The GEO Blueprint: AI Search

Wix's Head of AI Search: What 300M Websites Are Teaching Us About Agentic Shopping | Crystal Carter

300 million websites. One of the most unique vantage points on AI search in the world. In this episode, George Vlasyev sits down with Crystal Carter, Head of AI Search and SEO Communications at Wix, where she helps shape how hundreds of millions of websites navigate the shift from traditional SEO to AI search visibility. Crystal is a global keynote speaker, Harvard Business School presenter and author of the upcoming book New Rules of AI Search. She brings one of the most grounded and data-rich perspectives on GEO, agentic commerce and the future of the web available anywhere right now. Key Topics Covered: - How search is actually evolving right now and what the data from 300 million Wix websites is showing - What NL Web is and how Wix built a one-click solution to make websites ready for AI agents - How the Wix ChatGPT integration works and what you can actually do with it today - Why your website needs to stop being a destination and start being a resource - Why Wix became the first CMS to sign the Agentic Commerce Protocol and what that means for the future of shopping in ChatGPT - How small businesses can compete in agentic shopping against large enterprises - How far away agents making purchases on our behalf actually are and why the shift will be slow until it's suddenly fast - Why different audiences use completely different AI platforms and how brands should use that data to prioritize their GEO strategy - How Aria tags work for both visually impaired users and AI agents and why that overlap matters for your website - Whether there will be one AI winner or whether models will stay scattered across different use cases and audiences - What zero click and click collapse actually mean for your business and what to do about it Connect with Crystal: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystal-carter-digital/ Website: https://www.wix.com/ 📖 Crystal's Book (Pre-Order): https://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Rules-Search-Results-visibility/dp/1394399693 Download The GEO Blueprint Guide: https://thegeoblueprint.com/ The GEO Blueprint Podcast is hosted by George Vlasyev — exploring how brands can win visibility in the age of generative AI and LLM-powered search. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:53 - Who is Crystal & what does she do at Wix? 02:44 - How is search actually evolving right now? 07:34 - NL Web — how to make your website ready for AI agents in one click 14:09 - Wix's ChatGPT integration — what can you actually do with it? 17:39 - Your website needs to be a resource, not just a destination 20:33 - Wix signs the Agentic Commerce Protocol — what does that mean? 22:11 - How can small businesses compete in agentic shopping? 25:42 - How far away are agents making purchases on our behalf? 32:45 - Wix had an AI website builder in 2016 — slow until it's fast 35:11 - Who actually uses which AI — and how brands should use that data 38:03 - Aria tags work for blind users and AI agents. Here's why that matters. 40:52 - What is your go-to LLM model? 43:57 - Will there be one AI winner or will models stay scattered? 48:57 - Zero click and click collapse — what to do about it 51:54 - Outro #GEO #AISearch #SEO #AgenticCommerce #DigitalMarketing #B2BSaaS #LLMOptimization #ContentMarketing #SearchMarketing #GEOBlueprint

The Search Expert: Why The Old Internet Is Over (And What Is Replacing It) | Bastian Grimm

The internet as we know it is changing faster than most brands realize. And the window to adapt is shorter than anyone wants to admit. In this episode, George Vlasyev sits down with Bastian Grimm, CEO of Peak ACE, a performance marketing agency based in Berlin with over 25 years of experience in SEO and digital marketing. Bastian is one of the most forward-thinking voices in the industry, regularly speaking at major conferences and pushing the boundaries of what GEO, entity SEO and AI search actually mean for businesses right now and in the years ahead. This is one of the deepest and most future-focused conversations on the show so far, covering everything from the agentic web to personal intelligence, MCP protocols and what brand visibility even means when there is no fixed search result anymore. Key Topics Covered: * Why the biggest shift in internet history is machines talking to machines and what that means for every brand with a website * Why agents doing research, browsing and buying on your behalf changes the entire foundation of digital marketing * How Google is operating at roughly 5% of its actual AI capability and why legal guardrails are the only thing holding it back * What personal intelligence actually is and how Gemini is now building responses from your Gmail, YouTube history and purchase behavior * Why your website might eventually become a brand entity and data provider rather than a destination * What MCP is, why it matters for AI visibility and how brands should be thinking about connectivity standards right now * Why the open web is in decline and what the new interface layer between humans and information might actually look like * How Google's Stitch technology could generate entirely personalized UIs on the fly and what that means for traditional SEO * Why traffic is a proxy metric and what actually matters when there is no default search result * The future of paywalled journalism and publishing in a world where AI constructs responses without sending clicks * Why Bastian moved his entire agency from ChatGPT to Claude and what drove that decision * Persuasive AI, dark patterns and the ethical guardrails that are still missing from the industry * Vibe coding, Claude Code and how building tools has completely changed for non-developers Connect with Bastian:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bastiangrimm/Website: https://peakace.agency/en/ Download The GEO Blueprint Guide: https://thegeoblueprint.com/ The GEO Blueprint Podcast is hosted by George Vlasyev — exploring how brands can win visibility in the age of generative AI and LLM-powered search. Timestamps:00:00 - Intro01:33 - Who is Bastian & 25 years in SEO02:02 - Is SEO dead?02:49 - The agentic web — what does it mean when AI searches and buys on your behalf?04:48 - How far away are agents making purchases for us?07:59 - Google agent traffic is now distinguishable in your server logs10:53 - Profound raised $1B — will Google make AI visibility tools obsolete?13:28 - Why Bastian wouldn't bet on OpenAI right now19:44 - Are we even going to visit websites anymore?27:38 - Paywalls, journalism and who's going to train the models31:31 - Google's personal intelligence — Gemini now knows everything about you36:25 - Google is operating at 5% of its real capability39:12 - What is MCP and why does every brand need to understand it?47:04 - Hot take — ads in AI52:52 - AI can generate a personalized UI on the fly — what does visibility even mean then?59:40 - Do we even need websites at this point anymore?01:01:35 - What excites you most right now?01:07:22 - Outro #GEO #AISearch #SEO #DigitalMarketing #AgenticWeb #MCP #PersonalIntelligence #B2BSaaS #ContentMarketing #GEOBlueprint

Why Your Google Traffic Is Dying (And What's Replacing It) | John Campbell

Google traffic is declining. AI search is rising. And most brands have no idea what to do about it.In this episode, George Vlasyev sits down with John Campbell, Head of AI and Innovation at ROAST, a digital marketing agency with offices in London, New York and Cape Town. John has spent the last few years building one of the most sophisticated GEO measurement frameworks in the industry, working with major brands including Experian, and thinking three to five years ahead about where AI search is actually going.This is one of the most forward-looking and practically grounded conversations on AI visibility, prompt tracking and the future of search you will find anywhere right now.Key Topics Covered:- The three AI visibility measurement products ROAST has built: brand index, consumer preferences and key phrase level data, and what each tells a brand about their AI visibility- Why running 100,000 prompts is the only way to get statistically significant AI visibility data given how non-deterministic LLMs are- Whether shopping inside LLMs is going to be as big as everyone predicts and what brands need to do to prepare- How to figure out what a model actually finds important when recommending products in your category- Why Reddit, YouTube and social listening are becoming critical components of any AI search strategy- What ROAST found when experimenting with GPT apps and why the results were surprising- Whether your business should be building a ChatGPT app right now- Why clicks are dropping while impressions are growing and what is actually happening underneath- Whether SEO fundamentals still apply after nearly 20 years and what has genuinely changed- Why PR, affiliates and socials are the new AI citation strategy- Why most prompt tracking tools might be misleading everyone and what to use instead- Fan-out queries: how AI models are searching your brand by name automatically without users asking for it- Why voice search is different this time around and why it matters for GEO- The hot take on ads coming to AI and what it means for the industry- Why LLMs might eventually stop relying on Google and Bing and build their own search indexConnect with John:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnpcampbell/Website: https://weareroast.com/Download The GEO Blueprint Guide: https://thegeoblueprint.com/The GEO Blueprint Podcast is hosted by George Vlasyev — exploring how brands can win visibility in the age of generative AI and LLM-powered search.Timestamps:00:00 - Intro00:50 - Who is John & what does ROAST do?02:32 - The 3 AI visibility products — brand index, consumer preferences, key phrases05:55 - Is shopping going to be big inside LLMs?09:37 - How do you figure out what the model actually finds important?12:37 - Reddit, YouTube and social listening as an AI strategy22:41 - GPT Apps — live experiments and surprising findings28:15 - Should your business build a ChatGPT app right now?29:42 - Clicks dropping, impressions growing — what's really happening?32:58 - Have clients actually lost business because of the click decline?34:15 - Do SEO fundamentals still apply after nearly 20 years?35:10 - PR, affiliates and socials — the new AI citation strategy39:10 - Why prompt tracking tools might be misleading everyone47:51 - Fan-out queries — AI models search your brand by name automatically52:33 - Voice search — why it's different this time around56:24 - Hot take — ads in AI58:48 - What's your go-to LLM and would you bet on OpenAI?01:03:18 - Outro#GEO #AISearch #SEO #DigitalMarketing #B2BSaaS #LLMOptimization #ContentMarketing #SearchMarketing #AIVisibility #GEOBlueprint

Stop Tracking 10,000 Prompts. Here's What Actually Works | Genie Jones

Here's the full SEO-optimized episode description: Most brands are tracking thousands of prompts and getting data that tells them almost nothing. There is a better way. In this episode, George Vlasyev sits down with Genie Jones, Knowledge Graph and Entity SEO specialist at InLinks, where she has spent years helping brands strengthen their topic associations, internal linking and schema to become genuinely visible to both search engines and LLMs. With a background in applied linguistics, Genie brings one of the most unique and intellectually grounded perspectives on how computers actually learn language and what that means for your brand's AI visibility. This is one of the deepest, most practical conversations on entity SEO and AI visibility you will find anywhere right now. Key Topics Covered: * What entities actually are and why most brands are not covering them deeply enough to rank in Google or get cited in LLMs * Why tracking 10,000 prompts gives you a false sense of security and what to do instead * Why the probability of two AI responses producing the exact same brand list is less than 1 in 1000, and what that means for prompt tracking * How applied linguistics explains the way LLMs learn and why understanding that gives you a real edge in SEO * Whether AI is truly capable of creativity and where the line between human and machine thinking actually sits * The structural gap study built from 19,000 data points: 57% of all AI visibility gaps fall into just three categories * A real case study: how InLinks went from position 6 to position 1 in AI recommendations in just 8 weeks by filling entity gaps * Why share of voice as a metric is misleading and what you need to measure instead * How to build strong brand to entity connections through content, internal linking and schema * Why PR, Reddit and third party content are becoming more important than ever for AI visibility * Whether LLMs are using live data or relying on training data and why most brands have this completely wrong * Why the brands that win long term in AI search are the ones with the best products and strongest social consensus * What stays uniquely human as AI takes over more of the knowledge work Connect with Genie:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/genie-jones/Website: https://inlinks.com/ Download The GEO Blueprint Guide: https://thegeoblueprint.com/ The GEO Blueprint Podcast is hosted by George Vlasyev — exploring how brands can win visibility in the age of generative AI and LLM-powered search. Timestamps:00:00 - Intro00:44 - AI Visibility & SEO: Setting the Stage01:08 - What Do You Do & Why Does It Matter Right Now?02:46 - What Are "Entities" in SEO? (Simple Explanation)04:09 - Biggest Mistakes Marketers Make with AI SEO06:04 - Why Tracking Prompts Doesn't Work08:20 - How Applied Linguistics Gives an Edge in SEO10:34 - How LLMs Actually Learn (In Simple Terms)11:36 - Can AI Truly Be Creative?14:12 - Study Breakdown: Where Brands Lose AI Visibility17:31 - Case Study: From #6 to #1 in 8 Weeks19:18 - SEO vs AI Visibility: What's Different?20:27 - Why "Share of Voice" Is Misleading22:38 - What Is Entity SEO, Really?25:00 - How to Build Strong Brand–Entity Connections28:14 - Why PR, Reddit & Third-Party Content Matter31:55 - Does AI Use Live Data or Old Training Data?35:09 - Best LLMs & Should You Even Use Them?38:07 - What Clients Really Want: "Are We #1?"42:14 - Who Wins in the AI Era? (GEO Blueprint)47:00 - The 3 Biggest SEO Gaps (From 19,000 Data Points)52:04 - Will AI Actually Hurt Big Brands?55:18 - The Future of Work: What Stays Uniquely Human?58:25 - Vibe Coding: Building Without Code01:01:32 - Where to Find Genie + Outro #GEO #EntitySEO #AISearch #LLMOptimization #SEO #DigitalMarketing #B2BSaaS #KnowledgeGraph #ContentMarketing #GEOBlueprint

AI Search Is Picking Winners Right Now — Are You One of Them? (ft. Yaser Ayub)

Everyone wants to know how to appear in AI search. Most of the advice out there is noise. Yaser Ayub is one of the few people actually testing what works.In this episode, George Vlasyev sits down with Yaser Ayub, founder of Rayze Digital, an SEO and AI search agency helping brands build lasting visibility the right way. Yaser has been doing SEO for over 14 years, survived Penguin and Panda, ranked on page one of both Google and ChatGPT for SEO consultant London, and is one of the most grounded voices in the GEO space right now.This is a conversation about fundamentals, long term thinking and what AI search actually rewards.Key Topics Covered:- Why the wrong way to do SEO is chasing short term tactics like listicles, poor links and AI generated content at scale- How to have the honest conversation with clients about why SEO is a marathon and not a sprint- How AI overviews are affecting client traffic and the two content strategy approach Yaser uses to address it- The framework for measuring AI search visibility: what AI knows about your brand, entity level share of voice and prompt tracking with open ended questions- Why share of voice measurement is often misleading and what to do instead- The most important KPIs for AI visibility from a business revenue perspective- Inside the ChatGPT ad pilot: deep pockets required, tracking still broken, but a massive opportunity is coming- Which LLM will win and why different models are already being used for different purposes- How Yaser ranked on page one of both Google and ChatGPT for a competitive keyword by doing the basics exceptionally well- Why brand mentions without links are now just as important as links for AI citations- Why fresh content wins in AI search and the case study proof behind it- What businesses with zero AI visibility should actually do right now- Why the best products win long term and how Warren Buffett's investing principles apply to SEO strategy- Why SEO is not dead, it is just adapting, and why Search Everywhere Optimization is the right frameConnect with Yaser:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaserayub/Website: https://www.yaser.uk/Download The GEO Blueprint Guide: https://thegeoblueprint.com/The GEO Blueprint Podcast is hosted by George Vlasyev — exploring how brands can win visibility in the age of generative AI and LLM-powered search.Timestamps:00:00 - Intro00:47 - Who is Yaser & what does Rayze Digital do?02:01 - What is the wrong way of doing SEO?03:12 - How do you tell clients SEO takes time?04:33 - Have AI overviews affected your clients' traffic?06:26 - What does Rayze Digital do differently from traditional SEO?08:44 - Framework for measuring AI search visibility09:49 - Share of voice — and why you need to be careful10:37 - Most important KPIs for AI visibility12:04 - Hot take — ads are coming to AI14:45 - Will AI ads become a money spinner?15:09 - Which LLM model will win — or will there be many?17:43 - How Yaser ranked on page one of both Google and ChatGPT19:13 - How important is PR and brand mentions for AI visibility?23:26 - The best products win long term — Warren Buffett meets SEO28:08 - The number one question CMOs are asking right now29:04 - How has AI changed your day to day workflow?30:36 - What should businesses do if they have no AI visibility?32:51 - Does ranking on Google guarantee AI citations?34:04 - Fresh content wins in AI — case study proof34:44 - What's the upside of an AI overview if there's no click?36:41 - Is AI search an opportunity or a threat?38:29 - Which AI platform should businesses focus on first?40:23 - First mover advantage — blessing or curse?46:07 - SEO is not dead — it's just adapting47:17 - Don't be everywhere for the sake of being everywhere48:22 - Outro#GEO #SEO #AISearch #LLMOptimization #B2BSaaS #DigitalMarketing #ContentMarketing #EntitySEO #SearchEverywhereOptimization #GEOBlueprint