Jake Ward

Jake Ward

These are the best posts from Jake Ward.

64 viral posts with 31,570 likes, 11,682 comments, and 2,454 shares.
48 image posts, 6 carousel posts, 0 video posts, 10 text posts.

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Best Posts by Jake Ward on LinkedIn

1,922 ranking factors for the 4th largest search engine in the world were leaked 3 days ago.

Yandex was built as a Google clone by ex-Googlers.

Google and Yandex results are ~70% similar.

Although there will be many differences between the search engines, it provides insight into how ranking factors are measured.

Here are 32 interesting ranking factors:

P.S. I'll link all sources in the comments below.

#searchengineoptimization #seo #digitalmarketing
Post image by Jake Ward
SEO has been dying since the early 2000s.

Some notable 'deaths' include:

- Web 3.0
- Google Ads
- Social media
- Voice assistants
- Featured snippets
- Zero-click searches
- Every Google update

And now ChatGPT and AI.

Here's the reality:

- 15% of searches are brand new
- Searches grow by ~10% every year
- There are 3.7B Google searches daily
- SEO is a $100B+ industry (and growing)
- Search engines and SEO will always evolve
- Search habits will take a long time to change

Block out the noise.

Continue learning, consistently repeating the fundamentals, and adapting to new technologies.

SEO is only 'dead' for those that don't.
7 content formatting tips (ft. Jasmin Alić):
Post image by Jake Ward
Go from the bottom of page 1 to the top of Google with 15 minutes of work by optimising for featured snippets.

They don't get enough love.

I win roughly 90% of snippets and go from getting 5% of clicks to over 23%.

Here's my snippet-winning process:
Post image by Jake Ward
Too many people overcomplicate SEO tools.

Here's my simple 15-tool stack:

Strategy:

1. Ahrefs: All-in-one (competitors, keywords, etc)
2. Keyword Insights: Keyword clustering
3. SparkToro: Audience research

Content:

4. Byword: Programmatic AI content
5. Grammarly: Writing assistant
6. Frase: Content optimisation

Technical:

7. Screaming Frog: Website crawling and auditing
8. Google Search Console: SEO analytics and data
9. Detailed SEO Extension: Quick on-page analysis

Backlinks:

10. Connectively: Journalist requests
11. Hunter: Email address finder
12. Pitchbox: Link outreach

Underrated:

13. AlsoAsked: 'People Also Ask' keywords
14. Seed Keywords: 'Seed' keyword surveys
15. HTTP Status Checker: URL status checker

What would you add?
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Steal my 15 blog title templates:

They've generated millions in organic traffic and revenue over the last 3 years.

See the best-performing title for each of the following types of content (with examples):

Ā 1. Product list
Ā 2. Versus
Ā 3. Alternatives
Ā 4. How-to
Ā 5. Ultimate guide
Ā 6. Review
Ā 7. Ways
Ā 8. Case study
Ā 9. Statistics
10. Template
11. Examples
12. What-is
13. Tips
14. Difference
15. Types

P.S. There's a free bonus on the final slide that you don't want to miss (I should be selling them).
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"I don't know how to do SEO in 2026"

Start from level 1 in The New SEO Game:

SEO isn't just Google rankings anymore.

It's now "Search Everywhere Optimisation".

Reframe your ā€œNew SEOā€ project as a game, and you'll become addicted to levelling up.

Level 1: Traditional SEO

- Fix technical problems killing your rankings
- Research keywords and target quick wins
- Optimise on-page elements (titles, content)
- Earn quality backlinks through outreach and PR

Level 2: AI Search Optimisation

- Format content so AI can parse it easily
- Build pages that AI platforms want to cite
- Structure information for machine consumption
- Test how your brand appears in AI search results

Level 3: Paid Search Visibility

- Run Google Ads for high-intent keywords
- Target competitor terms with YouTube Search Ads
- Capture Bing traffic through Microsoft Ads
- Measure paid performance across every platform

Level 4: LLM Answer SEO

- Produce authoritative content LLMs trust
- Build a knowledge base for AI training data
- Position your brand as the definitive source
- Monitor brand mentions in LLMs with Mentions

Level 5: Brand Authority SEO

- Get unlinked brand mentions across the web
- Feature in industry roundups and expert lists
- Build brand recognition without traditional backlinks
- Track brand mention volume and sentiment

Level 6: Community SEO

- Provide value in relevant Reddit threads
- Share expertise on Quora in your space
- Engage in Slack communities and Discord servers
- Build reputation in industry forums and groups

Level 7: Parasite SEO

- Repurpose content on Medium and LinkedIn Pulse
- Publish beehiiv newsletters to rank in Google
- Guest post on high-authority platforms/websites
- Leverage existing domain authority for quick rankings

Level 8: Platform-Specific SEO

- Optimise for Amazon search if selling products
- Focus on YouTube SEO for video content
- Master TikTok's algorithm for short-form content
- Optimise App Store listings for apps/extensions

Level 9: Topic Domination

- Own conversations across ALL channels
- Create content ecosystems to reinforce each platform
- Become the go-to expert mentioned everywhere
- Monitor and maintain authority across all channels

Completed all levels?

SEO is constantly evolving in 2026.

Stay ahead or get left behind.

PS. Need help levelling up? We'll help build and execute your ā€œNew SEOā€ domination strategy.

Book a call: https://www.contact.so/
Post image by Jake Ward
Stop creating new blog content.

Do this instead:

1. Go to Search Console
2. Filter for the last 28 days
3. Export your query data
4. Filter queries in positions 4-20
5. Prioritise queries to increase ranking

Then find ways to better optimise for those queries within your existing content.

For example:

- Write new sections
- Add to existing sections
- Optimise existing headings
- Write the featured snippet (if present)

Take the rest of the year to focus on getting more out of your current assets.

Your 2023 will start better for it.

P.S. I'll link my 25-step content optimisation checklist in the comments below (I posted it recently).
How I find scalable content ideas in 5 minutes:
Post image by Jake Ward
Please STOP publishing new blog posts.

I see too many websites with 100s of blog posts that get 0 traffic, publishing entirely new content every month.

If you already have existing content, do this instead:

- Go to Search Console
- Filter for the last 28 days
- Export your keyword data
- Filter keywords in positions 3-20
- Prioritise keywords to increase ranking

Then find ways to better optimise for those keywords within your existing content.

For example:

- Write new sections
- Add to existing sections
- Improve existing headings
- Optimise for snippets/AI Overviews

You will get quicker traffic increases by optimising your existing content rather than creating new content.

Focus here for Q1 this year and watch what happens.
SEO has been dying since 1997.

Some notable "deaths" include:

- Web 3.0
- Google Ads
- Social media
- TikTok search
- Voice assistants
- Featured snippets
- Zero-click searches
- Every Google update
- AI Overviews in Google
- GEO/AEO as the new SEO
- ChatGPT replacing Google

And now... AI agents?

Here’s the reality:

- SEO will always evolve
- People will always use search
- Search habits take time to change
- Google handles 14B+ daily searches
- Sends 190x more traffic than ChatGPT
- Search is now expanding far beyond Google
- SEO is a $100B+ industry (growing ~12% YoY)

Even the newest "SEO killer" (GEO/AEO) is literally built on SEO fundamentals.

Richard Hoy said this in 1997:

"I’m beginning to believe that search engines are a dead-end technology and fretting over where your site comes up is a big waste of time."

Don’t be him in 2026.

SEO is very much alive.
Post image by Jake Ward
Fact check: 0 to 750K/mo SEO traffic with AI.
Post image by Jake Ward
AI search?

ā€œJust add an llms.txt fileā€
"Get mentioned on Reddit"
ā€œAdd some FAQ schemaā€
"Do this AEO hack"

But winning AI search is a totally different beast.

Here’s what it actually involves:

- AI visibility tracking
- Ranking on Google
- Multi-LLM analysis
- Comparison pages
- Knowledge graphs
- Share of AI search
- Review platforms
- Crawler analytics
- Topical authority
- Prompt research
- Citation tracking
- Consistent facts
- Brand mentions
- YouTube videos
- Brand accuracy
- Source analysis
- Traditional SEO
- Owned content
- Documentation
- Query fan-outs
- Reddit threads
- Technical SEO
- Earned media
- Entity signals
- AI Overviews
- Original data
- Crawlability
- Digital PR

AI search isn’t a handful of "AEO" hacks.

It’s deeply understanding what your customers ask, where AI looks for answers, and how to become the brand it recommends.
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I can’t stop thinking about this Tweet.

ChatGPT now handles over 2.5 billion queries per day and Google is eventually defaulting to "AI Mode."

This is the future of SEO.

6 tips you need to rank in AI platforms:

1. Win brand mentions

- Get your brand mentioned on high-authority websites
- Contribute to industry publications
- Be featured in news outlets
- Engage in forums and community discussions
- Encourage authentic UGC and word-of-mouth mentions

2. Build brand equity

- Monitor online reviews and brand sentiment
- Respond to feedback and address complaints
- Build a consistent, trustworthy public image
- Use tools like Mentions.so to track visibility, sentiment, and competitors

3. Be the source

- Publish authoritative, reference-style content
- Use neutral, factual, data-backed tone
- Avoid excessive personal takes or fluff
- Regularly update key content for accuracy
- Include credible citations and external data sources

4. Embrace passage-level SEO

- Structure content into short, focused paragraphs
- Use clear subheadings for logical segmentation
- Include concise, standalone answers
- Avoid burying insights in long text block
- Add structured data (e.g. schema markup)
- Make each paragraph extractable and cite-ready

5. Cover the conversation

- Use tools like Semrush for question research
- Monitor forums/socials for emerging questions
- Identify and answer sub-questions users ask
- Add relevant FAQs and support content
- Internally link related topic clusters

6. Optimise for crawlability

- Ensure AI crawlers are allowed in robots.txt
- Verify CDN settings aren't blocking crawlers
- Submit up-to-date XML sitemaps in GSC
- Optimise for fast page speed and clean HTML
- Review server logs for GPTBot, BingBot, etc. behaviour

But first, start with an audit:

- Your current visibility across all LLMs
- Prompt and content gaps vs your competitors
- Technical issues preventing AI from citing your site

Use a tool like Mentions.so to find this information.

Don’t regret not starting AI SEO sooner.
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Today I’m leaving Contact, my SEO agency.

This is one post I didn’t expect to be writing.

Spent 3 years building it.
Worked with incredible clients.
Learned a lot with an amazing team.

I’m obviously not leaving the SEO world.

But I’ve developed some strong convictions:

1. I don’t think SEO itself has changed as dramatically as people make out.

Google still matters.

Content, links and technical SEO still matter.

2. What has changed is everything around it.

People (and bots) now discover companies through Google, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, AI Overviews, dozens of others…

And of course, AI search.

SEO is becoming one part of a much bigger organic growth system.

3. Then at the same time, AI has completely changed what an agency can be.

I believe the next generation of agencies won’t look like agencies.

They’ll look more like technology companies.

The best agencies won’t scale by hiring more people.

They’ll create leverage by:

- Putting engineers alongside strategists
- Building their own proprietary tech
- Analysing data at a scale humans can’t
- Automating the 80% that doesn’t require judgement
- Focusing talent on the 20% that moves the needle

That’s what I’m building next.

Not an SEO agency with AI workflows bolted on.

Something much closer to a technology company that delivers a service.

Software + data + strategists + engineers.

Built to make companies impossible to miss wherever their customers are searching.

This is my vision for the next generation of agencies.

Now I’ve just gotta prove it.

PS. I’m revealing everything live on 26 August, including how I’d build an organic growth engine from scratch today. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/ejAkrN4f
I just hired an AI employee for 30 days.

His name is Tobias.

And for the next month, he’s joining my 20-person team with actual tasks and responsibilities.

I want to see whether an AI employee is genuinely useful inside a real company (or just hype).

Here’s what Tobias did on day 1:

1. He joined Slack and introduced himself to the team. Some loved the new hire, others were… unsure.

2. He onboarded himself by analysing our site, internal docs, and Slack history to learn how we operate.

3. He connected to our Trello so he can see our live projects, priorities, and client campaigns.

4. Then he came back with a list of what he could automate and where he could immediately help.

5. We told him to implement the top 2:

a. Create weekly progress reports for clients based on Slack conversations and Trello boards.

This usually takes our strategists 15-30 minutes per client to send to Customer Success, and then to the client.

b. Give daily performance snapshots from Google Search Console for each client campaign.

This replaces the daily 5-10 minute GSC checks our team carries out for each client.

6. Those 2 tasks alone are already saving the team around 13-26 hours total every week. Pretty wild.

For the next 29 days, I’m sharing:

- What Tobias actually gets done each day
- What he’s great at (and where he can improve)
- Whether he saves us time, money, or both
- How we’re training him in real time

And by the end, we’ll know whether Tobias earns his place on the team (or gets fired).

Follow along as we put him to the test.
Post image by Jake Ward
SEO has been dying since 1997.

Some notable "deaths" include:

- Web 3.0
- Google Ads
- Social media
- TikTok search
- Voice assistants
- Featured snippets
- Zero-click searches
- Every Google update
- AI Overviews in Google
- GEO/AEO as the new SEO
- ChatGPT replacing Google

And now... AI agents?

Here’s the reality:

- SEO will always evolve
- People will always use search
- Search habits take time to change
- Google handles 14B+ daily searches
- Sends 190x more traffic than ChatGPT
- SEO is a $100B+ industry (growing ~12% YoY)

Even the newest "SEO killer" (GEO/AEO) is literally built on SEO fundamentals.

Richard Hoy said this in 1997:

"I’m beginning to believe that search engines are a dead-end technology and fretting over where your site comes up is a big waste of time."

Don’t be him in 2026.

SEO is very much alive.
Post image by Jake Ward
SEO used to be simple.

Rank on Google > get the click > win the customer

That journey is WAY messier in 2026:

> Someone might first hear about you on YouTube.

> Then they ask ChatGPT which companies or products are best in your category.

> Then they Google your brand.

> Then they add ā€œRedditā€ to the end of the search because they want to know what real people think.

> Then they read a comparison article.

> Then they go BACK to ChatGPT and ask whether you’re actually the right option for them.

> Only then do they visit your website and convert.

This is why I think a lot of the debate around whether ā€œSEO is deadā€ completely misses the point.

People haven’t stopped searching, they’re just searching across many more platforms.

And the platforms don’t exist in isolation:

ChatGPT is influenced by the websites, reviews, forums, videos and other third-party sources it finds.

Google surfaces Reddit, YouTube, AI Overviews and comparison content.

People bounce between all of them before buying.

SEO today is about making sure that when your buyers search for problems, products and the companies they should consider...

Your brand keeps showing up.
Post image by Jake Ward
I've been saying this for 17 months. The data keeps proving the same thing.

Ahrefs released a study analysing 600,000 pages.

The data shows Google doesn't penalise AI content. The correlation between AI usage and rankings was 0.011. Basically zero.

This might sound familiar.

Back in April 2024, we ran a similar analysis at Byword across 5,000 sites right after Google's update that "targeted AI content."

Same result. AI content wasn't the problem.

But here's what everyone missed then (and what most are still missing now):

The sites that got hit weren't using AI wrong. They were doing content wrong.

Our data showed sites covering random topics saw a -26.4% traffic drop. While focused sites using AI actually grew 6.2%.

It was never about the tool. It was about the strategy.

The Ahrefs study confirms it again. They found 81.9% of top-ranking pages use a mix of AI and human content.

Pure AI content rarely hits position one, but neither does pure human content dominate.

The pattern is clear: Google cares about quality and relevance. Not your writing process.

If you've been avoiding AI because you're scared of penalties, you've been optimising for the wrong thing.

As Ahrefs put it: "Google probably doesn't care how you made the content. It simply cares whether searchers find it helpful."

Focus your content. Serve your niche. Use whatever tools help you do that better.

The data's been showing this for 2 years.
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Scrap all the "AEO/GEO" acronyms, can we just drop ā€œEngineā€ from Search Engine Optimization?

SEO → Search Optimization

In reality, ā€œSEOā€ itself hasn’t actually changed as dramatically as people make out.

But everything AROUND it has.

People haven’t stopped searching, but search has become way more fragmented.

Buyers might:

- Google something
- Ask ChatGPT
- Check Reddit
- Watch a YouTube video
- Read a comparison

All while trying to answer the exact same question.

Google is still a massive part of search, but it’s no longer the only place where search happens.

That’s why ā€œSearch Engine Optimizationā€ is starting to feel too narrow.

The job isn’t just optimizing for a search engine.

It’s optimizing a company’s discoverability across search as a whole.

AI answers.
Google rankings.
Third-party sites and platforms.
The sources influencing all of them.

I don’t think that needs a completely new discipline every time a new platform appears.

It’s still SEO.

The definition just needs expanding.

Search Optimization.

Can we call it a day now?
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I went offline for 3 days, but returned to see my business ALL OVER the LinkedIn feed…

My startup Kleo just got:

- 3M+ organic views for our launch
- 150+ entrepreneurs at our London party
- 30+ founders at our first mastermind
- 300+ new users growing on LinkedIn

We broke every record in our company’s history.

And that was down to our team and community.

Lara engineering the marketing.
Cam building Kleo alongside our 4 devs.
My mum helping all our customers.
LinkedIn peeps coming together in London.
Our friends at Circle powering our event.

Last week we surpassed all our goals.

So I flew to a random city and logged off for 3 days to recover (S/O to all the introverts).

Now back to planning our next steps in becoming everyone’s LinkedIn tool of choice.

Big thank you to EVERYONE who’s supported us through the last 10 months.

PS. Here’s a photo of Lara and me having drink #1 at the start of the party, don’t ask to see the rest..
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My SEO agency is growing! We’re hiring for 2 roles.

No job description, CVs or degrees needed.

We’re looking for 2 people at Known:

1. SEO Strategist
2. Content Specialist

Both full-time and 100% remote.

1. SEO Strategist

- Is obsessed with SEO and where it’s going
- Thinks commercially, not just about traffic
- Understands SEO AND AI search
- Can spot the 10% that drives 90% of results
- Communicates brilliantly with clients
- Loves experimenting and learning fast

2. Content Specialist

- Knows what great content looks like
- Thinks about buyers, not just keywords
- Can find angles others would miss
- Understands commercial search content
- Can engineer great content with AI
- Has ridiculously high standards

I don't care about your CV or what degree you have.

Just what you've created, written, launched, or the results you've driven.

If that's you, fill in this quick form: https://lnkd.in/e_uismyY

If it's someone you know, please tag them below.

I'll DM the 10 most impressive applicants next week.

PS. Like/comment on this so it can reach someone who’s looking. You just never know....
I can't believe it took me this long.

3 years, 9 months, and 10 days of posting on LinkedIn without starting my own newsletter.

But that changes today!

I've spent the last decade obsessed with finding growth opportunities before they become mainstream:

- LinkedIn when hardly anyone was posting here
- AI content before ChatGPT was a thing
- Programmatic SEO before Google cracked down
- AI search before most were paying attention

And I've been keeping notes on everything I'm seeing.

Starting next Tuesday, I’m sending a weekly email with practical ways you can get customers as AI completely changes the internet.

If that sounds useful, join me here: jakeward.io

PS. I want this to become THE newsletter people genuinely look forward to opening.

What's one newsletter that does that for you now?
SEO is changing.

But NOT in the way you think. Because the fundamentals are still 90% the same.

Changes have been creeping in for months and Google's recent I/O announcements just made their direction explicit.

Here’s the 10% worth focusing on:

- Expanding how we think about SEO
- Expanding the ways we research
- Expanding the optimisations we make
- Expanding how we measure results

Not a full reset, but a recalibration.

Here are 12 ways SEO is expanding:
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I’ve spent the past 9 months using LinkedIn to rank in Google and AI search. And now LinkedIn has published the data showing how it works:

> LinkedIn is now the #1 most-cited domain for professional queries in AI search.

> 75% of those citations come from individual people, NOT company pages.

> 35% come from people with less than 10K followers.

(See the full data in the graphic below)

LinkedIn is MUCH more than just a place to post content and get impressions in the feed.

Your content can rank in Google.

It can get cited in AI search.

And it can help influence what AI says about you, your company and the topics you want to be known for.

This should change how you think about LinkedIn.

If I was starting out today, I would:

- Pick 3-4 topics you want to be known for
- Publish original posts around those topics
- Turn key topics into deeper LinkedIn articles
- Answer the questions your audience searches
- Use real examples, opinions, experience and data
- Place important keywords early in your posts
- Keep older content updated and relevant
- Make sure founders and experts publish regularly
- Reinforce topics on your site and third-party sources

Basically, stop treating every post like something that disappears from the feed after 48 hours.

Build content around what you want to be known for.

That’s when LinkedIn stops being just a social channel and starts becoming part of your search strategy.

PS. Tomorrow I’m sharing the exact LinkedIn AI search checklist I use to put this into practice (make sure we’re connected so you don’t miss it).
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I literally live and breathe this SEO framework.

5 years ago, I watched a SaaS company burn through 6 months of content budget. 60 blog posts on topics like "what is email marketing" and "benefits of newsletters."

Their traffic skyrocketed, but their revenue flatlined.

Their entire content game was backwards.

So that's when I built my "SEO Content Pyramid" to flip it completely and start at the top.

Here's how it works:

1. Convert (Top of Pyramid)

High-intent content for people ready to buy.

A. Competitor Comparisons
↳ "beehiiv vs Kit"
↳ "Kit alternatives"

B. Product Reviews
↳ "beehiiv reviews" (brand)
↳ "Kit review" (competitor)

C. Buyer Guides
↳ "Best newsletter platforms in 2025"
↳ "Best newsletter tools for beginners"

D. Product Pages
↳ "Email newsletter software"
↳ "Newsletter platform pricing"

2. Discover (Middle of Pyramid)

Solution content for people exploring options.

A. Solve Pain Points
↳ "How to start a newsletter"
↳ "Newsletter best practises"

B. Case Studies
↳ "Email marketing case studies"
↳ "How [Brand] grew to 100k subscribers"

C. Data Studies
↳ "Open rate benchmarks 2025"
↳ "Email marketing statistics"

D. Templates and Tools
↳ "Newsletter templates"
↳ "Email subject line generator"

3. Awareness (Bottom of Pyramid)

Educational content for people learning and exploring.

A. Definitions
↳ "What is open rate"
↳ "Email deliverability explained"

B. Educational Guides
↳ "How to increase email open rate"
↳ "How to write engaging emails"

C. Industry Trends and News
↳ "Gmail manage subscriptions feature"
↳ "Email marketing trends 2025"

D. Ideas
↳ "Newsletter content ideas"
↳ "Email campaign ideas for holidays"

Start at the top with Convert content. Only move to Discover once you've covered every competitor comparison, product review, and buyer guide. Then tackle Awareness last.

This framework will 10x your SEO results.
Post image by Jake Ward
10 years ago, I was trying to figure out SEO.
7 years ago, I went solo as an SEO consultant.
4 years ago, I published my first LinkedIn post.

Then 6 weeks later:

- 1.4M post views
- 9,133 followers
- 31 inbound leads
- 2 new team members

In just 6 weeks, I went from solo SEO consultant to building a scalable company.

Almost every opportunity I've had, client I've signed, person I've met (hi Lara šŸ‘‹), and business I've built can be traced back to one decision:

Starting to post on LinkedIn.

But I'll admit, they were the golden days of LinkedIn.

Today there are more creators, more noise, and more competition than ever.

Posting consistently isn't enough anymore.

You need winning ideas.
Great execution.
And the discipline to keep showing up.

This is where most people get stuck.

That's why the last 10 months of my life have been spent building Kleo alongside Lara, Cam, and the team.

And on August 5th, we're finally launching Kleo 3.

It’s genuinely unlike anything else on the market.

We'll be launching it live during our virtual launch party.

You can join us here: https://kleo.so/3

PS. If you register today, you get:

1. Your official launch invite
2. Free access to 3 exclusive video bonuses
3. A chance to win Kleo 3 for free for a year
4. A chance to win access to our 4-week cohort
5. A chance to get flown to London to join us

Can't wait to see you there!
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The best SEO agencies in 2027 won’t look like SEO agencies and I’m personally BUZZING for it.

(And clients should be too)

The traditional agency model is pretty broken.

You pay $5K, $10K, $20K, sometimes $50K+ a month.

Then a large % of that goes towards:

> account managers
> junior delivery teams
> repetitive manual work
> reporting
> meetings
> huge internal headcount

And that headcount doesn’t necessarily mean more expertise on your account.

Agencies have never lacked smart people.

But the smartest people can only be spread across so many clients.

AI changes that.

Not because you can replace an SEO strategist with ChatGPT or Claude (you can't).

But because you can automate huge amounts of the work around them.

> Research that took days can take hours
> Millions of keywords can be analysed at once
> 100s of AI answers can be monitored continuously
> Competitors can be reverse engineered at scale
> Content decay can be detected automatically
> Internal linking can be mapped instantly
> Google + AI opportunities can be analysed together
> Internal tools can replace entire manual workflows

The result isn’t AI replacing the agency.

It’s AI giving the best people significantly more leverage.

So instead of paying for 20 people doing low-leverage work, you can have a smaller team of exceptional strategists, engineers, proprietary software and AI.

A much better business, but more importantly a much better service for clients.

This is the next generation of SEO agencies.

And that’s exactly what I’m currently building.

PS. I’m going live tomorrow to share my organic playbook, then showing exactly what I’m building: https://lnkd.in/ejAkrN4f
Post image by Jake Ward
Okay, the secret’s out.

(And I can’t believe we’re actually doing this)

We’re running our very first marketing conference.

On 28-30 October, Lara, Harry and I are bringing together some of the smartest modern marketers on the internet to CYPRUS.

I’ve just moved my entire life to Cyprus and I’ve completely fallen in love with the place.

So it feels special to bring everyone here.

Here’s what we're doing differently:

- A venue by the beach, not a conference hall
- Small-group masterminds, not awkward networking
- Practical workshops, not surface-level talks
- Speed networking, not forced conversations
- Smart people, not corporate suits
- Real strategies, not recycled marketing advice
- 300 people, not 3,000
- Sun, sea and Cyprus in late October šŸ‡ØšŸ‡¾

If this sounds like your kind of event, you can join the waitlist here: https://momentumirl.com/

300 spots. That’s it.

Who do you think we’re bringing to Cyprus? šŸ‘€
Post image by Jake Ward
10 SEO strategies I’d bet my life on today:

1. Build the best page on the internet for every high-intent pain point your product solves

2. Own every comparison and alternative search between you and your competitors

3. Win mentions on the third-party sites already influencing buyers + AI answers

4. Create proprietary data, research + benchmarks your competitors can’t easily copy

5. Build content around the exact language customers use in sales calls and customer support

6. Use LinkedIn to create demand for the same topics you want to own in search

7. Build useful free tools that attract search demand, links + potential customers

8. Refresh and expand proven pages instead of endlessly publishing new ones

9. Own the same topics across your site, LinkedIn, Reddit, YouTube + industry publications

10. Optimise for share of search across Google + AI, not individual keyword rankings
What else?
Post image by Jake Ward
We’re in an AI gold rush and people are complaining?

I can build tools by describing them in English and have a working version in less than an hour.

I can analyse 1,000s of reviews, sales calls, Reddit threads, support tickets in an afternoon and uncover messaging insights that would've taken a research team weeks to find.

I can upload every note, document, meeting recording, voice memo I've ever created and AI helps me turn them into content in minutes.

I can turn a 60-minute webinar into a blog post, 10 LinkedIn posts, an X thread, 5 video clips, and weeks worth of social content as a one-person team.

I can spin up a team of AI agents to research, write, analyse, and build in parallel while I focus on deciding what to do next.

And yet:

If you spend enough time online you'd think we're living through a crisis rather than one of the greatest opportunities in history.

The cost of building has never been lower.

The leverage has never been higher.

It's hard to imagine a better time to be building.
Post image by Jake Ward
POV: Marketing in 2026.

Every few weeks there's a new AI tool, framework, agent skill, platform update, growth hack, or "this changes everything" post.

But if we're being honest:

- AEO/GEO is mostly just SEO
- AI won't build you a great business
- Claude can't replace your $10K/mo agency
- Short-form content alone isn’t enough
- Google updates matter less than you think
- Personal brands outperform faceless companies
- llms.txt and .MD files don't actually do anything
- Most "new" strategies are old ideas with new labels
- Distribution matters just as much as creation
- Consistency is the biggest competitive advantage

The noise gets louder, but the fundamentals haven't changed.

Understand your audience.

Create things people genuinely want.

Distribute relentlessly.

Repeat for years.

PS. I'm running a free live session this Thursday on the organic marketing strategy I'd build if I joined your company tomorrow: https://lnkd.in/ewjvYuEg
Post image by Jake Ward
I literally live and breathe this SEO framework.

5 years ago, I watched a SaaS company burn through 6 months of content budget. 60 blog posts on topics like "what is email marketing" and "benefits of newsletters."

Their traffic skyrocketed, but their revenue flatlined.

Their entire content game was backwards.

So that's when I built my "SEO Content Pyramid" to flip it completely and start at the top.

Here's how it works:

1. Convert (Top of Pyramid)

High-intent content for people ready to buy.

A. Competitor Comparisons
↳ "beehiiv vs Kit"
↳ "Kit alternatives"

B. Product Reviews
↳ "beehiiv reviews" (brand)
↳ "Kit review" (competitor)

C. Buyer Guides
↳ "Best newsletter platforms in 2026"
↳ "Best newsletter tools for beginners"

D. Product Pages
↳ "Email newsletter software"
↳ "Newsletter platform pricing"

2. Discover (Middle of Pyramid)

Solution content for people exploring options.

A. Solve Pain Points
↳ "How to start a newsletter"
↳ "Newsletter best practises"

B. Case Studies
↳ "Email marketing case studies"
↳ "How [Brand] grew to 100k subscribers"

C. Data Studies
↳ "Open rate benchmarks 2026"
↳ "Email marketing statistics"

D. Templates and Tools
↳ "Newsletter templates"
↳ "Email subject line generator"

3. Awareness (Bottom of Pyramid)

Educational content for people learning and exploring.

A. Definitions
↳ "What is open rate"
↳ "Email deliverability explained"

B. Educational Guides
↳ "How to increase email open rate"
↳ "How to write engaging emails"

C. Industry Trends and News
↳ "Gmail manage subscriptions feature"
↳ "Email marketing trends 2026"

D. Ideas
↳ "Newsletter content ideas"
↳ "Email campaign ideas for holidays"

Start at the top with Convert content. Only move to Discover once you've covered every competitor comparison, product review, and buyer guide. Then tackle Awareness last.

This framework will 10x your SEO results.

PS. I’m going live this Thursday to show you how I’d build an SEO strategy that actually drives revenue, not just traffic. Join me here: https://lnkd.in/ewjvYuEg
Post image by Jake Ward
Planning SEO content for the 2nd half of 2026?

PLEASE do this first:

1. Get all your blog URLs into a spreadsheet.

Use Screaming Frog to crawl your site and export the URLs. Then enrich the sheet with data from:

- Ahrefs
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console

2. Find the keywords each important URL ranks for.

Use Google Search Console or Ahrefs, then add:

- Primary keyword
- Secondary keywords / variations
- Current rankings for target keywords

If a page isn’t ranking for anything, find the most relevant target keyword in Ahrefs and add that too.

3. Audit every post and assign an action:

- Leave: already reached its potential
- Merge: cannibalising or too similar to another page
- Delete: no longer useful or valuable
- Update: small improvements needed
- Rewrite: major improvements needed

4. Prioritise updates and rewrites where:

- target keywords sit in positions 4-20
- the page has higher conversion or revenue potential
- there are obvious improvement opportunities
- the page isn’t yet being retrieved by LLMs

Reminder:

Not all of your Q3 content plan needs to be new.

You’re probably sitting on many quick wins in content that you’ve already published.

PS. If you’re planning the second half of 2026, I’m covering my organic growth playbook live on July 2nd: https://lnkd.in/ewjvYuEg
Post image by Jake Ward
POV: Building a startup with your friends in London.

I met Lara Acosta on LinkedIn 3 years ago:

- Under 10,000 followers each
- Glorified freelancers grinding it out solo
- No team, no investment... we just had time

But a lot has changed since then:

- 500K+ combined followers
- Multiple 7-figure businesses
- DMs with people we want to talk with
- Inbound opportunities we have to turn down
- Speaking gigs, partnerships, collabs flowing in

All because of posting daily LinkedIn content.

This platform is undefeated for those who want to build a profitable online business in 2026 organically.

And yes, LinkedIn has changed massively since we started 3 years ago.

The algorithm's different. The audience's expectations are different. The competition's different.

But we just spent the last 3 months figuring out what actually works today.

The new playbook for 2026:

- How to get more reach and views
- How to grow your authority organically
- How to get inbound leads from content

All still just through content. And we're going live showing you exactly what we found...

So if you want to know what's actually working on LinkedIn right now, Lara and I are running a free webinar next week (22nd Jan).

It's called "Content to Clients" and we'll walk through the exact strategies we're using in 2026.

We're only letting 1,000 people in, so RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/eUMHYExB
Post image by Jake Ward
11% of AI answers use LinkedIn content.

That’s more than YouTube, Wikipedia, and every major news publisher combined.

So I analysed 5M+ AI answers and 14M+ citations to uncover exactly how to use LinkedIn to show up in AI.

Here's my LinkedIn AI SEO playbook:

1. Write like you want to be quoted

AI doesn't JUST link your content, it repeats it.

- Define key concepts clearly
- State your main point in the first 2-3 lines
- Use simple, precise language

2. Prioritise original thinking over reposts

95% of cited content is original.

- Stop resharing
- Start publishing your own POV, frameworks, insights

3. Go all-in on LinkedIn articles

They get 8x more citations than posts.

- Structure like a blog (clear answer first)
- Optimise for Google, not just LinkedIn

4. Hit the AI-friendly length

- Articles: 500-2,000 words
- Posts: 50-300 words

5. Teach, don't sell

AI prefers content that teaches AND shows.

- Break down how something works
- Share lessons, processes and results
- Add real examples, results, experiences
- Make your content genuinely useful

6. Post consistently (this matters more than followers)

- 5+ posts per month is the sweet spot
- Frequency beats waiting for the perfect post

7. Don't chase virality

Most cited posts have 15-25 reactions and almost no comments.

Relevance beats reach.

8. Use both company and personal accounts

- Company pages get cited (especially by Perplexity)
- Individuals dominate ChatGPT and Google AI

9. Treat LinkedIn like an SEO channel

LinkedIn isn't just for engagement anymore.

- Target real search-style questions
- Think: "what would someone ask ChatGPT?"
- Build content around that

You're not just building an audience on here, you're also training AI on how to talk about your brand.

Write like it matters… because now it really does.

PS. If you want to go deeper on this, I'm running a free live session on 29th April on exactly how to show up in AI answers. Register here: https://lnkd.in/dKpPU9Z8
Post image by Jake Ward
POV: The CEO of Google reacting to your SEO experiment after it reached 20M+ people.

Still one of the most surreal moments of my career.

4 years ago, I used AI to publish 1,800 pages targeting the same topics in a competitor’s sitemap.

We ā€œstoleā€ 3.6M visits from the competitor.

The experiment became known as the ā€œSEO Heistā€ and it spread like crazy:

- My post got 10M+ views
- SEO Twitter and LinkedIn exploded
- Publications like TechCrunch covered it
- Videos, newsletters and podcasts broke it down

Then it reached Sundar Pichai.

Suddenly the CEO of Google was discussing an experiment I’d launched from my bedroom.

Some people loved it.
A lot of people hated it.
Google definitely noticed it.

You never know where an idea will land once you put it on the internet.

This one definitely travelled further than expected.

PS. SEO has changed a lot since then. See the organic strategy I’d build today, live and free on 26 Aug: https://lnkd.in/ejAkrN4f
Post image by Jake Ward
After 3 years with AI, 100s of LinkedIn posts, and 70+ Kleo user calls… I’ve finally cracked my workflow.

Most people open ChatGPT and type:

ā€œWrite me a LinkedIn post on [topic].ā€

That’s why the output feels generic and nothing like you.

The problem isn’t AI.
The problem is your workflow.

Here's what my workflow looks like:

1. Inputs

AI needs context to write in your style, about your topics, with your knowledge.

- Past posts to match your style
- Info on who you are and what you do
- Call transcripts, SOPs, blog posts... for knowledge
- Proven post templates for winning formats
- Idea swipes from Reddit, X, LinkedIn, blogs...

2. Chat

AI rarely one-shots posts ready to publish. Instead, you chat with it and use your inputs to "build" the post.

Think of it like Cursor for LinkedIn posts:

You don’t expect Cursor to write perfect code in one go.

You iterate with it; ask for snippets, refactors, or alternative approaches. Each step compounds until you’ve got clean, working code.

Do the same with post writing:

- "What's trending on Reddit, X, LinkedIn..."
- "Give me post ideas from my knowledge base"
- "Give me a template for [topic]"
- "Write me 5 hook variations"
- "Write my post using this hook"
- "Rewrite this part"

3. Publish

By now 90% of the post is done, the rest is polish.

- Preview how it'll look on LinkedIn
- Tweak the formatting for content UX
- Add your visual
- Schedule and post

Your expertise goes in.
AI organises and sharpens it.
The output feels 100% yours (only faster).

This is the exact workflow we’ve built into Kleo 2.0.

I’ve also streamlined the entire process. Get it here for FREE: https://lnkd.in/eNjSWvjQ
Post image by Jake Ward
POV: SEO in 2026.

Every few weeks there's a new acronym, a GEO tactic that’s useless or just traditional SEO repackaged, the inevitable "SEO is dead" take...

But if we're being honest:

1. AEO/GEO is mostly just SEO
2. Search Everywhere Optimization is just marketing
3. Claude can't replace your $10K/mo SEO agency
4. llms.txt and .MD files don't actually do anything
5. pSEO works but you (really) shouldn't abuse it
6. Google doesn't always tell us the truth
7. Users will always search and SEO will never die

The noise gets louder but the core fundamentals haven't changed since the 2010s.

Stay boring and keep building.
Post image by Jake Ward
I'm 28 with 4 businesses and (still) no home.

Here's how I got here:

Age 0-15:

Spent early life growing up in a hippie commune.

Raised by an incredible single mother who wore both hats. Gave everything to support me.

Overly shy and didn't speak much. Seen as a problem by a teacher who suggested there was something wrong with me.

Age 16:

First job stacking supermarket shelves.

Completed high school with bang-average grades.

Started sixth form college.

Age 17:

Quit sixth form college after 3 months due to illness. Doctor said I was 24 hours away from dying.

Spent my 17th birthday in hospital, tubes everywhere.

Became an apprentice at a print marketing agency.

Learnt my way around Adobe's design suite. Started doing bits of design work on the side.

Age 18-19:

Discovered search marketing to help get more clients for the print marketing agency.

Became obsessed with SEO. Spent my free time messing around with the websites I built.

Age 20:

Wanted to take marketing more seriously. Quit my job to start a marketing degree.

Quit after 2 weeks.

Started an apprenticeship at an SEO agency where I managed 25 clients and attended college part-time.

Quit after 9 months.

Realised traditional education sucks. I learnt 100x more (and quicker) through self-education.

Went all-in on learning and building whilst living at home with my mum and 2 young siblings.

Ā£0 income.

Age 21:

Got my first 2 freelancing clients on Upwork. They referred me to other clients.

Built a 6-figure business by the end of the year.

Age 22-23:

Started a podcast side project and quickly reached 300,000 listeners per month. Sold it for 5 figures.

Bought and sold 5 websites.

Maxed out my freelancing capacity.

Age 24:

Founded Content Growth and built a team to help companies turn their blog into a 7-figure sales channel.

Started posting on LinkedIn.

Grew revenue by over 200% in 6 months.

Age 25:

Co-founded Byword and launched a platform to help marketers generate articles at scale for SEO.

Sold my belongings, moved out of London and started travelling the world.

Built Kleo, a free Chrome extension for LinkedIn.

Merged Content Growth with Contact (and Rob) to take the SEO agency to the next level.

Helped my mum quit her 15-year corporate job.

Age 26:

Lived out of a suitcase and travelled around 16 countries.

Grew the userbase of my SaaS tools to over 130,000.

Helped multiple unicorn companies scale their SEO with our 25-person team at Contact.

Age 27:

Travelled and lived in 9 more countries.

Relaunched Kleo with Lara and the new team.

Started an innovation team at Contact and launched Mentions for AI SEO, our TASM Audit, and more.

Age 28 (now):

Kleo just hit 7-figures ARR. Contact generates $20M/year for clients. Byword just got a revamp. Mentions 2.0 is coming soon.

4 businesses with one mission: help people win online.

The journey continues...
Post image by Jake Ward
"I don't know how to do AI SEO"

Just start at level 1.

The problem with most AI search advice is that it feels like 100 things to do all at once.

Instead, think of it like a video game:

- Complete level 1
- Unlock level 2
- Repeat

Here's my 9-level AI search game:

Level 1: Track prompts

- List the prompts you want to appear in
- Group prompts by topic and intent
- Track prompts daily across popular LLMs
- Prioritise by search volume and business value

Tip: Use a tool like Mentions to make this easy.

Level 2: Audit AI answers

- Review answers for your priority prompts
- Identify the most recommended brands
- Compare results across different LLMs
- Benchmark your visibility vs competitors

Level 3: Analyse sources

- Review the sources AI answers are using
- Identify the most-cited sites and pages
- Categorise sources by type (lists, forums...)
- Prioritise sources by citation frequency

Level 4: Find missing mentions

- Identify sources where you're not mentioned
- Compare your mentions vs competitors
- Find the highest-impact opportunities
- Create a target list of sites and pages to target

Level 5: Earn mentions

- Get added to comparison lists
- Secure placements on relevant sites
- Contribute to trusted industry publications
- Improve existing mentions and rankings

Level 6: Own comparisons

- Build comparison clusters for core topics
- Create "Best X" comparison pages
- Create "X vs Y" competitor comparisons
- Create alternative pages for competitors

Level 7: Build authority

- Launch digital PR campaigns
- Publish original research and data
- Earn links from authoritative websites
- Build a recognised multi-platform brand

Level 8: Strengthen entities

- Standardise brand descriptions on all platforms
- Connect experts and founders to your brand
- Build profiles on key industry websites
- Strengthen associations with core topics

Level 9: Dominate core topics

- Become the best content resource
- Expand into adjacent topic clusters
- Own every major prompt in your category
- Maintain visibility across all LLMs

Completed all levels?

Go back to level 1, the game never stops.

PS. Need help levelling up? We build AI / SEO strategies for brands that want to own their category.

Talk to us here: https://www.contact.so/
Post image by Jake Ward
I spent my weekend revisiting 10 major AI search studies covering 12 BILLION data points.

Here are 10 things you need to know:

1. Google is (by far) the biggest AI platform in the world. AI Overviews now has 2.5B+ monthly users. AI Mode has passed 1B.

2. AI is a serious buying channel. Buying-related conversations on ChatGPT grew from 13.9% to 19.2% in a year. That’s ~533M every week.

3. But Google still matters MUCH more for traffic. ChatGPT has roughly 12% of Google’s search-like volume, yet Google sends 190x more traffic to websites.

4. Winning one prompt means very little. Only 15.2% of 1,094 ChatGPT topics had a clear brand owner. The brands that did own a topic appeared across at least 4 of 5 related prompts.

5. AI influences people even when they don’t click. After AI mentions a brand, people are 1.5–2.5x more likely to visit its website. Yet only ~2.5% of those visits can be tracked back to AI.

6. Different customers get different AI recommendations. When the same question was asked using different personas, only ~25% of brand mentions and ~20% of cited domains overlap.

7. There is no universal AI citation strategy. Across 12B citations, 57% came from company websites. But where AI gets its information varies massively by industry and platform.

8. Content that helps people BUY wins. Comparison questions generated 2.4x more brand mentions than purely informational ones.

9. A citation is NOT the same as a recommendation. 61.7% of AI citations are ā€œghost citationsā€, where the site was used as a source but the brand was never mentioned.

10. Accuracy is becoming part of search visibility. Across 158,000 AI claims, 4.3–6.8% were wrong. Almost a quarter of those errors involved pricing and billing.

Bonus: Most AEO ā€œhacksā€ are massively overhyped.

Adding schema had no significant impact on AI citations, while 97% of llms.txt files receive ZERO requests.
Post image by Jake Ward
Google just redesigned search for the first time in 25 years and here's EVERYTHING you need to know:

1. AI Mode follow-ups are now live worldwide. Users get answers to follow-up questions without leaving the AI conversation or clicking websites.

2. The search box now expands for long queries and accepts images, files, videos, and Chrome tabs. These queries may skip web results entirely.

3. Gemini 3.5 Flash is now the default in AI Mode. Faster, smarter answers. But lower CTR to websites, and we're already seeing this.

4. Personal Intelligence expands to 200 countries. Gmail and Photos connected, so results get personalised to each user's data.

5. Generative UI builds custom layouts on the fly. Informational queries now get answered with interactive widgets alongside website links.

6. Agentic booking for local and service businesses. Users describe what they need, Google finds options, checks live availability, and can call businesses.

7. Mini apps let users build persistent dashboards. The experience is self-contained inside of Google, built around the user's specific task.

8. Search Agents launch this summer. They run 24/7, monitor the web, and alert users when conditions are met. Like Google Alerts, but actually useful.

My feed is full of "SEO is dead" posts today.

But none of this should be a surprise. Every platform we use is moving towards AI-first, agentic, proactive experiences like this.

And clicks were already dying. We've watched CTR decline for 2-3 years straight now.

However, search is very much alive, just different. We're moving further into a world of visibility > clicks.

Today just makes it all very real.
Post image by Jake Ward
I've worked in marketing for 10+ years and somehow never been to a marketing conference.

I've spent my entire career learning from:

- YouTube videos
- The rest of the internet
- Running experiments
- Building businesses
- Talking to smart people
- Making lots of mistakes

But I've never gone to a big industry event.

That's changing next month: I'm heading to London for Semrush Spotlight on 13th October.

And the timing is perfect.

Marketing is going through one of the biggest shifts I’ve personally ever seen.

Search is changing.

AI is changing how people discover companies.

SEO, content, social, brand and distribution are starting to blur into one.

Which is basically all I've been thinking and talking about for the last year.

So spending a day around marketers from OpenAI, LinkedIn, Adobe, Semrush and other companies leading the conversation feels like a decent first conference to pick.

Mostly though, I'm looking forward to finally meeting people I've seen through a screen for years.

If you're going to be there, come say hello šŸ‘‹

And if you’ve not got a ticket yet, I managed to get a buy one get one free code from Semrush.

Grab yours and use code KLEOBOGO: https://bit.ly/4zo4h55
I've spent 19,667 hours doing SEO.

Here’s how I'm doing it in 2026:

(most teams waste 6-12 months before figuring this out, but here are 7 quick shortcuts for ya)

1. Start with "should I even do SEO?"

I run a "Total Addressable Search Market" audit before touching strategy. If there isn't real search demand or a revenue opportunity, SEO is the wrong channel.

I've seen companies skip this and burn 6 months of their marketing budget just to find out.

2. Customers before tools

I do customer research before keyword research. Feedback from 100+ customers, interviews, surveys, sales team, customer success team...

This surfaces the exact language, pain points, and insights. THEN you find the keywords.

Keyword tools support strategy, they don't drive it.

3. Flip the content funnel

I start at conversion:

- Competitor comparisons
- Alternatives pages
- Use case pages
- Buyer guides
- Reviews

Traffic graphs look smaller, but revenue graphs look MUCH bigger. I know which I prefer...

4. Optimise for retrieval and training data

There are 2 ways AI platforms mention you:

- Learnt about you during training
- Retrieved you live from search

I get featured in industry publications, podcasts, sources that AI platforms train on... And keep ranking.

5. Build free tools

- Pick a customer problem
- Build a tool that solves it
- Add a CTA to your paid product

Still the cleanest play I know for capturing high intent traffic and an instant path to conversion.

6. Be everywhere

Buyers use 3+ platforms now. They might:

- Read a LinkedIn post
- See you in ChatGPT
- Search alternatives on Reddit
- Research reviews on G2
- Google your brand later

I make sure to be present across these platforms.

You’d be surprised how much one piece of long-form content can be repurposed.

7. Focus on 'information gain'

AI commoditised average content.

The bar for ranking and getting cited is publishing original data, real experience, and a real POV.

If you're regurgitating, you're not gonna make it.

I'm closing in on 20,000 hours of SEO.

The more I learn, the more I realise that despite all the noise the fundamentals really don't change much.
Post image by Jake Ward
"Should we invest more in SEO?"
"What about AI search?ā€
"Should we be doing more on LinkedIn?"
"Do we need digital PR?"
"Should we publish more content?"

This is the conversation happening in marketing meetings as we head into the second half of 2026.

The problem isn't a lack of opportunities.

It's knowing what actually deserves your attention.

If that's you right now, my next live session is for you.

I'm breaking down the exact organic growth strategy I'd use if I joined your company tomorrow.

Join me live next Thursday, 9th July @ 1PM ET.

RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/ewjvYuEg
LinkedIn just published a 36-page guide on how to get found in AI search.

I went through the whole thing and turned it into one checklist.

The main ideas are simple:

- Pick a small number of topics you want to own
- Build depth around them with posts + articles
- Structure content so AI can easily understand it
- Get founders and real experts publishing too
- Reinforce the same ideas beyond LinkedIn
- Track citations, share of voice and sentiment
- Review what works and keep improving it

Basically just SEO…

- Topical authority
- Clear structure
- Original expertise
- Consistent publishing
- Multiple sources reinforcing the same thing

Except now you’re doing it across LinkedIn, your website and the wider internet.

So I’d stop thinking about LinkedIn as somewhere content lives for 48 hours before disappearing.

Every post is another signal around who you are, what you know and what you should be known for.

And that can influence what Google and AI platforms surface later.

I put everything LinkedIn recommends into the checklist below.

Save it and work through it.
Post image by Jake Ward
The SEO Content Matrix:

I use these 23 content types to create 100s of new pages for our SEO and AI search campaigns.

Some focus more on driving traffic:

- Lists
- FAQs
- Steps
- Interviews
- Checklists
- Definitions
- Pillar Pages
- Infographics
- Press Releases
- Ultimate Guides
- Trending Content
- Beginner's Guides
- Tips/Best Practices

Others focus more on improving AI visibility and driving conversions:

- How-To Guides
- Landing Pages
- Product Pages
- Best-Of Posts
- Comparisons
- Case Studies
- Alternatives
- Templates
- Free Tools
- Reviews

But the truth is, they're all crucial for:

1. Establishing your authority
2. Building your SEO / AI moat for defensibility
3. Meeting your users at each stage of the funnel

Use this content matrix to build your SEO plan:

PS. If you're planning your organic strategy for the rest of the year, I’m sharing the full playbook in my next live session on Thursday: https://lnkd.in/ewjvYuEg
Post image by Jake Ward

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