brands: A Process That Wins Google And AI Answers

Content creation for brands, built from what Google and AI answers actually use: 54 brand pages ChatGPT and AI Overviews cited for 24 brands, plus 12 how-to questions where brand guides took 74% of AI Overview citations. A process that starts with pricing, help and comparison pages.

Browse by Topic

THE SIGNAL

Insights on AI and Google search strategy. No fluff.

Get the latest on AI citations, Google rankings, and content strategy.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.