International Web Effectiveness Podcast

Being crawlable doesn't mean being indexed. Being indexed doesn't mean staying indexed.

This episode, Bill Hunt and Bill Scully discuss selective indexing: the three-gate model of crawl capacity, crawl demand, and information gain now shaping what search engines and AI platforms are willing to keep processing. They get into why more URLs doesn't mean more visibility, what AI-generated content does to crawl economics, and what international and enterprise sites should do about it.

If a page disappeared tomorrow, would anyone lose anything important? That's the test.

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Hosts: Bill Hunt and Bill Scully

Full show notes: https://internationalwebmastery.com/international-web-effectiveness-podcast/selective-indexing-seo-in-the-age-of-ai-search/

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Shownotes Links

• The New Economics of Web Crawling: A Framework for Selective Content Ingestion — One Year Later: https://www.billhunt.com/the-new-economics-of-web-crawling-a-framework-for-selective-content-ingestion-one-year-later/
• Cloudflare — Sample terms: https://developers.cloudflare.com/bots/reference/sample-terms/

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The blue-links era is officially over. At Google I/O 2026, the message was loud and clear: search is run by agents now, and your website is just raw material. In this episode, Bill Hunt & Bill Scully breaks down the massive global rollout of AI Mode, Gemini 3.5 Flash, and the reality of the 58% drop in traditional publisher traffic.

Discover why your website must transition from a destination into an "API" for machines, and learn Bill’s 5-pillar executive playbook to shift your strategy from basic content marketing to high-impact Visibility Engineering.____________________________________________

Hosts: Bill Hunt and Bill Scully

Full show notes: ⁠https://internationalwebmastery.com/international-web-effectiveness-podcast/google-io-2026-seo-changes-what-you-need-to-know/

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Shownotes Links

• Google's official I/O 2026 announcement hub: https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/ai/google-io-2026-all-our-announcements/
• Sundar Pichai opening keynote recap: https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/sundar-pichai-io-2026/
• Google Search I/O 2026 updates: https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/search-io-2026/
• Bill Hunt at Search Engine Journal: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/author/bill-hunt/
• SEJ on Bill Hunt's Executive Mandate: https://x.com/sejournal/status/1955711956121215479
• Coalition Technologies SEO takeaways: https://coalitiontechnologies.com/blog/google-io-2026-seo Skyfield Digital SEO and GEO takeaways: https://skyfielddigital.com/google-i-o-2026-announcements-what-they-mean-for-seo-and-geo/
• PPC land on unexpected search changes: https://ppc.land/google-i-o-2026-the-search-changes-seos-did-not-expect/
• SimpleTiger on SEO vs. AI search: https://www.simpletiger.com/blog/google-io-2026-seo-and-ai-search
• Neil Patel on I/O 2026 and Marketing Live: https://neilpatel.com/blog/google-io-2026/
• Engadget recap: https://www.engadget.com/2176896/everything-google-announced-io-2026-gemini-omni-spark/
• AdExchanger on the AI search reckoning: https://www.adexchanger.com/publishers/the-ai-search-reckoning-is-dismantling-open-web-traffic-and-publishers-may-never-recover/

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In this episode, Bill Scully and Bill Hunt break down what “digital friction” really looks like and why it quietly costs you customers. From slow pages and confusing navigation to broken login flows and painful checkout experiences, they share real examples of how users get stuck—and why they leave.

More importantly, they walk through simple ways to spot these issues and fix them, so your site actually helps people complete what they came to do.

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Hosts: Bill Hunt and Bill Scully

Full show notes: https://internationalwebmastery.com/international-web-effectiveness-podcast/frustrated-by-friction-why-your-website-is-killing-your-business/

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Shownotes Links

Statsig's article on digital friction

https://www.statsig.com/perspectives/streamlining-digital-experiences-reducing-online-friction

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In Episode 41 of the International Web Effectiveness Podcast, Bill Hunt and Bill Scully discuss how hreflang and geo-targeting behave in an AI-driven search environment.

Using a real-world example, they explain why AI-generated results can surface pages from the wrong country even when international SEO is implemented correctly. The conversation reframes this not as a hreflang issue, but as a shift in how content is selected when AI systems prioritize relevance and validation over location.

The episode closes with practical guidance for international brands navigating localization, content consistency, and visibility as AI increasingly sits between users and websites.

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Hosts: Bill Hunt and Bill Scully

Full show notes: https://internationalwebmastery.com/international-web-effectiveness-podcast/hreflang-ai-era-international-seo/

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Shownotes Links

• Why Global Search Misalignment Is An Engineering Feature And A Business Bug
• Mike King's Query Fan-Out
• Free International Web Mastery GSC Question Report

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In this episode, Bill Scully and Bill Hunt explain why website migrations now affect how AI systems remember your business, which version of your content becomes the source of truth, and why redirects no longer fix everything. They break down how old content can outlive new launches, how AI citations get lost even when rankings recover, and why international websites face added exposure

If you’re still treating website migrations as an SEO-only task, this episode will change how you think about them.

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Hosts: Bill Hunt and Bill Scully

Full show notes: https://internationalwebmastery.com/international-web-effectiveness-podcast/website-migrations-ai-era/

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Free International Web Mastery GSC Question Report:

https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/9fc44b52-5a7a-4fe7-8509-ac49e302c35d

Referenced Work: AI Share Button URL Creator (CiteMET) by Metehan Yesilyurt

https://metehan.ai/

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In this episode of the International Web Effectiveness Podcast, hosts Bill Hunt and Bill Scully discuss critical issues surrounding Google’s indexing processes with Adam Gent from Indexing Insight. They explore why indexing performance management is often overlooked, the significance of understanding crawled previously indexed pages, and the impact of page quality on indexing.

Adam shares insights on the dynamic nature of indexing, the importance of monitoring index rates, and how AI is influencing search eligibility. The conversation emphasizes the need for SEO professionals to take stock of their indexed pages and understand the quality signals that affect their visibility in search results.

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Hosts: Bill Hunt and Bill Scully

Full show notes: https://internationalwebmastery.com/international-web-effectiveness-podcast/google-indexing-with-adam-gent/

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Indexing Insight Links

Tool:

https://indexinginsight.com/

Newsletter:

https://indexinginsight.substack.com/

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In this episode, Bill Scully and Bill Hunt discuss the latest changes shaping how AI and search influence web effectiveness. They talk about Google’s removal of the “num=100” parameter, new findings from Growth Memo and Pew Research on zero-click behavior, and what these shifts mean for data collection, visibility, and user engagement.

The conversation explores how marketers can manage their brand’s AI visibility, measure performance in new ways, and prepare for the next phase of search-driven digital strategy.

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Hosts: Bill Hunt and Bill Scully

Full show notes:

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Referenced Articles & Resources:

►77% of sites lost keyword visibility after Google removed num=100: Data

https://searchengineland.com/google-num100-impact-data-462231

►What Our AI Mode User Behavior Study Reveals about the Future of Search

https://www.growth-memo.com/p/what-our-ai-mode-user-behavior-study

►Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/

►Who Is the GEO Coach?

https://signalandfriction.substack.com/p/who-is-the-geo-coach

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In this episode of the International Web Effectiveness Podcast, hosts Bill Scully and Bill Hunt are joined by guests Nick LeRoy and Jason Kilgore for a candid panel discussion on The AI Easy Button Myth: Shortcut or Setback for SEO?

Building on Nick’s article Dear C-Suite: Stop Betting Your Future on the AI Shortcut, the conversation challenges the belief that AI can instantly replace people and processes in SEO. The group explores what leaders miss when they chase shortcuts, the risks of losing institutional knowledge, and how “race to the bottom” thinking erodes competitive advantage.

Together, they discuss how AI can be a powerful accelerator—but only when paired with human expertise, intuition, and strategic context. The episode also covers how to reframe the CEO conversation, measure AI’s real ROI, and protect long-term value in an era of rapid AI adoption.

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Hosts: Bill Hunt and Bill Scully

Full show notes: https://internationalwebmastery.com/international-web-effectiveness-podcast/ai-easy-button-myth/

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Guests:

⁠Nick LeRoy – Creator of the popular #SEOForLunch newsletter, read by thousands of marketers each week, and founder of SEOJobs.com and PPCJobs.com, two niche job boards serving the digital marketing community.

Jason Kilgore – Associate Director of SEO (Legal Division) at Internet Brands and Managing Member of Contractor Near You, LLC. With nearly 30 years of experience at companies like Dell, Apple, Thomson Reuters, and Internet Brands, Jason brings deep expertise in technology and content strategy. Recently, his team was a finalist in the 2024 Search Engine Land Awards for Best In-House SEO Initiative.

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Referenced Articles & Resources:

Dear C-Suite: Stop Betting Your Future on the AI Shortcut

https://www.seoforlunch.com/p/ai-shortcut

SEO in 2025 is a Team Sport

https://internationalwebmastery.com/international-web-effectiveness-podcast/episode-24-seo-in-2025-is-a-team-sport/

Bill Hunt’s series on Web Effectiveness in Search (Search Engine Journal)

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/author/bill-hunt/

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In this episode, Bill Scully and Bill Hunt dive into how AI is transforming SEO and changing the fundamentals of digital marketing. They explore why understanding user intent, adapting to shifting query dynamics, and taking a multidisciplinary approach are essential for success.

You'll hear how search engines are now applying multi-dimensional filters to assess content value. Bill and Bill explain why your content strategy needs to focus on semantic structure, early involvement in planning, and better collaboration across teams to stay competitive.

Whether you're in SEO, content, or digital strategy, this episode offers practical insights to help you improve indexing and strengthen your web presence in the age of AI.

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Hosts: Bill Hunt and Bill Scully

Full show notes: https://internationalwebmastery.com/international-web-effectiveness-podcast/seo-age-of-ai-future-proof-search-strategies/

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Show notes Links:

The Google Indexing Purge Update

Stop Retrofitting. Start Commissioning: The New Role Of SEO In The Age Of AI

Why SEO’s Fundamentals Still Matter in the Age of AI

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Special Thanks to:

Adam Gent

Koray Tugberk GUBUR

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In this episode, Bill Scully and Bill Hunt break down the choice between a multilingual SEO and multiregional SEO website strategy. Learn how different business models: e-commerce, marketplaces, local partners, or subsidiaries can impact your decision.

You'll learn how to align your website with your global strategy, from language translation and localization to dynamic personalization, compliance, and long-term web operations. They also discuss when a hybrid approach may make sense as your international presence expands.

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Hosts: Bill Hunt and Bill Scully

Full show notes: https://internationalwebmastery.com/international-web-effectiveness-podcast/multinational-vs-multilingual-seo/

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Show notes Links:

Language-Only vs. Country-Specific Websites: The Strategic Decision Framework for Global Expansion

Multinational SEO vs. multilingual SEO: What’s the difference?

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