In this episode, Alex Wade, Head of SEO at Broadplace, joins Austin Willman to break down what actually moves the needle in search today and what SEOs are getting dangerously wrong as AI reshapes the industry.
Alex brings over 15 years of experience to a candid conversation about how SEO is evolving, why internal linking remains one of the most underrated technical foundations, and how AI tools like Claude are changing the day-to-day workflow for search professionals.
They cover how to use AI for keyword gap analysis, content scaling, and competitor research without losing the human quality that search engines still reward. Alex also shares his three-step diagnostic process for auditing any website, explains why organic traffic as a KPI is dying, and makes the case that GEO is not a standalone discipline but an arm of SEO.
Whether you are an in-house SEO, agency owner, or founder trying to understand where to invest in search, this episode gives you a grounded, practical framework for navigating what comes next.
Takeaways:
- Organic traffic as a primary KPI is becoming outdated and misleading
- Internal linking structure is foundational for both SEO and LLM visibility
- GEO is an extension of SEO, not a separate strategy or discipline
- Triangulating multiple SEO tools helps establish more reliable data baselines
- AI handles keyword tagging and metadata at scale better than manual effort
- Link hygiene and toxic link cleanup are largely a waste of SEO budget
- Satellite content linking to authoritative sources improves LLM visibility
- SEOs who learn AI's boundaries and use it strategically will lead the field