The SEOFOMO Newsletter​

February 1st, 2026
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Your weekly SEO & AI Search News to Stop the FOMO, read by +41,000 SEOs.
Today's sponsor is Semrush Enterprise. Want to advertise? Ask here.​

The most open-web friendly AI answer engine

​Yahoo introduces Yahoo Scout, a New AI Answer Engine​

Yahoo

Yahoo has launched Yahoo Scout, a beta AI-powered answer engine rolling out across Yahoo Search and other Yahoo products in the US, built on Yahoo’s unique data and user insights, as well as over 30 years of history in search.

Yahoo also announced today that it has partnered with Anthropic to use Claude as Yahoo Scout’s primary foundational AI model.

I've been testing and comparing Yahoo Scout vs ChatGPT and Google AI Mode and it has, hands down, the most “open web” friendly interface compared to ChatGPT or AI Mode… and honestly, the best interface overall:
​

• Across most answers, it features a prominent, highlighted “Read More” button linking directly to the most relevant source behind the answer.
• It includes links to external sites directly within the answers, starting from the very first paragraph, often showing dozens of links to original sources.

​Read more here.​
​
PS: I really hope product managers and designers at Google and OpenAI take note.

I guess we can expect even less traffic from AIO's now

​Google AI Overviews follow up questions jump you directly to AI Mode​

Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land

Google will now jump you directly into AI Mode when you do a follow-up question from AI Overviews within Google Search to make the “transition to a conversation even more seamless”.

Google is integrating Gemini everywhere to win the AI race

​Google Chrome gets new Gemini 3 features, including auto browse​

Parisa Tabriz / Google

Google Chrome launches three new features in Chrome: a new side panel, nano banana, and auto browse.

• Side Panel: A new side panel experience so Gemini in Chrome users can always have a browsing assistant at their side.
• Nano Banana: It allows you to transform images on the fly without needing to download and re-upload images or open another tab.
• Chrome Auto Browse: For AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the U.S., Google is launching Chrome auto browse, an agentic experience that handles multi-step chores on your behalf.

I can't wait for it to be released

​Bing Webmaster Tools is testing a new AI Performance report​

Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land

Bing Webmaster Tools is testing a new AI Performance report, currently in a super-limited beta, showing the number of citations and cited pages, but does not show you clicks.

More AI controls coming soon

​Google may give sites a way to opt out of AI search generative features​

Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land

You may soon be able to tell Google to not use your content for AI Overviews, AI Mode and other search AI features. Google said this is based on the new requirements from UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and any measures must avoid breaking how Google Search works.

• Related: Would you block Google from using your content for AI Overviews and AI Mode if given the chance? Almost 42% wouldn't but 33% would, from a poll ran by Barry Schwartz.

Which brands are winning AI search in 2026 so far?

With the latest update to Semrush’s AI Visibility Index, you can see the brands that have hit the ground running in 2026 and are leading their industries in AI visibility.

Dive into fresh data on who’s winning, the top competitors, and the sources actually moving the needle in AI search. Then use those learnings to refine your own strategy and compete where it counts.

It’s crucial in modern day SEO and information retrieval

​Information Retrieval Part 1: Disambiguation​

Harry Clarkson-Bennett / Leadership in SEO

Disambiguation is the process of resolving ambiguity and uncertainty in data. Learn about its importance in search, and what you should do about it in this comprehensive guide from Harry.

This shows the importance of social media visibility for search

​Social Channel Insights In Search Console: What It Means For Social & Search​

Chelsea Alves / Search Engine Journal

The addition of social performance data in Google Search Console reflects how discovery, trust, and visibility now span search engines and social platforms.

Go beyond the headlines and find the real story yourself

​Digital Sleuthing: How to Find and Decipher Google’s Patents, Leaks, and PR​

Francine Monahan / iPullRank

From patents and leaks to official PR, Google publishes a lot of information that can be hard to decipher. Francine shares some tips on how to read a patent.

How can no-dev SEO help clear your backlog?

​Your SEO backlog is costing you revenue. Here’s why marketing needs to own it.​

Reza Moaiandin / SALT Agency

Many tasks in your SEO to-do list can be checked off by your marketing and content teams, saving time and achieving faster results. Embracing this practice of “no-dev SEO” is the single best way to clear your backlog and improve your performance. Reza explains it all.

Work to improve the actual user experience

​What If User Satisfaction Is The Most Important Factor In SEO?​

Marie Haynes

Marie goes through how DOJ trial disclosures explain Google’s use of AI ranking systems, and why user satisfaction outweighs vector optimization.

Why most SaaS content strategies don’t actually work

​Unlearning Old SEO Content Strategies to Improve Brand Visibility​

Gianluca Fiorelli, Himani Kankaria / Advanced Web Ranking

Himani shares about her journey from consultancy to agency, common content strategy mistakes in tech and SaaS companies, how to guide business leaders on LinkedIn, and much more in this insightful interview with Gianluca.

AIs rarely give the same list of brands or recommendations twice

​New Research: AIs are highly inconsistent when recommending brands or products; marketers should take care when tracking AI visibility​

Rand Fishkin / Sparktoro

Rand shares how measuring your brand’s presence in AI answers with precision is a fool’s errand: "Visibility percentage across dozens to hundreds of prompts run multiple times is a reasonable metric."

Dialogue evolves with every response from the LLM

​AEO: Optimize for the follow-up​

Eli Schwartz / The Future of SEO

When someone interacts with an AI, they are not searching for a “result” but are problem-solving through a dialogue that evolves with every response from the LLM. Eli goes through how to optimize for the follow-up.

Agentic commerce rewards product truth

​How do you compete in Agentic Commerce?​

Kevin Indig / Growth Memo

Kevin explains why agentic commerce filters out marketing-first brands and rewards granular product data.

In Google AI Mode, an image is treated as a scene

​Visual Fan-Out: Make Your Products and Destinations Discoverable in AI Mode​

Andrea Volpini / Wordlift

Visual Fan-Out is the shift from “searching for an image” to “searching through an image.” Learn all about it with Andrea.

Track Brand Mentions Beyond Google

Ahrefs Brand Radar helps you track brand mentions where people actually discover products today — in YouTube videos (titles, descriptions, and transcripts), TikTok content, and Reddit discussions that appear in search results.

See how often your brand is mentioned, which competitors dominate attention, and how visibility changes over time.

Brand Radar combines search demand, mentions, and share of voice into one clear view, so marketing and SEO teams can understand real brand exposure — not just rankings.

If your brand lives in search, video, and communities, Brand Radar makes it measurable.

• ​SEO Specialist at Amsive​
• ​SEO Specialist at Amplifyed ​
• ​SEO Manager at Seer Interactive​
• ​SEO Specialist at Toptal​
• ​Head of Search Strategy at Reboot Online​
• ​Content Marketing Manager at CodeSignal​
• ​Remote SEO/AEO/GEO Manager at IRC Partners​
• ​Senior SEO & GEO/AEO Strategist at Photoroom​

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