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ποΈ The Latest Updates from Search Engines
It finally happened! Google is feeling the AI search monetization squeeze
βGoogle Searches Are up 12%, Stock Crashed 10% β AI Mode Is to Blameβ
Al Landes / Gadget Review
Google acknowledged that AI Modeβs lower monetization affected Search performance despite growing query volumes. Al reviews the earnings results and Googleβs plans to expand AI Mode ads internationally and introduce multi-turn ads in the US.
It's time to assess which user-generated pages actually belong in Google
βGoogle Warns Tools On User-Generated Spam Guidance & Moreβ
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable
Google has expanded its spam prevention guidance to explicitly cover platforms publishing shared pages, generated content, and web apps. It recommends controlling indexability for content intended only for direct sharing and monitoring Search Console for unusual indexing growth, unrelated queries, and signs of abuse.
Updated insights about ChatGPT usage today!
βOpenAI: Signals individual dataβ
OpenAI
The latest OpenAI Signals data shows that Information seeking now represents 20.2% of ChatGPT messages, close to Writing at 21.4%. Information seeking is also happening outside work: 76% of βSeeking informationβ messages are non-work related. Check out the announcement and download the data.
Differentiated choices for AI training and grounding are coming to Bing
βYour content, your choice: clearer preferences for training and groundingβ
Krishna Madhavan
Microsoft has announced independent AI training and grounding preferences that preserve eligibility for Bing search results. They start taking effect on February 1, 2027, as content is crawled. Using NoArchive or NoCache? Review the migration requirements before March 1, when those tags stop controlling training and grounding.
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βοΈ Sponsor Highlight: Semrush
Semrush AI Visibility Index: 180 million+ prompts and 9 markets
AI visibility diverges sharply across models, industries, and markets. A strategy built for one will underperform in another.
Semrushβs AI Visibility Index now tracks 180 million+ prompts across 22 industries, 4 platforms, and 9 English-speaking markets: US, UK, Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, Singapore, New Zealand, and Pakistan.
Benchmark against the best in multiple markets, then build your targeted strategies that win.
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π Top Read of the Week
AI is saving time, but quality control remains a leading challenge
βThe SEOFOMO State of Technical SEO in the AI Search Era in 2026β
Aleyda Solis / SEOFOMO
The results of the 2026 SEOFOMO Technical SEO Survey are in, with answers from 165 tech SEO specialists sharing how their priorities, workflows and career expectations are changing with AI:
- Technical SEO is getting more priority, but the fundamentals still need defending amid AI hype
- AI search is expanding the work faster than SEO specialists can reliably measure its impact
- Faster analysis still runs into implementation bottlenecks
- More!
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π This week's Top SEO Resources
The scariest SEO shortcut? Skipping expert judgment
βWelcome to the SEO & AI Search Horror Stories 2026 Edition: Real Nightmares with practical escapesβ
Aleyda Solis
An AI-ready site that blocks AI bots? An agent that βfixesβ what already worked? Growing AI visibility with no sign of customers? Iβve put together five familiar SEO and AI search nightmares, with practical escapes to help you avoid them. Share these with anyone who thinks AI makes experienced SEOs optional.
Matching the topic is only part of matching search intent
βHow Google matches pages to search intentβ
Olivier de Segonzac / RESONEO
KScorer picks the meaning of a query, Intent Brain and Orbit pick the format of the answer. Oliver's illustrated breakdown goes through the roles of clicks, language, location, and freshness, with practical implications for assessing whether your content matches the results searchers expect.
Give developers the problem, requirements, and expected outcome
βHow product thinking can make you a better SEOβ
Celeste Gonzalez / Search Engine Land
Celeste shares how working in product has improved the way she scopes SEO recommendations, collaborates with developers, and anticipates future requirements. Learn how to define the user problem, communicate essential constraints, and more.
Smaller teams and keeping up with AI are leading career concerns
βSEOs are more afraid of AI than they were a year agoβ
Nick LeRoy / SEOjobs.com
In Nickβs survey of 279 search professionals, 43.7% say they're more concerned about AI than a year ago. Smaller teams, keeping up with AI, and tougher competition are the most frequently selected fears.
Prioritize technical SEO debt by what it costs the business
βTechnical SEO Debt: How to Measure, Prioritise & Fix Itβ
Kelly-Anne Crean / Sitebulb
Kelly-Anne shares a framework for turning technical SEO backlogs into actionable roadmaps based on commercial impact.
Can your team actually deliver the digital PR strategy youβre pitching?
βAre your digital PR campaigns underdelivering? 5 things you might have missedβ
Fran Johnson / Influence
Fran outlines five questions to ask before launching digital PR campaigns, covering stakeholder expectations, available resources, team preparation, credible expertise, and long-term commitment.
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π€ Latest AI Search Insights
A handy Claude Skill to help you accelerate assessment
βThird-Party Citation Optimization Prioritization in an AI Search Era: A Framework [With Worksheet & Claude Skill]β
Aleyda Solis
Which third-party citation opportunities are worth pursuing? My framework helps you assess citation influence, brand association, marketing alignment, business value, durability, and effort using your own context and evidence. It now includes a Claude skill with the worksheet to support the assessment.
A 6-step framework to analyze log files for AI search
βHow To Analyze Server Logs for AI Searchβ
Zach Chahalis / Moz
Zach explains how to access server logs, identify verified AI bots, and investigate problems preventing them from receiving your content. A practical starting point for checking whether AI crawlers can reach your priority pages and identifying critical technical issues.
Build your AI prompt library from relevant audience questions
βAI Visibility: Find the right queries to track with AlsoAskedβ
Katarina Dahlin / AlsoAsked
Katarina walks through using People Also Ask and Search Console to develop an AI visibility tracking list, with a barefoot footwear example. Learn how to gather questions, classify intent, remove irrelevant queries, and prioritize commercially useful prompts.
What changes when an agent does the comparing and buying?
βThe Impact of AI Agents on the Digital Economy: 34 Hypothesesβ
Malte Landwehr
Malte shares 34 hypotheses about how AI agents could reshape comparison sites, marketplaces, pricing, subscriptions, brands, and jobs.
AI search can influence a sale without getting the last click
β7 Brand marketing methods to better measure AI Search Impactβ
Aleyda Solis
A marketing channel can contribute business value without capturing the conversion. I share 7 approaches from traditional brand marketing to help assess AI searchβs contribution beyond referred traffic and conversions.
Are bots are inflating your GA4 traffic? Here's how to fix it.
ββHow I'm Removing Bot Traffic from GA4ββ
Dana DiTomaso / Analytics Playbook
GA4 can only filter traffic based on IP addresses and hostnames, and the traffic thatβs filtered canβt be redirected to another property. Dana created a bot score instead, to establish bot-detection signals. Learn about these and how she's removing bot traffic using the GPU method.
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βοΈ Special Offer for SEOFOMOers
Amanda & Rand's new book: Zero Click Marketing
The click is dying. Marketing is just getting interesting. Here's the playbook for what comes next.
In their new, research-packed, illustration-filled, anything-but-boring book, Amanda Natividad and Rand Fishkin of SparkToro take on the challenges of marketing in a world without clicks.
From strategic imperatives to platform-by-platform tactical advice, the pair weave in stories, frameworks, and solutions to the hardest problems facing digital marketers in the zero click era.
Still not sure? ββRead the First Chapter for Free here!β
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πΈ SEO & AI Search Jobs
π Free(mium) SEO & AI Search Tools
βSEO Emergency Roomβ
Laura Iancu
Changed a URL? Accidentally noindexed a page? Launched something and now search traffic has gone sideways? Find out what to check before anyone starts panicking.
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ποΈ Upcoming SEO & AI Search Events
βForesight 2027: See whatβs next in Search, Social & AIβ
SE Ranking, Planable, SE Visibile, Wix / Online / Free / December 8, 2026
Join Aleyda Solis, Mordy Oberstein, Kevin Indig, Barry Schwartz, and more to learn next year's strategies and the uncomfortable questions on the table, with fresh data and experts debating them live.
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βSydney SEO Conference 2027β
Prosperity Media / Sydney, Australia / +$328 / March 12, 2027
The 8th edition of Sydney SEO Conference is here! Join Aleyda SolΓs, Natalia Witczyk, Terry Kyle, Jeff Deutsch, and others to gain insights into advanced SEO tactics, digital PR, AI applications, and more.
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π Refer SEOFOMO and Get the Chance to Win
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Refer fellow search marketers to the free SEOFOMO newsletter and each verified new subscriber you bring in gives you one additional eligible entry in The SEOFOMO Global Search Community Giveaway - The Road to 50K Challenge. Learn more and start referring now.
Get your unique SEOFOMO referral link below and see how many referrals you have to participate in the giveaway:
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I hope you've liked today's edition of SEOFOMO. Do you have any comments or feedback? Don't hesitate to let me know over here!β
Until the next edition,
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