Expand your horizons beyond Google – with Sean Barber

Yordan Dimitrov shares that you need to accept constant change in the world of SEO. Just because something works well today doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be trying to improve it for tomorrow.Yordan says: “Embrace change and test relentlessly.”Is there any type of change that we're most likely to have to embrace?“In the last 12 months, there has been so much change within the SEO industry, from AI Mode to AI overviews, dramatically changing how people discover content and brands. We've moved way past the 10 blue links, and people are shifting towards AI-driven answers, zero-click results, and new discovery platforms.To succeed, you need to put yourself into the customer's shoes and explore ways of accessing the tools that are coming up in order to do better testing.It also means putting yourself into your customer’s journey and thinking, ‘Does my brand appear in those AI-powered results? Is my content being cited? How does the format change, and what do I need to do to make sure that I remain visible?’”

One of the keys to continually enhancing your SEO performance is to keep on testing, shares Andrew Cock-Starkey.Andrew says: “Test, test, test.Test a lot. Test lots of different things. Do some testing.How do you know what to test?“You don't want to test everything. What I normally advise is testing what your customers use, or what your target customers use.I used to work with a company where the boss would come and say, ‘This doesn't work, the website looks awful on my computer,’ but we couldn't work out what was going on. We were testing all these things, checking in different browsers, and checking on different devices. Eventually, I went into their office, and they were using an extremely old version of Internet Explorer (not even Edge), and they had the magnification set to 150%.

Laura Iancu talks about Inclusive language & LLMs and shares why what we feed AI matters. Talking points include: - How LLMs mirrors and multiplies human language - Setting up the core idea: the inputs we give AI systems shape the outputs they produce - How bias enters the system - Frame inclusive language not as “political correctness” but as data quality and system integrity; - End with a brief talk about being an ally to humanity, and how you don't need to relate to other groups to show empathy in your language.

One of the non-traditional platforms for SEO is app stores, and this is an opportunity that Filipa Serra Gaspar wishes to highlight.Filipa says: “This year, you should be considering App Store Optimization.Now, in the AI era, it is really important to be in a good position everywhere on the web – not only on traditional search engines. I'm talking about ASO because app stores should not be left behind.You should be doing ASO as part of your activities. Of course, it only applies if the website that you are working on also has an app. If you have an app, this is 100% something that you should be looking at.”Should you create an app just for the additional opportunity to drive traffic into your ecosystem?“It really depends on the area your website is in.I've mainly been working with e-commerce, and I would say the benefits of having an app are quite significant, but it really depends on where you are operating. You shouldn't create an app just for the sake of it, obviously – only if it really makes sense for the business.”

AI can be used in many ways within the SEO function, and for Crystal Carter, it can be an effective tool to assist with the analysis of your digital footprint.Crystal says: “Use AI search optimization to deliver value across your business and your whole digital footprint.”What does the whole business look like these days?“With the emergence of AI search optimization and LLMs as a channel that people are using, the importance of multi-channel marketing and having an omnichannel presence is very acute.LLMs like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini are surfacing content from across the web. It's not just what's on your website; it's what's happening on Reddit, it's what's happening on YouTube, and it's what's happening on Instagram. That means that you need to think about the whole of your digital presence in order to move forward.Some people say that it's the same as SEO, which is potentially true. Ideally, they should complement each other in the same way that YouTube optimization should complement your core SEO activities, but they also can help you identify gaps in the information about your business across the web.”

Mathilde Høj adds her voice to the call to diversification, highlighting that search and search behaviour have entirely changed.Mathilde says: “Search is no longer a channel, it's a behaviour.You need to adapt your entire marketing strategy to it, and have a more integrated approach.”What do you mean when you say that search is a behaviour?“It means that we see a lot of different things coming into play in how users are interacting with platforms.Usually, when users want to find something, they will go to Google and search, then go to a web page, and then maybe convert or go to a physical store. Now, though, they are doing much more than that. They are searching across multiple platforms and visiting multiple sites before making a decision on whether or not to buy.There are two factors coming into play here, and affecting the way users are behaving. First of all, we have generative AI and machine learning changing the way traditional engines work. We have AI overviews and AI Mode, but also this behaviour is taking place in new environments, and the platforms in those environments are adapting to it as well.For example, TikTok is doing a lot to make themselves more like a search engine, which means that users are turning to platforms like TikTok, Instagram, or Reddit to search for stuff.”

Ivana Flynn shares that in her opinion, your business may be in danger if you don’t diversify your SEO efforts.Ivana says: “First of all, don't give up: survive.Google is going crazy with all the updates. Diversify. You cannot rely on just one source of traffic.Google’s market share is shrinking, and there are new sources of traffic that we need to look into, including Reddit, which I will be talking about today.Sometimes, in SEO, it feels a little bit hopeless. There is an update, you survived, there's an update, and you're down, and then there's another update. You start thinking, ‘What now?’ It is a little bit tiring, but that's SEO for you.SEO keeps changing the rules and updating their updates. You just need to keep learning. Don't give up, keep learning, and stand tall.”

David Iwanow shares how to focus on the things that are hurting your brand. Discussion points include: What is typically hurting brand and revenue now? What is genAI? How do you track genAI success? How do you obtain genAI guidance? What tools do you use an why? How do you incorporate this into an overarching content strategy? What industries does this impact the most? How will this continue to evolve?

Leading on from Ed Ziubrzynski’s tip, Sean Barber muses over what platforms you should consider optimizing for in 2026.Sean says: “Think beyond Google. The search landscape has gone way further than Google now.”What do you define as being beyond Google?“It's two-fold. First, there’s the fact that users aren't just starting their search journey on Google. They're starting it on all different platforms and places. Also, it’s not just at the start of their journey; they're bouncing around. They're going to Google, then they may go to Reddit, Amazon, or large language models.On the other side, AI models are coming into play a lot more now. They're also using different sources to gather the information they need about a certain query or brand.”

What is SEO nowadays? According to Ed Ziubrzynski, it’s a lot more than just Google.Ed says: “SEO needs to be everything, everywhere, all at once – and at all times.”Does that mean everything in marketing, everything in business, or everything in the world?“Definitely everything in marketing. Gone are the days when SEO was solely split into on-site (your content work, blogs, landing pages, commercial pages, etc.) and then just having off-site reserved for digital PR and typical link building strategies. We've very much gone beyond the idea of those being the most important things in SEO.Now you need to go where your users are. This also ties into the idea of passive marketing and getting in front of your audience at all times, even when they're not necessarily looking for your products or services.With apps like TikTok, short-form video content has over a billion users a month, and YouTube has over 122 million users every day on its platform. Making sure that you cover every medium imaginable with your content is almost a necessity with how the world has changed, and how internet behaviour and consumer behaviour have pivoted with it.We've got more information available at our fingertips than ever before, but the way that we digest and use content is changing rapidly. Even simple things, such as looking for a recipe. Previously, you'd read a 2,000-3,000-word blog article all about the history of that recipe before you got the information that you wanted and needed, like ingredients and cooking time. Now, it's readily available in AI overviews, and that information needs to be lifted from somewhere.As another example, for tutorials on how to change a tyre, users are heading straight to YouTube or TikTok to get that answer within the smallest timescale possible. They’re looking for a 45-second video telling you exactly how to do it and what tools you need, as opposed to landing on a website and reading a 3,000-word article that would take a lot more time and involvement from the user.”