Rankable

In episode 103, Neeva Co-Founder & CEO, Sridhar Ramaswamy sits down with Mike King to explain the inner workings of search engines fueled by AI technology. Sridhar shares thoughts on SEO in relation to LLM search as well as the recent petition from Elon Musk and others to halt AI development. Mike and Sridhar also discuss the difference in Neeva’s approach to AI and why it may be difficult for others to replicate.

(0:00) Intro

(1:42) How Can Neeva Compete with Google?

(5:53) Will Answer Based Search Replace Traditional Search?

(12:25) How Neeva is leveraging AI to build a better search engine

(17:01) Did Dense Embeddings Change Everything for Information Retrieval?

(19:09) Google’s Techniques for Information Retrieval

(20:45) Neeva’s Difference in Approach to AI - Retrieval Augmented Generation

(24:34) Why is Closed Loop So Difficult?

(28:00) What Place Does SEO Have in the LLM Search Environment

(31:16) Creating a Feedback Loop for Users

(32:40) The Petition to Halt AI Development

(35:35) What is Gist?

(38:15) How Neeva makes your life better

In episode 102, Jeff Coyle of MarketMuse stops by to discuss the past, present, and future of Natural Language Generation (NLG) content for SEO.

Jeff shares his thoughts on how long it might be before we see consistency in the factual accuracy and quality of NLG outputs and how important content quality is within search rankings.

We also chat about how Google can keep up with competitors in the AI space and if their current approach is the right one.

(0:00) Intro

(1:45) The History of NLG for Content Marketing

(16:25) Content Quality

(21:34) Can Google Keep Up?

(30:08) The Present & Future of NLG for Content

(34:45) How Far Away Are We From Reliable NLG Outputs?

(40:15) How to Future Proof Your SEO Strategy & Content

• Breaking Bad
• Sopranos
• Last of Us

• Ahrefs
• Google Search Console
• Hot Jar

• Andy Crestodina
• Adam Goyette
• Eddie Shleyner

In episode 100, iPullRank's Michael Glavac joins the shows to discuss why SEOs should be taking a more specialized approach to their SEO skillset.

Michael gives his thoughts on the importance of being a T-Shaped SEO and the necessary knowledge and expertise you'll need to be a killer Technical SEO.

We also share some opinions on the hardest industries to work in technical SEO and why you should NOT be cutting your SEO budget right now.

(0:00) Intro

(2:07) The Value of T-Shaped SEO

(4:37) The Necessary Skillsets for Technical SEO

(6:29) How to Learn From Building Your Own Stuff

(7:33) How to Take Your Skillset to the Next Level

(9:13) What is Most Important as an SEO?

(12:27) The Morality of Injection

(13:08) What is the Hardest Industry to Work in as a Tech SEO?

(15:51) The Relationship Between SEO and Enterprise Organizations

(17:52) The Unintended Consequences of Replatforming

(19:57) Things Take Time in SEO

(21:36) Slashing Your SEO Budget During A Recession

(23:31) Rapid Fire Rankings

Rank your top anything:

• Snowmobiling

• Painting

• Arches National Park

Rank your best SEO marketing win:

First one was the first time I was able to get a clients key page to out rank their main competitor in the SERPs. Second being from a logistics client where I ran an idea by them about some keywords I had seen popping up in GSC around system integrations and only their main competitor had pages for it so I tested a few to see how they would do and they took off. Started with 4 pages and 6 months of testing but they took off in about 2 months and we turned around another 20 pages within the 6 months.

Rank your top 3 SEO tools:

• Ahrefs

• Google Search Console

• Screaming Frog

Rank your best SEO trick or tactic:

I don't have one tip or trick really but I provided advice to small businesses and my main point to most of them is to keep things simple.

Rank what you love most about SEO as an industry:

I love the uniqueness of SEO.

Rank your best SEO learning resource:

When I started in SEO it was mostly from Moz but more recently it's been following industry leaders on Linkedin.

Rank the top 1-3 SEOs or Marketers that you most look up to:

• Bill Slawski

• Hamlet Bautista

In episode 99, Lily Ug stops by to share some thoughts on how brands can win the SERPs through high quality content strategy and content creation.

Lily gives insights into the importance of topic clusters and creating content with E-E-A-T in mind to drastically improve your results.

We also discuss some opinions on generative AI for SEO content and what steps brands will need to take to compete with AI.

(0:00) Intro

(2:50) Earning Brand Equity on the SERPs

(4:38) Titles & Meta Descriptions

(7:44) How to Create Balance with Topic Clusters

(8:54) The right approach to E-E-A-T

(11:48) Opinions on AI content

(16:15) How Brands Can Fend Off AI Content

(22:06) Rapid Fire Rankings 🔥

Rank your top anything:

• Nature

• Notebooks

• Yogurt Parfait

Rank your best SEO marketing win:

Beat out .gov domains and sites like Korn Ferry for a data keyword. We have less than half their domain authority and basically just aggregated the original data those sites published.

Rank your top 3 SEO tools:

• Keywords Everywhere

• Semrush / Ahrefs

• Google Trends / Glimpse / Exploding Topics

Rank your best SEO trick or tactic:

This is a trick I don't use much anymore, but if you want traffic fast, steal it from sites in your industry with a skewed traffic graph. i.e the majority of their traffic comes from one blog post.

Rank what you love most about SEO as an industry:

It compounds. You're not starting from scratch everyday, you don't need to stress about staying 'on' all the time.

Rank your best SEO learning resource:

Your own site. Build your own site, get skin in the game, nothing will teach you more.

Rank the top 1-3 SEOs or Marketers that you most look up to:

• April Dunford

• Rand Fishkin

• Aleyda Solis

• BONUS: Katelyn Bourgoin

Rank your number one cause/charity that you want to promote:

The Freelance Coalition for Developing Countries. I think Chima Mmeje is building something that the marketing world desperately needs here. It's free training, mentorships, and support for BIPOC marketers. A resource like this would have been life-changing when I was just starting out.

In episode 98, Mark A Preston joins the show to give out some valuable tips and tricks for all of you SEOs hoping to get buy-in from the C-Suite at your organization.

Mark shares thoughts on how you can identify where your SEO team may be able to provide value to other departments within business and what red flags you'll want to avoid.

We also discuss how you can capture quick wins that will make C-level execs smile and open the door for new opportunities.

(1:30) Making a Difference in SEO

(2:53) The Barriers to Entry in SEO

(4:03) Advice for New SEOs

(6:07) The Business of SEO

(8:04) The Larger Perception of SEO

(10:10) Before You Go After the Budget

(12:25) Red Flags to Avoid

(14:07) Identify Where You Can Provide Value

(16:55) How to Get Quick Wins

(19:55) Revisit Your Resources

(22:20) Rapid Fire Rankings 🔥

Rank your top anything:

• Family (they are my why)

• Making a difference

• F1

Rank your best SEO marketing win:

I once had 7 (not No.7 but seven websites) out of the top 10 positions for the term 'Business Opportunities' and all related phrases.

Rank your top 3 SEO tools:

* Ahrefs

* SiteBulb

* Screaming Frog

Rank your best SEO trick or tactic:

The trick is, there is no trick. The tactic is thinking the right way about what you're doing.

Rank what you love most about SEO as an industry:

It has real potential to make real differences to real lives.

Rank your best SEO learning resource:

Just talking to people about scenarios.

Rank the top 1-3 SEOs or Marketers that you most look up to:

I find some really good conversations with people you may not have even heard of online. That's the key.

Rank your number one cause/charity that you want to promote:

I just want people to be more respectful of each other in the industry.

In episode 97, Director of Client Strategy, Shantel Branch, and Office & Special Projects Manager, Neferkara Aaron join Senior Digital Marketing Specialist Aaron Johnson to share stories and thoughts on what it's like navigating corporate America as a Black woman.

Shantel & Neferkara discuss what their approach to things like professionalism and mentorship has been throughout their professional careers.

They also discuss the importance of finding and developing a community and knowing your worth as black professionals.

[0:00) Intro

(2:11) "Professionalism"

(6:51) The Challenge of 'Keeping It Together'

(14:17) The Myth of the 'Angry Black Woman'

(20:58) Pay Equity, Salary Negotiations, & Knowing Your Worth

(29:22) The Importance of Mentors

(41:48) The Experience of Working for a Black-owned Business

In episode 96, Gianluca Fiorelli joins the show to discuss the many ways in which generative AI will impact SEO in the current search environment and going forward.

Gianluca shares thoughts on some of the things Google is currently developing and implementing to help their search product evolve and improve search experience for users.

He also shares insights on how we can efficiently communicate with AI to help drive results in SEO.

(0:00) Intro

(2:11) How Google Is Evolving

(6:51) Use Barnacle SEO to Increase Visibility

(10:10) MUM and the Messy Middle

(16:46) Communicating with AI

(20:12) How Will Google Use Generative AI Technology?

(28:30) Rapid Fire Rankings

Rank your top anything:

• Star Wars

• Lord Of The Rings

Rank your best SEO marketing win:

One of my first clients was a really tiny travel agency. They are still a client of mine after almost 20 years.

Rank your top 3 SEO tools:

• SiteBulb

• Sistrix

• Ahrefs / SEMrush

Rank your best SEO trick or tactic:

Customer surveys.

Rank what you love most about SEO as an industry:

International SEO.

Rank your best SEO learning resource:

Twitter

Rank the top 1-3 SEOs or Marketers that you most look up to:

• Aleyda Solis

• Mike King

• Kevin Indig

Rank your number one cause/charity that you want to promote:

Red Cross

With the announcement of Google's BARD and the explosion of tools like Open AI's ChatGPT, the SEO industry has it's sights hard set on AI generative content and what the impact could be on SEO.

After Google CEO, Sundar Pichai gave the world a glimpse into what Google's been working on with AI technology we took to Twitter to discuss and share some thoughts on what this could mean for SEO going forward.

With the announcement of Google's BARD and the explosion of tools like Open AI's ChatGPT, the SEO industry has it's sights hard set on AI generative content and what the impact could be on SEO.

After Google CEO, Sundar Pichai gave the world a glimpse into what Google's been working on with AI technology we took to Twitter to discuss and share some thoughts on what this could mean for SEO going forward.