Search with Candour

Jack Chambers-Ward recaps the biggest SEO news from June 2026 on Search With Candour.

Jack covers Google’s “Preferred Sources” expanding from Discover into AI Mode and AI Overviews, the new Search Console generative AI performance reporting and contrasts it with Bing Webmaster Tools’ expanded AI visibility reporting.

He also highlights the new ability to connect Google Business Profile to GA4 for richer local reporting and a landmark German court ruling that Google can be held liable for false claims in AI Overviews, treating them as Google’s own content.

Links to news stories

• https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/original-high-quality-content-search/
• https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/a-new-profile-to-help-publishers-and-creators-highlight-their-work-on-search/
• https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/06/gen-ai-performance-reports
• https://blogs.bing.com/search/June-2026/New-AI-Visibility-Insights-in-Bing-Webmaster-Tools-Intents-Topics-Citation-Share-Compare
• https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/16930347
• https://the-decoder.com/landmark-german-ruling-declares-googles-ai-overviews-are-googles-own-words-and-makes-it-liable-for-false-answers/

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:27 Preferred sources expand to AI Mode

05:08 Google adds creator Search Profiles

08:32 GSC AI performance reporting

10:25 Bing AI visibility tools

17:23 Google Business Profile data in GA4

22:34 German court finds Google liable for AI Overview content

31:11 Wrap up

Sean Barber joins Search with Candour to discuss fighting misinformation in the health industry.

Misinformation has been exacerbated with the growth of LLMs and AI, which increasingly cite piecemeal sources in ways that can mislead or endanger users.

Sean and Jack share examples such as incorrect CPR guidance and confusing emergency and non-emergency phone numbers.

Follow Sean:

• Website: https://www.searchwithsean.com/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SearchWithSean
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrbarber/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/searchwithsean.bsky.social

00:00 Fighting misinformation in YMYL industries

01:36 Meet Sean Barber

05:15 Why misinformation spreads so quickly

08:09 AI Overviews causing health risks

11:26 Patience versus accuracy

15:02 Organisation-wide strategies for companies fighting misinformation

21:19 The importance of transparency and reputation

26:28 Defensive vs proactive tactics

29:51 Proving your expertise

34:01 Put experts on camera

37:58 Low-budget video setup

39:51 Authenticity beats big productions

41:10 Why showing your face matters

43:13 How to build trust signals

46:18 AI search and funding

50:03 Bad press is actually bad press

52:59 Always keep a human in the loop

55:11 Recommendations: Sean’s actionable tip

57:41 Recommendations: Sean’s SEO tools

59:38 Recommendations: TV and movies

01:03:54 Episode wrap-up

Léo Poitevin, founder and CEO of Astrak Agency, joins Search with Candour to discuss why your competitors may be recommended in ChatGPT and other AI search tools while you are not.

Topics discussed:

• Why AI search engines are easier to manipulate than Google
• How to identify competitors in AI search
• How to build trust signals for AI search
• How to use listicles and guest posts to rank in AI search
• The risks of self-promotional listicles

Follow Léo:

• Astrak Agency: https://astrak.agency/en/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leo-poitevin/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@leopoitevin

Get your tickets for SearchNorwichXL

Chapters

00:00 Highlights of Léo Poitevin

01:03 Introduction

05:24 Leo’s SEO background

07:14 Are LLMs easier to game than Google?

07:47 Google is good at fighting spam

12:36 AI competitor research

15:16 Competitor research for GEO

19:47 Tracking volatility

25:13 Imperfect data and KPIs for AI search

30:11 A listicle strategy that works for LLMs

33:01 Léo case studies

36:07 The risks of listicles

37:16 Self promotional listicles

38:04 Ranking shifts in ChatGPT

39:06 Listicles penalised by Google

41:48 Testing new limits

43:05 Links versus mentions

46:18 Black Hat vs White Hate SEO

49:15 Influencers and guest posts

52:34 What hurts AI search

56:20 Recommendation: Actionable tip

57:51 Recommendation: Tool

59:57 Recommendation: Cozy games

01:05:14 Where to follow Léo

01:06:44 Episode wrap-up

Host: Jack Chambers-Ward | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlwchambers/ | He/him

In this episode of Search with Candour, I’m joined by Josh Bachynski, CEO at Be Found Everywhere. With over 20 years of experience, Josh shares insights on ethical marketing and why an evidence-based approach to SEO is important for AI search optimisation.

Topics discussed:

• Why AI Mode is the biggest change in search since 1998
• How the ranking factors compare to the traditional 10 blue links
• Why marketers must adapt to AI or get left behind
• Why testing is so important in making strategic decisions
• Google’s definition of consensus and non-commodity content
• How to find trustworthy sources in SEO
• The difference between virtue signalling and truly ethical marketing

Chapters

00:00 Introducing Josh Bachynski

01:16 Introduction

04:15 Why evidence-based SEO is so important

07:05 The new ranking factors for AI search

15:00 Google’s definition of consensus and E-E-A-T

18:18 The ethics of Google’s business model

23:07 Google Ads incentives

27:34 Learn to embrace AI and adapt

36:11 Defining ethical marketing

41:18 Truthful ethical marketing

42:12 Virtue signalling and positivity

43:28 Use AI for good

44:03 Google is not moral

47:55 Adapt or lose jobs

50:37 Evidence-based SEO testing

53:55 Finding trustworthy sources in SEO

59:08 Accountability in communities

01:03:30 Recommendation: Actionable tip

01:08:36 Recommendation: Tools and software

01:14:03 Recommendation: Something fun

01:16:48 Where to follow Josh

01:18:31 Episode wrap-up and upcoming guests

Follow Josh

• Website: https://bfeai.com/ - Use code BEEFY-JOSH-20 for 20% off
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-bachynski/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jbachyns

Watch / Listen on YouTube - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8c8k5Yy8FltVNsIsP1iUCSXDfE5cq2pM&si=xl4cMh_ngcMhrJ0-

Subscribe to Core Updates for weekly SEO news and SEO tips - https://coreupdates.com/

Laura Iancu joins Search with Candour to talk about the growing crossover between SEO and UX and how we should all thinking about “search experience optimisation” (SXO) instead of traditional SEO.

Follow Laura:

Searchpedia: https://searchpedia.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-iancu-seo/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/searchpedia.bsky.social

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@searchpedia

Chapters

00:00 Intro trailer

01:37 Introduction

03:53 Why SXO matters

05:05 Building a common language

09:44 How often to have these conversations

13:17 Sell the value, to get buy-in

17:55 Show, don't tell

25:26 Go beyond best practices

30:27 Take a culture-first approach to research

34:33 The benefits of heatmaps

36:57 UX basics for SEOs

41:41 Designers should stay flexible

42:43 SEO basics for design teams

44:52 AI search shifts

47:30 Testing LLM Visibility

48:44 Laura’s perfect website

51:16 A dream of smarter site search

54:33 Personalisation vs bots

01:00:01 Recommendations: Actionable tip

01:01:47 Recommendations: Tools and software

01:03:49 Recommendations: Books and games

01:10:31 Where to find Laura

01:11:45 Episode wrap-up

Host: Jack Chambers-Ward (he/him)

Vince Nero, BuzzStream’s Director of Content Marketing, joins Search with Candour to discuss whether paying for digital PR is the same as buying links.

Vince shares research on link marketplaces, noting many sites have zero organic traffic and only a tiny fraction qualify as high-quality. With some top-tier paid placements averaging thousands of dollars per link, often rivalling or exceeding monthly digital PR retainers.

Vince and Jack also discuss relevancy vs authority, referral traffic and business impact, the growing value of brand mentions for AI visibility, and how creating owned, original assets and proprietary data can drive long-term coverage.

Follow Vince

• Buzzstream
• Buzzstream podcast
• Follow Vince on LinkedIn
• Vince’s previous episode

Vince's recommendations:

• Actionable tip: Create unique content for digital PR pitches and host that content on your website.
• Recommended tool: Xofu
• Something fun: Mina the Hollower and Widow's Bay

Chapters

00:00 Highlight reel

01:12 Introduction

04:47 Welcome Vince Nero

05:38 Digital PR vs link buying

08:48 Link marketplaces data

12:47 Quality metrics relevancy

17:13 Google risks penalties

21:45 Cost value comparison

32:02 Digital PR long-term wins

36:07 The importance of owned assets

44:00 AI mentions new value

46:51 Linked vs unlinked mentions

48:25 When links don’t matter

49:46 Big brand campaign metrics

50:45 AI as a status signal

52:55 Non-AI agency debate

54:15 Trusting Google guidance

55:17 Search relations vs Google Corp

01:01:00 guidelines vs case studies

01:03:01 Recommendations: Actionable tip

01:04:24 Recommendations: Tool/software

01:05:37 Recommendations: Something fun

01:15:28 Where to find Vince

01:16:28 Episode wrap up and next guests

Host Jack Chambers Ward shares a special episode of Search With Candour highlighting two talks from SearchNorwich 18 ahead of the first SearchNorwichXL conference on 24 September 2026.

🎟️SearchNorwichXL tickets: https://searchnorwich.org/

In the first talk, Crystal Carter (Wix) discusses using AI tools for “actual intelligence” in SEO by emphasizing human experience, real examples, and opinion, noting forum visibility (e.g., Reddit) and practical ways to add EEAT-style signals, primary-source content, and social proof while using tools like transcribers, image enhancers, and NotebookLM.

In the second talk, Martin Splitt (Google) presents “Maybe it isn’t JavaScript,” explaining that many indexing issues blamed on JavaScript are actually caused by blocked resources (e.g., robots.txt blocking APIs), caching/CDN behavior, or incorrect status codes in SPAs, and recommends using Search Console and rendered HTML to diagnose problems.

00:00 Introduction

00:26 Search Nor Excel Preview

01:05 SearchNorwich 18 highlights

01:49 Crystal Carter Intro

04:59 AI Reality In SEO

07:41 Why Humans Still Win

09:54 Experience Signals Matter

15:17 Real Examples And Proof

17:39 Opinions Drive Clicks

20:51 AI Tools For Humans

23:39 NotebookLM Workflow

25:32 Wix Built In AI Tools

27:40 Crystal Wrap Up

28:58 Why JavaScript Gets Blamed

30:55 Use Search Console Rendered HTML

33:04 Missing Content Cats Case Study

35:32 Robots TXT Blocking The API

37:52 Google Rendering Bug Noindex JS

41:24 Phantom Noindex From CDN Cache

47:10 SPA Error Pages Returning 200

50:57 Fixing SPA 404s Properly

51:54 Summary Tools And Q&A

54:42 Wrap up

Jack Chambers-Ward hosts a solo episode to recap the biggest SEO news from May 2026, including Google IO, AI traffic reporting in GA4 and the May 2026 core update.

Links to news stories

• https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/explore-web-generative-ai-search/
• https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7458539598885867520/
• https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide
• https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9164320?hl=en#05132026
• https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/search-io-2026/
• https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/shopping/google-shopping-cart/
• https://status.search.google.com/incidents/wdAXJk6LRRihEjpzEeWE
• https://www.sistrix.com/blog/may-2026-core-update-visibility-analysis-and-data-updates/

Time stamps

00:00 Intro

03:11 Subscriptions and Trusted News

10:25 Reddit in Google Business Profiles

14:12 Google’s guide for AI search optimisation

29:07 GA4 AI Assistant Tracking

33:08 Google I/O recap

33:57 Search Box Reimagined

37:42 Agentic search and UI

40:28 Personal Intelligence

42:57 Google’s Universal Cart

45:17 May 2026 core update

46:58 Wrap up

Chris Green joins Search with Candour to share his study on whether answering Google’s “People Also Ask” (PAA) questions correlates with higher organic rankings.

📖 Read the study in full: https://alsoasked.com/insights/paa-ranking-correlation

Key takeaways

📈Across the top 5 positions, pages that fully answer more PAA questions tend to rank higher.

📊Commercial and transactional queries show the strongest correlations; navigational and informational queries are weaker.

📉Beyond page 1, the correlation drops sharply and can even reverse in lower page 2 positions—likely due to small sample sizes and SERP variability.

Answering PAA questions alone isn’t enough to rank well; technical quality, external signals, and user experience still matter.

✅Covering a wide range of related questions can make content semantically richer, which may support ranking potential.

Follow Chris Green

🔗Website - https://www.chris-green.net/

🔗LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgreenseo/

00:00 Do PAA Boost Rankings

01:21 Show Intro and Context

03:12 Meet Chris Green

04:48 Why PAA Matters Now

06:14 Originality and Value Proxy

12:28 Study Setup and Intent Buckets

16:02 SERP Sampling Top 20

17:48 Scraping Content at Scale

19:28 How Deep to Pull PAA

21:01 Crawl Errors and Bot Blocks

23:38 Cleaning Scrape Data

24:00 Scraping Ethics and Bots

26:09 Study Setup and Scoring

27:29 Key Findings and Correlations

32:48 Why Intent Was Messy

36:43 Full vs Partial Answers

39:37 Client Action Plan

44:57 Beyond PAA Question Mining

47:23 Where to Follow Chris

48:12 Episode Wrap and Teaser

Jack Chambers-Ward gives a recap of his experience at HiveMCR 2026 including all of the talks, panels and events over the two-day event hosted by Charlie Whitworth.

The event included live music, stand up comedy and talks from Jono Alderson, Dawn Anderson, Alex Moss, Sophie Brannon and many more.

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Chapters

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:02:19 - Trendos ad

00:05:08 - Thursday at HiveMCR

00:05:52 - Nikki Halliwell’s talk

00:06:35 - Jess Atkinson’s talk

00:07:09 - Manchester SEO All-stars panel

00:08:10 - Token Honey

00:09:21 - Friday at HiveMCR

00:09:41 - Alex Moss’s talk

00:11:05 - Sophie Brannon’s talk

00:12:20 - Dawn Anderson’s talk

00:13:49 - Jono Alderson’s talk

00:16:19 - AI Search panel - Ben McKay, Nick Handley, Itamar Blauer and Gus Pelogia

00:17:21 - Itamar Blauer’s talk

00:18:22 - Areej AbuAli’s talk

00:20:16 - Brand and digital PR panel - Lisa Paasche, Harry Clarkson-Bennett, Jono Alderson, Shannon McGuirk and Ashley Liddell

00:21:20 - Gus Pelogia’s talk

00:22:22 - Ashley Liddell’s talk

00:23:40 - Gianluca Fiorelli’s talk

00:24:19 - Steve Paine’s talk

00:25:14 - Wrap up panel - Charlie Whitworth, Dawn Anderson, Luke Cope and Ned Poulter

00:27:02 - Live comedy by Katie Lingo

00:27:40 - Live comedy by Rich Wilson

00:29:06 - Live comedy by Jeff Innocent

00:29:49 - Wrap up and outro