Miles McNair

Google Ads Expert - building PPC Mastery. Writing about advanced Google Ads strategies for agencies, freelancers and in-house PPC teams

I want to help you master Google Ads, so you can confidently drive the best results for your clients.

Over the last 7+ years, I’ve worked with 100+ ecom brands and spent >€50M on Google Ads.

I founded PPC Mastery together with Bob Meijer to help you become the best Google Ads Specialists you can possibly be.

I want to help you take your skills to the next level, so you can:

· Stay ahead in our fast-changing industry.
· Consistently drive the best results for your clients.
· Take your career, freelance business, or agency to the next level.

𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐏𝐂 𝐄𝐝𝐠𝐞
🎁 Free gift: subscribe to The PPC Edge Newsletter and get our Google Ads Audit Templates for FREE (€199 value). Get advanced Google Ads strategies in your inbox every Monday & Friday and take your campaigns to the next level.

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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗣𝗖 𝗛𝘂𝗯: 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝘀 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀
We're building world's greatest Google Ads coaching platform and community for experienced Google Ads Specialists. Join now to deeply master Google Ads, and gain total clarity on what it takes to drive results, while learning and growing with 1.700+ like-minded PPC Experts.

(Perfect for Freelance Google Ads Specialists & PPC Agencies)

👉🏾 https://www.ppcmastery.com/hub

𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗧𝘂𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 & 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁
We recently started posting more on YouTube — subscribe for more advanced Google Ads content!

👉🏾 https://www.youtube.com/@ppcmasterycom

𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐬
Need an expert to help you scale your business (Ecom & Lead Gen) to the next level? Send me a DM or email me at info@ppcmastery.com. I'd love to see how we can work together to reach your goals.

That's it - thanks for reading all the way down. I hope I can be of value to you :).

Cheers,
Miles

Co-Founder - Google Ads trainer & coach

After 7 years, our dream has finally come true 😍🇦🇺🐨

Since 2019, my girlfriend and I have been talking about visiting Australia.

At our old agency jobs, we almost went into an exchange program so that we could work for the same agency but in Sydney.

But then COVID hit and all our plans changed.

We both quit our agency job to start freelancing, and I launched PPC Mastery 2 years later.

Since then, we’ve travelled quite a bit, and Australia kept popping up on our dream list… But the timing just wasnt there:

First we bought a house…

Then we got a baby…

But after a while we thought: now’s the time!

Before she has to go to school (5 years old), we have all the time to do what we want. So we can’t waste these years.

That’s why we decided to go for it, and here we are in sunny Melbourne! 🦘

It’s not easy traveling around the world with a 10-month old, but at the same time it’s easier than expected.

The jetlag is tough with a baby, and we aren’t as free to do what we want like in the old baby-less days… 

But it’s so much fun…

Core memories in the making!

So dream big. Then do everything you can to make those dreams come true.

Tomorrow is never promised, so make the most out of it today.

That’s what we’ll do here in Australia — it’s been fantastic already.

PS… we’re going bowling Friday afternoon with a bunch of PPCers in Melbourne. If you wanna join, just leave a comment or DM me so I can send you the details!

Founder of PPC Mastery, The PPC Hub, and The PPC Summit | Advanced Google Ads Training & Community

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What an AWESOME PPC meetup in Melbourne 🇦🇺!!!

Such a fantastic group of people here.

Thanks for co-hosting with me Mike Rhodes 💡 — playing bowls outside in the sun and chatting PPC & life was just great.

Next up: Sydney in Feb (lmk if you wanna come)

Thanks for coming everyone! Rob Sanders Casey Gill Stacey Wacker Paula Glynn Iain Calvert Jimmy Dalgleish Hope Burridge Chris Beechey Francesco Greco

We have started to release Google Ads SOPs in The PPC Hub, super exciting!!

As part of our new Google Ads Scaling OS system, we’re releasing ready-to-use playbooks and SOPs to help our members drive better results, faster.

We already have almost everything covered in our +85-hour curriculum, so we decided it’s not time for another course… 

But it’s time for systems, playbooks, and SOPs to put the frameworks from the courses into action.

First things dropped:

- Playbook: Improve Quality Score
- SOP: write high-converting RSAs
- SOP: craft irresistible offers

(The Quality Score playbook contains multiple SOPs for Ad Relevance, Expected CTR, and Landing Page Experience with a custom script)

And MUCH more is in the making.

For The PPC Hub, 2026 is all about speed of implementation: how can we help our members IMPLEMENT and drive results faster.

All of this is part of a bigger play in our Google Ads Scaling OS.

Just wait till it’s finished — everyone needs this system and can benefit from it.

Ill keep you posted about more developments!

And PS… enrollment has just reopened again :)

Let me know what SOP we should create next!

graphical user interface, text, application, email

I've been going deeper into AI Agents lately and O M G my mind is blown.

This is absolutely the future of Google Ads.

I don't know the exact timeline but I believe that in 18-24 months every specialist will use an army of agents for most of the execution work...

And the competitive edge comes from whoever instructs the agents the best with AI-ready SOPs + knowledge & reference docs.

(Combined with the ability of critical strategic thinking ofc)

It's so much fun and I recommend everyone to dive in, the majority is not using agents yet, so taking action now can really give you a big advantage.

Do you share the same sentiment? What's your stance on AI Agents in general? (I used to think they were overrated but I completely changed my mind)

The future of PPC management:

1 specialist, an army of agents.

It’s crazy how much more you can get down now in much less time.

But it will only work if the agents have a solid operating system with AI-ready SOPs.

That’s what we’re building right now for The PPC Hub and I can’t wait to show you what we already have soon!

It’s absolutely INSANE.

Stay tuned 💪🏾 

PS: I don’t believe in the “AI will take your job” stuff, it’s overused. However, I do believe that we are still very early and the  specialists that act first will have a HUGE advantage (already seeing it with the early adopters).

PS2: in the Age of AI, I think your edge comes from structured knowledge docs and the skill of critical strategic thinking. 

What do you think is edge in an AI-first world?

New year, but one thing hasn’t changed: I still see so many shiny objects online.

“New ways to make money in 2026”

“Use this strategy to blow up your Google Ads results in 2026”

Guys and gals, ain’t nothin’ changed!

Just stick to the fundamentals and you’ll be good this year.

Don’t overcomplicate it :)

People often ask me whether I prefer ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini for Google Ads work. Here's my take:

(I'm not gonna cop out and say "it depends" this time ;)

The thing is... The AI tools change soooo fast.

A few months ago, ChatGPT was my preferred LLM.

Then I tried Claude, and it beat ChatGPT on almost every level.

And then Gemini 3 came out and crushed them both.

But then for some reason, I was using Gemini for a while, and its quality started to drop. 

So I retried Claude. And now I'm in love again haha.

But here's what I do most of the time: I run the same prompt in each of the 3 tools... And then I check which output I like the most and go for that tool (which is mostly Claude right now, but this can change every day).

But there's always AT LEAST 1 golden nugget in ChatGPT or Gemini's response that I didn't get with Claude, so I add it.

But don't get it twisted: I'm a total noob with AI. I just like to F*ck Around & Find Out — and using all 3 tools at the same time is my way of FAFO-ing at the moment.

The true AI maxis might call me crazy.

And other people will say I'm stupid for paying for all tools.

But this works for me, and it might just work for you too.

Do you use all 3 AI tools like me, or am I crazy? Let me know in the comments if there's a better way!

Lately, I've seen a lot of people brag about getting a high ROAS:

- "We hit 700% ROAS!"
- “We helped a client get 12x ROAS!"

Nice results... But what does that actually tell you?

Without context, absolutely nothing.

Unfortunately, too many clients and Google Ads Specialists still think a higher ROAS always equals better results.

A high ROAS may look impressive, but without digging into margins, CAC, and volume...

It doesn’t say much.

You can have a high ROAS, but still be unprofitable.

I created a deep-dive that breaks down by ROAS can be misleading — and 7 metrics to use instead that actually move the needle for real business results.

Grab it here for free: https://lnkd.in/epehhZm4

7 years of Google Ads experience in 12 high-impact lessons:

1. The fundamentals are the key to success.
2. Fundamental does not necessarily mean beginner.
3. Shiny Object Syndrome is your biggest enemy.
4. Looking beyond Google Ads has the biggest impact on results.
5. The future of PPC belongs to T-Shaped Google Ads Specialists.
6. Google Ads can’t scale a broken offer.
7. Striking a balance between consolidation and segmentation is key to success.
8. You MUST set boundaries when working with clients.
9. Conversion tracking is the absolute foundation for success with Google Ads.
10. In the beginning, new features suck. But they always become better.
11. Automation isn’t your enemy, it’s simply a means to an end.
12. I mastered Google Ads faster by specializing early on (in Ecom).

It's too much to explain in this short post — so I created a deep-dive with complete context for every lesson.

Grab it here for free: https://lnkd.in/efyQsDZq

Last note: what's the biggest lesson you learned that had the highest impact on your career as a PPC Expert?

We've been dropping new SOPs in The PPC Hub — and the best part is that they are AI-ready.

We are in the Age of AI, and agentic optimizations can save you a lot of time.

But the problem is that most AI agents SUCK because the input is bad or generic.

So we're building the PPC Mastery Brain, which our members can use to create or enhance their own AI Agents or LLM models.

So far, we have built SOPs for:

- Writing compelling RSAs
- Crafting irresistible offer angles
- Setting up Dynamic Ad Customizers
- Restructuring ad groups (consolidation)
- Setting up Keyword-level Ad Customizers
- Improving all 3 components of Quality Score

And maaaaany more are coming soon.

It's all part of a bigger play that we call the Google Ads Scaling OS.

It's not a course, but an AI-ready system that helps you find the #1 constraint that's stopping you from scaling your Google Ads campaigns — and fix it with playbooks and SOPs.

The PPC Hub 3.0 is gonna be insane with the perfect trifecta of:

- Knowledge (so you know what drives results)
- Skills (so you can actually do what's needed)
- Systems (so you can execute faster)

Combine those things and you'll become a superhuman Google Ads Specialist on steroids 💪🏾 (love this framing by Bob).

It's just fascinating what's possible if you program your AI systems with the right knowledge docs.

Expect big news soon — "build in public" is coming back!

I'm curious... Do you use AI (agents) for your Google Ads optimizations at all, or not?

14 key traits of Elite PPC Experts:

After coaching thousands of Google Ads Specialists in our programs, I realized the top 1% do things differently.

I identified 14 key traits that separates the best from the rest.

Here they are:

1. Takes extreme ownership.
2. Looks beyond platform data.
3. Takes control of landing pages.
4. Knows testing is the way to go.
5. Challenges him/herself all the time.
6. Invests in him/herself to grow.
7. Doesn’t wait, but creates opportunities.
8. Is resourceful (“I don’t know, but I’ll find out”).
9. Is curious and eager to learn.
10. Communicates frequently & proactively.
11. Is obsessed with results & never satisfied.
12. Always thinks “what else can I do?”.
13. Prioritizes deep mastery over shortcuts.
14. Knows going together takes you further.

I created a deep-dive with my thoughts on these traits, so you can work on developing them for yourself.

And in doing so, you become part of the top 1% specialists worldwide.

(Allowing you to get better results, faster, and serve more clients at a higher level)

Check it out here for free: https://lnkd.in/eucqRymg

What do you think is the most important trait of Elite PPC Experts?

Anyone in Melbourne? Mike Rhodes 💡 and I are hosting a PPC meetup on Friday — plan is to go bowling :)

Wanna join? Comment below or send me a DM! Everyone is welcome :)

SEA & SEO for Startups and Scaleups | Founder @ Radyant | External Partner for Enter, ToolSense, Vamo, peers. and 30 more

Radyant is on track to become the #1 organic growth agency in Europe for companies with ambitious growth targets. We use our deep specialization in SEO, AI Search & Content Marketing, as well as our custom-built AI infrastructure to help you extend your team’s capacity, dominate Google, ChatGPT & Co. and drive more pipeline.

Niklas Buschner 🔮

*trigger warning* Here’s my before photo. Not because I’m proud of it, but because I’m tired of founders (including me) sacrificing health for growth. So here’s my challenge for 2026: 100 pushups every single day. Will you join me?

Building a company is a marathon, not a sprint.

But most of us act like we’re 22 with infinite energy. We skip workouts, eat at our desks, tell ourselves we’ll focus on health “after this launch” or “after we hit this milestone.”

I’ve done this for years building Radyant. And honestly, I’m not happy about it.

I quit alcohol 5 years ago. Stopped smoking too. Eat pretty healthy.

But working out? Completely ignored it. And yeah, it’s catching up with me.

_______________


So here’s my very personal challenge: 100 pushups every single day in 2026.

Goal: be able to do 100 pushups in a row by December 31st, 2026 (+ obviously get a good after photo)

Why pushups? Because it’s simple. No gym needed. No equipment. No excuses. Just show up daily.

_______________


I’m doing this publicly because accountability works. And I’m inviting other founders to join me because I know I’m not alone in this.

If you’ve been sacrificing your health for your company, let’s fix that together in 2026.

Comment below if you’re in. Let’s build companies we’re proud of AND health routines that can sustain us through the journey.

PS. Posting this photo isn’t exactly my proudest moment, but that’s kind of the point. If I‘m doing this, I‘m all in.

Niklas Buschner

CEO @ Radyant | AI Search, SEO, Organic Growth | Host @ Masters of Search Podcast | Turn Search into your next growth lever

I‘m looking for exciting guests for my podcast (Masters of Search, focused on SEO/AI Search/Organic Growth). Want to see someone on? Tag them in the comments.

Quick context: I started the podcast last summer and already had some incredible guests on like Malte Landwehr, Margus Veeber, Roberto G., Fabrizio Ballarini, Lucy Hoyle, Sandra Đajic, Irina Maltseva 🇺🇦 and many more.

Want to check out some of the episodes? https://lnkd.in/dQ7WYd7J

It was quite a hustle to get this thing going, but it has proven to be one of the best new growth initiatives ever. Not because of the pipeline it generated, but because of the learnings and the network. But I‘ll talk about that in another post.

I still have two episodes that were recorded 2025 and will be released this week and the next.

At the same time, I already have the first new recordings scheduled. But I know there are far more incredible people out there in this space, than I‘m already aware of. So this is a classic case for community intelligence.

Let‘s see if this works. 😁

Peec AI and Profound are among the most hyped marketing tools with almost $100M raised. But are they also masters at their craft? My colleague Jessica created an insanely insightful breakdown and discovered that a legacy player is still leading the field.

Here are her 6 key insights:

1) Similar overall visibility, different strengths. Peec AI leads on prompts related to agencies or marketing teams. Profound leads on competitor positioning like "alternatives" or "best tool for X."

2) There's a (huge) gap in owned content being used as sources. Profound ranks in the top 20 sources across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AIO, driven by their how-to guides. Peec AI ranks 81, with mainly their homepage being referenced. Clear room to grow here.

3) 40% of prompts show zero visibility for Peec AI. 10 out of 25 prompts, including product visibility in ChatGPT or content optimization. Profound has fewer gaps (32%), but still misses on reporting or technical queries.

4) Earned sources drive visibility for both. Reddit, YouTube, and LinkedIn appear consistently as top sources. Profound shows up more in Reddit discussions. UGC creates reach that owned content alone doesn't achieve.

5) Product features ≠ AI visibility. Both have capabilities that don't surface in AI answers, like Peec AI's Looker Studio integration or Profound's ChatGPT Shopping. Strong product doesn't automatically mean discoverability.

6) Semrush and Ahrefs own the educational space. Their product-led content gets cited where both Peec AI and Profound show zero visibility.

The lesson? Even $100M and innovative products can't shortcut content distribution. Semrush and Ahrefs spent years building educational moats. The new tools have better products but they're playing catch-up on discoverability.

Strong product doesn't automatically mean visibility.

__________________

Now there's 4 things you should do:

1. Check out the Miro board with the full breakdown: https://lnkd.in/dBw4g6pP

2. Check out the video analysis to get the full insights: https://lnkd.in/dDGQTCYh

3. Go follow Jessica and Radyant if you want to see more such content

4. Let me know who you want us to analyze next.

__________________

PS. Curious how your AI visibility compares to your competitors? Let’s talk → https://lnkd.in/ekh6Zxbi

Ethan Smith (CEO @ Graphite) gave the ultimate guide to AEO on Lenny’s podcast, but for me, a lot of questions remained unanswered. So I asked him to come on the Masters of Search Podcast for a deep dive. And he really delivered!

We talked about AEO (obviously), AI content workflows, tooling, attribution, ice cream, Backstreet Boys vs NSYNC, and so much more.

Here are some of my favorite insights:

1) Why AI-generated content actually works (but only under one specific condition most people are missing)

2) If prompt volume is reliable and under which circumstances

3) Why video will overtake Reddit as the most important source for AI citations

4) Why attribution is a nightmare in AEO and Ethan's practical solution for tracking impact

5) Why seed-stage companies should invest in AEO but skip SEO

6) Why and how to approach help center optimization

If any of that feels at least somehow relevant to you, this should be an hour really worth your time.

Check out the full episode on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/dmGcMeTS

_______________

And for the unlikely case that you do not know Ethan or Graphite, here's some quick context:

Graphite is nothing like your typical agency. While most agencies sell slides and strategic decks, Graphite builds things. While others work on hundred-item SEO audits, they obsess over the 5% of work that actually drives results.

They've proven this approach in SEO with companies like Rippling, Webflow, Notion, and Upwork, and now they're applying the same ruthless focus to AI search.

Ethan has led Graphite to the absolute forefront of Answer Engine Optimization, one of the largest new marketing channels we've seen in over a decade.

The "SEO is dying" narrative is based on flawed anecdotal evidence. Ethan Smith analyzed actual traffic data from 40k sites and gave me early access to his findings. The gap between perception and reality is massive.

The prevailing narrative: SEO traffic has dropped -25% to -50%. AI search is killing Google. Click-through rates are collapsing. Organic is dead. The actual data tells a completely different story.

Ethan analyzed traffic from the top 40,000 sites using Similarweb. This is actual traffic going to publishers, not self-reported surveys or anecdotal evidence.

Here's what the data actually shows:

→ The Myth: SEO traffic dropped -25%
→ The Reality: SEO traffic is down -2.5%

That's not a typo. The actual decline from 21.2B monthly visits (2024) to 20.6B (2025) is -2.5%. Not -25%. Not -50%. The gap between what consulting firms are reporting and what's actually happening is 10x.

→ The Myth: People stopped using search and switched to LLMs
→ The Reality: Search usage is flat over 6 years

There's no downward trend. Search isn't declining. Usage has remained stable. People didn't suddenly stop searching when ChatGPT launched.

What changed is how results are presented, not whether people search.

→ The Myth: AI Overviews killed organic click-through rates
→ The Reality: AI Overviews appear ~30% of the time and primarily for low-intent queries

Yes, when AI Overviews appear, CTR drops -35%. But they only show up 30% of the time. And mostly for informational queries with lower commercial intent.
This explains the -2.5% decline. But it's not the apocalypse scenario everyone's selling.

→ The Myth: Google is stealing clicks for ads
→ The Reality: Paid traffic is 10% vs 90% organic

Organic search drives 90% of Google traffic. Paid is 10%. There's minimal year-over-year change in this split. The "Google is killing organic for ads" narrative doesn't match the data.

Where the myths come from:

1) Consulting agencies publishing studies based on self-reported surveys. Humans are terrible at quantifying past behavior.

2) AEO startups who need to prove disruption for higher valuations and bigger contracts. AI is disrupting search, but that doesn't mean search volume decreased.

3) People conflating "fewer clicks on simple queries" with "search is dying." Different behavior, not less behavior.

The strategic implication:

If you're a founder or marketing leader making budget decisions based on flawed reports, you're optimizing for the wrong reality.

Organic search isn't dying. It's evolving. The opportunity is still massive. But only if you're not paralyzed by myths.

What's your take on this data?

Building #1 Organic Growth Agency in Europe @ Radyant | AI Search, SEO, Organic Growth | Host @ Masters of Search Podcast | Turn Search into your next growth lever

If I were VP Marketing at a €30M+ ARR SaaS… Oh wait, I know someone who actually is. Joining me on the latest episode of the #MastersOfSearch is Volodymyr Korol, VP of Marketing at Lodgify.

Check out the full episode on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/dK3f2fhV

Lodgify is a €30M+ ARR vacation rental management platform that empowers thousands of independent hosts to compete against Airbnb through direct bookings. And over the years they have built a significant SEO and organic footprint contributing that growth.

Volodymyr joined in 2024 to restructure the entire 30+ person marketing organization across eight functions to drive sustainable ARR growth.

I was curious to learn more about how he leads such a big marketing org, how we thinks about SEO fitting into the bigger picture, and where he sees organic growth, SEO, and AI Search heading.

This episode is packed with insights and practicable advice for marketing leaders. Let me know how you like it!

Is this the nail in the coffin for OpenAI? I never understood why people thought Google was fundamentally behind in the AI race. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Full statement: https://lnkd.in/dDtW2FHU

graphical user interface, text, application

This is the best team I've ever worked with in my career. And we were very cautious with hiring in 2025 (only 2 people joined) to not dilute this collective genius. But now we're hiring again for a Senior Organic Growth Strategist (🇩🇪).

We need someone with a performance-first mindset that looks for a super agile environment with a steep learning curve.

Someone who naturally connects organic strategy to the entire funnel, from tracking and CRM integration to lead quality and revenue.

What makes this role different?

1) Full ownership for your accounts: You are a Senior who takes the lead. No micro management, just trust and the space to execute.

2) Full-funnel perspective: You understand that SEO/AEO is a growth lever, not an island. You bridge the gap between high-intent search and the sales pipeline.

3) Strategic depth: You’ll use sales recordings and customer insights to uncover the opportunities that traditional keyword tools miss.

Check out the full job spec here: https://lnkd.in/dTeDnWZU

If you know someone who might be a fit, please share this post with them or tag them in the comments!

I got exclusive pre-launch access to the State of Search Q4 2025 report from Datos, A Semrush Company and SparkToro. The findings might be quite a surprise for you.

Quick note: If you want to get the full report as soon as it drops, sign up for their newsletter here → https://lnkd.in/e3bhvtxp

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Here's what I found most interesting:

1) Traditional search is growing YoY in the US, EU and UK (yes, you read that correctly)

2) AI search tool usage is growing, but remains at very small absolute levels: 1.54% vs >10% for traditional search

3) Google still holds >90% market share within traditional search engines (panel with Bing, Yahoo, Baidu and Duckduckgo)

4) AI Mode is still pretty small in absolute numbers but growing strongly across the US, EU and UK (Google will probably push it even more with clicks on AI Overviews leading directly into AI Mode)

5) ChatGPT is still the leading AI Search interface but Gemini has 3x'ed YoY

___________________

Here are my comments:

1) A few months ago I predicted Google would maintain market dominance if they improved AI Overviews and pushed AI Mode rollout. This data validates that thesis.

2) The "Google vs AI search engines" framing is fundamentally wrong. Google isn't the same company from 10 years ago. They're also an AI search engine now.

3) The real shift is that search fundamentally changes across ALL interfaces. This means most advice beyond the surface-level "SEO is dead" or "Google is dead" is actually right. You DO need to understand how AI search engines work. You DO need to adapt for this new reality.

___________________

Would you have expected that?

PS. Only caveat of the report: It's desktop data only.

I did a little experiment today to check wether I could quickly rank my LinkedIn post for a keyword that Semrush calls "a competitive keyword to rank for. You will need well-structured and unique content." Turns out: Nothing easier than that!

Let's see if the post can actually stay there, or even become part of the citation set for AI Overviews.

I feel like it opens up a lot of opportunities to drive additional discovery of your social content, but at the same time people will (as they always do) spam the hell out of it.

Here's my post from this morning for reference: https://lnkd.in/dMZEffcm

What are your thoughts on that?

Is optimizing content for AI search different from SEO? After 5+ years of doing what AEO experts now sell as "new tactics," here's my take: you shouldn't optimize for either.

The AEO tool industry is repackaging basic UX principles as "AI optimization hacks." Content chunking, prompt-style writing, citation optimization tactics. These might work short-term.

But eventually, you need to align with what platforms actually want: serving users the best, most relevant answer to their query. If that's your north star, you sleep better than constantly chasing the next optimization hack.

____________

What AEO experts recommend:
→ Structure content in "chunkable" sections
→ Write in prompt-style format
→ Optimize for citation extraction
→ Add schema markup for AI readability
→ Create separate "AI-optimized" content versions

What we've been doing for 5+ years:
→ Make your product native to the answer itself
→ Put the actual solution first (focus on intent)
→ Write headings as questions users actually ask
→ Add key takeaways upfront for people who don't have time
→ Integrate your specific approach as the default recommendation

____________

This doesn't come from reading an AEO optimization guide. It comes from asking: What's the user's intent, and how do I serve it best?

We added question-based headings 5 years ago because we knew users had specific questions in mind and wanted to address them in the most straightforward way. We added key takeaways because users don't have time to read everything.

These "tactics" work in AI search because they worked for users first.
The platforms will catch up. Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity - they all want the same thing: serve the most helpful, most relevant content. If you optimize for that instead of trying to game the system, you're building something sustainable.

What's your take on this?

____________

Quick note: This is my honest opinion based on what we've learned. But it's also a test. Will this post show up on Google for queries like "Is optimizing content for AI search different from SEO?"

Is SEO still worth it in 2026? Here are my 8 predictions on the future of search that I'm usually keeping behind a paywall. 😁

________

Prediction 1) People will search MORE, not less

My colleague just planned her entire Paris weekend with ChatGPT. Before AI, she would have just asked friends.

Now? ChatGPT acted as her personal vacation planning assistant. Perfect opportunity for GetYourGuide, TripAdvisor, and local businesses.

________

Prediction 2) "What is" pages will become stranded assets

Your glossary pages are about to become worthless. LLMs can explain concepts better than your generic definitions.

Nobody's clicking through to read "What is conversion rate optimization?" anymore. They'll get an immediate answer from AI Overviews, Claude or ChatGPT.

________

Prediction 3) Queries get hyper-personalized

People are asking way more complex questions now, like "Best landing page tool with lead submission via webhook or zapier integration"

To show up for these, you need deep customer understanding. Surface-level content won't cut it.

________

Prediction 4) Buying journey information becomes critical

I searched for dog-friendly Asian restaurants in Berlin recently. Most places had zero information about pets on their sites.

Claude recommended a non-Asian restaurant instead. Why? They clearly stated they welcome dogs. Complete information wins the recommendation.

________

Prediction 5) Clicks and impressions will both be vanity metrics

Some SEOs are saying impressions are the new KPI because clicks will vanish. Others are clinging to clicks as the holy grail. Both are wrong.

You need to show business impact in terms of leads and revenue. With the right strategy, you might see fewer clicks because research happens on AI platforms. But those clicks will convert better.

________

Prediction 6) Reverse engineering remains a superpower

AI visibility tools are showing us exactly what the AI chatbots us to ground their responses (aka citations).

Learning to reverse engineer your content strategy from these insights will be your best bet for showing up in AI results.

________

Prediction 7) Homepage traffic becomes crucial again

New customer journey: Multiple AI conversations → Brand gets recommended (thanks to your owned content) → User searches your brand → Lands on homepage.

Your homepage is becoming the primary landing page again. But only if your content strategy enables that brand discovery first.

________

Prediction 8) Self- and Sales-reported attribution becomes essential

GA4 will show more "direct" traffic. But you'll lose visibility into what actually influenced your customers.

Start asking your customers: "What made you choose us?" You need to know what's driving decisions.

________

Bottom line?

SEO has never been more alive.

While others are still debating if SEO has a future, let’s talk to see how we can help you win in the new reality with our Organic Growth playbook.

Here's the exact breakdown of how we 5x’ed leads for a bootstrapped PropTech from SEO & AI Search, while their traffic dropped 70% at one point, by focusing on expert-led content, high-value lead magnets and interactive mini-tools.

Planeco Building came to us with a classic scaling problem.

They're a one-stop shop for building permits in Germany. Complex regulatory knowledge. High-stakes decisions for customers. The kind of business where content quality isn't optional.

One of their co-founders was creating all the content in-house. It was good. Legally sound. But they couldn't scale.

Most agencies would've said: "Let's pump out more content, chase more keywords, get more traffic."

We did the opposite.

_____________________

Here's the 3-part system we built with them:

1) Expert-led content at scale

We designed an interview process where we extract expertise directly from their team through 30-minute conversations. Real insights on German building regulations, practical implementation, legal nuances.

We turn those expert brain dumps into content that ranks and converts. The time investment from their side? 10x less than before.

2) High-value lead magnets

We built resources that deliver genuine value before someone becomes a customer. Comprehensive guides that help prospects understand whether they even need building permits, what the process looks like, what to prepare.

The result? Super qualified leads who already trust Planeco before the first sales conversation.

3) Interactive mini-tools

We created calculators and assessment tools that prospects actually use. Users get instant answers to questions like whether they even need a building permit, get immediate value, and show up more informed when talking to sales.

This makes sales conversations 10x more efficient. No more generic discovery calls.

_____________________

Results:

→ Leads grew 5x from the baseline month
→ Organic clicks dropped 70% at the lowest point
→ Lead quality dramatically improved
→ Sales team saves hours with pre-qualified prospects

_____________________

Here's what this proves:

- In the AI search era, traffic is a vanity metric
- Even if traffic is down, you can still grow strongly
- Fewer people click because AI answers get better
- The people who click are significantly more qualified
- But only if you have the right content and infrastructure

Planeco understood this from day one. That's why it worked.

_____________________

PS. Full case study breakdown on our website if you want all the details: https://lnkd.in/dVC8kVzp

Alex convinced me to sign up for either the best or the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. I will join Ride25 Ltd for Leg 5 in October (Rome–Bari) with a total of 654km and 8,196m in climbing.

Quick backstory: I got into cycling thanks to my wife and my father-in-law. Bought my first road bike in 2017. Been riding it for 100km+ rounds in Berlin and surroundings and even did a couple of tours in Tuscany most summers since.

But no tour I’ve ever done comes even close to the Ride25 challenge.

The reason I still signed up is that I felt I needed this challenge.

I finally understood this part of my personality. I need a huge and overwhelming goal that feels completely out of reach at first but that challenges me intellectually (and here obviously physically) to level up.

It’s the same way I run my agency (Radyant). When I decided to transition from freelancer to agency in 2019 no one needed another SEO agency. But I still felt that there was an opportunity to provide something better than most agencies at the time. Objectively I didn’t make sense but the pattern is always the same: commit first, figure it out later, level up in the process.

Another reason is the cause. As a dad myself my heart breaks that so many kids don’t have the same opportunities in life that my daughter has. Supporting an organization like 1moreChild makes me want to spread the word about this even more. They’re a charity dedicated to providing opportunities to vulnerable children in Uganda.

Obviously I have to train a lot to be able to survive this but I know already that it will be worth it. For the challenge, for my health, for the connections, and for the cause.

I’ll document the training journey and share updates along the way.

If you want to join the ride, check out ride25(.)com or reach out to Rob Hamilton.

Now this is what I call useful AI! Today, I went for lunch while Claude (for Chrome) prepped a new case study for me. Directly in our website backend. Fully automated.

The result was done after 15 min of final quality check. Obviously I invested a substantial amount of time in the input. But this really felt like the future.

Have you tried Claude for Chrome yet? I can‘t get enough of watching it steering my Mac. 😅

Can we all agree that traffic is dead as a KPI? But who has true confidence on what to measure instead? Here‘s the 3-level framework we’re piloting at Radyant - and why you should start with Level 3, not Level 1.

The consensus is clear: Rankings and traffic matter way less in the AI search era. But when I talk to marketing leaders and agency folks, most are either tracking nothing concrete or obsessing over visibility scores they can’t connect to business outcomes.

We needed a better answer. So we built a 3-level measurement framework that connects AI search activity to actual pipeline. We’re piloting it at Radyant right now.

_________________


Our 3-level framework:

Level 1) Citation adoption

What it measures: How often your content gets cited as a source in AI responses.

Why it matters: Citations mean AI models trust your content enough to reference it. No citations = no visibility = no leads.

How to track: Use tools like Peec AI to monitor which content pieces appear as citations. Track the citation rate: what percentage of your newly created content shows up as sources?

Level 2) Brand visibility

What it measures: Brand mentions in AI responses and your share of visibility versus competitors.

Why it matters: Visibility shows you’re in the conversation. If your brand appears when prospects ask relevant questions, you’re building awareness even before they click or convert.

How to track: Use Peec AI to track how often your brand gets mentioned in responses to queries relevant to your category. Benchmark against competitors.

Level 3) Lead generation

What it measures: Actual leads generated from organic search and AI search.

Why it matters: This is the only metric that proves business impact. Everything else is just a leading indicator.

How to track: First, add a field to your lead forms: “How did you hear about us?” Make it a required free-text field, or use a dropdown with options like “Google Search”, “ChatGPT”, “Perplexity”, “AI Chatbot”. Secondly, train your sales team to ask during discovery calls: “How did you find us?“ or ”Where did you look for solutions?” Document answers in your CRM.

_________________

Now this might seem backwards, but here’s why you should start implementing this with Level 3:

1) Level 3 is easiest to implement: You can add a form field today and ask people how they found you.

2) Level 3 proves value (or the absence of it) immediately: Either way you get maximum clarity on your status quo.

3) Level 1 and 2 are harder to get right: Citation and visibility tracking require tracking meaningful prompts. But deciding on the right 25-100 prompts requires blending diverse data sources. Most companies aren’t ready for this complexity yet.

_________________

What are you currently measuring for AI search success?

PS. We're implementing this exact framework with clients at Radyant. If you need a growth partner that gets AI Search, reach out.

Most SEO teams will never crack C-level buy-in because they think in keywords over business outcomes. So I invited Björn Darko to explain exactly what separates ”Good SEO” from ”Bad SEO”.

He leads a 30-people Enterprise SEO org (AVIV Group, some of the biggest real estate platforms in Europe) by day, and hosts one of the largest German SEO podcasts (SEOPRESSO Podcast) by night.

→ Check out the episode on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/d-vevX8b

Here are a couple of my favorite insights from the conversation:

1) Good SEO vs. Bad SEO

Inspired by Ben Horowitz, Björn distinguishes between the two by their mental models. "Bad SEO" thinks in isolated tactics, keywords, and quick wins. "Good SEO" starts with the user problem and business outcome, asking, "What are we actually building here?" Instead of just chasing traffic, Good SEO builds capabilities that help users succeed.

2) Most SEO problems are actually Product problems

If you are constantly asking devs for tickets, you are doing it wrong. Björn argues that infrastructure, URL structures, and performance are product responsibilities. Real strategic value comes when SEOs stop acting like a channel that ships requests and start co-owning the roadmap with product and engineering.

3) Treat C-Level executives like helicopters

Björn uses a brilliant analogy: Executives come in like helicopters. They land, kick up a lot of dust, and you have 10 minutes to explain the situation before they take off again. To "crack the code," you must drop the SEO lingo entirely. Don't just show rankings; show which specific initiative led to which business development and the ROI of moving resources to SEO.

4) Rankings are the outcome, not the goal

You shouldn't start a strategy by saying, "I want to rank for Keyword X." You start by seeing a user need (e.g., a specific apartment type) and creating the landing page and inventory to solve it. The ranking is simply the inevitable outcome of creating something valuable for the user that Google also recognizes.

5) Centralize the platform, decentralize the culture

When managing SEO across multiple countries, you must centralize what scales (like templates and indexation logic) but decentralize the user experience. You have to respect cultural nuances; for example, a "villa with a pool" filter might be essential for the South of France but irrelevant for Northern Germany.

Let me know how you liked the episode!

And if you need support from a team that is deeply rooted in driving actual business results from SEO, reach out.

#ServicePost for everyone that is annoyed with their LinkedIn feed: Do not react with or comment on posts you don’t want to see more of, and rigorously unfollow/disconnect with people. Thank me later. ✌️

Justin and I just discovered how to double AI search citations without creating new content. Our client deeploi is now among the top recommended IT onboarding tools based on a multilingual owned content citation base.

Here's what happened:

We started supporting deeploi in their organic growth efforts in October 2025 with a particular focus on AI search.

When we produce content, we focus on German content first, but the site also publishes English translations of this content.

When we checked Google AI Overviews in Peec AI for "best IT onboarding software," we found something interesting: both the German original and the English translation were cited separately in the same response.

Same content. Two separate citation spots.

Why this matters:

The more citations that favorably mention your brand, the higher the chances it gets recommended. More citations = stronger signal.

In deeploi's case, we're occupying multiple citation spots just from owned content in different languages.

How to validate this for your content:

→ Run searches for your core topics (manually or in Peec AI)
→ Check if citations contain content from different languages
→ Verify you already publish in both languages
→ If not, start by translating content that's already getting cited

Have you thought about this yet?

When I recorded an episode for the Masters of Search with Björn Darko he introduced me to the book (and concept) “extreme ownership.” I didn’t know it, but I immediately recognized all the mistakes I made building Radyant in the early days.

So the core principle of extreme ownership is pretty straightforward: As a leader, you’re responsible for everything in your domain. No excuses. No blaming external factors or team members.

If something fails, it’s on you. Sounds simple, right?

But that DOES NOT mean, you should personally fix everything.

There was this point where I literally took two accounts away from a team member because I was scared the clients would churn. We ended up keeping one of them for quite a while. But guess what? I became the person they always turned to for critical questions.

I genuinely thought I was practicing extreme ownership. Taking responsibility. Being accountable.

What I actually did was make myself the bottleneck and train my team to need me for everything.

Extreme ownership doesn’t mean doing everything yourself.

It means owning the outcome by creating the conditions for your team to succeed.

It’s on you to:

→ Make sure they have the right training and context

→ Build systems and frameworks they can use to make decisions

→ Create clarity on what success actually looks like

→ Give them real space to own outcomes (including the failures)

→ Remove whatever’s blocking their path

So now when results aren’t there, I don’t take the account. Instead I ask myself:

→ Does this person have the framework to make good decisions?

→ Have I actually given them enough autonomy to own this?

→ Am I creating dependency by solving problems for them?

→ What do they need from me to succeed without me?

That’s what creates decentralized autonomy and makes you fast-moving.

What’s been your biggest mistake around this?

PS. Full episode with Björn drops tomorrow.

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