Why Branded Search Is Now the SEO Metric That Actually Matters

Why Branded Search Is Now the SEO Metric That Actually Matters

Hannah Bryce is the SEO Consultant at Latern SEO with over 16 years of in-house experience across e-commerce, health and wellness, and multiple other industries. After building and leading high-performing SEO teams, she recently launched Lantern SEO, her own independent consultancy focused on strategy, audits, and rescue work for brands navigating complex SEO challenges. In this episode, Hannah shares why she made the leap from in-house leader to independent consultant, what her USP looks like in practice, and how she approaches SEO strategy for businesses that are stuck, scaling, or recovering from technical mistakes. She also breaks down why branded search has become one of the most important but most overlooked metrics in 2025 and beyond, how digital PR has finally earned its seat at the table in the AI search era, and why collaboration across legal, UX, design, and sales teams is what separates good SEO from great SEO. Hannah also shares her perspective on how to keep your SEO team motivated, why canonicalization is still misunderstood, and what most brands are getting wrong about trust signals on their websites. If you manage an SEO team, work with an agency, or are trying to figure out how to show up in AI-generated search results, this conversation is packed with practical, experience-backed insight. Get Your Exclusive AIO Growth Plan - We’ll kick off with a Live AIO Audit to see how shoppers find you, followed by Competitor Research to steal their spotlight: https://lunacal.ai/team/dws/dws-meetings In this episode, we discuss: 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction 01:00 - 02:30: Why Hannah Made the Leap to Consultancy 02:30 - 05:15: What Lantern SEO Does and Who It's For 05:15 - 08:00: Getting Leadership and Internal Teams to Buy In 08:00 - 11:00: SEO as a Cross-Functional Discipline 11:00 - 13:40: Why Legal Teams Are an Untapped SEO Asset 13:40 - 16:10: On-Page Trust Signals and Converting Organic Traffic 16:10 - 18:45: Branded Search and the Attribution Problem 18:45 - 22:10: What Happens After Someone Lands on Your Page 22:10 - 24:45: Canonicalization Then vs. Now 24:45 - 28:00: AI Search, GEO, and the Case for Digital PR 28:00 - 31:40: Where to Find Real Audience Conversations 31:40 - 33:35: Summer of SEO and Building in Public 33:35 - 36:45: The SEOSAS Podcast and Why They Started It 36:45 - 38:33: How to Keep Your SEO Team Happy  Connect with Hannah Bryce  https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-bryce-99848144/  www.lanternseo.co.uk  FOLLOW US Website: https://www.digitalwebsolutions.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digiwebsol Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dws_global LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-web-solutions./

How This B2B SEO Expert Builds Content That Actually Converts

Most SEOs are wasting time debating schema, chasing Google's latest guide, and trying to game an algorithm that will eventually game them back. In this episode, Austin sits down with Timothy Boluwatife, AEO/SEO Strategist at Breaking B2B, to break down what actually moves the needle for B2B SEO in 2025 and beyond. Tim shares why Google's recent AI content guide misses the mark, why non-commodity content is a trap, and how thinking in category entry points instead of keywords changes everything about your content strategy. He also pulls back the curtain on the AI-powered workflows he has built using Claude, Fathom, Fireflies, and the Ahrefs MCP to cut keyword research time by 50 percent and build a full multi-step content pipeline from research to QA. The conversation also covers GEO, LLM visibility, and why the conversion rate from ChatGPT traffic is outpacing Google for Breaking B2B clients. Tim explains why Reddit strategy should be driven by where your customers already are, not by what LLMs happen to cite, and why strong GEO always starts with strong SEO fundamentals. If you are running an SEO program for a B2B company or agency and want a clearer picture of where the channel is heading, this episode is a practical, no-fluff look at how a working agency is approaching it right now. Get Your Exclusive AIO Growth Plan - We’ll kick off with a Live AIO Audit to see how shoppers find you, followed by Competitor Research to steal their spotlight: https://lunacal.ai/team/dws/dws-meetings In this episode, we discuss: 00:00 - 01:00 Introduction 01:00 - 02:15 Google's AI Content Guide: Do What I Say, Not What I Do 02:15 - 04:15 Why Non-Commodity Content Is a Trap 04:15 - 06:05 Category Entry Points: The Right Way to Think About SEO Content 06:05 - 07:45 Stop Gaming the Algorithm, Focus on Humans 07:45 - 09:20 How Breaking B2B Researches Client ICPs 09:20 - 12:05 Why You Can't Just Copy Strategy Across Clients 12:05 - 15:15 Working With CMOs, Founders, and Internal Teams 15:15 - 18:05 How Claude and AI Have Transformed Tim's Workflow 18:05 - 21:00 Building a Multi-Step AI Content Pipeline 21:00 - 22:35 GitHub as the New SEO Resume 22:35 - 24:00 Off-Page and Link Building: Still Mostly Manual 24:00 - 26:00 Schema, LLM Citations, and What the Research Actually Says 26:00 - 28:05 Good GEO Starts With Good SEO 28:05 - 30:00 Tracking LLM Revenue With Self-Attribution 30:00 - 32:10 Reddit, Digital PR, and Building Presence Where LLMs Look 32:10 - 34:35 Closing Thoughts and Where to Find Tim  Connect with Timothy Boluwatife  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-boluwatife/  https://breakingb2b.com  FOLLOW US Website: https://www.digitalwebsolutions.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digiwebsol Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dws_global LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-web-solutions./

Barney O'Kelly: What Makes a Consulting Firm Distinct When Everyone Is Smart

What does good marketing actually look like inside a firm that prides itself on results over recommendations? In this episode, Austin sits down with Barney O'Kelly, Head of Solutions & Product Marketing at AlixPartners, a global management consulting firm known for getting things done when the stakes are highest. Barney shares why he replaced the term "personal brand" with something far more human: be seen and make friends. He explains why the same processes behind building a romantic relationship are what drive successful business development, and why dissonance is the single biggest enemy of trust. The conversation covers AlixPartners' unique identity, built on three pillars its people, its work, and its history, and why those three things are what truly differentiate a firm in professional services. Barney also opens up about the evolution of his own marketing philosophy, how AlixPartners handled the Thomas Cook insolvency repatriation of 150,000 British holidaymakers, and why AI multiplies human expertise rather than replacing it. If you work in B2B marketing, consulting, or professional services, this episode is packed with grounded, practical thinking from someone who has seen firsthand what works and what does not. Get Your Exclusive AIO Growth Plan - We’ll kick off with a Live AIO Audit to see how shoppers find you, followed by Competitor Research to steal their spotlight: https://lunacal.ai/team/dws/dws-meetings In this episode, we discuss: 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction 01:00 - 04:00: What Good Marketing Actually Looks Like 04:00 - 06:00: Inside AlixPartners — What the Firm Actually Does 06:00 - 08:30: The Thomas Cook Repatriation Story 08:30 - 11:00: Be Seen and Make Friends 11:00 - 13:00: Dale Carnegie, Relationships, and Business Development 13:00 - 15:30: What Makes AlixPartners Truly Distinctive 15:30 - 18:30: Why Their Best People Resist Personal Branding 18:30 - 21:00: Availability, Trust, and Showing Up Consistently 21:00 - 23:30: Barney's Role — Head of Solutions Explained 23:30 - 26:00: How Barney Found His Marketing Philosophy 26:00 - 28:30: Unique POV vs. AI-Aggregated Content 28:30 - 31:30: AI as a Multiplier for Experienced Consultants 31:30 - 34:30: Why Implementation Is Still the Hard Part 34:30 - 37:00: The Future of Business Leadership and Technology 37:00 - 38:35: Where to Find Barney + Outro  Connect with Barney O'Kelly  https://www.linkedin.com/in/barneyokelly/  https://www.alixpartners.com/  FOLLOW US Website: https://www.digitalwebsolutions.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digiwebsol Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dws_global LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-web-solutions./

Colton Hower: What a People-First Agency Model Actually Looks Like at Scale

Most agencies tell you to niche down, lock clients into long-term retainers, and productize your offer. Colton Hower, Founder & CEO of Power Marketing Company, did the opposite and built a 190-client agency with a 91% retention rate in five years. In this episode, Colton breaks down the three Power Pillars that drive every client interaction, why 30-day contracts actually create stronger retention than annual retainers, and how leadership-led servicing sets Power apart from traditional agency models. He also shares how bringing on his COO and childhood best friend transformed their operations, why they time-track everything down to the minute, and how a free internship program, now drawing applicants from Columbia, Iowa State, and beyond, is quietly becoming one of their best talent pipelines. If you run an agency or a service business and want a different playbook for growth, retention, and team development, this conversation is packed with practical insight. Get Your Exclusive AIO Growth Plan - We’ll kick off with a Live AIO Audit to see how shoppers find you, followed by Competitor Research to steal their spotlight: https://lunacal.ai/team/dws/dws-meetings In this episode, we discuss: 00:00 - 00:43: Introduction 00:43 - 01:30: Why Colton Started Power Marketing 01:30 - 02:32: The People-Pleaser Mentality Behind the Business 02:32 - 03:56: The Three Power Pillars Explained 03:56 - 05:03: Managing 190 Clients as the Founder 05:03 - 06:52: Building Systems and Scaling the Team 06:52 - 08:17: How Operations Evolved Without Stopping to Plan 08:17 - 09:36: Bringing on COO Rocco and What Changed 09:36 - 11:27: Time Tracking, Efficiency, and Knowing What to Scale 11:27 - 12:41: Making Complex Systems Digestible for Clients 12:41 - 14:12: What to Automate vs. What to Keep Human 14:12 - 15:40: Retention Strategy and the 30-Day Contract Model 15:40 - 17:27: Why No Long-Term Retainers Actually Works 17:27 - 18:38: Leadership-Led Servicing in Practice 18:38 - 20:06: Why Power Chose A La Carte Over Productized Offers 20:06 - 22:15: Scope Creep, Flexibility, and Transparent Conversations 22:15 - 23:24: Pricing Philosophy and Performance-Based Models 23:24 - 25:44: Due Diligence, Pricing Sweet Spots, and Evolving Packages 25:44 - 26:26: White Glove Service at Scale 26:26 - 28:37: The Power Marketing Internship Program 28:37 - 30:31: Intern Applications, Growth, and National Reach 30:31 - 32:09: How to Build Your Own Internship Program 32:09 - 33:38: Training, Standards, and Raising the Team Up 33:38 - 35:08: Loom Tutorials, Hands-On Oversight, and the Learning System 35:08 - 37:03: Learning by Doing and Embracing Failure 37:03 - 38:08: Final Thoughts and Where to Find Colton 38:08 - 39:10: Outro  Connect with Colton Hower  https://www.linkedin.com/in/coltonhower/  https://www.powermarketingcompany.com/  FOLLOW US Website: https://www.digitalwebsolutions.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digiwebsol Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dws_global LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-web-solutions./

Levi Clucas: Why Good SEO Has Nothing to Do With Checklists

Levi Clucas, Technical SEO Lead at Footprint Digital and three-time Brighton SEO speaker, joins Austin Willman to break down what good SEO actually looks like in 2025 and beyond. Levi shares why the best SEOs lead with intuition over checklists, how she uses a simple spreadsheet to solve one of the most persistent problems in site migrations, and why the shift toward human-centered content is reshaping everything from local SEO to LLM citations. She also opens up about the soft skills that have defined her decade-long career, including radical transparency with clients, building real relationships across teams, and why saying "I don't know" is one of the most powerful things an SEO can say. If you're worried about where search is heading or what AI means for your career, this episode is a grounding, practical conversation to come back to. Topics covered: - Why good SEO starts with intuition, not a checklist - How local SEO plays by different rules - The Technical Site Map document Levi presented at Brighton SEO - Why communication is the real reason migrations fail - How EEAT and reputation signals have become central to visibility - What LLMs are actually picking up on when they cite businesses - Why team pages are now among the most visited pages on client sites - How to embrace AI without letting it replace your thinking Get Your Exclusive AIO Growth Plan - We’ll kick off with a Live AIO Audit to see how shoppers find you, followed by Competitor Research to steal their spotlight: https://lunacal.ai/team/dws/dws-meetings In this episode, we discuss: 00:00 - 01:00 Introduction 01:00 - 03:00 Why Good SEO Is Not a Checklist 03:00 - 05:35 Intuition, Industry Knowledge, and Testing 05:35 - 08:30 Thinking Like Your Client's Customer 08:30 - 11:55 Using AI and Real People for Keyword Research 11:55 - 15:30 The Technical Site Map Explained 15:30 - 18:45 Brighton SEO Talk and Audience Response 18:45 - 21:05 Why Communication Breaks Down in Migrations 21:05 - 24:15 Transparency, Honesty, and Relationship Building 24:15 - 27:20 Confidence, Authority, and Pushing Back Constructively 27:20 - 31:05 How Trust Signals and EEAT Have Shifted 31:05 - 34:20 What LLMs Actually Pick Up On 34:20 - 37:00 Embracing AI Without Losing the Human Element 37:00 - 38:16 Where to Find Levi and Final Thoughts  Connect with Levi Clucas  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leviwilliamsclucas/  https://www.footprintdigital.co.uk/  FOLLOW US Website: https://www.digitalwebsolutions.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digiwebsol Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dws_global LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-web-solutions./