Engagement with trends content is on the rise. We analyzed over 12.2k unique blog URLs across 15 categories to see what has been changing over the past two years. It showed that AI is driving interest in trends, and the subsequent product announcements incorporating it.

ChatGPT referrals are down for the second month in a row -- but Google's growth trend remains intact. If ChatGPT traffic doesn’t soon show meaningful month-over-month growth, the idea it could overtake Google in the near future is officially moot.

The value in looking at rankings 20-40: Topical authority audit: if you’re in the 30-40 range, that’s often a good new page, as it’s saying you’re authoritative for that term even if it doesn’t map to the current page. Refreshes: Rankings 20-30 can still bump to page one.

The value in looking at rankings 20-40: Topical authority audit: if you’re in the 30-40 range, that’s often a good new page, as it’s saying you’re authoritative for that term even if it doesn’t map to the current page. Refreshes: Rankings 20-30 can still bump to page one.

LinkedIn posts are seeing a surge in SEO traffic. This is a trend to watch closely. It feels like it could be the start of a Reddit, Quora-type social acceleration trend -- and a reason to invest in organic social.

Google is sending higher quality traffic than ChatGPT in the last 60 days. In the past 18 months, ChatGPT's quality is 2% better, but that continues to decline. The narrative that ChatGPT is better in a generalized view is becoming less true than ever.

ChatGPT is hiring an SEO-focused content strategist paying almost $400k/year! Interestingly, there’s no talk of any LLM-facing optimization acronym besides SEO. www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/42...

AI citation volume by URL is the new keyword volume. In Ahrefs’ URL view, they calculate a total number of AI citations for each URL from their prompt database. This isn’t prompt volume, but it’s a holistic estimate of total topic interest around that concept.

ChatGPT referral traffic was down 3.8% in July. Is the bubble about to pop? After a wave of graphs (including ours) predicting growth that would intersect Google’s in '27-28, metrics went negative. On the other side of the coin, Google traffic was up 15.9% across 193 sites.

Join @rosshudgens.bsky.social and me tomorrow for a conversation about "future proofing e-commerce SEO". I love Ross's take on how your 3 week vision is your new 3 year vision:

I don't trust Google results" has been a common refrain. Yet, many people are now using LLM results 98% powered by Bing and taking them as fact. It feels like the net trust quotient has actually increased given this, improving conversion rate.

SEO anchor text in the top nav is rarely the right idea in 2025. Engagement rate is far more important. As the importance of brand continues to grow, suggesting primarily SEO-focused anchor text in our top navigation is the wrong direction.

We’re excited to announce that Siege Media has joined Optiversal’s Series A round as a strategic investor! Optiversal is an AI-powered landing page platform that helps the world’s top e-commerce companies harness generative AI at scale to drive more traffic and revenue.

You probably don’t need thought leadership. You need product-focused content that drives clicks and conversions. Thought leadership feels bigger and harder than it needs to be, lowering executive buy-in. Here’s how we think about the difference:

HubSpot’s LLM visibility skyrocketed without relying on backlinks. Kieran Flanagan shifted to co-citations and brand mentions to win in AI-driven search. Full episode: www.siegemedia.com/conversation...

Content isn’t valuable just because it converts. The best content brings sticky, high-LTV customers. Semrush CMO Andrew Warden explains why: www.siegemedia.com/conversation...

New data from a 50-site study: Homepage traffic is up 10.7% from AI Overviews and LLMs! Traffic may be down, but there is an increase in high-intent homepage visitors. This may mean a net overall conversion lift for companies with >20% homepage traffic.

Organic traffic is now strongly linked to brand sentiment – and we have data to support it. We recently reviewed two client cases where a negative PR event occurred followed by a sharp drop. In good news, it hopefully shows how positive brand investment can drive the opposite.

Most SEO audits miss this, but they shouldn’t. User testing is one of the most underrated tools in product SEO. Tools like Userpeak, Lyssna & LookBack show where users get stuck so you can fix it. Test, refine, implement. That’s how you create product pages that actually rank.

Impressions are now a relevant secondary KPI across Google and LLMs. As click-less impressions skyrocket due to AI Overview and LLM use, it’s a short-sighted strategy to not value showing up for product-related searches in your industry, even if they don’t generate a click.

If you need link building you don’t need link building. If rankings are stuck, the real issue is usually a weak product, poor UX, or a site that doesn’t build trust. Here’s why backlinks aren’t the answer (and what to do instead):

One of the secrets behind Zillow’s 1,000,000,000 search visits? Intelligent risk mitigation. SEO testing isn’t just for growth, it’s for preventing decline. Even a 1% traffic drop can mean millions lost. Kristan Bauer and I break it down on Siege’s podcast: www.siegemedia.com/conversation...

Excited to speak at @brightonseo.com San Diego this September! One of my favorite conferences - not just for the SEO insights, but for connecting with people who truly get this industry. us.brightonseo.com

Is technical SEO dying? Eli Schwartz argues we’re heading that way. CMSs handle more technical fixes, and AI is better at surfacing the right results. The biggest SEO wins now come from product-focused strategies. We break it down on Content & Conversation: www.siegemedia.com/conversation...

Every content marketer should be forced to create customer stories. Here’s why:

New research shows data studies are heavily cited in ChatGPT! This is even more reason to invest in digital PR. Leveraging data you can utilize across different content types protects you in the AI age, not just by making your content unique, but also by helping it get cited.

Localized keyword research can lift traffic by up to 40%. Straight translation doesn’t cut it - different markets search, think, and buy differently. The graphic below shows why local keyword research is so important.

The biggest mistake on case study hubs? No quick filtering. If customers can’t find a relevant case study fast, they’ll bounce. The best hubs let users filter by solution, industry & more key dimensions. I think Box is really nailing this - check their customer stories hub:

SEOs need a Bing strategy in 2025. ChatGPT uses Bing as its primary search engine, and live indexing has driven 170% more Bing traffic. Ignoring it means missing visibility in ChatGPT’s search. A.J. Ghergich and I discuss why it matters: www.siegemedia.com/conversation...

SMEs should NOT write content. By the time someone is truly an expert, they don’t have time (or writing isn’t their strongest skill.) At Siege, we extract their expertise through batch interviews, Loom recordings, and high-level reviews to turn it into content that converts.

Most startups get their content strategy in year one wrong. They push for volume, thinking more = better. But year two hits—rankings drop, low-quality pages get punished, and teams scramble. There’s a better way. More in the video:

Swapping in client logos on our case study hub lifted engagement by 25%. Logos = trust, recognition, click intent. Small change, big impact - worth testing if you work with well-known brands.

Images are showing on search results 35.9% of the time. That’s up 7% over Q4. It makes investing in design a no brainer, and a big reason why we’ve invested so hard in it. Here are some of our favorite recent examples:

Every B2B company needs a customer story map. List your products. List your industries. Map them together - then ensure you have at least three strong case studies for each. No more scrambling for proof! Here's how we format ours at Siege:

200,000 visits. Zero impact. If your SEO strategy stops at rankings, traffic, or links - you’re missing the bigger picture. Here’s how to measure what actually matters:

SEO isn’t just about ranking in Google anymore. It’s about ranking where attention is going. @timsoulo.bsky.social and I talk about the importance of investing in video on the latest episode of Siege's podcast. Don't just listen - you can watch us here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw-H...

The programmatic SEO question every company should ask themselves: Would I keep these pages for users if they didn't have value for SEO? If the answer is no, you (probably) shouldn't have them for SEO either. They will suck up resources and drag your brand.

Traffic is down. Revenue is up. AI Overviews & ChatGPT are cutting into top-of-funnel traffic, but bottom-of-funnel still converts. SEO in 2025 isn’t about chasing traffic - it’s about turning visibility into revenue. @randfish.bsky.social & I break it down: www.siegemedia.com/conversation...

Virality is usually an SEO failure. In today's world, if your digital PR work went viral, it was almost certainly off-brand. That's why it's very common in 2025 to see graphs that look like this -- a spike of links, and then a decline in traffic shortly after.

Marketers are abandoning interactive content - 62.3% invested in it last year, now it's down to 36.4% (per Siege’s trends report). AI replaced simple tools and costs are high, but the right interactives drive results when they use real data & provide value. Example from Zillow:

How to measure thought leadership content: If conversions, visits & time on site aren’t in the top 25% for you, it’s probably not working. Our product-led digital PR post has the highest time on site for us + is top 25 in visits, proving it’s reaching the right audience:

Bad content strategy separates “AI content” and “human content.” The best approach blends both. AI isn’t a replacement - it’s a tool that makes human-created content faster and more scalable. I break it down in the video below.

Product SEO is the new technical SEO. High-impact SEO today is about integrating into the product itself by focusing on UX, internal linking, product page design & long-tail content opportunities. Sharanya Srinivasan & I break it down here: www.siegemedia.com/conversation...

Personal post: I lost 4.2% bodyfat and gained nearly 9 pounds of muscle in the last three months! How? • 5am wakeup/7x week movement • Hired a MyBodyTutor coach ($400/mo) • Found AM exercise I love (basketball 3x/week) • Way more protein (1 gm/pound of body weight daily)

"All of our content is written by humans, not robots." This is a first for me. In the security space, I can see how this would be effective at least short-term. And the data is showing that -- currently ripping, traffic value of $4,200,000/mo (Security dot org).

Content marketing emphasis often starts with publishing volume, but real success comes from refining your focus. Over time, the best teams move from just creating content to driving leads, revenue & long-term growth. See the full evolution in the graphic below:

Seeing Google now linking in AI Overviews in way that's more likely to drive clicks. Hopefully we'll see more of this soon!

The best SEO insights come from real conversations with experts facing the same challenges you are. That's why I'm looking forward to speaking alongside some phenomenal SEOs at SEO Week 2025 in NYC (April 28–May 2). Join us: seoweek.org

More links to sales pages won’t fix your SEO. The real issues are: 1. Poor internal linking: Your blog isn’t passing link equity to core pages via nav or footer. 2. Weak sales pages: Outdated info & poor UX kill rankings. Fix these first for real results.

Marketers who use AI are more successful, and the data proves it. But last year, it was the opposite. Why the shift? AI tools are improving, and marketers are using them strategically. More here: www.siegemedia.com/strategy/con...