search engine SLOPTIMIZATION is dead
Mass-published AI posts that repeat what's already ranking can drag your rankings down and tweaking some keywords doesn't usually bring them back.
AI search tends to skip these posts too: if a page says what the top results already say, ChatGPT and AI Overviews don't have much reason to mention it. Google also cares less about posts that have nothing to do with your business.
Look, Google is fine with AI-assisted content, as long as it's helpful and adds something new. Google prioritizes content that is both relevant and adds a unique perspective.
So here are some of the ways you can run it back:
↳ start in Google Search Console
Open Performance > Search results, then use the date filter to compare the last 3 months with the previous 3 months. Sort the Pages tab by the impressions difference to see which posts dropped. Click one, then open the Queries tab to see the searches it lost (those are the posts to fix first).
↳ sort every post into improve, merge, or remove
Improve posts that get impressions but look thin next to the top two results. Merge posts that compete for the same queries: fold the weaker one into the stronger URL, 301 it, and point your internal links there. Remove only what has no traffic, backlinks or conversions over the past year (or since it went live).
↳ add something only you could write (most underrated fix)
Your own numbers, propriety data, a customer's words from a sales call, photos/videos of the product in use, all count as information gain, and data nobody else has is hard for AI answers to leave out. I'd skip the AI humanizers, since they mostly change the wording without adding anything new.
↳ test the rewrite in AI search
Ask ChatGPT and Perplexity the question the post answers. If they cite a competitor, open that page and see what it has that yours doesn't.
↳ slow down
Publish fewer posts and review each one.
lots of posts right now with a hook like "REPLACED MY SEO AGENCY WITH AI" in different forms
sure, AI can produce the audit, the blog post, and the fix list in two minutes. the job is knowing which of the fixes matter for this business and getting a team to ship them. your judgment is the one part of SEO that AI can't copy
@paolo_scales despite the recent bashing with LinkedIn (the ai slop posts and ai slop comments), there’s no denying it is still one the best platforms to post because it reaches your ICP
↳ pipeline > citations
Citations change daily and most tracked prompts have no buying intent behind them. Sam watches demos, "how did you hear about us" answers on forms and sales calls, branded search, and direct traffic.
Sam pays for AI trackers but doesn't let them set direction: "I don't know if it's a scam. I think it's what you do with them."
ICYMI: Most SaaS brands are missing the exact pages that get them recommended in AI search.
Instead of building these pages, most founders chase quick tactics, none of which gives AI platforms a page of yours to quote.
Sam Dunning (Breaking B2B) told @ryan_doser13 that the fix is older than all of that: "control the controllables."
Build the pages buyers are already asking for, so when AI describes you, it's reading from your site and not someone else's.
Took notes from this banger episode (so you don't have to):
↳ add context that nobody can copy
Anyone can have AI rewrite the top three results. Ryan's line: "It's not going to move the needle if you don't actually have unique context in your content." Add information gain (talked about this a lot in my recent posts): sales-call insights, named testimonials, your own diagrams, an embedded video.
Lately, I’ve been seeing an alarming rise in clients receiving 30+ page "AI Slop" audits generated in seconds with zero critical thinking.
These reports look visually impressive at a distance. They’re full of scary red exclamation marks, polished pie charts, and "URGENT" warnings.
But when you actually open them up, the claims are laughably out of touch:
🚨 "Missing llms.txt file: CRITICAL SEO ISSUE."
🚨 "Missed blocked directory in robots.txt: HIGH RISK."
🚨 "Missing ALT tag on an icon file: CRITICAL ACTION REQUIRED."
Let’s be honest about what’s happening here:
1. Minor noise is being sold as major strategy.
An unoptimized alt tag on a decorative footer graphic isn’t killing your rankings. A missing llms.txt file isn't wiping you off Google.
Turning low-impact, micro-level best practices into "critical site failures" is just a trick to create fake urgency.
2. Quantity is replacing quality.
Clients are being handed 30 pages of generic, auto-generated bullet points instead of 2 pages of actual strategic insight. If an audit doesn't tie its findings directly to revenue, search intent, site architecture, or core technical blockers, it’s not an audit it’s an export script.
3. AI is being used as a substitute for expertise, not a tool.
AI is incredible for efficiency, but using it to pump out generic audit templates without human validation destroys trust in the whole industry.
If your audit reads like it was generated by a bot that has never looked at a search engine result page, throw it away.
What’s the most absurd "Critical SEO Flag" you’ve seen in an automated audit recently?
Constantly making content about SEO and knowing the field at the expert level made me get more customers
I only do it here and on linkedin
thats why sticking to one niche that you own is key
the views do not matter
you only need 10-100 views from qualified potential leads to get customers
SEO is the HOTTEST skill in tech.
Look at these wild salaries:
– Anthropic: SEO Lead ($320K)
– Harvey: SEO/GEO Lead ($294K)
– J.P. Morgan: VP, AI/SEO ($190K)
– Stripe: Head of AEO & SEO ($315K)
– Amazon: SEO/GEO Manager ($185K)
– Adobe: Senior SEO Manager ($183K)
– TikTok: SEO/Web Growth Lead ($295K)
– Apple: Technical SEO Manager ($236K)
– LinkedIn: SEO & AI Search Lead ($233K)
– ElevenLabs: B2B SEO/AEO Lead (~$205K)
Ranking #1 never went out of fashion.