Twenty-one years writing about SEO (15 > 36) and I've finally published something on the Ahrefs blog. 🎉
Thanks to the recent launch of our MCP server, you can connect Ahrefs to AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude to get actionable SEO insights.
Amongst the incredible feedback, the most common question people had about "chatting" with our data was...
"What should I ask?"
The aim isn't to replace human insights, but to help scale what you already know how to do, and provide an additional perspective on your next plan of action.
I've spent a lot of time testing out different prompt ideas and yet I'm still scratching the surface of what's possible.
If there are any angles you're having a lot of success with, let me know and they might end up in the next version of our guide (with credit, of course).
Link to the prompts you can copy and paste in the first reply. 🙏
🚨 Google's "Goldmine" system leaked - Your <title> tag is just a suggestion. Goldmine scores your title against alternatives from H1s, internal links & more, then NavBoost judges it by user clicks. Optimise for "signal coherence" & "satisfied clicks" to win! https://t.co/y26J8HPW5G
Google just capped SERPs at 10 results.
That means no more 100-result pages. This change affects every SEO rank tracker, including Ahrefs.
Here’s what you need to know:
• Right now: Rankings beyond the top 10 will show inconsistencies. We’re still receiving updates for many keywords, but disruptions are expected.
• Longer term: Google’s update restricts access to deeper results. We can’t make any guarantees going forward, but we’re actively investigating options and will share clear next steps soon.
We know deeper rankings matter. They help you spot early progress, catch cannibalisation, and find new opportunities. We’ll do everything we can to keep visibility available and maintain top-class SEO data.
Search keeps shifting fast, especially with AI. This won’t be the last curveball – but our focus stays the same: giving you clarity and confidence to make your business discoverable where it matters most.
SEO Tip: there is a forgotten art in sitemap management that allows you to provide additional information about a page.
Various additional tags can apply here based on site type, such as including tags for a page related to a video, news article, or images.
My favourite of the 3 relates to including <image:loc>, with there often being considerable benefit into getting your image-based content indexed more effectively.
When testing this approach for various site types, whether it be eCommerce, online marketplaces, or publishers of all kinds, it can be a no-brainer to take advantage of these Google-supported tags.
In the case of image or video content being indexed and ranking within the Images or Videos tab, the source URL is actually the page itself (not the image/video URL).
This can make it feel like there is not much benefit to providing this information via sitemaps, but my experience is that it goes beyond indexing and can help with Google's understanding of those assets by essentially plugging them in directly to the search engine.
There are plenty of quirks involved with this implementation, such as the ability to use images in a sitemap that are externally hosted on CDNs, or the decision-making involved when there are multiple images or videos found on a page.
If you're operating a large site where important information is frequently being published in the realm of news, images, or videos, then make sure to make use of this under-utilised tool that is supported and recommended by Google.
5 CRITICAL Factors Driving Rankings on ChatGPT & LLMs:
I've been studying & testing LLM ranking for the past 3 months.
From what I can find so far, this is what it boils down to:
1. Authority: How strong your website DR is
2. Recentness: When the content was published
3. Quality: How well the content is written
4. Mentions: Your brand mentioned in "Top" lists
5. Reviews: How many reviews you have online
So, I get asked a lot, "How do I optimize for these to rank on ChatGPT?"
Here's an SOP to follow:
Step #1: Build your website Authority by building quality backlinks.
Step #2: Find your best performing content on Google/ChatGPT & upgrade it every 6 mo's.
Step #3: Put your content on a pedestal. Don't use AI to write. Make it the BEST.
Step #4: Find the sources ChatGPT is using for answers. Get included in those lists.
Step #5: Build up 50-100+ reviews on Google, TrustPilot, social media, etc.
Finally, Step #6: Track your ChatGPT rankings with a tool like Writesonic or Semrush.
We're in a new world of SEO that's evolving every month.
There's no guidelines from LLMs yet on how to rank like there is for Google.
But we're figuring it out through testing, analysis, and reading between-the-lines.
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Want to rank on ChatGPT? --> 👋 Book a call & let's chat: https://t.co/uIexj9oU9h
Want more ChatGPT ranking content? --> Follow me & slap my 🔔
Like this post? --> ♻️ REPOST so others can learn about ChatGPT ranking too.
Fact: Your marketing "success" ultimately comes down to your funnel.
If anyone tells you otherwise, they're crazy.
Your "funnel" is how you:
- Gain awareness
- Attract website visitors
- Get new leads
- Schedule sales calls
- Land new clients
If your funnel is broken, you won't get results.
It's CRITICAL to perfect your funnel.
Here's 5 tips:
1/ Invest in SEO early to gain "internet real estate". It'll "pay" you for many years.
2/ Offer consultations, ebooks, webinars, etc. to add visitors to your email list.
3/ Nurture leads with case studies, testimonials, trials, discounts, & phone calls.
4/ Convert prospects with special offers, personalization, & response speed.
5/ Retain customers w/ top support, referral rewards, and being a good person.
Don't settle for a "leaky" funnel.
It'll never serve you how you want it to.
Focus on each stage of the funnel and ignore everything else, until you've perfected it.
It'll be the best investment you've ever made for your business.
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What you think?
♻️ REPOST if you agree with me on this.
P.S. I own TrioSEO. We turn your website into an SEO machine for traffic & leads. Book a Call to learn more:
https://t.co/uIexj9oU9h
Google June 2025 core update is out, so far it hasn't seemed to be that impactful but it is still super early - here is what we're seeing so far https://t.co/vvmipvV2bZ