Daren Ng's current analysis underscores that contemporary SEO is no longer defined by isolated technical adjustments or keyword-centric execution. Instead, it has become an interconnected system where technical foundations, content relevance, user experience, and credibility signals collectively influence how digital properties are discovered and evaluated. This shift, according to Daren Ng, has reshaped the responsibilities of SEO practitioners, requiring broader strategic awareness and greater attention to long-term outcomes.
Most site owners don't realize how much of their content large language models (LLMs) already gather. ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini pull from publicly available pages unless you tell them otherwise. That's where LLMs.txt for SEO comes into the picture.LLMs.txt gives you a straightforward way to tell AI crawlers how your content can be used. It doesn't change rankings, but it adds a layer of control over model training, something that wasn't available before.
With digital trends accelerating, it's more important than ever that marketers know how to build strong, data-driven marketing strategies. Data-driven marketing is a type of marketing strategy that is based on using consumer information to develop and optimize marketing campaigns and messaging. It is extremely impactful because marketing efforts are based on online trends and are specifically tailored to the organization's target audience.
Moving from exclusivity to syndication isn't just a tactical move. It's a smarter, more flexible way to grow in a crowded digital world. A few years ago, exclusivity meant success. However, today, audiences have an abundance of choices. Growth now depends on the value you deliver, how far your message travels and how relevant your content feels, not on keeping content locked in one place.
Jenna is a Senior Digital Editor at Southern Living. She has worked on the digital team for nearly 10 years. She joined the team as a Digital Production Assistant in 2014 and has helped the brand grow its digital presence ever since. She writes, produces, and assigns content with a focus on email growth. She also ensures that new content is optimized using SEO best practices and helps use search potential to pitch new content ideas.
"How do Core Web Vitals Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) affect a website's search engine rankings, user experience, and conversions, and what are the practical ways to improve each metric?"
One thing I've seen folks get confused about is that "searching for your site's name" can be very different depending on what you consider your site's name to be. If your site's name is "Aware_Yak6509 Productions" and if your homepage is indexed, then probably you'll find your site in the search results for that name (what else can a search engine reasonably show?).
I'm looking for advice on free, long-term methods to improve Domain Authority for a content-focused website, without paid backlinks or link schemes. The site I'm working on is here for reference: http://whats-your-iq.com/ It's an informational platform around IQ testing, cognitive skills, and related educational content. The site already has: Original long-form articles Structured internal linking Clean technical setup (Core Web Vitals, mobile-first, indexing)
AI search builds on the same signals that support traditional SEO, but adds additional layers, especially in satisfying intent. Many LLMs rely on data grounded in the Bing index or other search indexes, and they evaluate not only how content is indexed but how clearly each page satisfies the intent behind a query. When several pages repeat the same information, those intent signals become harder for AI systems to interpret, reducing the likelihood that the correct version will be selected or summarized.
hey everyone, sooo... looks like Google actually started cracking down on AI generated stuff. my main site literally disappeared from search results overnight. it was ranking for months with ai articles (yea i know, bad idea now ). i used chatgpt and a few rewriters to make them "human", but seems like google aint buying it anymore. i got zero traffic now.
Three weeks ago, I tested something that completely changed how I think about organic traffic. I opened ChatGPT and asked a simple question: "What's the best course on building SaaS with WordPress?" The answer that appeared stopped me cold. My course showed up as the first result, recommended directly by the AI with specific reasons why it was valuable. I hadn't paid for advertising. I hadn't done any special promotion.
Despite the rise of AI-generated summaries, ranking for key search terms remains essential, and authentic video content will become even more valuable for SEO and GEO visibility. SEO won't be going anywhere, GEO will still use top ranking results as one of the parameters when looking for references, so it's still important to rank on important keywords that are relevant to business.
It's increasingly important for publishers to understand when, how and why their content is being used as a source inside AI tools and platforms (often without attribution or traffic). The search landscape has changed exponentially this year, as more people turn to AI tools and platforms like ChatGPT to get information. And though referral traffic from AI platforms is still minuscule, many publishers are starting to track where they are cited in AI-generated responses to users' queries.