AI search, SEO and workflow articles
Notes on AI search, SEO, and the workflows behind the work.
The studies we run on our own site are on Studies. No study is published yet. First Look is the live checks page.
AI search and SEO
How AI answers find a page, and what is worth changing.
GEO vs SEO: what's actually different?
GEO vs SEO in plain terms. What generative engine optimization means, what Google now says about it, and what a small business should actually change.
Read the articleHow do you get cited in AI answers, not just ranked?
Ranking well on Google does not mean AI answers will cite you. Four 2026 studies and our trace data show the gap between being found and being credited.
Read the articleCan AI search skip your website? Google's opt-out control, explained
The switch is real and it's worldwide. My default for businesses that sell something is to stay in until their own data says otherwise. Here's how to decide.
Read the articleWhat Google now says about AI-written pages, and how to build a workflow around it
Google didn't ban AI content. It described what "little to no effort" looks like. Check accuracy and added value before you publish.
Read the articleAI agents can favor some sources over a better fit
A new study suggests the site an item comes from can sway an AI agent's choice, even when another item fits the request better. Give agents fewer gaps to fill with assumptions.
Read the articleSearch is one job. A browser agent is another.
Google Search Central and Chrome are both publishing AI guidance. They are not describing the same lever, and mixing them up is how bad advice gets sold.
Read the briefAI workflows
Start with the job, then the tools, the checks, and the handoff.
AI agents for small teams: when a workflow is enough
What AI agents are, when a small team needs one, and why a plain workflow usually beats an autonomous agent for business work.
Read the articleWhy every AI Overviews study seems to say something different
AI search studies keep contradicting each other. Why that happens, what four 2026 studies actually measured, and how to read the next headline number.
Read the articlePractical AI without the theater
Make real work usable by AI: workflows, source material, agents, tools, templates, checks, useful artifacts, and human review.
Read the articleAgents on real work
When an agent fills a form or picks a source, and what to watch.