The Vicious Cycle of SEO - How We Got Here & Where We’re Going - SEOWeek 2025.pdf
- 1. HOW WE GOT HERE, & WHERE WE ARE GOING The Vicious Cycle of SEO By Lily Ray
- 2. VP, SEO Strategy & Research
- 3. 2025 marks my 15th year of doing SEO
- 4. If there is one thing you learn after 15 years working in SEO…
- 5. SEO finds tactic for driving organic search traffic Shares tactics publicly, competitors reverse-engineer & duplicate (‘SEO Gold Rush’) Google develops algorithms to counter spam Once-successful SEO approaches demoted, penalized, or treated as spam SEOs look for next opportunity The cycle of SEO
- 6. But tactics to gain SEO visibility often result in a poor experience for searchers
- 7. How SEOs see their projects How Google sees SEOs’ projects
- 8. If you want to know how Google feels about spam, watch this 2019 video:
- 9. “Spam is one of the biggest problems that we face.”
- 10. “Fighting spam is a cat & mouse game.”
- 11. “This is a war we are fighting. It’s not something I think will ever be solvable.”
- 12. “But my content is high quality” - Every SEO ever
- 13. THE RULES CONTINUOUSLY CHANGE. THE DEFINITION OF SPAM EVOLVES.
- 14. IS A TALE AS OLD AS TIME…
- 15. SEO CYCLES OF THE PAST ✴ Keyword stuffing, doorway pages, cloaking, exact match domains ✴ Link buying, blogroll & footer links, spammy anchor text, PBNS ✴ Ranking on YMYL topics without expertise or authority Medic Update Penguin & Link Spam updates Florida & Panda updates
- 16. LET’S LOOK AT SOME RECENT EXAMPLES (2022-2025)
- 17. THE GREAT AI FLOOD (2022 onward)
- 18. AIcontentboom Explosion of AI Content
- 19. THE ERA OF THE SEO “GET RICH QUICK” SCHEME & YOUTUBE EXPLOSION
- 20. ✴ Quotes ✴ Jokes ✴ Riddles ✴ Angel numbers ✴ Horoscopes ✴ Celebrity net worth ✴ Most beautiful women High volume + low effort scaled SEO opportunities
- 21. ✴ Publishing 3rd party content on a high-authority website to boost your rankings Parasite SEO abounds
- 22. Types of Parasite SEO Parasite SEO USER GENERATED CONTENT Reddit, Quora Medium, LinkedIn Pulse HubPages Outlook India Jerusalem Post Discover Magazine Fake, AI- generated authors Betting & casino content on news sites Partnerships w/undisclosed content providers Freelancers publishing affiliate content across various sites Coupon companies SPONSORED GUEST POSTS 3RD PARTY PARTNERSHIPS
- 23. EXAMPLES OF PARASITE SEO: 3RD PARTY CONTENT
- 24. ✴ Using templates & databases to automatically create keyword-targeted landing pages at scale The Programmatic SEO Gold Rush
- 25. Wise Currency converters | ~30K pages* 2.7MM monthly organic traffic* *Ahrefs data Programmatic SEO can be effective… when executed well… Adobe PDF tools | 26 URLs 4.67MM monthly organic traffic* …& pages are tied to real products.
- 26. But scaling SEO content with little effort and no original insights… Is what Google means by "content written for search engines."
- 27. It felt like “SEO content” was everywhere. But real searchers weren’t so excited.
- 29. GOOGLE ISSUES A WARNING IN LATE 2024…
- 31. Helpful Content Update Little to no recoveries among thousands of affected niche sites (SEPT 2023) Before massive decline
- 32. Significant Collateral Damage Machine learning Google algorithm update = lacks precision Legit travel blog destroyed by HCU
- 33. ✴ The biggest core update in Google’s history (45 days) ✴ Reduced “unhelpful” content by 45% March 2024 Core & Spam Update
- 34. Core & Spam Updates: targets content written for search engines. Even big brands known for “great SEO” are impacted.
- 35. ORGANIC TRAFFIC VS. ORGANIC PAGES Crackdown on sites that scale low-quality content (SCALED CONTENT ABUSE)
- 36. Recent full site ‘pure spam’ manual action “Things were going well until this site started publishing 1000s of off-topic articles on every subject under the sun: ✴ Happy Birthday Wishes ✴ The Most Beautiful Women In The World ✴ Instagram Usernames for Girls & Boys” – CYRUS SHEPARD
- 37. Parasite SEO USER GENERATED CONTENT Reddit, Quora Medium, LinkedIn Pulse HubPages Outlook India Jerusalem Post Discover Magazine Fake, AI- generated authors Betting & casino content on news sites Partnerships w/undisclosed content providers Freelancers publishing affiliate content across various sites Coupon companies SPONSORED GUEST POSTS 3RD PARTY PARTNERSHIPS Google responds to parasite SEO with Site Reputation Abuse
- 38. The sneaky addition of “freelancers” One day before manual actions were issued.
- 39. SITE REPUTATION ABUSE HAS BEEN A BLOODBATH…
- 40. WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE US?
- 41. 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 AI CONTENT PBNS ARTICLE SPINNING FOR EVERY SEO OPPORTUNITY OVER THE YEARS…
- 42. 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 AI CONTENT PBNS ARTICLE SPINNING 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 GOOGLE HAS PATCHED IT UP AS AN EXPLOIT Panda Updates Penguin Updates Helpful Content Update Reviews Update Core Updates Spam Updates Site reputation abuse Scaled content abuse
- 44. AI OVERVIEWS (AIO) & AI MODE
- 45. And now organic CTRs are declining fast…
- 46. Is the opportunity all gone? MANY SEOS ARE WONDERING…
- 47. BUT THIS REQUIRES A SHIFT IN MINDSET
- 48. YOU CAN DO GREAT SEO WITHOUT BEING STUCK IN THE CAT & MOUSE TRAP
- 49. AS HISTORY REVEALS, THE RULES OF SEO ARE ALWAYS CHANGING. ADAPTATION IS KEY.
- 50. 2025 & Beyond A NEW FRONTIER: AUTHENTIC SEO & OPTIMIZING FOR LLM VISIBILITY
- 51. New tools for measuring LLM & AIO visibility
- 52. The importance of tracking LLM traffic To understand which LLMs users use to find you & track their on-site experience
- 53. Many sites are seeing higher conversion rates from LLM traffic
- 54. SEO IS NO LONGER JUST ABOUT RANKINGS & TRAFFIC… Monitor visibility & sentiment within various LLMs
- 55. Based on subtopics and individual products and services Monitoring sentiment within LLM responses
- 56. New ways to monitor accuracy of generated answers within LLMs
- 57. Controlling the narrative Ensuring your website & branded assets contain up-to-date, accurate information
- 58. MONITOR HIGHLY CITED SITES WITHIN LLMS
- 59. Laser focus on highly cited articles in your niche
- 60. Ask LLMS about frequently cited articles & how to improve your products & services
- 61. Analyze scroll to text highlighting within AIO responses
- 62. Question queries regex in GSC (h/t Jes Sholz) ✴ Surfaces potential AIO queries (cross- reference with AIO tracking tools) ✴ Use to get ahead of common questions with FAQ and Q&A on your site
- 63. Guiding questions in interviews & podcasts Podcasts & video transcripts can be cited in LLMs – optimize questions & responses Answer pulled from podcast interviews
- 64. Maintain Q&A on personal/brand website
- 65. Watch out for “pronoun resolution failure” Easy fix: add more clear language
- 66. Look toward the winners who have thrived in recent years. *Sistrix VI data: Jan 2023 – March 2025 SEO IS NOT ALL DOOM AND GLOOM.
- 67. SEO WINNERS BETWEEN 2023 – 2025 (SISTRIX) Health & Medical Authorities User Generated Content & Social E-commerce & Marketplaces SaaS, Tech & Software Media & Entertainment Travel, Hotels & Real Estate Marketplaces
- 68. Strong E-E-A-T for YMYL topics Direct providers of products & services UGC, real world experience & authentic reviews Brand awareness & navigational searches COMMON TRAITS AMONG WINNING SITES:
- 69. What about affiliate sites? 31K keywords in positions 1-3 (Ahrefs) 2.2K keywords in Google AI Overviews FITNESS REVIEW SITE Reviewed by professional trainers Original photography Robust review methodology Videos of review process First-person opinions & insights
- 70. THERE IS STILL A LONG LIST OF APPROACHES THAT SEARCH ENGINES CAN NEVER TAKE AWAY FROM US
- 71. Original data, opinions & research
- 72. Original research & surveys Article Title Total Ranking Keywords Monthly Organic Traffic Referring domains Links to target Happiest Cities in America in 2025 9,288 2,780 1,203 8,825 States With the Best & Worst School Systems in 2025 4,849 9,414 1,140 2,926 States with the Highest & Lowest Tax Rates 3,392 516 760 2,347 Best- & Worst-Run Cities in America (2025) 2,326 307 876 2,046 Best Places to Shop on Black Friday (2025) 1,560 1,296 775 1,875 Tax Burden by State in 2025 1,255 2,705 1,638 4,174 Property Taxes by State in 2025 1,208 3,172 1,317 2,817 Best States to Live In (2025) 1,100 10,256 961 2,320 Safest Cities in America in 2025 1,059 1,010 1,112 3,016 Most & Least Educated States in America in 2025 976 3,793 808 2,264 Happiest States in America in 2025 953 4,007 964 2,282 College & University Rankings in 2025 785 114 677 2,221 Best Small Cities in America in 2025 754 1,182 742 2,841 Best States to Retire in 2025 690 4,406 1,017 3,350 Wallthub surveys, Ahrefs data
- 73. ORIGINAL RESEARCH IN LLM CITATIONS
- 74. ORIGINAL CONTENT LONG & SHORT VIDEOS PODCASTS & INTERVIEWS REDDIT & FORUM CONTRIBUTIONS VISUAL REFERENCES & INFOGRAPHICS CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS & SLIDE DECKS SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS & OPINION PIECES ON UGC SITES Repurposing & Reformatting Original Content
- 75. YOUTUBE, TIKTOK, IG REELS & SHORT VIDEOS (Also a great tactic for Google Discover)
- 76. AS AN EXAMPLE…
- 77. I conducted a survey about historical SEO tactics with 160 respondents & SPOKE TO SOME INDUSTRY DINOSAURS
- 78. Leveraged AI to map survey responses into different historical periods of SEO
- 79. Infographic of 7 historical SEO eras
- 80. REPURPOSED SURVEY RESPONSES INTO LONG & SHORT VIDEOS...
- 81. Showed up in llms within 2 days
- 83. HAVING A STRONG PERSONAL BRAND & AUTHENTIC SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE
- 84. Become a recognized & trusted entity in Google’s Knowledge Graph
- 85. SEO winners: social media sites
- 86. Appear Everywhere & Post often “Build on rented land” – Rand Fishkin
- 87. “What people are saying”
- 88. Social posts heavily cited in LLMS
- 89. LinkedIn Pulse + E-E-A-T & a Strong Social Following AI Overviews Featured snippet & top rankings Ai Mode Earned top rankings within 6 hours
- 91. My crystal ball tells me…
- 92. There will be bribes Highly cited articles in LLMs likely to receive bribes (the new link spam)
- 93. WE ARE DUE FOR ANTI-SPAM MEASURES IN SEARCH & LLMS
- 94. TAKEAWAYS
- 95. DON’T GET STUCK IN THE CAT AND MOUSE GAME. YOU’LL EVENTUALLY GET CAUGHT.
- 96. STRONG PERSONAL BRANDING + SOCIAL MEDIA GENERATES SIGNIFICANT LLM VISIBILITY
- 97. INVEST IN ORIGINAL RESEARCH, COMMUNITY BUILDING, AUTHENTICITY AND THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
- 98. FOCUS ON THE THINGS SEARCH ENGINES CAN NEVER TAKE AWAY FROM US
- 99. THANK YOU