From Directory Submissions To AI Overviews: One SEO Journey

Ian Fergusson, Head of SEO & Content at Uswitch, has spent his career split between agency-side SEO and in-house leadership at Uswitch, one of the UK’s biggest comparison sites. In this episode, he joins Austin Willman to unpack how organic search strategy is changing as zero-click results and AI search reshape the industry.

Ian breaks down the concept of “right to win”, why the biggest opportunity on paper isn’t always the right one to chase, and how brands need product readiness and authority before investing in a category. He explains why traditional last-click attribution for organic is declining even as visibility grows, and why organic is shifting to look more like brand discoverability across platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and ChatGPT.

The conversation dives deep into digital PR and link building in an AI-first world: why outreach can no longer sit in a silo, why quality and relevance now matter more than raw domain authority, and how Uswitch uses proprietary research (like its annual mold-in-homes campaign and Uswitch Awards) to create non-commodity content that earns citations from both journalists and AI models.

Ian also shares how Uswitch scores leads in its CRM, why search data is one of the most honest signals of consumer intent, and why attribution modeling for organic search is the conversation the industry still isn’t having enough.

Whether you work in-house or agency-side, this episode offers a grounded look at what it actually takes to build lasting organic authority in 2026 and beyond.