May 6, 2025

This issue of the newsletter is sponsored by those amazing SEO tools: Ahrefs, SE Ranking, and Cora SEO Tool​

Hey there,

Hope your week’s going smoothly.

I'm bringing you recent SEO & AI updates, useful how-to pieces, videos, research, and solid articles from other SEOs.

I’m also sharing a few takeaways from auditing 500-plus sites and some practical finds from today’s client work.

Let's dive in!

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"My life after 500+ in-depth SEO audits."

In my most recent contribution to SEJ, I'm sharing the top 11 lessons I learned after auditing 500+ websites and being 13+ years in SEO.

Some tips and spoilers you may like:

• Crawlability + indexability or bust​
  If Google can’t reach or store your pages, every other “tactic” is window dressing.
• JavaScript ≠ SEO magic​
  Google renders JS on a second pass (sometimes days later).
  Put critical copy and meta tags in the raw HTML or use server-side rendering.
• Crawl budget only matters if you’re Amazon-big​
  Fewer than 1 M pages? Relax. Millions of URLs changing daily?
  Then start babysitting “Discovered – currently not indexed” in GSC.
• Read your log files—the truth lives there​
  They show exactly where bots go, how often, and what they waste time on.
• Internal links are the SEO power move​
  Pass juice from your proven power pages to the underperformers with keyword-rich anchors.
• Core Web Vitals: don’t chase 100/100 for sport​
  If your site isn’t glacial (>30 s loads) or triggering red flags in GSC, focus on content and on-page basics first.

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Top SEO & AI news

New ways to interact with information in AI Mode

​AI Mode is now open to all U.S. Labs users, with new features like interactive product and place cards, real-time shopping data, and a sidebar to revisit past searches.

A small group will soon see AI Mode directly in Search as Google tests broader rollout.

Google’s AI Crawler “Google-Extended” Renders JavaScript

​Barry Schwartz confirms—via Martin Splitt—that Google-Extended, the crawler used for Gemini and AI tools, renders JavaScript just like Googlebot, using the same Web Rendering Service (WRS).

→ That gives Gemini deeper access to modern, JS-heavy content than many other AI crawlers.

Google Expands AI Overviews Across Key Industries

​Roger Montti reports that since April 25, 2025, AI Overviews have surged across entertainment, travel, tech, insurance, and education queries—like 175% growth in actor filmographies and 108% in travel planning.

→ Publishers should now optimize based on vertical-specific AIO patterns, not just keyword volume.

Google May Replace Local Pack With AI Overviews

​Barry Schwartz reports that Google is testing AI Overviews in place of the usual map + local pack for “near me” searches—showing AI-generated local info instead of a map and top 3 listings.

→ It’s early, but it could be a big shake-up for local SEO.

Google Targets Fake EEAT in Updated Quality Rater Guidelines

​Roger Montti reports that Google’s latest update to its Search Quality Rater Guidelines cracks down on deceptive EEAT practices like fake author bios, false credentials, and made-up business info.

GSC Hack Reveals Desktop vs. Mobile Discover Data

​Barry Schwartz breaks down how Brodie Clark and John Shehata uncovered a URL hack to unlock Google Discover performance by device inside Search Console—showing that desktop Discover has been quietly tested for over 16 months.

Google Confirms Search Data Trained Gemini AI

​Barry Schwartz highlights new DOJ testimony revealing Google used search signals and ranking data to train its Gemini AI models and AI Overviews, including user feedback to refine when AI features appear.

→ The info confirms what many SEOs suspected all along.

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Practical SEO tips

Nail on-page SEO before doing anything else

I used to say this, and I still stand by this.

Check my contribution to the SEO in 2025 project by Majestic.

​

Some questions I answer include:

• Why are aspects of on-page SEO often neglected?
• What aspects of on-page SEO are key for 2025?
• How do you know which aspects of on-page SEO to prioritize
• Can you achieve much success just by focusing on on-page?
• Are you saying that off-page isn’t as important?
• How do you know when your on-page SEO activities are done?

How AI Helped 10x My Content Ideation—Without Losing My Voice

​Ryan McCain shares how tools like ChatGPT, Grok, and NeuronWriter helped him analyze top content patterns, tap into audience pain points, repurpose assets, and scale ideas into full content series.

His key point? AI speeds up the process, but strategy, expertise, and human insight still make the content valuable.

Does Google Search approve of using AI to help write content?

​Marie Haynes explains again, and I stand by what she says. Yes, you can use AI to create content.

What does research say?

Are AI chatbots replacing search engines?

​OneLittleWeb did amazing research where they analyzed two full years of global web traffic—comparing the top 10 search engines with the top 10 AI chatbots.

The findings may surprise you:

• Chatbots are booming, but still niche. Traffic up 80.9% YoY to 55.2 billion visits, yet that’s just 2.96 % of search-engine volume.
• Search dipped, not crashed. Total engine visits slipped 0.51 % YoY to 1.86 trillion, rebounding in early 2025 as AI features (Google AI Overviews, Bing SGE) rolled out.
• Daily reality check. March 2025: engines averaged 5.5 billion visits a day; chatbots managed 233 million—a 24× gap.
• Market share remains lopsided.
  • Chatbots: ChatGPT owns 86.3 %.
  • Search: Google still rules with 87.6 %, Bing and Yandex distant runners-up.
• ChatGPT vs. Google head-to-head. ChatGPT sees ~26× fewer daily visits than Google—growing fast, but the gulf is still ocean-wide.
• New movers. DeepSeek and Grok are the quickest-climbing chatbots; one to watch.
• Not everyone’s winning. Yahoo traffic fell 22.5 % YoY, hinting at trouble staying relevant in an AI-heavy SERP world.

→ So no, SEO is not dying just yet... 😉

AI Overviews reduce clicks by 34.5%

That's a painful statement but Ahrefs actually analyzed this.

Google says AI Overviews increase clicks. Cold, hard logic disagrees, and so does our research.

Whoops. Not that I didn't expect that.

Google Rewrites 76% of Title Tags — Here's Why

​John McAlpin reveals that Google changed 76% of title tags in Q1 2025, often stripping brand names, ignoring keywords, and rewriting for clarity and intent—especially for YMYL content.

→ SEO pros should focus less on keyword stuffing and more on clear, concise titles Google won’t feel the need to “fix.”

140K Ranking Factors. Zero Guesswork. Meet Cora.

SEO resources from brilliant SEOs

ChatGPT’s New Image Generator: Fun for Mockups, Not for Clients

​SE Ranking tested ChatGPT’s new image generator and found big leaps in visual accuracy and layout quality, especially for quick ad concepts.

But despite smoother typography and brand color replication, typos, design flaws, and unreliable editing still make it unfit for client-facing work.

→ A handy brainstorming tool—but not a design replacement.

Google’s Silence on Reddit’s AI Translations Raises Big SEO Questions

​Glenn Gabe breaks down how Reddit scaled millions of AI-translated pages without any penalties from Google, despite its “scaled content abuse” policy.

→ This has SEO pros asking: is large-scale AI translation now safe—or is Reddit getting special treatment?

The State of Ecommerce SEO in 2025: What’s Working Now

​Aleyda Solis breaks down how Google’s evolving product SERPs—packed with carousels, reviews, UGC, and AI features—are making traditional organic listings harder to win.

To stay competitive, double down on PDP optimization, integrate top-of-funnel content to build authority, and track SERP feature visibility beyond rankings.

→ Zero-click searches are up, forums and social platforms are gaining, and retailers need to adapt fast—or risk falling behind.

SEO VS GEO: Optimizing for Traditional vs AI Search

​Aleyda Solis compares traditional SEO with GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and shows that while the optimization tactics and metrics mostly overlap, the biggest shift is in user behavior.

How ChatGPT Handles Local Search (and What You Can Do About It)​
​Damian Rollison explains how ChatGPT now uses Bing’s web results—but not Bing Places data— to surface local business listings using its own filtering logic.

→ To show up, local businesses need structured websites, strong Bing visibility, and legit reviews on sites like Yelp or local blogs.

ChatGPT Enters Shopping, But Google Still Wins

​Brodie Clark compares ChatGPT Shopping to Google’s free listings, noting early ranking factors like structured data and bot access, but finds major gaps in product relevance, transparency, and image quality.

→ For now, ChatGPT Shopping is no match for Google’s eCommerce dominance.

SEO for AI Tools: What Works for ChatGPT, Perplexity & Claude

​Rachel Hernandez explains how to optimize content for AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude.

→ Key tips: use expert bios, structured data, answer one question per section, and don’t forget that traditional SEO still matters for GAI visibility.

GEO, LLMO, AEO? Still Just SEO.

​Ryan Law argues that generative engine optimization (GEO) and LLM visibility tactics don’t require new strategies—it’s all still SEO.

→ Core tactics like creating expert content, earning mentions, optimizing structure, and ranking in search continue to drive visibility in both Google and LLMs.

Google’s Agent2Agent Protocol Could Replace Search as We Know It

Written by Marie Haynes, this piece breaks down how Google’s new Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol enables AI agents to talk, collaborate, and transact with each other using standardized Agent Cards.

→ This could shift the web from humans searching to agents doing the work for us, changing how we create content, sell products, and even do SEO—which may soon mean optimizing for agents, not people.

3 Free Local SEO Tools That Save Time and Boost Rankings

​Joy Hawkins shares three powerful, free local SEO tools: Jepto’s GBP Category Finder to pick the best ranking categories, a Google Search Console Analytics extension for fast traffic insights, and GS Location Changer to check zip code-level rankings.

→ These tools can save you hours and uncover hyper-local SEO gaps you didn’t know you had.

Coming next and announcements

→ My SEO Audit Mastery course will officially open (and will be finalized) in the second half of June. My newsletter subscribers can still get inside (just use the official landing page)
→ Google Discover, Google News, and EEAT juicy checklists are coming in May.
→ If you are interested in sponsoring my newsletter, feel free to reply to this e-mail. More information about my newsletter and stats are here.

That's all I have for you today!

See you in the next episode!

Best,

P.S. Do you want me to share a specific article or resource in the newsletter? Do you want me to give a shout-out to some SEO? Let me know by replying to this e-mail!