E779: How well does AI content rank? 

I sit down with Mike Friedman from The SEO Pub to break down what’s really working in SEO right now - from AI-generated content and brand authority signals to the underrated power of ridiculously long title tags.

We talk about: - Why AI SEO still works (and where it fails) - How brand building beats backlinks in the long run - The truth about press releases and topical authority - Why Google rewards “real” brands - even when they use AI - The strategy behind obnoxiously long titles (and why they rank)

Whether you’re a startup trying to get your first traffic, or a seasoned SEO rethinking your playbook for 2025, this conversation will challenge a lot of assumptions.

⭐️ My guest - Mike Friedman is the seasoned SEO strategist behind The SEO Pub and founder of Clicked Consulting. His SEO journey began in 2003, working on his own sites, and by 2007 he launched The SEO Pub as a no-nonsense source for practical, actionable SEO tactics, guiding everyone from local mom-and-pop shops to enterprise marketing teams with clear, jargon-free advice. Since then, he’s grown Clicked Consulting into a trusted SEO consultancy, helping businesses across industries, from SaaS and e-commerce to healthcare and manufacturing, achieve record growth with simplified, data-driven SEO strategies.

⭐️ The SEO Pub - https://theseopub.com/

⭐️ Clicked Consulting - https://clickedconsulting.com/about/

⭐️ Mike Friedman on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikerfriedman/

💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/

00:00 Introduction to SEO Challenges 01:05 Current Trends in SEO: AI and Optimization 02:17 Effective SEO Strategies for AI 03:33 Press Releases and AI: A Case Study 04:52 Branding and SEO: Best Practices 18:53 Long Page Titles: A New Approach 25:38 Meta Descriptions and Content Structure 30:11 Topical Authority and Content Strategy 46:00 Glossary and Resource Centers with AI 48:11 Understanding Demand Forecasting 48:56 Improving Content for Better Indexing 50:57 Creating Brand-Specific GPTs 52:21 Challenges with AI-Generated Content 56:36 AI Content Success Stories 01:12:06 Link Building Strategies 01:17:13 Outreach and Networking 01:21:11 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/

#searchengineoptimization #seotips #generativeengineoptimization #digitalmarketing