Welcome!

FAQs are all the rage…

 Don’t let your website FAQs become an eyebrow-crunching, cringe fest. Follow our tips instead. 🙂

(I know — we’re leaving you hanging. #sorrynotsorry)

• “Your newest competitors aren’t other brands.” Stephanie Trovato from Martech makes the case that AI has created a variety of “synthetic” competitors. The thing is, this isn’t really a new concept. “Search competitors” are the folks that show up in your key result pages and are not your core competitors. We see the list of AI synthetic competitors is larger due to AI’s depth of data research abilities and willingness to cite more obscure websites. One of the solutions put forth in the article to combat synthetic competition is building brand authority (of course!). Another way we approach this with our SAIO strategy is a sharp focus on the keywords/prompts that are most relevant to your target audience and produce content that rises above the AI slop.

• Think with Google offers an SAIO “don’t” checklist: “Good SEO is good GEO.” Thanks to AI, Google saw an all-time high in search queries in Q1 2026. Two of the don’ts we feel are important reminders regarding SEO/SAIO strategy are:
  • Don’t forget your website. Build a great web experience.
  • Don’t get distracted by noisy metrics — focus on your business goals.

• Search Engine Journal offers thoughts on Google’s AI search data reporting. Here’s our summary: Query data is being rolled out in Google Merchant Center — when will it roll out to GSC? Citation page data in Google Search Console (GSC) is a good start, but when we will see AI click data is anyone’s guess. 

• Social media isn’t as social anymore. Recent study findings say over 55% of people are posting less than they did 5 years ago. 51% agree that posting feels like work. The standards for social media content are high to break through the noise. Though the survey was fielded to consumers, we think the results are equally important for brands. Focusing on the “social” aspect instead of just the “media” part of the phrase is critical for success.

• An Optimizely global survey of 2,000 marketing leaders found “many teams are paying a growing ‘revision tax’ as time saved through automation is increasingly replaced by the work required to review, refine and manage AI-generated outputs.” In other words, AI isn’t always a time saver. Other findings worth noting:
  • 25% admit they frequently or always publish AI-generated content they know is not fully on-brand when under deadline pressure.
  • 30% say they frequently or always pass off AI-generated work as their own, human-created, original work.

• A new Google Ads Performance Max feature test is allowing users greater control of spending and excluding inventory from third-party search partners. It’s a pilot, but would be a win to allow some control back to marketers.

For every therapist in the U.S., there are about 340 people in need of mental health support. With such an inundated system, there has to be another more attainable solution. Give an Hour was started by therapists volunteering an hour of their time to support those in need. Now, they work on informing the public with wellness ambassadors and peer-to-peer groups to fill in the gaps. Learn more about them through this video or check out their website.

As I was chasing my frenetic pup who was chasing our outside cat up a tree, I again realized how our emotions get soaked up by those around us.

Years of walking Reya, my German Shephard mutt, has shown me how much more reactive she gets when I show my frustration — this frantic bout proved it for the umpteenth time.

How often does this happen with people? When someone walks in with a pinch in their neck and a sneer on their cheek, it’s easy to soak up.

We can’t be perfect emotional regulators, but we can practice compassionate responses. It might help (or not), but in whatever case, you preserve your peace.

After Reya *let* me catch her, I thought about how to handle her energy in the future, because the only thing anyone can control in those situations is their response.

(Side note: Orange Cat is all good and back pawing our glass door for more food.)

Practice preserving your peace, and I’ll see you next week. 🙂

Natalie

Give an Hour has some insightful resources on mental health topics from the emotional cost of financial fraud to supporting rare disease advocacy.

Howdy y’all,

Welcome to the digital marketing rodeo! 🤠

YouGov’s 2026 U.S. Web Search and AI Report surveyed independent sources and users about how they are using traditional and AI search. (Repeat: these were real people surveyed instead of search engine marketers.) DBE uncovered some interesting data and its implications on SEO and SAIO.

• How Google May ‘Understand’ Unique Content explains how Google’s patented “information gain score” is assigned to a webpage based on how much new information it adds beyond the previous webpages a user has already seen on the same topic. The more new information = the higher the information gain score and chance for gaining search visibility. The article reinforces several ways to differentiate and raise your score including using original data, first-hand experience, interviews, and proprietary awareness. 

• The MLB All-Star game was last week. There was also a report that ChatGPT Ads aren’t going to be the industry all-star Open AI thought they would be. Emarketer projections show ChatGPT will fall 90% short of its $100 billion target for ad revenues by 2030. 

• Conducting a long A/B test on your website won’t trigger SEO penalties, according to John Mueller. Test away, fam!

• Popular belief: Gen Z has a short attention span. Actually no, according to AdWeek. They are just very decisive about where they spend their time. My favorite observation: “Dig the rabbit hole, don’t build the billboard.” Gen Z responds to “in-person” and “low-pressure environments” where they can “follow their curiosities and find community.” Again, it all comes down to authentic connection that can be found outside a curated algorithm.

• Only 12% of designers are “very confident” in pricing their work, according to The Design Pricing Transparency Project survey. The best way to figure out pricing is to talk to others in the industry. That’s what this report does… might be worth checking out if you’re a freelance designer. (Note you have to subscribe to Fast Company see the full report.)

• Do people actually pay attention during podcast ads? 52% skip or tune it out, while 4% stop listening entirely. Yet, 51% of media consumers say they’ve taken action after hearing a podcast/radio/streaming audio ad. This tells me it comes down to the presentation and story. Is the podcaster actually saying the ad? (Lots of people will tune out a different voice.) Does the podcaster sound like they don’t believe in the offer? (Many trust the podcaster but that doesn’t mean the BS detector goes offline completely.)

Wildfires are impacting so many people across the U.S and Canada. Firefighters Without Borders equips firefighters with emergency response training and fire response equipment across Canada and the world. See what they do: Firefighters Without Borders.

Perfectionism itself isn’t a toxic trait.

Like many things in life, the approach makes the difference. Psychotherapist Katherine Morgan Schafler describes the difference between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism in her book, The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control. 

In very simple terms…

• Maladaptive perfectionism measures one’s worth solely through success.
• Adaptive perfectionism finds joy in pursuing purpose, with high levels of discipline, motivation, and resilience.

Schafler also delves into different types of perfectionists and how they can hone their strengths in positive, self-compassionate ways.

A perfectionist yourself? Take her quiz to find out the type of perfectionist you are.

Stay smart, and stay safe everyone!

Natalie

• Molly Williams was the first recorded female and known black firefighter in 1815.
• Benjamin Franklin established the first volunteer firehouse in 1736.
• Firefighting gear can weigh up to 75 lbs!

Check out other interesting firefighter facts here, and thank a firefighter if you have the chance!

Hiya,

Last week, we ran a LinkedIn Poll. Here’s what our VP Marc Engelsman has to say on the outcome:

If Google is AI-first, why is it hiding its own AI Clicks?

• ChatGPT gets more clicks.
• AI clicks aren’t converting.
• Organic clicks are dropping.
• All the above.

If you picked any answer other than “AI Clicks aren’t converting,” you would be tied with our respondents who were evenly split 33% between the other answers. 

What do these results mean? People really don’t know why Google is hiding its AI clicks and any answer or combination of answers is as good as any other. But there appears to be an underlying consensus that Google is hiding its AI clicks to avoid surfacing negative impacts.

• Social SEO reporting… in Google Search Console? Yup, it is finally happening. You’ll be able to add your social media accounts to your GSC  to see how they perform in Google Search and Discover. A win for the SEO and social strategists out there!

• Why AI search makes trust your most important visibility signal reinforces much of what we’ve shared before. So why are we sharing it again? For this concise reminder: trust extends beyond your website. “The difference is that brands must now optimize for visibility across a broader ecosystem. Websites, earned media, reviews, social content, expert mentions, and authoritative third-party references — all of these contribute to how AI systems understand and recommend brands.” Share this with your teams to gain their help in your AI (and SEO) optimization efforts. Teamwork makes the dreamwork, y’all.

• “62% of AI Brand Recommendations Vanish After One Buyer Question” according to a recent study. It showed that a generic prompt leads to a more-detailed, follow-up prompt in which brand citations decline dramatically. That makes sense to us… but we don’t agree with their prescribed remedy of fixing content for the AI platforms individually. Our SAIO answer is to optimize for relevant, long-tail prompts that your content authoritatively addresses. 

• You can now indicate how long sale prices will last through structured data. (Good for keeping our search and AI bot friends up to date on prices!)

• Canonicalization heads up: “after fixing content issues, Google might hold pages in a duplicate cluster for up to two weeks.”

• Here’s a fascinating story about Claude AI that has nothing to do with SAIO — it’s about “J-space.” *insert spacey theme music here* Claude uses its J-space for internal reasoning to mediate the sub-tasks required to answer a prompt. It is actually similar to the way the human brain processes thoughts. Anthropic says this does not mean Claude is exhibiting “consciousness” (at least not yet), but the J-space may be a bridge to that in the future. 

• Looking to crush it on LinkedIn? Remember to post 2-3x a week, lead with important info first, keep posts between 200-300 words, and publish a variety of content types. Also, LinkedIn uses the first line of your post to generate the URL…. make sure your keyword is somewhere in there to ensure an SEO-optimized URL!

Insulin for Life USA collects in-date, unopened supplies from individuals, corporations, and organizations and redistributes them to children and adults in need, free of charge. They work exclusively through licensed healthcare providers in the USA and worldwide.

327 men and 295 women of various ages and backgrounds were asked to rate photos of messy and tidy rooms based on cleanliness.

Participants were ALSO told that a woman (Jennifer) or a man (John) lived there. 

Here’s the kicker: “respondents held higher standards of cleanliness for Jennifer than they did for John. When they were told the tidy room belonged to Jennifer, participants – regardless of gender – judged it less clean and more likely to inspire disapproving reactions from guests than when the same exact room was John’s.”

The woman who is rushing to sweep, scrub, and suck-up every speck of dust and dirt before guests arrive.… Know that she’s got more folks judging her cleanliness than her male counterpart.

If you see her, give her a hand. 

If you are her, take this knowledge with you… ask for help or let some things go (no one will notice if your laundry hamper is sparkling).

You’re doing great 🙂

Natalie

To disprove myths and save you time… cleaning tips.

Hey y’all,

It was hot and stormy out by the Jersey Shore this weekend. Let’s chill out with a cool quick quiz from our very own VP, Marc!

1. Google made many AI-related announcements this year. Which of the following was not one of them?

A. Google now considers itself an AI-first search engine.

B. Google created a new AI-Assistant default channel in GA4 that includes AI Overviews and AI Mode clicks.

C. Google is adding AI Performance data in Google Search Console that will show Query Impressions, Clicks, Click-Through Rate, and Avg. Position for citations.

D. Google AI Mode has an intelligent search box.

2. Speaking of AI Overviews, what is the accuracy rate of its responses?

A. 70%

B. 80%

C. 90%

D. 100%

3. An EMARKETER Chart of the Day shared this question: What is your reaction to brands that clearly use AI-generated content in their marketing? How many respondents said, “It makes me trust the brand less”?

A. 31%

B. 51%

C. 71%

D. 7%

4. Claude and ChatGPT appear to take different approaches in determining citation visibility in answers to prompts. Which of these statements is not true?

A. ChatGPT uses web searches 90% of the time while Claude only uses them 37% of the time.

B. Claude’s fan-out queries often include years (looking for recency/freshness).

C. ChatGPT prefers a flame-out queries approach.

D. Claude’s citations overlapped with ChatGPT’s in only 8% of cases, but Claude’s results overlapped with Google rankings 65% of the time.

5. Extra Credit: Which of the following topics were covered in Natalie’s “Thoughts to Take with You”?

A. The one about… ellipses

B. The one about a mindfulness breathing exercise

C. The one about framing your life as a theater production

D. I forget, was there one about forgetfulness?

• Otterly.AI conducted a Claude Citation Study. Key findings included:
  • Reddit was surprisingly absent from citations, but LinkedIn was found to be the most cited of social citations (49%), even though social citations only accounted for 0.9% overall.
  • Brand sites took the cake for most citations (64%).
  • You don’t need to be a top-10 domain for your industry to be cited. If you create a page that specifically answers a prompt, you could gain AI authority on that.
  • Also: Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 is back with new usage limits and safeguards against malicious purposes. 

• Google ended cache-served AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) in search. Google now routes searchers to the domain’s AMP host page instead of a version served from Google’s AMP cache. Web owners “no longer need AMP cache or to configure signed exchanges to serve your own URL for AMP.”

• You know llms.txt, but have you heard of llms-author.txt? We don’t recommend using it yet as it has not been officially proposed or standardized. Google’s John Mueller confirmed Google doesn’t use it.

• Playing in the YouTube space? How are you handling your long-form vs. short-form content mix? Highlights from Sprout Social’s tips:
  • Shorts are for quick discovery & reach. Use engaging hooks to keep users intrigued. 
  • Long-form videos are for deeper engagement.
  • Treat Shorts and long-form content as an interworking strategy where one feeds into another. Shorts open the loop; long-form closes it.

Geothermal energy. Ever heard of it? It’s about using the heat in the Earth’s core for renewable, sustainable energy. The issues are 1. Creating maps for the best places to access this heat and 2. Supporting funding. Project Innerspace is pushing this effort forward by “facilitating the rapid transfer of resources, technologies, and know-how from the oil and gas industry toward geothermal energy production.”

🎵🌍 Plus, their anthem is a BOP. 🤘

My favorite networking question is:

How did you get to where you are?

Evoked by the question is a story of bold moves, lucky breaks, well-learned mistakes, sage advice, gratitude, and inspiration to fuel your career journey.

Heck, you could ask anyone that question. It not only teaches you, but it helps the storyteller remember their path with pride and reverence.

Let the good (digital marketing) times roll, my friends. ✌️☮️

Natalie

1. Trick question because both b) and c) answers were only partially correct. Google is not reporting Clicks data for AI Overviews and AI Mode in GA4 or GSC.
2. c) According to this story in the NY Times, AI Overviews is accurate about 90% of the time. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? 
3. a) 31% of respondents said they would trust brands less when they saw clear use of AI-generated content. And, yes, 7% said it would make them trust the brand more.
4. c) Flame-out queries are not a thing but the other differences are true according to this story we shared. Still, there are more similarities than differences and DBE’s approach to SAIO is designed to attract all AI Search Engines. 
5. a), b), c), and d) were all topics.

Hiya,

Digital marketing news comin’ your way in 3, 2, 1….

• Google GA4’s AI Assistant default channel is visible (yay!) but there is a catch (aww)… or three (boo).

• • Catch 1: It only captures traffic when it can determine if an AI-assistant is the referrer. No referrer, no capture. A lot of AI traffic gets dropped in the Direct or other channel buckets.
  • Catch 2: Perplexity is not typically included in the AI Assistant default channel because it is tagged as a perplexity.ai referrer.
  • Catch 3: Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode clicks are still invisible, mixed in with the Organic Search channel.
  • Bottom line: GA4’s AI Assistant is under-reporting the real impact of AI platforms traffic to your website. We still need to rely on “homemade” filters for AI traffic data.

• B2B Tech Marketers study reveals the knowledge gaps brands are facing as they look to leverage Generative Engine Optimization (GEO, AEO, SAIO, etc.). The prominent issues include not knowing (1.) the prompts used by their target market; (2.) what content is currently being cited by AI engines; (3.) their competitors’ AI visibility; and (4.) how to build entity authority. Hint: conducting AI audits is the first step to filling those gaps! 

• The June Google Spam Update just finished, and guess what it targeted. (Hold for effect…) It homed in on GenAI response manipulation – particularly from planted mentions from user-generated content (UGC) on trustworthy sites. If your site allows UGC, it may be worth looking into vetting tools with this new rollout.

• Sometimes, I like to imagine what malicious hackers could build if they weren’t focused on hacking. Unfortunately, we don’t live in that reality and must remain scrupulous with digital security. Agentic AI only exaggerates this hacking problem — Google released several best practices to stay safe when using it.

• YouTube video content could be a hot solution for generating AI reach and citations… if your videos are optimized correctly. Can your titles and chapter markers/timestamps be formatted like popular AI prompts? Do your descriptions include enough relevant keywords and links to your site? MultiVision Digital has some top tips and tricks for you!

• Did ya hear? LinkedIn added collaborative posts!

From the Stone Pony to the Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ has a guitar case full of musical history. The Asbury Park Music Foundation provides music education to under-served youth in Monmouth County and supports local musicians through summer concerts that bring the community together. Check out their free concerts if you’re nearby!

*Natalie places the tonearm on the record player, slight scratching ensues before “You’re My Best Friend” by Queen starts playing.*

Supportive friendships can actually be healthy for you.

Talking to and being with your buddy can lower your blood pressure, lower your heart rate, and even help you deem problems to be more manageable.

So, call up your bestie and thank them for being awesome.

See ya on the flipside!

Natalie

The story behind the song if you’re interested!

Did the title draw you in?

I hope so, because that’s my best metaphor for this week’ s batch of digital marketing news.

• LLMs.txt is not about getting discovered by AI. Google’s John Mueller says that LLMs.txt can result in an untrustworthy assessment of a website’s content. Focus on HTML is still key for SEO and SAIO, folks, so make sure it’s efficient and clear!

• 80% of ChatGPT product recommendations change when search is enabled in the ChatGPT settings. While not discussed in this story, we think this dynamic represents the high degree of influence of search visibility on ChatGPT (and other LLMs), reinforcing the complementary strategy of SEO and SAIO. 

• Bing Webmaster Tools has updated query classifications! The AI Performance tab now has intent, topic, citations, and citation shares (clicks still are not yet available). Here’s the Bing Help page on it.

• AI is shifting how brand loyalty is earned. The trick is knowing “the signals AI systems use to evaluate trust and relevance.” CMO of Razorfish, Ryan Warren, states the signals AI use to evaluate brands are “how consistently they deliver, how clearly they communicate value, how well they align with a customer’s expectations across every interaction.” 

• seoClarity has an insightful, free AEO Certification Course. You’ll learn how LLMs work and how to approach content creation/implementation on your website.

• Rand Fishkin and SparkToro released some chin-scratching research on zero-click searches across 6 countries. The US and UK had higher rates of zero-click searches than other European countries included (Germany, Italy, and France). Is this because of the EU’s protective legislation? Maybe. Remember: even though zero-click searches are still helpful places to gain brand visibility, as long as your site is well optimized.

• I may have choked on some water while reading this headline: “Social media is the leading source of news, per Reuters.” Before we write this off as a total #YIKES, let’s overlay the pros and cons. Yes, social media is king at spreading misinformation and users can be manipulated by platform owners/algorithms. But, we are able to connect to stories we may have never seen on news channels or in the morning paper. Information runs wild and free in this era — we must parse through it to maintain our sanity.

Over 4 million young people in the U.S. won’t have a safe place to sleep at least one night this year. Covenant House provides immediate and long-term support for young people facing homelessness and survivors of trafficking. They are open 24/7 and provide help to young people in 34 cities across Canada, Latin America and the United States. Discover more: Covenant House.

I think the mixture of forgetfulness and time are some of the healthiest healers.

They provide space to let go of the grudges and repair the wounds that plague our consciousness.

There’s a reason why (most of us) can’t remember every word of a disagreement verbatim. Forgetfulness and time let us view life through a new lens — one endowed with wisdom to uncover happiness and forgiveness despite the troubles that once weighed us down.

¡Adiós, amigos!

Natalie

If you’re hosting a FIFA watch party or attending trivia night soon, here are some fun facts for your crew!

Heyo!

Digital marketing news waits for no one — let’s get started!

• Anthropic asked the AI industry to hit the brakes – what does that mean for SEO and search marketers? This crazy hard truth was dropped by a company whose IPO is just about to hit the market. The premise of the AI industry halting development after one blog seems too far off to become reality. SEJ article’s “3 Things You Should Do Right Now” section echoes one of our pillars for SEO and SAIO success: “Build your authority on things AI cannot replicate” by leveraging content that demonstrates expertise and lived (i.e., human) experience.

• Google zero-click searches hit 68% in early 2026 — that sounds like a high percentage, but let’s add a little more perspective. The article includes data on zero-click searches from 2020 — pre-AI era — that showed 65% of Google searches ended with zero-clicks (so not that much has changed). The research focuses on the initial search and not follow-up searches in Google. Data on clicks from AI Overviews or AI Mode results are still not being parsed and factored. Finally, we do not know the search intent behind the searches. (Some searches are informational and don’t require a click for more information.) Still, we’re not ignoring the zero-click data and the importance of optimizing content to be referenced in initial answers and for the right keywords and prompts that will drive relevant clicks to your website when someone wants more info and clicks through. 

• A fresh look on how Claude and ChatGPT differ in their approach in retrieving answers to prompts. Some of the findings:
  • Claude only does web searches to find relevant information about 37% of the time compared with about 90% for ChatGPT. Of course, that number varies based on search intent.
  • Claude results overlay with Google rankings at a 64% rate (higher than ChatGPT).
  • Claude’s fan-out queries often include years as a way to discover recency factors.
  • Takeaways we have for consideration: 1. There continues to be a strong link between SEO and traditional search rankings as a necessary ingredient for AI citation success. 2. While the LLMs may differ in their approaches to answering prompts, there are enough similarities to warrant concentrating on a SAIO strategy that covers all vs. trying to game each individually.

• Get this… you can edit the elements of your ChatGPT-generated image in Canva!

• We knew it was coming… Instagram Plus is here with a subscription model. Features include extending visibility of your Stories, Stories insights, and a more custom bio.

• When your likeness can be cloned in seconds through AI, how do we moderate and protect creators and, well, everyone? Some celebrities are trademarking specific phrases and clips. Others are working with GenAI to develop these clones. I think regulations about AI cloning will be making their way across the bend soon.

We know that the mental illness crisis is widespread and needs support. The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation is working to alleviate the suffering caused by mental illness. They have awarded 6,880+ grants to over 5,730 scientists leading breakthroughs in this area. Learn more: Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.

Our President & CEO, Niki, shared a beautiful metaphor on the people in our lives in her latest Niki’s Notes newsletter:

“By framing our lives as theater productions, I saw these people on the stage with me in the story of my life—they were central characters. But in their life story, I wasn’t on the stage. In fact, I didn’t even rate a front-row seat. I was in the back of the theater handing out programs—somewhat useful, but not at all central to the play. 

And in realizing this, I had an “ah ha!” No more hurt feelings, no more misaligned expectations. I could choose to keep handing out programs, ask for a front-row seat or a part on the stage, or I could simply exit the theater. The choice was up to me.”

Some people will come in and out of your life, while some will stick around for the long haul. Don’t forget that you’re the casting director of your own show.

Take a deep breath. Hold it. Then, let it out slowly. You got this, my friends.

Natalie

Niki’s Notes has it all!