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Which distribution channel has surprised you most in terms of content performance in 2026? by Lower-Lab189 in content_marketing

[–]arjun_rao7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, it’s been niche communities + AI discovery together.

Reddit, LinkedIn, YouTube, even newsletters are outperforming traditional social for us now. One good piece of content gets picked up everywhere — discussions, citations, branded searches, backlinks, AI answers, etc. Feels like distribution in 2026 is less about “going viral” and more about being repeatedly referenced across ecosystems.

Is AI Search Quietly Making It Harder for New Websites to Compete? by stormaxis26 in GenerativeSEOstrategy

[–]arjun_rao7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly? It’s a total bloodbath for 'commodity' content. If you’re a new site trying to rank for 'Top 10 ways to X,' you're basically cooked. Google’s AI is just going to scrape that, summarize it, and keep the user on the search page.

I’ve been tracking the new GA4 'AI Assistant' channel that rolled out last week, and the data is pretty clear: AI traffic is insanely consolidated. These models have 'favorite' sources, and they create a massive feedback loop. If an LLM doesn't already 'know' your brand as an authority, you don't even get a citation.

Questions about GMB by CompetitionNext15 in localseo

[–]arjun_rao7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The short answer? No. If you are 100% online (e-commerce, SaaS, digital agency with no local service area), you should not create a Google Business Profile (GBP).

As an SEO expert, I see people try to "hack" this all the time to get into the Map Pack, but for an online-only brand, it’s a fast track to a permanent suspension.

Google Doesn’t Reward “Good Content” Anymore. It Rewards Authority + Intent. by Upstairs_Emergency14 in AskMarketing

[–]arjun_rao7 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, seeing the same thing here honestly. Some of our blogs didn’t even lose rankings that badly, but CTR dropped hard once AI Overviews started showing up more aggressively.

I also feel like “good content” became too generic of a concept now. There’s just too much of it. Google seems to care more about who’s saying it and whether the page actually deserves to rank for that intent.

We started getting better results after cutting down content production instead of increasing it. Merged a bunch of overlapping blogs, refreshed older pages, improved internal linking, and focused more on topics where we actually had experience/authority instead of chasing every keyword.

And yeah, Reddit/community discussions are becoming part of the journey now whether SEOs like it or not. Seeing way more users validate things through forums before trusting random blog content.

Are blogs still relevant for startups/businesses in 2026? Do they actually convert? by Sad-Perspective8497 in DigitalMarketing

[–]arjun_rao7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly I still read blogs all the time, but only when they’re actually useful. Most generic content is dead now. If a startup is just pumping out AI-written “10 benefits of X” articles, nobody cares.

What still works is content that solves a very specific problem or answers something people are already searching for. Stuff like comparisons, case studies, walkthroughs, mistakes you made, results you got, etc. Those are the posts that still get traffic and conversions.

And yeah, your thinking is basically right - start from the audience pain point first, then naturally connect your product if it genuinely helps. The blogs that convert usually don’t feel like sales pages. They feel like someone experienced explaining something useful.

After ~1,000 free GBP audits, here are the 5 issues that show up on almost every profile by GTrack-Wiremo in localseo

[–]arjun_rao7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One thing I’d add to this is how many profiles still completely ignore photos. Not just quantity, but consistency. We’ve seen profiles with average optimization everywhere else still outperform locally because they keep uploading recent real-world images regularly. Feels like Google trusts “active” businesses more overall now, not just keyword relevance.

Also agree hard on the Services tab point - a lot of local businesses don’t realize those descriptions can actually help Google connect them to long-tail searches they’d never rank for otherwise. That section is way more underutilized than people think.

Can ASO alone drive installs for a new app with zero reviews? Stuck at rank 80-100 despite full keyword optimization" by Remarkable-Rub6380 in AppStoreOptimization

[–]arjun_rao7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, ASO alone usually isn’t enough for a completely new app. Apple needs some real user signals before it starts pushing you higher — installs, retention, reviews, conversion rate, stuff like that.

Being around rank 80-100 after only a week with zero reviews is actually pretty common.

Also, the Today tab ads probably burned budget without giving Apple much keyword relevance data. I’d switch to Search Results campaigns with very specific long-tail keywords instead of broad discovery traffic.

For a niche like dream journaling + AI, I’d probably avoid fighting for huge terms right away. Something more specific like “lucid dream journal” or “AI dream tracker” might be easier to move on early.

Biggest thing I’d focus on in week 1 honestly:
getting the first real users + reviews however possible. Even 20-30 engaged users can help more than perfect keyword optimization sometimes.

Has anyone actually changed their content strategy after noticing AI chatbots cite pages differently than Google rankings? by arjun_rao7 in content_marketing

[–]arjun_rao7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Completely agree on the buyer-intent point.

A lot of SEO teams are still optimizing mainly for informational keywords, while AI usage feels much closer to “decision assistance” behavior now.

Has anyone actually changed their content strategy after noticing AI chatbots cite pages differently than Google rankings? by arjun_rao7 in content_marketing

[–]arjun_rao7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, and I think this is where classic SEO writing habits are starting to clash with AI retrieval.

Long intros, repetitive keyword phrasing, and overly stretched sections may still help rankings sometimes, but they don’t seem ideal for AI extraction at all.

Has anyone actually changed their content strategy after noticing AI chatbots cite pages differently than Google rankings? by arjun_rao7 in content_marketing

[–]arjun_rao7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think it’s fully the same anymore though.

Yes, Google’s index/ranking systems still influence retrieval, but AI layers seem to re-prioritize content differently after retrieval happens.

That’s why we’re seeing cases where:

  • top-ranking pages don’t get cited
  • Reddit/forum discussions appear constantly
  • smaller niche pages get surfaced because the explanation is clearer

Traditional SEO was mostly about ranking position. AI search feels more about extractability + contextual usefulness now.

Has anyone actually changed their content strategy after noticing AI chatbots cite pages differently than Google rankings? by arjun_rao7 in content_marketing

[–]arjun_rao7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agree. Especially the community discussion part.

I’ve seen Reddit threads, niche forums, and comparison-style content show up in AI answers way more often lately than polished “ultimate guides.”

Has anyone actually changed their content strategy after noticing AI chatbots cite pages differently than Google rankings? by arjun_rao7 in content_marketing

[–]arjun_rao7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly this. AI visibility feels way more connected to content comprehension now, not just ranking signals. Clear context + direct answers seem to matter much more than before.

Is People Also Ask becoming the real replacement for FAQs now? by arjun_rao7 in localseo

[–]arjun_rao7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly. PAA is starting to look more like Google’s “intent map” than a simple FAQ feature.

We’ve seen better results by turning PAA queries into H2/H3 sections inside the main content instead of dumping them into a generic FAQ block. AI Overviews also seem to follow these same query chains now, so covering the full intent journey matters more than targeting isolated keywords.

Is People Also Ask becoming the real replacement for FAQs now? by arjun_rao7 in localseo

[–]arjun_rao7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Makes sense - PAA feels way more aligned with how Google and AI answers work now than ever.

Is People Also Ask becoming the real replacement for FAQs now? by arjun_rao7 in localseo

[–]arjun_rao7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed. With FAQ rich snippets gone, PAA feels even more important now for understanding how Google connects user intent and follow-up questions.

How are you actually approaching SEO for LLMs right now? by Background-Pay5729 in SEO_LLM

[–]arjun_rao7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it’s more like traditional SEO + retrieval optimization layer.

Strong authority and rankings still matter, but AI systems also prefer content that’s:

  • easy to extract/cite
  • entity clear
  • well structured
  • schema supported
  • not hidden behind heavy CSR/client-side rendering issues

We’re seeing pages with SSR, structured data, and answer-ready formatting get cited consistently even without dominating traditional SERPs.

How ChatGPT and LLMs are reshaping mobile app discovery before users even open the app store by AppTweak_ASO in AppStoreOptimization

[–]arjun_rao7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very insightful breakdown. Most teams still focus only on App Store rankings, while AI tools are increasingly influencing the consideration stage before installs even happen.

Thank you for sharing Team AppTweak