SEO is changing fast. With AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity becoming part of how people discover information, is traditional SEO still enough?
In this episode of E-Coffee with Experts, Ranmay chats with Alistair Knight, Founder and CEO of Zionova, about what’s really changing in search, and how SEOs and agencies can adapt.
Alistair shares the unconventional path that led him into SEO, from running an iPhone repair business in college to working with enterprise brands like IG Group and Brussels Investments, before eventually starting his own agency, Zionova.
One of the biggest themes of the conversation is authority. Alistair explains why he believes technical and on-page SEO are no longer the whole game, and why things like link building, digital PR, brand mentions, and visibility on platforms such as Reddit, LinkedIn, and Medium are becoming increasingly important — especially when it comes to getting picked up and cited by AI.
They also talk about the things that often get overlooked in SEO, from making reports actually useful for the business to the lessons Alistair learned from running his own affiliate site, Helping Principles. He shares some practical ways to create content that has a better chance of appearing in AI search, including schema, direct-answer content, and data-driven content that naturally earns links.
And beyond SEO, Alistair gets into the personal side of building a business, including the mindset and daily habits that have helped shape his approach to entrepreneurship.
If you’re working in SEO, trying to understand GEO and AEO, or thinking about building an agency of your own, this conversation offers a practical look at where search is going, and how you can stay ahead of it.
Takeaways:
- Alistair began in SEO through marketing his own iPhone repair business.
- He chose an apprenticeship over university to learn SEO while earning.
- Agency work exposed him to more SEO challenges than in-house roles.
- SEO reporting should focus on revenue, not just rankings or traffic.
- On-page and technical SEO are becoming less critical than off-page.
- AI models increasingly cite Reddit, LinkedIn, and Medium mentions.
- Statistics-based content pages create a snowball effect for backlinks.
- Persistence in one business matters more than chasing new ventures.