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Your weekly SEO & AI Search News to Stop the FOMO, read by +40.1K SEOs.
Today's sponsor is Profound. Want to advertise? Ask here.β |
π 40,000 Thank yous
Before jumping in today's edition, I want to take a moment to say THANK YOU π
SEOFOMO crossed the 40,000 subscribers milestone earlier this week!
Iβm genuinely blown away by your support, the social shares, the referrals, the news and resources submissions, and the incredible collaboration that SEOFOMOers bring every week; both online as well as in-person since the start of the now global free SEOFOMO meetups... and I couldnβt be more grateful to be on this journey with you.
This milestone is ours, and Iβm excited for the upcoming releases in progress. Letβs keep learning, experimenting, and winning search together. Letβs go! πͺ
PS: I'm very looking forward to celebrate in a couple of weeks with a few of you in the free SEOFOMO x Similarweb London Meetup.β
π₯ This Weekβs Biggest Search Stories
It's not only organic but also paid CTR falling
βGoogle AI Overviews drive 61% drop in organic CTR, 68% in paidβ
Danny Goodwin / Search Engine Land β
βOrganic click-through rates for informational queries featuring Google AI Overviews fell 61% since mid-2024, while paid CTRs on those same queries plunged 68%, according to the latest study by Seer Interactive.
Even on queries without AI Overviews, organic CTRs fell 41%. This suggests users are simply clicking less, everywhere.
My take: It's not only AI Overview's fault, but also the increase of SERP features that is keeping users more and more engaged in Google search results and properties, eg. YouTube.
The first of what I expect to be many GEO trackers shutdowns is here
ββWhy I'm Shutting Down Lorelight (And What It Taught Me About GEO)ββ
βBenjamin Houy
βBenjamin publishes an honest post about why he's shutting down Lorelight: βCustomers were genuinely interested at first. Theyβd sign up, get excited about the insights, and start exploring the data. Then theyβd churn. Not because the tool was bad. Not because the insights were wrong. But because those insights had zero impact on their behavior. They would have done the exact same thing regardless of what the tool told them.β
My take: I think thereβs a market, but for those tools that actually provide actionable insights with a more comprehensive / different angle than the generic: βlet me track your AI mentions" with deeper integration and fuller view of the funnel.
For example, AI search focused platforms like Profound, AirOps, Waikay, Peec AI and a handful of others tools; and of course, those AI search / GEO reports/sections in existing search marketing/SEO platforms like Similarweb, Semrush, Ahrefs, SISTRIX, SE Ranking, that already have a wealth of insights, integration and for which it's yet another channel/platform to target, not the sole focus.
Responses will include βexactly where the information comes from"
βMicrosoft brings AI Search to Copilot with emphasis on citations
βBarry Schwartz / Search Engine Landβ
βMicrosoft has released an upgrade to Copilot, bringing what it calls βthe best of AI Searchβ to its AI engine: Copilot. Microsoft said its Copilot responses βwill now include more prominent, clickable citations and the option to see aggregated sources.β Plus, Microsoft added a new dedicated search experiment within Copilot.
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ποΈ More Updates from Search Engines
A heads up!
βGoogle will deprecate some structured data types starting January 2026β
βJohn Mueller / Google
βStarting in January 2026, Google will be phasing out the practice problem and dataset structured data types in Search Console and its API. The Search Console API will continue to support the practice problem type through January 2026.
Monitor your images crawling and indexing performance
βGoogle PSA: Verify Your Hosted Cloud Provider Host In Search Consoleβ
βBarry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable
βJohn Mueller posted a PSA: βIf you're using a cloud provider to host images/videos / other content, you can and should verify the host in Search Console, so that you're aware of potential issues that affect Google's crawling & indexing, & Safe Browsing. Use a DNS CNAME to the bucket, then verify with DNSβ.
Oh! The irony
βOpenAIβs Sam Altman Raises the Possibility Of Ads On ChatGPTβ
βRoger Montti / Search Engine Journal
βSam Altman denounces pay-to-rank Google-style ads, but later says they'll try a form of advertising at some point.
How long until they're publicly released?
βGoogle AI Mode Starts Rolling Out Agentic Booking In Labsβ
βMatt G. Southern / Search Engine Journal
βGoogleβs AI Mode is starting to roll out agentic booking for restaurants, event tickets, and wellness appointments as a Search Labs experiment in the US.
Apple chose Google after evaluating Anthropic
βReport: Apple To Lean On Google Gemini For Siri Overhaulβ
βMatt G. Southern / Search Engine Journal
βApple has reportedly selected Google to power the next generation of Siri through a partnership neither company plans to publicly acknowledge. Bloomberg reports Apple is targeting spring (iOS 26.4) for the Siri overhaul.
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βοΈ Today's Awesome Sponsor
Get Profound For $99/Month
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π This week's Top SEO Guides
An actionable process for meaningful tech SEO audits
βHow to perform a technical SEO audit [Video]β
βMartin Splitt / Google Search Central
βMartin shares practical tips and steps to take in a technical audit to understand your site's technology, use audit tools effectively, and make sense of complex data to identify hidden opportunities.
To bookmark for your tech SEO audits
βJavaScript Best Practices For SEOββ
βJoe Hall / Cloud22
βJoe has published a handy checklist that outlines the best practices for optimizing JavaScript for SEO organized into four sections to ensure crawlable and renderable pages, optimizing indexing signals, optimizing content discovery & UX and improving page speed and rendering efficiency.
Your ultimate guide to local search success in 2026
βLocal Search Ranking Factorsβ
βDarren Shaw / Whitesparkβ
βDarren invited 47 top local SEO experts to score 180+ factors and answer open-ended questions about what they see driving local search rankings today. A must read for local SEOs and businesses.
A content brief to rule them all
βHow to Write An Optimized Content Brief + Free Templateβ
βAndy Chadwick / Keyword Insightsβ
βAndy has spent 10 years perfecting this content brief, and now you can have it for free. He goes through it with an example and shares a template you can download to start using in your own content projects. β
βββ
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π€ Latest AI Search Insights
Does more AI search mentions mean more AI traffic?
βThe Top Verticals Players AI Search Traffic Trend Trackerββ
βSEOFOMOβ
βIβm tracking the shift in organic search vs AI traffic and mentions across the top sites of 5 key verticals in the US (Retail, Newspapers, Travel, Finance & Real Estate) to better understand AI traffic impact and shift over time vs organic search.
The main highlight so far: AI traffic is still negligible vs organic search. There are also two distinct patterns: Information aggregators (High Mentions, Low Traffic) and Transaction/Brand sites (High Traffic, Low Mentions).
Visibility is the real price
βLLM traffic is shrinking
βKevin Indig / Growth Memoβ
βLLM referral traffic in B2B grew +65.1% since January - but dropped -42.6% since July. Kevin goes through why the LLM traffic is shrinking: βLLM visits are up, which removes seasonality as the dominant cause. The driver of lower referral traffic is ChatGPT, showing fewer citations due to the model routerβ.
Unsurprisingly...
βGoogle Discusses Digital PR Impact On AI Recommendations
βRoger Montti / Search Engine Journalβ
βGoogleβs VP of Product for Google Search: "...if youβre a business and youβre mentioned in top business lists or from a public article that lots of people end up finding, those kinds of things become useful for the AI to find."
ChatGPTβs entity layer is not theoretical; itβs operational.
βThe Hidden Entity Layer of ChatGPT: From Named Entities to Productsβ
βAndrea Volpini / WordLift
βA deep dive into ChatGPTβs hidden semantic layer. By analyzing its SSE streams, Andrea identifies how OpenAIβs web client structures entities, moderates outputs, and connects to a product graph that mirrors Google Shopping feeds.
A must watch interview with MJ
βStaying Grounded in an AI-Driven SEO World
βGianluca Fiorelli, MJ CachΓ³n / Advanced Web Rankingβ
βMJ CachΓ³n shares about key lessons from recent core updates, common migration errors, SEOs role in brand building, and much more in this insightful interview with Gianluca.
Register now, it's free!
βThe Search Matrix: Advanced SEO Training for the Age of AIββ
βSitebulb, Zach Chahalis
βA live 3-part technical SEO x AI training series, delivered by iPullRank's Zach Chahalis. From crawlability and entity mapping to visibility tracking and optimization, discover how to make your sites truly AI-ready. 1 webinar per week, starts Nov 12.
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πΈ SEO Jobs
π Free(mium) SEO Tools
βProfound Index
βProfoundβ
βExplore the top brands leading AI search visibility, powered by 6+ million daily prompts and insights from hundreds of millions of real AI conversations. |
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βGoogle Profile URL Builderββ
βKeytrendsβ
βDid you know that Google has a profile for every major company and public figure? Find your profile now with Keytrends in just 1 minute. |
ποΈ Upcoming SEO Events
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βSearch Central Live Zurichβ
βGoogle Search Central / Zurich, Switzerland / Free / December 9, 2025β
βSearch Central Live is coming back to Zurich! Registrations will be open until November 19, and confirmations will be sent on November 24. |
βBaltic-Nordic SEO Summit 2026β
βBaltic-Nordic SEO Summit / Vilnius, Lithuania / +β¬399 / March 19 - 20, 2026β
βJoin Craig Campbell, Dixon Jones, Koray TuΔberk GΓΌbΓΌr, and more to explore the latest trends shaping search and digital growth. |
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βSearch βn Stuff London Conference 2026β
βSearch βn Stuff / London, UK / +Β£315 / June 26, 2026β
βSearch βn Stuff is open for early bird registrations. Join for SEO insights, networking, and unforgettable moments in an amazing new location and venue. |
πͺ SEOFOMOer Of The Week
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Charlie Whitworth
Charlie is the Founder & Lead Consultant at Whitworth - The Authentic SEO Company and Founder and organiser of HiveMCR, the biggest organic search conference in Manchester.
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With over 15 years of experience, from leading SEO strategy at agencies like Rippleffect, Banc Digital, and TrunkBBI to heading the SEO department at fast-fashion brand Missguided, Charlie has consistently delivered organic growth and ROI for brands of all sizes.
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βFollow Charlie in LinkedIn now.β
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π Read More Digital Marketing News
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π
βCrawling Mondays by Aleydaβ
SEO & AI search conversations, news and trends coverage, and more in video! Watch the latest episode of Crawling Mondays to stay up to date.
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βοΈ Do you want to get featured in SEOFOMO?
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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