CMA proposes package of measures to improve Google search services in UK

November has not seen significant updates or changes, more reinforcing principles we should all be adopting. While we didn't get an official "core update" from Google, what many of us are calling the "Movember" update, told a different story. As I've been analysing these changes, a clear theme has emerged, and in my opinion, it's one that signals a fundamental shift in how we need to approach our work. The New Normal: AI in Search and Constant Flux For a while now, I've believed that we're moving away from periodic, named updates to a state of continuous adjustment, and November's volatility seems to confirm this. In my view, this is the new normal. We can no longer afford to be reactive. Instead, we have to ensure our strategies are built on a solid foundation that can withstand these changes, but again, thats nothing new. A huge part of this new landscape is the expansion of AI Overviews. I've noticed them appearing for more and more queries, and this is where our conversations about Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO/GSO) become critical. The fact is, getting a user to click through to our site is becoming harder. The not so new goal, in my opinion, is to have our content featured within these AI-powered answers. This requires us to create content that is not only human-friendly but also "AI-friendly." We need to structure our articles with clear, concise, and well-structured information, using the "content chunking" techniques I researched earlier, so that LLMs can easily digest and repurpose our insights. Google Pushes for Higher Quality Content Another trend that I saw accelerate this month is Google's crackdown on scaled and low-quality content. I think this is one of the most positive developments for the web in a long time. For years, the internet has been flooded with repetitive, thin content created purely to game the system. Google is now clearly rewarding websites that provide genuine value. This brings me to what I consider the cornerstone of modern SEO: E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). In my opinion, E-E-A-T is no longer just a guideline; it's a mandate. Google is getting incredibly sophisticated at identifying signals of credibility. Are your articles written by genuine experts? Is your brand a trusted entity in its field? This isn't something you can fake. It requires a long-term commitment to building your brand's authority, showcasing expertise through detailed author bios and case studies, and ensuring every piece of content you publish is accurate and trustworthy. Google's Giving Us the Tools to Build Authority While the bar is getting higher, I've been encouraged to see that Google is also providing us with better tools. The new "Query Groups" feature in Google Search Console is a perfect example. I see this as a powerful tool for implementing an entity-based SEO strategy. It allows us to move beyond a narrow keyword focus and understand the broader topics and user intents our audience has. In my opinion, this feature is a roadmap. It helps us identify content gaps and build out comprehensive "content clusters" that cover a topic in depth. By doing so, we're not just optimising a page; we're establishing our website as a topical authority—a mini-knowledge graph in our niche—which is one of the strongest positive signals we can send to Google. My Final Thoughts Looking back at November, my key takeaway is this: success in SEO now requires a holistic and strategic approach. We must be committed to quality, build a strong and trustworthy brand reputation, and adapt our content to be valuable for both humans and AI. Once again this is not something new but at times we just need to remind the industry. 

I recently attended Profound’s "Zero Click London" event, to gain a greater understand, listen and learn more on the current revolution in AI search. The central theme was a seismic shift in the digital landscape, a change so fundamental that it requires us to rip up the old marketing and PR playbooks. For two decades, the deal was simple: we create content, Google sends traffic, and we convert visitors. That ecosystem is now being replaced. We have entered the age of AI search, where the winner is not the brand with the most clicks, but the one that provides the first answer. The Death of the Scroll: From Critical Thinking to Anchor Bias The most striking concept of the day came from Jonny Bentwood of Golin: we have moved from an era of "critical thinking to anchor bias." We used to scroll endlessly through pages of blue links, weighing options and making our own decisions. Now, with nearly 60% of searches resulting in zero clicks, users are getting their answers directly from Generative AI. They ask a question, and they get one answer. This isn't search as we know it; it's a decision engine. And consumers are trusting that first answer implicitly. This behavioural shift is the "anchor bias." The first piece of information received becomes the anchor against which all subsequent information is judged. For brands, this is a terrifying and exhilarating prospect. If you're not part of that first answer, you are, for all intents and purposes, invisible. Earned Media Isn't Dead—It's the Fuel for AI So, how does a brand become the source of that coveted first answer? The most powerful and counter-intuitive insight from the event was this: 90% of AI visibility is driven by citations from earned media. AI models are not all-knowing oracles; they are voracious readers that form their answers by synthesizing information from credible sources. This means that the skills of public relations and earned media have never been more critical. However, the sources that matter have changed. The "Tier 1 media list" is no longer just about the major news outlets. It's about the niche, specialist sites that AI has identified as trustworthy for specific topics. For hairdryers, it might be Byrdie and Techradar. For your industry, it will be a different set of publications. The challenge for us as marketers and communicators is to identify and engage with this new "Tier 1 AI list." These are the domains that are shaping the AI's "opinion" and, by extension, your customers' decisions.

If you work in digital marketing or run a business with an online presence, you've probably noticed a few new buzzwords popping up. Just when we all got comfortable with SEO , suddenly we're hearing about AIO, GEO, AEO, and a whole host of other 'O's. It's easy to feel a bit lost. But don't worry. This explosion of new terms isn't just jargon for the sake of it. It reflects a fundamental and exciting shift in how search engines work and how we find information online. We are moving from a simple list of links to a world of instant answers, AI-generated summaries, and richer user experiences. In this post, I'll break down what each of these key acronyms means, what their goals are, and how they fit into the bigger picture. The SEO Acronyms Explained Let's demystify the alphabet soup of modern search marketing. # **SEO: Search Engine Optimisation** This is the one we all know and love. For years, SEO has been the practice of optimising your website and its content to rank as highly as possible in traditional search engine results pages (like Google and Bing). The primary goal has always been to drive organic clicks to your website from those lists of blue links. Core Focus: Organic rankings and driving traffic to your website. # **AIO, GEO, AEO, and LLMO: The AI & Answer Crew** I'm grouping these together because they are all part of the same fundamental shift towards an AI-driven search landscape. They are less about getting a user to click a link and more about having your content **used** by the search engine itself to provide a direct answer. AIO (AI Optimisation) : This is the broadest term. It refers to a holistic strategy of making your content perfectly readable and understandable for all kinds of AI systems, from ChatGPT to Google's new AI Overviews. The goal is for the AI to trust your content enough to cite it as a source in its generated response. GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) : This is a more specific version of AIO. It focuses purely on optimising for "generative engines"—the AI that creates the new summary boxes at the top of Google's results (often called AI Overviews or SGE). The aim here is to become a primary source for that AI-synthesised answer. AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation): This has been around for a little longer. It’s the practice of structuring your content to directly answer a specific question. The goal is to win "zero-click" results like the Featured Snippets (the answer boxes that appear above the main results) or to be the source for a voice search answer from Alexa or Google Assistant. LLMO (Large Language Model Optimisation): This is very similar to AIO and GEO. It focuses on the technical aspects of structuring your content so that the underlying technology (the Large Language Model) can easily process, understand, and reference your information with confidence. *Key Difference from Traditional SEO: All these focus on brand visibility and authority *within* the AI-generated answer, rather than just getting a click on a link. # **SXO: Search Experience Optimisation** SXO reminds us that the job isn't done when a user clicks. It combines traditional SEO with User Experience (UX) design. It asks: what happens *after* the click? Is your website fast? Is it easy to navigate? Does the content genuinely solve the user's problem? A poor on-site experience can undo all your hard work getting the click in the first place. Key Difference from Traditional SEO: It extends the focus beyond the search results page to the entire user journey on your website. # **Geo SEO: Geographic Optimisation** This is a specialised form of SEO for businesses that serve a specific physical area. It involves optimising your online presence—particularly your Google Business Profile and local landing pages—to appear for location-based searches like "best pizza near me" or "electrician in Bristol." Key Difference from Traditional SEO: It is hyper-focused on local search visibility within a defined geographic boundary. # **And what about GSO?** You might see **GSO (Generative Search Optimisation)** used, but it's less common and is generally just another name for GEO. Don't let it confuse you! Conclusion: It's All About Providing the Best Answer While it can seem daunting, this new vocabulary points to a clear direction of travel. The future of search is less about technical tricks and more about genuine authority and providing the best, most helpful answer to a user's query. Whether that answer is a link to your website (SEO), part of an AI-generated summary (AIO/GEO), or a great experience on your landing page (SXO), the core principle remains the same: create high-quality, trustworthy content that puts the user first. By doing that, you'll be well-placed to succeed, no matter what acronym comes next.

The ground beneath our feet is shifting For years, we in the digital marketing world have played a game with a well-understood set of rules. The aim was to get the number 1 spot on Google and gain as much of the click share for the brands we work with. We became masters of SEO strategies involving content, keywords, technical excellence, backlinks, and domain authority. However as we stand coming to the end of 2025, the entire landscape of search is undergoing a seismic shift. The game hasn't just changed; we're playing on a completely new field. The rise of Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini and AI Overviews is fundamentally altering how people find information. It's no longer a conversation about a list of blue links. It's about answers, served directly, conversationally, and contextually. This isn't a distant future; it's the new normal. And for businesses, it begs the question: How do you stay visible when the destination is no longer your website, but an AI-generated summary? The good news? This isn't a eulogy for SEO . It's a call to evolution. The principles of being found online are expanding, and for those willing to adapt, the opportunities are immense. It's time to move beyond rankings and focus on what truly matters: becoming the definitive, trusted answer in your field. The New SEO Playbook: From Rankings to Answers, from Content to Context The data from 2024 and predictions for 2025 paint a clear picture. We're seeing what industry analysts call "The Great Decoupling"—a scenario where search impressions can rise, while clicks to websites fall. Why? Because AI is answering user queries directly within the search results page. This might sound alarming, but it’s actually a profound opportunity. It forces us to shift our focus from a transactional metric (clicks) to a more foundational one: visibility and authority. The new digital marketing mantra is: Visibility over rankings: It's more important to be present in the answer than to be position one. Context over content: It's not just what you say, but how you structure it for AI to understand. Conversations over lists of blue links: Users are asking complex, multi-step questions, and we need to provide content that fuels that conversation. To win in this new era, we need a strategy built on three core pillars: building unshakeable authority, speaking the language of AI, and extending your answers across the entire digital ecosystem. Pillar 1: Build Unshakeable Authority with Content Hubs In a world flooded with AI-generated content, genuine expertise is your ultimate competitive advantage. The concept of E.E.A.T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust) is more critical than ever. The way to demonstrate this is by building Entity Authority through comprehensive Content Hubs. Stop thinking about individual keywords. Start thinking about owning entire topics. An entity is a specific person, place, thing, or concept that search engines understand. Your goal is to become the primary entity associated with your area of expertise. Create a Network: Build a central "pillar" page that provides a broad overview of a core topic. Then, create a network of "cluster" content—how-to guides, FAQs, case studies, and articles—that delve into specific sub-topics. Internal Linking is Key: Each cluster piece should link back to the pillar page using descriptive anchor text. This isn't just an SEO tactic; it's how you create a semantic map, showing AI the relationships between concepts and reinforcing your authority. Authenticity is Your Moat: Your content must offer original insights, real-world experience, and a unique perspective. This is the "human-generated content" that LLMs cannot replicate and will increasingly rely on for credible information. Pillar 2: Speak the Language of AI with Structure and Schema To be the source for an AI-generated answer, you need to make your content as easy as possible for machines to read, interpret, and cite. This is where technical optimization becomes the bedrock of your content strategy. Think in "Chunks": LLMs process information in small, digestible segments. Structure your content accordingly. Use short paragraphs, clear H2/H3 headings phrased as questions, and bulleted lists. This "content chunking" makes it easy for an AI to pull a specific piece of information to answer a query. Implement Structured Data (Schema): Schema markup is the language of search engines. It's code you add to your site to explicitly tell AI what your content is about. Use FAQPage, HowTo, Article, and Organization schema to define your content. This is like putting a name tag on every piece of information, making it unambiguous. Define and Reference Entities: Use the @id property in your schema to give each core entity (like your company or a key person) a unique identifier. Then, reference that ID wherever the entity is mentioned. This creates a site-wide semantic graph, connecting the dots for AI and solidifying your knowledge base. Pillar 3: Extend Your Answers Everywhere Google's "fan-out query technique" means that for any single search, its AI is exploring numerous related questions and subtopics. Your content needs to be the source for as many of those "fan-out" queries as possible. Furthermore, the search landscape is fragmenting. Users are finding answers on Perplexity, ChatGPT, and social platforms. Your strategy must be omnichannel. Answer the Full Spectrum : Your content hubs should address a wide range of questions, from broad informational queries to specific, long-tail technical questions. Leverage User-Generated Content (UGC) : Integrate customer reviews, product Q&As, and insights from community forums like Reddit and Quora into your content. These are goldmines of authentic, intent-driven language that both users and AI trust. Track Your Visibility Beyond Google : Start monitoring your brand's presence and citations across all major AI platforms. The goal is to ensure that whether a user asks a question on Google, Bing, or directly into an LLM, your brand is the one providing the answer. The Future is About Trust The rules of search have changed, but the fundamentals of building a great business have not. This new era of AI-powered search rewards clarity, structure, and, above all, credibility. By building deep topical authority, structuring your content for machine comprehension, and ensuring your expertise is visible everywhere your audience is looking, you won't just survive the shift—you'll be in a powerful position to thrive. The future of search isn't about chasing algorithms; it's about becoming the algorithm's most trusted source.

The second year in a row I'm going to have the pleasure of speaking at Brighton SEO conference “content decay”. So I thought I would write something a little different to give you a perspective of the event and the sheer size and scale it has now become. This isn't just any conference; it's the UK's largest gathering for SEOs and digital marketers, and truly one of the biggest in the world. Over three days, it's a whirlwind of speaker sessions, deep-dive training, and invaluable knowledge transfer across every facet of the digital marketing landscape. Of course, there are the sponsors, the tech showcases, and those legendary late-night parties, alongside more community-focused activities promoting health and wellbeing. 𝐀 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞: 𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐨𝐧 Having worked in digital marketing for over 25 years and spoken at other events, 2024 was the first time I spoke at Brighton. It was a year Wavemaker, proudly stood as one of the premium sponsors of the event. The question I kept asking myself was: "Why did I wait so long?" In the weeks leading up to it, I was deep in thought, crafting my presentation to inspire, educate, and inform the 600+ people who attended my talk on “developing a killer content strategy”. What I hadn't fully grasped was the sheer scale and professionalism of the organisation behind the event, nor the incredible community that spontaneously formed among the speakers. Through the WhatsApp group and the speaker tour, it became apparent that there were speakers of all abilities and experiences. The event organisers and the speakers themselves supported each other in a way I simply wasn't expecting. Over those three days, 100 mostly strangers came together to inspire, motivate, and support one another. From attending talks and sharing motivation techniques to simply offering a heartfelt "Good luck," it was a quiet, humbling, and profoundly inspiring experience. Would I recommend anyone in SEO and digital marketing to go to Brighton SEO? Absolutely. If you are looking to step outside your comfort zone and speak and share your knowledge, there is no better place. This new industrial revolution in search is just beginning, and Brighton SEO is clearly the place to be at the forefront. See you there. #brightonseo

We have seen a significant shift in the search landscape as Google officially rolls out its new AI Mode in the United Kingdom! Following launches in the US and India, this could be a game-changer for how users interact with search and, by extension, how businesses connect with their audiences. What is Google AI Mode? Google AI Mode, powered by Gemini AI, is designed to go "beyond information to intelligence." Instead of just a list of blue links, users will receive conversational, AI-generated answers directly within the search results. It's an end-to-end AI Search experience that aims to provide more comprehensive and personalised responses. What Does It Do? Deep Search Capabilities: AI Mode uses a " query fan-out" technique , breaking down complex questions into subtopics and issuing multiple queries simultaneously. This allows for deeper dives into the web, generating expert-level, fully-cited reports in minutes. Agentic Capabilities: Soon, AI Mode will be able to perform tasks on behalf of users, like purchasing tickets or filling out forms, by analysing real-time pricing and inventory across various sites. This is a move towards a more "agentic" AI that can "do the work for you." Personalised Results: Based on past searches and connected Google apps (like Gmail), AI Mode will offer tailored suggestions, making the search experience highly customised. Multimodal Interactions: It supports searching with text, voice, and images, and will even offer "Live" capabilities where you can talk back-and-forth with Search using your camera. It is thought this could have implications for businesses that rely on search traffic. It could for example, reduce Click-Throughs to Websites. With AI-generated summaries providing direct answers, there's a concern that users may be less likely to click through to external websites. However, AI mode is focused on those searches where you may have conducted multiple searches to get answers to a series of questions. Google explains it well in this article https://blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/united-kingdom/ai-mode-search-uk/ Google says its data shows that when the user clicks through from AI mode or AI Overviews, it’s a higher quality of user/customer due to the more focused intent. So perhaps fewer visitors to your websites, but the ones that do come have a higher chance of converting. To appear in AI-generated responses, content will need to be highly authoritative, trustworthy, and comprehensive. Focusing on EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) will be more crucial than ever. Businesses will need to adapt their SEO strategies to optimise for AI-generated answers, focusing on providing clear, concise, and well-structured information that AI models can easily understand. Getting featured on cited sites and enhancing structured data will be key. This is a pivotal moment for digital marketing. It's time to re-evaluate our strategies and ensure our content is not just discoverable, but also "AI-ready." #GoogleAIMode #AISearch #DigitalMarketing #SEO #FutureOfSearch #AI

When it comes to SEO, there isn't a magic formula to instantly send your site off to the #1 search result on Google. But there are some basic principles you should follow for a wonderful starting point. Here are the top 5 SEO practices to start with: #1 Write for people, not for search engines Always write original, interesting, high quality site content that's error free and relevant to your site. Search engines like Google can easily detect content that is duplicated from elsewhere online, that contains grammatical errors, or that is stuffed with keywords. #2 Add a blog to your site and use rich media To engage your site visitors and blog readers, create posts that include non-textual media like photos, videos, or original visualizations (infographics). Having that extra content (especially if it's captivating) will increase the time users spend on your site as well as the likelihood they will share your site with their own community. #3 Offer a positive user experience throughout your site Google will know if you're using your site to aggressively advertise your service, or if you're being too pushy. Always aim to offer site visitors a pleasant experience on your site. That means clear content, support when needed, and always an option to go back. #4 Create a network of internal links (but don't overdo it) Add links between different pages of your site and your blog, but try to follow a process that feels organic rather than heavy linking meant just for search engine crawlers. Link between pages that make sense, for example, on your services page, link a certain industry specific term, and link it to a blog post you wrote about it, that gives more information on that term. #5 Always check your site's Core Web Vitals Core Web Vitals are a standard site performance standard initially created by Google. The report shows site owners how their site pages perform 'for real,' how long it takes for site visitors to load site pages, and it offers ways to fix issues, if there are any.

In a world where technology evolves at breakneck speed, search is undergoing a monumental transformation. No longer confined to typing keywords into a single search engine, today's search experience crosses multiple platforms, leverages artificial intelligence, and anticipates user needs in ways previously unimaginable. As we look toward 2025 and beyond, it's clear that brands must adapt to a new reality where search is everywhere, demanding strategies that are consumer-centric, platform-agnostic, and experience-focused. The New Search Landscape The search ecosystem has expanded dramatically beyond traditional search engines. While Google remains the dominant player—reportedly 16 times larger than LLM-based search—alternative platforms are growing rapidly. AI search platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Copilot are projected to reach one billion monthly visitors by 2025, offering experiences that search the web for users and integrate directly with mobile devices. Simultaneously, commerce platforms like Amazon have become search destinations in their own right, with research indicating that 50% of product searches now begin there rather than on traditional search engines. Social media has similarly evolved, with 64% of Gen Z turning to platforms like TikTok for search and discovery, finding it more informative, digestible, and personalized than conventional alternatives. This fragmentation represents both a challenge and an opportunity. Brands can no longer focus solely on ranking well in Google results; they must understand and optimize for a multi-platform search ecosystem where consumers expect relevant, trustworthy information delivered seamlessly regardless of where they begin their journey. The AI Revolution in Search Generative AI is perhaps the most disruptive force reshaping search. AI-powered features like Google's AI Overviews are changing how information is presented, potentially reducing informational website traffic while simultaneously improving conversion rates for traffic that does come through. The rise of conversational search has shifted user behavior from simple keywords ("puppy dog food") to complex, natural language queries ("What is the most nutritious dog food for my labrador puppy?"). Multi-modal search capabilities now interpret inputs across image, audio, video, and text. Features like Google's Circle to Search allow users to search using visual context rather than words. These developments are transforming the very nature of search from a text-based activity to a rich, multi-sensory experience that better aligns with how humans naturally process information. The next frontier—agentic search—promises to transform the user experience even further. Imagine saying, "Find my favorite foundation and deliver it to my home today," and having an AI agent handle everything from locating the product to completing the purchase. While this may be a year or two away from mainstream adoption, forward-thinking brands are already preparing for a world where AI assistants mediate consumer interactions. The Messy Middle Gets Messier Google's concept of the "messy middle"—the complex space between trigger and purchase—has never been more apt. As consumers navigate across platforms and channels, their journeys become increasingly non-linear. They might discover a product on TikTok, research it on Reddit, check reviews on Amazon, and ultimately purchase it after seeing a retargeted ad on Instagram. This complexity demands that brands deliver personalized consumer journeys and experiences based on a deep understanding of behavior across the entire search ecosystem. It's no longer enough to optimize for keywords; brands must optimize for consumer needs, intents, and preferred platforms. Three Strategic Imperatives for Success To thrive in this new search landscape, brands must focus on three key imperatives: 1. Understand consumer search needs beyond search engines Brands must develop a comprehensive understanding of search behavior across platforms. This means analyzing data from AI engines, retail experiences, and social listening to understand how search behaviors differ by platform and journey stage. The insights gathered should inform a total search strategy that improves relevance, trust, and brand saliency across all touchpoints. 2. Deliver a great experience regardless of platform or channel As search becomes more conversational and intent-driven, brands must focus on topical and thematic relevancy over keywords. User experience elements like page speed, navigation, and content quality have become critical factors affecting both organic visibility and paid search performance. Data shows that better experience "is the tide that raises all boats"—improving site speed and content quality benefits all channels, with conversion rates increasing as site performance improves. 3. Innovate on measurement to demonstrate total value creation The changing landscape requires new approaches to measurement. Traffic from traditional search engines may decline as informational queries are addressed earlier in the journey, while better qualified visitors could improve conversions. Attribution models must adapt for multi-platform measurement, considering the role of each channel in the customer journey and closing data gaps to create a complete picture of search performance. Integrated Search: Breaking Down Silos Perhaps the most actionable insight from today's search landscape is the critical importance of integrated search strategies that align paid and organic efforts. Many brands still operate these functions in silos, missing opportunities to create synergies and optimize overall performance. An integrated approach allows brands to identify where organic rankings are strong but paid competition is low (potentially reducing paid spend), where organic visibility is poor (increasing paid presence), and where content gaps exist (informing content strategy). This requires collaboration between teams with shared KPIs, dashboards, and a continuous test-and-learn approach. The data confirms that this integration delivers results. When content, UX, and site speed improvements are implemented—traditionally the domain of SEO teams—paid search performance improves as well. Cost-per-click typically decreases 5-10% with each quality score increase of 1 point, and decreases by 58% between a quality score of 1 and 10. Looking Forward: The Age of AI Agents Beyond 2026, agentic search could transform the marketing landscape entirely. AI agents will take repetitive tasks off consumers' hands, navigating to sites, searching for products, checking inventory, making purchases, and confirming deliveries. This will introduce new challenges and opportunities, requiring brands to: Track and understand AI crawlers, assistants, and agents Implement user agent tracking for these new entities Develop partnerships with emerging AI ecosystems Create interactive features that encourage direct consumer engagement  The brands that succeed in this new era will be those that understand that search is everywhere, creating connected experiences across platforms that meet consumers in their exact moments of need with relevant, trustworthy content delivered in optimal formats. As we navigate this complex, rapidly evolving landscape, one thing is clear: the future of search is not about keywords or rankings but about understanding people, anticipating their needs, and providing value at every step of their journey—regardless of where that journey begins or where it leads.