Nat: When AI citations and clicks are coveted and search engine rankings are constantly fluctuating, what do you need to know to keep your site optimized? From new acronyms to helpful tools to AI opt-out options, Marc Engelsman, our VP of SEO and SAIO at DBE, shared some major tips on LinkedIn, and we’re here to dive deeper to help you stay up to date. Hi Marc!

Marc: Hi Nat, what questions do you have for me?

Building Online Brand Authority

Nat: There was a post you did comparing “building a brand” to Build-a-Bear. Your website is the skin of your bear. You can dress it up however you want, but you need the proper optimization or “stuffing” inside it. Can you explain the elements to which you are referring and how people can start optimizing for them?

Marc: First, let me be clear, when we talk about proper optimization stuffing, it’s very much not about keyword stuffing. It’s all about getting keyword alignment throughout your page from top down – the URL, the Page Title, the meta description, the H1 tag, the content, and the alt tags. If you get all these done “just right” (as Goldilocks would say), then you will have built a well-optimized bear of a website.

Benchmarking SEO Data

Nat: Speaking of bears, you talked about being smarter than the average bear (a Yogi Bear cartoon reference) through benchmarking your own SEO data instead of comparing solely to industry averages. When do you recommend benchmarking the data, and which metrics should you focus on?

Marc: First you need to do an audit of what metrics are already available. Are you currently using GA4 or some other platform that provides website traffic data by channel/source? Have you identified Key Events aligned with the customer journey through to acquisition? Do you have an average value for a new customer that can be used to determine Return-On-Ad-Spend (ROAS for Paid Search) or Return on Investment for other channels like SEO? Have you already been doing SEO or SAIO and, if so, can you share past keywords/ranking data? If you have all this, you already have a good benchmarked data set. If you don’t you need to quickly fill in the gaps so you have a basis for creating your new SEO/SAIO strategy and for benchmarking it.

AI Feature Opt-Out Debate

Nat: AI opt-out features are available to website publishers and users. Both have benefits and pitfalls, but if one does not subscribe to AI opt-in features, the connection between publisher and user may not be made. What considerations should publishers and users mull over when making the decision?

Marc: It’s pretty simple. If you are a publisher and you opt-out of having AI bots crawl your site due to copyright concerns, you sacrifice visibility and authority for your website. If you are a user who opts out of allowing AI bots to “personalize” results based on your previous history, you sacrifice getting better results to your queries. Even if only the publisher or only the user opts out, then both may suffer less-than-optimal AI visibility.

AI Optimization Acronyms

Nat: AIO, SAIO, GEO, AEO… Search AI Optimization has many names, but we’ve been pointing out in our newsletter, Perceptive Marketer, (subscribe below) that the tactics are mostly aligned between acronyms. When a company is hiring an agency with these service offerings, what questions should they be asking?

Marc: I’m going to give you three related questions for both the hiring company and the prospect agency.

• First question from the company: How do you approach optimizing for traditional search engines and for AI platforms?
• First question from the agency: Do you see SEO and the fill-in-the-blank-acronym you use for SAIO as an integrated strategy or do you want to optimize for each as a separate channel?
• Second question from the company: What makes your approach to SEO/SAIO different from what other agencies are doing?
• Second question from the agency: Has your organization done SEO and SAIO work before? If so or if not, what’s prompting you to talk with us now?
• Third question from the company: How do you price your services?
• Third question from the agency: Do you already have a budget for this work? If not, what is your process and timeline for getting budget approval?

Answers to these questions will help companies and agencies assess how best to move forward with each other.

New Google ROAS Tool

Nat: Google Ads rolled out a Return-On-Ad-Spend-based tool to let advertisers calculate conversion value for new customers. You mentioned a potential new setting that could be a helpful feature. Can you explain what it was and the meaning behind it?

Marc: LTV stands for Life-Time Value and I was suggesting that a conversion setting that includes LTV would provide an even better way to look at the payoff of a new customer acquisition. Granted, LTV is not always the easiest thing for companies to assess, but we always ask about it during our Discovery and Benchmarking phase of work; and will work with companies to come up with at least a conservative estimation for reporting purposes.

Organic SERP & AI Citation URL Overlap Rates

Nat: The SEO tool, Moz, compared the URLs that show for Google organic search (AKA SERPs), AI Overviews, and AI Mode. Research on 40,000 keyword searches/queries across these platforms shows AI Overviews citations have an 88% overlap with Top 10 SERPs. AI Mode citations only have a 12% overlap with Top 10 SERPs. Why is there such a disparity between AI Mode citations and the organic SERP URLs?

Marc: AI Mode isn’t just searching for the specified keyword query – it’s building off the keyword to conduct broader, more topical “fan-out queries” to formulate responses. So, it’s not apples to apples in terms of keyword comparisons… more like apples to MacIntosh apples and Granny apples and Gala apples, etc. or maybe even apples to pears.

Nat: With that in mind, what does that mean for optimizing your website? Should we be doing anything different for AI Mode optimization?

Marc: It appears we can teach the new AI Overviews dog with relatively old, but proven, SEO “tricks” like tags and content alignment around target keywords on individual pages. As for AI Mode, the question is how much effort should be made to gain more visibility in AI Mode (that has less user volume than the other two)? My thought, at least until we have more data that suggests otherwise, is don’t let the AI Mode long-tail wag your SEO/SAIO strategy dog.

The Future of SEO Strategy in 2026

Nat: Keep appraised of new musings from Marc through DBE’s LinkedIn and our Perceptive Marketer newsletter. Is there anything you want to leave us with, Marc?

Marc: Stay tuned as all things SEO and SAIO are moving faster and faster. Are there any tips you would give, Nat?

Nat: I would say to use AI as a member of your content creation team. It shouldn’t be a one-bot show. Yes, it can help in aspects of the process like brainstorming or outlining, but people yearn for authenticity, originality, and connection. So, keeping humans as an integral part of the content creation process (like editing and writing) is crucial for developing higher performing content. Just be sure you keep SEO and SAIO best practices in mind as you craft it! Happy optimizing!

Marc: Happy optimizing indeed!

Nat: It’s been a whirlwind for SEO marketers this year. As we take a look back on some key events in 2024, we’re also going to look forward to the future of SEO strategy in 2025. How can we build on what we learned? How can we make sure we’re not falling behind with so many developments? What are the top things to optimize for in 2025?

Marc: All great questions, Natalie. Let’s lay out the topics we’re going to cover.

Nat: If a specific topic sparks your interest, find them in the timestamps in the description!

GenAI Evolution Continues

Marc: 2024 saw the continued evolution of GenAI platforms into more search-oriented engines.  Of course, we’re talking about the launch of Google’s AI Overviews early in the year, the growth of Perplexity throughout the year, and the launch of ChatGPT’s SearchGPT functionality late in the year. And yet, SEO is still not dead. It’s actually become more entwined with Search AI Optimization.  

We launched Search AI Optimization (SAIO) around a year and a half ago when it had no name in the industry. Now, there are a bunch of names popping up for this initiative: AEO,(Answer Engine Optimization), GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), and AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimization). We still prefer SAIO as it best represents the complementary relationship with SEO. As a reminder, SAIO’s goal is to optimize your website to be cited in GenAI responses. You can do this through organizing your content in the way a GenAI chatbot would cite your answer. You can learn more about SAIO and other definitions in our Free Glossary linked in the description. 

Nat: Yes, we expect 2025 to see more of a combining of traditional search results and GenAI responses. We see this already with SearchGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Bing Copilot. It looks like Edge is going to launch something similar to AI Overviews. That being said, it reinforces how you need to combine SEO and SAIO strategies.

Things to watch in AI

Nat: If you use AI to generate SEO content, be sure to establish company-wide ethics that factor the changing regulations of 2025.

Marc: Some companies are even asking insurance companies about “AI Hallucination Insurance.” This supports the likely expansion of the use of citations to mitigate the risk hallucinations pose. 

The other thing we’re keeping an eye on is when and how GenAI responses include paid ads. Of course, this already exists with Google AI Overviews, but it will be interesting to see how Perplexity and ChatGPT start integrating ads into their free versions.

What’s going to happen with Search Ads?

Nat: You’ve probably heard about the Department of Justice’s proposed final judgement regarding Google’s monopoly status. Their recommendation included selling the Chrome browser.

Marc: We are a long way off on this becoming reality, but it is not too soon to think about how this could impact Google Ads and searches on Google overall.

Technical SEO & SAIO Strategy

Marc: On top of search engine bots, AI bots are also scanning your content, so it is important to make your website as indexable as possible. That includes keeping an eye on your Google Core Web Vitals (including page speed) and adding structured data in 2025.

Nat: It’s also always a good time to check your site on mobile. Slight changes you make during the year may not always translate between screen sizes. View your site on mobile before publishing changes, and do an overall runthrough at least once a quarter.

Social Signal Strategy

Marc: Years ago, we proved the value of leveraging keyword-specific links in social posts as part of an ongoing SEO strategy. This past year, we learned this strategy is also effective with SAIO-optimization of topics.

Optimized YouTube videos and LinkedIn posts will continue to generate visibility in 2025. 

Nat: Putting your blog content on LinkedIn gives it visibility to the social platform and the GenAI bots that cite it. For YouTube, always include a transcript on your video and timestamps in your description. These steps will help search engines feature your content in results and GenAI platforms to use your content in citations.

Since Google’s deal with Reddit in February, Google’s traditional search results continue to feature Reddit in its “Forums” or “Discussion” section of the search results page. If you have a Reddit account for your brand, use relevant, high-impact keywords when posting.

Content SEO Strategy

Nat: Google (and many consumers) have made it clear that 100% AI-generated content is not the best way to represent your brand. In late 2022, Google added the extra “E” for “Experience” in its original E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) content scoring to keep humanity in content. 

Make sure people are in the driver’s seat of your website. AI can’t experience, only people can, so highlighting customer reviews and real human interactions will be increasingly important in the year to come.

Staying Current in 2025 + Free SAIO Guide

Nat: Keeping up with the changing tides of digital marketing is challenging. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter Perceptive Marketer and get a free SAIO guide to get added visibility for your website from GenAI responses. ‘Til next time!

Marc: Happy optimizing!

Date: November 13, 2024

Marc: Hi Natalie, there have been some really interesting data snippets relevant to SEO and SAIO strategy in recent editions of DBE’s Perceptive Marketer newsletter.

Nat: Hi Marc, I’m glad you’re finding value in the posts and I hope our subscribers are too. What items caught your eye?

Marc: First, let’s cover the fact that 92% of SEOs believe their competitors buy links. And then 71.1% of them went on to say they believe it’s possible to rank high on Google solely through quality content, without relying on backlinks. A separate article on how long SEO takes to gain traction. Announcements about new Gen AI search platforms from ChatGPT and Bing. And, finally, the quiz question that asked if the statement “Some 99% of those using AI platforms for search are still using traditional search engines as well” is true or false.

Nat: Ah yes, that first stat about 92% of SEOs believing their competitors buy links came from the State of Link Building 2024.

Marc: Yes, I found that one hard to believe as most SEOers I know think buying links is old-school and black-hat. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Nat: It struck me odd, too. Especially since 67% of those surveyed recognized digital PR as the most effective link-building tactic.

Marc: Interesting point. Any other thoughts on that post before we move on?

Nat: Yes, two actually. First, the survey results did not include any mention of leveraging social media posts for authority signals, which as you know, we have established as a successful tactic.

Marc: Good point. And your second thought?

Nat: Although it was buried at the bottom of the article, it is really important to highlight that 71.1% of SEOs surveyed believe that it is possible to rank high on Google solely through quality content, without relying on backlinks.

Marc: Glad you called that one out. I do think high-quality and helpful content using the E-E-A-T guidelines can generate quick visibility and ranking gains given recent algorithm updates. However, if your product is in a more competitive environment and/or if you are looking to maintain earlier successes, you need to support your content optimization with link and social signals. That reminds me of the next article I wanted to discuss regarding how long does SEO take for brands to see results?

Nat: Yes, that Click Z article specifically asked that question for eCom brands, but we both agree it applies to brands in all industries.

Marc: And while their answer was initially “it depends,” they did a good job describing the arc of SEO success over time.

Nat: Yes, and, long story short, their basic timeframe for starting to see performance indicators of success is 3-6 months.

Marc: Which is exactly what we always tell our clients. Let’s switch to some SAIO-related stories. What did you think about the SearchGPT prototype that is combining their AI models with web citations?

Nat: Honestly, the screenshots they shared look a lot like Perplexity which is already an established AI search engine that includes web citations. I was more excited by Bing testing a new generative search experience that looks like a combination of Gen AI and traditional search results. Here’s an example screenshot from the Search Engine Land article that has the Gen AI response on the left (with some source citations) and the traditional results on the right.

Marc: So it’s actually a SERP that has potential for both SEO and SAIO visibility on the same page and another reason to be leveraging both practices as part of an overarching optimization strategy.

Nat: Speaking of a dual SEO/SAIO strategy, what was your answer to the EMARKETER Daily Quiz we highlighted: True or false? Some 99% of those using AI platforms for search are still using traditional search engines as well.

Marc: I am happy to say I got that one right and the answer is “True.” It makes sense given the errors and hallucinations Gen AI models are still struggling with. That’s why I like what Bing is testing in terms of showing both results on the same page as a form of validation of the AI response. And I think that’s a good note to end on today. Thanks, Nat, for all the great work you do on pulling together our weekly Perceptive Marketer.

Nat: Thanks, but you know it’s a team effort. For those hearing about Perceptive Marketer for the first time, you can subscribe to get more SEO, SAIO, and related digital news insights each week by simply subscribing via digitalbrandexpressions.com and our LinkedIn Newsletter.

Marc: Thanks again, Nat. I look forward to future editions.

Princeton, NJ (July 23, 2024) – Digital Brand Expressions, LLC has launched A Better Paradigm℠ (ABP) an expanding online resource dedicated to promoting positive workplace practices and the resources that help companies cultivate them.

A Better Paradigm showcases professionals, organizations, platforms, tools, news, and information to help businesses improve their cultures for improved talent retention, increased productivity, and higher profits.

“The ‘compassionate workplace movement’ caught my attention two years ago,” said Veronica “Niki” Fielding, CEO of Digital Brand Expressions, the publisher of A Better Paradigm. “There are numerous workshops, coaches, SaaS platforms, AI, books, and more–all designed to improve respect and communication in the workplace. But there was no one place to explore those resources and learn about their effectiveness. ABetterParadigm.com brings it all under one digital roof. And what you see today is just the beginning of a powerhouse initiative.”

ABP is designed to help business leaders and HR professionals in all size organizations as well as employees eager to provide grassroots support for positive change to learn about what’s working in other organizations and how to get the help they need to bring change to their own companies.

“Uncovering the look and feel of ABP has been a journey,” said Natalie Lorenzo, ABP Editor and Chief Designer. “Like the ‘workplace kindness’ movement, we seek to cultivate profitability and humanized work experience. This dual focus is mirrored in our brand design, which marries traditional business iconography with forward-leaning, people-oriented elements. ABP’s goal is to showcase the wisdom of the movement’s movers and shakers within ABP’s digital properties.”

The website’s editorial team curates content and organizes resources focused on implementing impactful change through forward-thinking business practices that prioritize people, planet, and profit.

About A Better Paradigm

A Better Paradigm is a one-stop resource for guidance on forming and sustaining compassion-oriented workplace cultures. The website raises awareness about the benefits of socially and environmentally conscious business models and directs users to trusted sources for developing highly ethical, successful organizations. A Better Paradigm is owned and operated by Digital Brand Expressions, LLC, based in Princeton, NJ.

Visit ABetterParadigm.com to learn more.

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Trademarks and registered trademarks contained herein remain the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact:

Natalie Lorenzo
info@ABetterParadigm.com

Princeton, NJ (July 8, 2024)—Digital Brand Expressions, L.L.C. (DBE) announced the promotion of Natalie Lorenzo to Associate Director, Client Services and Marketing. In addition, Lorenzo has been named Editor of the company’s publishing group.

“Since joining DBE in late 2020, Natalie has made herself a valuable member of our team,” said Veronica Fielding, President and CEO. “In her client-facing role, Natalie brings keen insights to initiatives and ensures optimal outcomes. In her role leading DBE’s own marketing, her strategic direction and creativity have fortified our brand and facilitated new avenues of growth and profit. As editor of our publishing group, she has managed the growth of our existing newsletters and has been instrumental in the development of a soon-to-launch publication.”

About Digital Brand Expressions

DBE is an Omotenashi-driven, digital marketing agency helping organizations maximize their investments in search engine optimization and related services. Through advanced SEO and SAIO project- and retainer-based consulting and program management services, DBE helps large companies maximize advanced SEO and gen AI visibility for ongoing competitive advantage. 

The agency’s reputation for sustained and significant performance improvements coupled with its streamlined workflows and superior client support have made it a sought-after solution for knowledgeable clients.

DBE’s clients include well-known brands in the consumer, B2B, manufacturing, media/publishing, financial services, and life sciences verticals, among others. 

The agency is headquartered in Princeton, NJ. 

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Trademarks and registered trademarks contained herein remain the property of their respective owners.

Media Contacts:

Marc Engelsman
609-688-8558
MEngelsman@DigitalBrandExpressions.com 

Do Good Spotlight: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) 🌠

LLS is the “largest nonprofit dedicated to creating a world without blood cancers.” They’ve invested $1.7 billion in research since 1949. LLS also provides educational resources to patients and patient families and has active advocates to drive policy changes nationwide. Learn more here: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Princeton, NJ (June 27, 2024)—Digital Brand Expressions, L.L.C. (DBE) announced the full roll out of its new service, Search AI Optimization (SAIO). SAIO is a complement to the advanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services the company has provided to large organizations for 23 years.

“We became beta testers of several of the gen AI search engines last year and studied their behaviors and preferences,” said Marc Engelsman, VP of Client Strategies and Analytics. “We’ve been sharing SAIO blog posts, POVs, and infographics as we’ve explored these new platforms and are now providing these services as an integrated component to the advanced SEO we strategize and manage for all our clients.”

SAIO services are provided in tandem with the agency’s SEO services and follow a similar methodology. The ultimate goal of SAIO is to have clients’ websites cited as sources in gen AI chatbot responses. The agency’s strategy team meets with the client’s brand and organic media teams (website, social media marketing, etc.) and learns about the marketing, audiences, and goals. Then, the DBE team audits the client’s digital assets and performance in light of competitors and assesses appearance in gen AI responses for relevant queries. DBE’s experts develop customized strategies and help the client teams implement the changes to the website and social media marketing, consulting as implementation progresses. After the changes are complete, DBE monitors the performance of the SAIO results and makes recommendations for ongoing performance improvements, working in tandem with the client’s web and social teams.

About Digital Brand Expressions

DBE is an Omotenashi-driven, digital marketing agency helping organizations maximize their investments in search engine optimization and related services. Through advanced SEO and SAIO project- and retainer-based consulting and program management services, DBE helps large companies maximize advanced SEO and gen AI visibility for ongoing competitive advantage. 

The agency’s reputation for sustained, significant performance improvements coupled with its streamlined workflows and superior client support have made it a sought-after solution for knowledgeable clients.

DBE’s clients include well-known brands in the consumer, B2B, manufacturing, media/publishing, financial services, and life sciences verticals, among others. 

The agency is headquartered in Princeton, NJ. 

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Trademarks and registered trademarks contained herein remain the property of their respective owners.

Media Contacts:

Natalie Lorenzo
609-688-8558
NLorenzo@DigitalBrandExpressions.com 

Our CEO & President, Veronica Fielding, was featured in an interview from Lynn Lambrecht of The Living Planner highlighting the power of compassionate leadership.

She discusses how cultivating a compassionate work culture — where employees feel valued, empowered, and inspired — is central to a company’s success. Learn how you can apply it in your workplace!