Perry Steward @PerrySteward

Ask AI for the "best" tool in your category. Look at what it cites. Not brand sites. Listicles. "10 Best X." "Top 15 Y, Ranked." The models trust third-party rankings over a company praising itself. So the game isn't your homepage. It's getting into the guides AI already reads

SE Ranking studied 50,032 commercial keywords in Google AI Mode (published Jul 14). 29.45% of responses showed at least one text ad. The CPC split is where it gets interesting. Ads appeared on: 24.33% of sub-$2 CPC queries 32.45% of $2-$10 53.56% of $10+

The first sentence under each heading decides if you get cited. Most posts bury the answer under 3 sentences of context. An AI engine pulls the wrong line or skips it. Flip it: Heading = the question First line = the answer, verbatim-liftable Then context, then detail

Most landing pages give AI nothing clean to quote. The fix is structure, not more words. Five sections that get you cited: - H1 states the outcome, not a slogan - TL;DR near the top (2-3 quotable lines) - Proof with numbers + a named source - H2s phrased as real queries - FAQs

Google is now the #2 most-cited domain in its own AI Mode answers. 8.4x citation growth in ten weeks. 32M+ instances tracked by Profound. Almost all of it from two surfaces: Google Business Profiles and Product Knowledge Panels. For local-intent brands, your GBP wins.

Ahrefs studied 75k brands. Factors that correlate with appearing in AI Overviews: Branded web mentions: 0.664 Branded Anchors: 0.527 Number of site pages: 0.17 Publishing more content ranks last (Oops to AI slop)

Most cited content type in AI answers? Listicles. 21.9%. Your homepage? 5.3%. Wix Studio analysed AI citations by content type. The "best X software" roundups you've been ignoring are where AI builds its recommendation lists. Being on your own site isn't enough.

AI Overviews don’t just reduce clicks. They change when the click happens. Buyers are doing more research inside Google before they visit your site. So fewer clicks can still mean higher intent.That’s the bit most SEO reports miss.

If you haven't looked into query fan-out yet, now's the time. AI doesn't run one search. It runs multiple (across subtopics and sources) then builds one answer. Which means you're not competing for a keyword anymore. You're competing across every angle AI decides matters.

Your brand can be recommended in Google AI and still get no click. That does not mean the mention had no value. It means AI visibility and attribution are drifting apart. madx.digital/learn/your-bra…

AI cites pages that are certified FRESH. Google AIO cites pages published ~1,432 days ago on average. But last updated just 1,067 days ago. Every platform shows the same gap. Publishing and walking away isn't a strategy anymore. Does this seem high or low?

After reviewing 100's of sites. Most common issues: - No structured data - Headings used for styling - Missing meta titles/descriptions - Noindex left on from dev (oops) - 3000px images in 800px containers - Broken links, dead pages - Inconsistent messaging across off-page

AI can help you write better. But 100 articles a month with AI just means 100 forgettable pages competing with everyone else doing the same thing. The brands showing up in AI answers aren't publishing more. They're being mentioned more.

Everyone figuring out what AI search means for their strategy is doing you a favour. Less competition. Same placements. Our clients on average are up +20% Organic Conversions QoQ - how are you performing?

Ahrefs found only 38% of URLs cited in AI answers actually rank in the top 10 for that query. What moves the needle: clear brand entity, repeat mentions across trusted third-party sources, extractable formats. More content won't fix this. Presence will.

Stop tracking just organic positions. SEO asks "Where do we rank?" AI asks "Where are we mentioned, cited & recommended?" Ahrefs: only ~38% of URLs cited by AI come from the SERP top 10. New KPIs: citation frequency, fan-out / subtopic coverage, recommendation share.

Backlinks still matter. But only 38% of URLs cited in AI answers rank in the top 10 for that query. AI recommendations are built from brand mentions, third-party citations, and source coverage - not just link graphs. Start tracking your mention footprint.

You can rank #1 and still not be recommended by AI. These systems use fan‑out queries and stitch evidence from many sources. They prefer brands that recur across third‑party listicles, videos and docs. Ranking helps, but recommendations follow corroborated, brand mentions

You’re not just trying to rank a page. You’re trying to be the brand that keeps showing up wherever your buyers research. If you want to design an AI visibility strategy around mentions, DM me and I’ll walk you through how I’d approach it.

The playbook now: - Protect your technical + on-site SEO - Map the domains AI leans on in your space - Use PR, partnerships, guest posts, and community engagement to earn mentions there

AI doesn’t pick the best website. It picks the most *mentioned* brands - 85% of brand discovery comes from third-party sources (airops.com/research/brand…). Here’s why that changes how you think about SEO. 👇