The SEOFOMO Newsletter​

May 10, 2026
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Your weekly SEO & AI Search News to Stop the FOMO, read by +44.7K SEOs.
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More AI answers links don’t automatically mean more traffic

This week’s takeaway

Google’s latest AI Mode and AI Overviews updates are encouraging: more inline links, source previews, related exploration paths, and public discussion perspectives are positive moves for publishers, creators, and brands.

But they’re not happening in isolation. Google is also expanding UCP checkout into shopping results, OpenAI is starting to formalize ChatGPT ads, and Bing is explaining how the index is evolving from ranking pages to grounding answers.

The direction is clear: search engines are surfacing more of the web, while also creating more ways to satisfy, monetize, or complete the journey before users reach a site.

Why it matters

The question is no longer only: “Will AI answers link out?”

It’s also: “Which queries, sources, brands, and journeys will still earn the click, and which will be resolved inside the AI/search interface?”

That’s why this week’s AI citation research is useful, but should be read carefully. Many citation factors still overlap with SEO fundamentals: crawlability, rankings, relevance, structure, freshness, citations, and brand trust. The difference is the outcome. These factors can help you rank, get cited, get recommended, or help an AI system complete the answer without sending much traffic back.

What to do

Don’t measure AI Search with one blended visibility or traffic metric.

Separate it into three connected layers: Presence, to understand whether and how your brand appears; Readiness, to diagnose why visibility is strong, weak, or unstable; and Business Impact, to connect AI visibility with observed, proxy, and modelled value without overclaiming attribution.

Track platforms, prompt types, citations, linked citations, recommendations, representation accuracy, and business outcomes separately. Then use the patterns to assess opportunities, their business value and decide what to improve next.

Recommended read of the week

Read Cyrus Shepard’s AI citation ranking factors analysis as a useful reminder that SEO fundamentals still matter, while the search outcomes they influence are becoming more fragmented.

More AI referral traffic to sites?

​Google is releasing new updates to AI Mode and AI Overviews to find relevant websites, deep insights and original content from across the web​

Hema Budaraju / Google

Google new AI Mode & AIO releases include more suggested links to explore related angles, inline links placed next to relevant AI response text, previews of perspectives from public discussions and social platforms, desktop hover previews for linked sites, and highlighted links from users’ news subscriptions.

Google says these changes are designed to surface more relevant websites, original content, firsthand perspectives, and trusted sources across the web; a positive update for publishers, creators, and brands. Looking forward to see the impact.

Are you seeing impressions increases or decreases now?

​Google logging error that prevented Search Console from accurately reporting impressions from May 13, 2025 until April 27, 2026, has been resolved.​

Aleyda Solis

They said: “As a result, you may notice a decrease in impressions in the Search Console Performance report.” John Mueller also clarified to Barry Schwartz that the fix is expected to apply moving forward, but that the data hasn’t been updated retroactively.​

Interestingly, that’s not what I’m seeing when checking impressions and CTR across many sites in Google Search Console since April 27: mostly impression increases, with CTR decreases.​

This doesn't mean you should stop using it though

​Google to no longer support FAQ rich results​

Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land

Google announced that FAQ rich results will no longer appear in Google Search and will drop the FAQ search appearance, rich result report, and support for the FAQ rich results test in June 2026. Google will also remove support for the FAQ rich result in the Search Console API in August 2026.

However, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't use the FAQPage schema markup anymore, as as Gianluca Fiorelli also shared here: "Do not confuse Rich Results with Schema, if schema were irrelevant, Google and Bing wouldn't be doubling down on it in their "AI-first" documentation".

Let's see how this integration evolves and impacts conversion

​Google expands UCP checkout to main search shopping results​

Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land

Earlier this year, Google announced Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a protocol to allow AI-agents to buy directly from search. This went live only in Google’s AI Mode interface in February. But now, it seems to be rolling out in the main Google Search results where there are retailers that support UCP. For example, Wayfair shows a "Buy" button directly in the product knowledge panel allowing to buy from them without having to visit the site.

Another useful AI search resource from the Bing team

​Bing explains the evolving role of the index: From ranking pages to supporting answers​

Krishna Madhavan, Knut Risvik, Meenaz Merchant / Microsoft

Krishna, Knut, and Meenaz go through what traditional search indexing optimizes for, what changes when the goal is grounding AI answers, and what the index must measure differently: “Traditional search asks: which pages should a user visit? Grounding asks: " What information can an AI system responsibly use to construct a response"? An excellent, must-read resource to better understand how search is shifting with AI systems, and how to evolve how we optimize.

The rollout is currently limited and still in beta

​OpenAI Launches Self-Serve Ads Manager for ChatGPT​

Brooke Osmundson / Search Engine Journal

OpenAI officially launches self-serve ChatGPT ads with CPC bidding, conversion tracking, and expanded advertiser access through its new Ads Manager platform. Let's see how this impacts their AI answers experience.

• Related: Advertising in AI: Insights from Real User Behavior by Similarweb​

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G2 no longer fits what Google is prioritizing

​The downfall of G2's SEO has to be studied​

Gaetano DiNardi

G2 programmatic SEO category pages declined by 85% hit by the helpful content update -when Google began prioritizing “hand-crafted” buyer’s guides- and never recovered. Gaetano goes through it in an in-depth analysis.

Ranking no longer equals visibility

​SEO’s new goal in 2026: Recognition, not rankings​

Ashley Liddell / Search Engine Land

Visibility today depends on authority, citations, entity clarity, and brand presence across the broader web — not just SERP position. It’s a fundamental change in mindset and the SEO problem of 2026. Ashley explains what to do in this guide.

The core principle of URLs as semantic signals

​How To Design URL Structures For AI Retrieval, Not Just Rankings​

Sophie Brannon / Search Engine Journal

URL structure has always been an important SEO factor for aligning relevance, but it can now also influence AI retrieval. Sophie explains what does this mean for your URL optimization best practices.

How to approach international SEO strategically

​The Hidden Complexity of International SEO​

Gianluca Fiorelli, Jonathan Moore / Advanced Web Ranking

An insightful interview with Jonathan Moore who goes through what it takes to do international SEO well in the age of LLMs. Learn why localization, business logic, and human wisdom still beat AI in global search.

• Related: How to use Google and LLM insights to improve international SEO by Gianluca Fiorelli​

Evidence-based analysis of 54 experiments, patents, and case studies

​AI Citation Ranking Factors Analysis​

Cyrus Shepard

Cyrus Shepard analyzes 54 AI citation studies, patents, and experiments to identify what most influences AI search citations, showing that many factors still align with strong SEO fundamentals: crawlability, rankings, relevance, structure, freshness, and brand trust.

How can your local business be prominent in Google AI Mode?

​Whitespark’s Guide to Google’s AI Mode for Local Businesses​

Miriam Ellis / Whitespark

Traditional local SEO still matters, but AI Mode adds a new layer that rewards broad authoritative content, strong reputation management, and investment in channels you control. Miriam goes through it in this comprehensive guide.

Learn about the top 10 words added by ChatGPT

​Patterns we see in ChatGPT query fanouts​

Tomek Rudzki

Tomek breaks down what fanouts actually do, why "best of" listicles keep winning, which review sites quietly shape how AI describes your brand, and how to find the exact fanouts firing on your own prompts.

What this means for brands that want AI to find and trust them

​How Does AI Get Its Information? Training Data, RAG, MCPs, and APIs Explained​

Ryan Law / Ahrefs

Ryan explains where AI knowledge actually comes from, and why that matters for how much you should trust any given response.

Brand search is the cleaner signal

​Why brand authority beats topical authority in AI search​

Andrew Holland / Search Engine Land

More content won’t make you an authority. AI search rewards brands with visibility, mentions, and real demand. Andrew goes through how to create assets worth being cited by humans.

• ​SEO Specialist at StudioHawk​
• ​SEO Specialist/Strategist at AdsIntelligence Marketing​
• ​Head of GEO at Lodgify​
• ​SEO Data Analyst at Twinkl​
• ​SEO Specialist at Amplifyed​
• ​Search Associate at ezCater​
• ​SEO Senior Specialist at Tinuiti​
• ​SEO & GEO Manager at Ping Identity​
• ​Sr. SEO & Web Specialist at ClearCaptions​

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