Damon Burton

Posted a while ago about a new SEO campaign for David’s Dave Buys Ticket Stubs. We just got the green light to launch the new design to support optimizing the on-page structure. Since Dave's service is so unique, clarified how the offer works to the ideal audience. Simplified the menu and drew more attention to the main CTA. Added schema, and dripping the new content strategy. Improved the page speed and mobile friendliness. Just starting, and already 4 dozen #1 rankings.

Google Opens UGC Content Indexing, Then Penalizes Part of It... Weird. Google contradicted itself, again. Just as fast as Google gave UGC (user generated content) sites like forums and social media platforms direct access into feeds, they also just revised their guidance on what they consider spam around UGC. New inside Google's documentation is a section called "Only index content meant for Search." Yes, with an approved community/forum/social site, you can still feed content directly to the front page. But the new change is around if your platform lets someone spin up a shareable page, a generated document, a saved template, a web app, a profile, Google wants you separating what is meant to be found in search from what is only meant for the person spinning up the content. New problem, no new options. Just good ol' no-indexing the page, or block it in robots.txt. Why now? Google says it is trying to keep pages nobody searches for out of its index, and catch spam earlier instead of after it floods in. This comes just one month after Google built an AI system to find and penalize mass produced AI content, and also just two weeks after manual action penalties started climbing. Sounds like Google is setting up the next wave of penalties aimed at AI tools and app builders. like shared chat pages, AI generated documents, app builder output, anything that spits out an indexable URL every time a user hits publish or share. Action to take to avoid getting penalized... Check your sites and look for any pages or systems that auto-publish pages. If it was never written for an actual human searcher, no-index it by default instead of waiting for Google to notice first. For years, Google has been playing catch up. Playing the reactionary role to the constant flood of AI slop. Now they're finally getting to a point where they are starting to be more proactive than reactive in how they manage mass-produced content.

AI Overviews that used to show up occasionally on searches now shows up on 88% of commercial keyword queries. SEMrush tracked 400 commercial keywords across banking, ecommerce, and software for a full year, five modifier groups, alternatives, best X for Y, pricing, reviews, and brand versus brand. A year ago AI overviews showed up 46% of the time. Today it is 88%. The largest jump is in review searches, which went from 30% triggering an AI Overview to 89%. Best X for Y queries now show up 96% of the time. Even brand versus brand comparisons, the stickiest category, climbed into the high 80s. Layer that with the video I shared a few days about about three studies confirming Google organic still drives the overwhelming majority of real traffic and conversions, with AI tools barely registering a combined total of less than 1% of all search volume. Ranking number one on a review or comparison page likely sends less traffic than it did twelve months ago, so have or set that expectation with yourself or clients before you get to sending ranking reports. Google did not kill commercial search. It put a summary on top of almost all of it. Show up as the source or watch somebody else. Because it's no longer who gets some of the visibility. It's about being THE one to get all of the visibility. Audit which sources actually get cited inside the AI Overview on your top money keywords. Review platforms, as YouTube results are showing up a lot. And consider comparison and roundup articles, because they're doing well. Without current and properly structured comparison pages, you are handing that citation straight to a competitor. Something still has to feed that summary. Make sure it is pulling from you instead of just about you. Keep building those comparison tables, pricing guides, and review guides. Do it properly so it works now, and not a gimmicky way that you have to worry about penalizing yourself later.

There are so many bros selling shiny retainers for AEO/AIO right now and at a ridiculous rate, when the volume just isn't there. It's like all the guys selling shovels during the California gold rush making more than the people digging for gold. AI search is real. The growing opportunity is real. But right now the search volume on AI is statistically insignificant compared Google, and anyone telling a client otherwise is selling a story, not a result. I've shared white papers and case studies. I've shared data resources before showing that ChatGPT, Manus, Perplexity, Claude, ALLLLL of your favorite AI tools combined make up less than 0.5% TOTAL search-to-website volume compared to Google. And more just keep coming out. The latest data comes from 3 studies shared on Search Engine Roundtable. Three SEOs who often have different opinions all came back with the same answer... AI search is not paying your bills yet. Google still is. One SEO pulled twelve months of Analytics data across 100 sites and more than 145 million sessions. ChatGPT traffic came in at less than one percent of what Google organic sent. Google drove 96.5 percent of total conversions. Twenty seven times more than every other AI assistant combined. Agency SEO Works ran a separate study with similar results. Organic search sent 39 times more traffic than AI assistants. For every 100 conversions organic search sends you, AI refers you just three. Another SEO checked dozens of sites in their portfolio across different industries to see if strong AI visibility was boosting branded search or direct traffic. He could not any reliable pattern at all. Keep your budget where the money actually is. Google organic still drives the majority of SEO visibility. AI visibility work is worth including in the mix. It is just not worth pivoting away from traditional SEO. Plus, do traditional SEO properly and you get both. Chasing trends early can have advantages, but betting everything on it prematurely is not. Track AI citations separately. It is a leading indicator worth watching, but does not replace organic conversions. AI search will continue to increase. Revisit AI-specific strategy maybe quarterly. Otherwise, AI search volume isn't growing fast enough to check like a stock day trader. As of now, AI search traffic just isn't statistically significant compared to Google.

SEO is no longer about being in the top results... It's about being THE ONLY result. @‌ZakHarlow (linkedin.com/in/zakharlow)

I was able to speak at my son’s high school about entrepreneurship. This message from my son after is what it’s all about. Prepared just a basic deck of pics to show them a few cool things like the R8, the properties we own, but to then flip it and transition to what really matters… Freedom of time. Never missing my kids games. Taking them traveling. One slide kept resonating ahead of going. The slide “Didn’t start this way.” And one line specifically. Not about the chaos. Well, I guess this was part of the chaos too. “I relocated more the first 15 years of my life than the last 30.” Some years we would move from one friends basement to a trailer, more than once. Repeat. My kids know only one home. No moving for them. With one new born, we bought a 6 bedroom house to grow into. Bigger than we “needed.” Uncomfortable mortgage to fathom at the time. But that stability is one of intentional decisions we made as parents that I’m most grateful we aimed high to achieve. We filled out all the rooms years ago, and will be the only home they ever know until they decide to pursue their own. Bonus points… Shared a picture of my wife and I and a girl up front blurts out, “she’s hot!” Yes, she is.

Crushed yesterday... Email inbox zero. Caught up all Slack notifications. Existing tenant now renting out a second suite at my commercial building. Finally finished a Gsuite domain/DNS migration I've been kicking the can down the road for months. Started booking next 1-on-1 trips with my kids. Finished v1 of “Diary of an SEO.” A journal of thoughts reflecting on two decades in SEO, patterns for winning, habits of failure, and shares of the wins and vulnerable moments along the way of being an entrepreneur for twenty years. Most pressing... recorded 6 videos for my upcoming SEO course re-launch. The most significant upgrade to the course, in addition to the new curriculum, is an entire new design an user-experience overhaul. The videos I recorded today walk SEO students through the ascension ladder of how to get their first win (get featured in Google News in a day) > learn on-page technical optimization > off-page optimization > then transition into like lead generation, and operations. Learning the business side of marketing goes right alongside learning the tactics of SEO. Because what I've two decades into SEO is that knowing SEO doesn't make you money... Knowing SEO AND being able to run it as a business does.

A whopping ~2% of households pay for AI. And here you got everyone telling you everything is dead. We as marketers and entrepreneurs are in an echo chamber. A bubble. That’s not to say it won’t grow in adoption. Just, most people don’t use what we use. Another reminder that you’re not behind… AI hasn’t destroyed everything… Not everyone uses it… Ever notice the only ones ever telling you the sky is falling are the ones selling to you?

Asked to sign my logo with my name. That was a cool, unique, and feel-good experience. Got together with my team, and so many of us have known each other for years, yet never met. I've smiled, and cried with this team, and they've done the same. They've shared their personal lives with me. I've supported them in every way I can outside of work. I've seen their kids, their dogs, cats... and roosters on Zoom (hi, PH team). We've built relationships and know each other deeply without ever having met in person. At ~40, our team is a decent size. They're all over the world. Literally. So I haven't met them all. After this trip I finally met most of the remaining I haven't spent time face-to-face with. This time, one of the team members asked if I could sign their son's cast... but he wanted me to draw my face logo next to it. I've never drawn the logo by hand before, and especially not enough to free-hand it. Brought up my site and logo and drew it, then signed it. That was a cool moment. That there's enough significance to the relationship, that even their kid recognizes the logo in some capacity, and having it on his cast means something to them.

I spoke to a high school entrepreneurship class last week. I started by asking who likes money? Who likes nice cars? And that my R8 was outside. Who likes nice watches? And passed around a Rolex. Stuff that felt really douchey, but was for a reason. So I could share how most of us get into entrepreneurship for financial pursuits, but eventually little of that matters. What we really want is what the money buys, which is freedom of time. Then I showed the lake property I spend time with my family. Pics of taking my family to France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, and Dubai. My wife and I just celebrated 20 years of marriage. Things I'm most proud of. By the teacher's account, there were 70 kids when the bell rang and everyone was seated. He asked me if there were advice I'd give looking back? I said that entrepreneurship will try to burn something. Your health, your relationships, or your family. I prioritized my family, but burned out my health. Pick what you protect early. I didn't find success chasing money. I was chasing stability. I focused not on what to secure, but what to avoid. What generational patterns to stop. And my job path looked nothing like it would lead to where it is now. I took typing and word processing classes in Jr. High. Then HTML in High School. Those skills helped me build a car enthusiast website for a college project that ended up taking off when a movie called Fast and Furious coincidentally came out about a year later. My first job was a janitor. Then worked retail, at a bank office, and was a radio DJ for seven years. Looking back, every job taught me something. The last company I worked remotely from home for was shut down after being raided by the ATF, FTC, and Las Vegas Sheriff's Department. I could look for another job or bet on myself and my side hustle. By betting on side hustle and not finding a new day job I lost about 60% of my income. Your struggles will either make you or break you. You get to decide which. Just months later I replaced that income, and then some. 20 years later I make as 8x more in a month than I used to in a year. The final advice I wrapped up with was: 1. Build a portfolio by doing work for free. More than one person I've mentored started from nothing and are doing $250,000/year with small operations. 2. Don't work with jerks. Peace of mind is worth more than any client. 3. Work on your soft skills. Look people in the eye. People care more about HOW you say things than WHAT you say. 4. Don't be afraid to get a day job first and start entrepreneurship as a side hustle. Stability gives you breathing room and a safety net to screw up. 5. Give yourself grace. Social media is a highlight reel, and most of it isn't true. You don't need the answer yet. Just keep moving forward. Twenty years ago, running a marketing company wasn't even on my radar. Keep learning and the path shows up.

Back in March, Google promised Search Engine Land that AI Mode's Personal Intelligence feature that reads your Gmail and Photos to give smarter answers, would stay ad free. Lol. Silly kids. This week Google confirmed it is already testing ads inside those exact same AI Mode results. Advertisers cannot see inside your apps, but six months is how long "we promise no ads here" lasted.

There’s a PHP vulnerability that effects up to an estimated ~70% of all websites in the world. Some agencies kick the can down the road and cross their fingers. Other agencies use it as an upsell opportunity and nickel and dime everyone. Site maintenance isn’t even our standard scope within SEO, and we just fixed/are fixing it, and moving on. Just do what’s right.

Days ago we found out Google built basically a virtual AI squad just to hunt AI spam. Last week the continued ranking volatility proved that spam team already clocked in to take out garbage content. Volatility trackers went quiet for a few days. That's usually the calm before the storm... then they lit up. This roll out is not one niche being singled out this time. Big drops across not only a number of sites, but across verticals, and across countries worldwide. One of the sites taking extra damage was Grokipedia, an AI generated site. Sitting next to a system called SAFE (Scaled Abuse Forensics Examiner) that Google built specifically to sniff out mass produced AI content, that is not a coincidence. If any SEO leans on AI assisted content shipped straight to publish with no real human editorial review, get that content audited ASAP. That is the exact profile SAFE is trained to find. Use the last few weeks as your proof that SEOs still tempted to flood a site with AI content and call it a strategy doesn't work anymore. You need original work with a real human point of view. That's the only way you'll survive future content algorithm updates. And, Google put a number on how bad the spam problem actually is. At the Search Central Live Deep Dive event in Barcelona, Googles Gary Illyes said straight up that Google filters out 40 billion spam pages a day. 40 Billion. Every single day. He shared a few reasons the spam updates keep stacking up and running longer than they used to. Search now covers way more content formats than the old ten blue links ever did. The web itself keeps getting bigger, and Google judges quality page by page, so one sloppy batch of pages can drag down trust for your whole site. Google also called out AI slop as rising fast, and said scaled low effort content is now the bigger risk, ahead of classic link spam. If your content calendar leans on quantity over quality, take this as your warning shot. Forty billion pages filtered a day and the bar for what counts as scaled low effort content keeps dropping. And the same wave of AI content flooding search with junk is also the thing Google is now using to catch it. The system you used to build mass-produced pages now has the recipe to hunt your mass produced pages. Remember, Google grades page by page. A handful of thin pages published just to hit a quota can drag down trust for your entire site even while your best work sits right next to it. Slow your publishing pace this quarter anywhere speed was the only reason that content existed. Most of my clients we do just 4-6 blogs/month and are crushing sites doing 100s per month. The sites still dominating organic results a year from now are the ones who treated every page like an actual person would read it. Publish for humans, and like a robot is watching to catch you... because it is.

The same week Google closes out its longest spam update of the year, it quietly changed its mind about something it used to shrug off completely. Fake authors. The beginning of October saw the final phase of the long September 2026 spam rollout, the one Google warned would take two weeks instead of two days. There are countless stories on forums and SEO sites coming out of it are not pretty. Then, Google updated its helpful content documentation with a line it never bothered to write before. Fabricating a creator profile, an AI generated headshot, a made up name, a false credential to make a page look like a real expert wrote it, is now officially called a form of deception. Google used to treat a fake bio as a shrug. As of this week it sits in the same untrustworthy, low quality bucket as the spam this update just spent a month hunting down. If any page on your site has a stock photo headshot or a bio nobody can actually verify, fix that now. It is not a cosmetic detail anymore, it is now defined as deception in Google's documentation. Real names, real faces, real experience behind your content. That used to be a trust nicety. It's now the difference between being recognized as an expert, or getting hammered by Google's latest update. Google spent a month proving it can find scaled fake content. This week it told you fake people count too.

Googles spam update hit hard the last few weeks, and AI generated content sites are the ones getting hit the hardest. The first few days saw rankings drop, the next weeks dropped even more, and by the third day the rank tracking tools out there looked like a seismograph during an earthquake with rankings bouncing up and down. All the data on which sites tanked points to one thing... sites built with AI generated content on autopilot are the ones getting hammered. This makes it Googles fourth spam update this year alone. Four times this year Google has gone out of its way to say we see the AI slop and were not cool with it anymore. Double check any AI assisted content you published over the years, and if no human meaningfully edited it, assume it is vulnerable and QC it as soon as you can. The accounts that will come out on top are the ones who never stopped writing like a real expert was behind the keyboard. Google is just closing the gap and getting better at telling the difference.

Quit cutting corners. Quit reading Reddit. Quit looking for loopholes. Own your processes. Simpler you keep SEO, more effective, scalable, and sustainable it becomes.

AI isn’t stealing clicks. Google’s change in user interface with AI Overviews is.

AI isn’t stealing clicks. Google’s change in user interface with AI Overviews is.

A whopping ~2% of households pay for AI. And here you got everyone telling you everything is dead. We as marketers and entrepreneurs are in an echo chamber. A bubble. That’s not to say it won’t grow in adoption. Just, most people don’t use what we use. Another reminder that you’re not behind… AI hasn’t destroyed everything… Not everyone uses it… Ever notice the only ones ever telling you the sky is falling are the ones selling to you?

Tellin' ya', kids. Backlinks are not a guarantee. And most of your SEOs are doing more harm than good with them. There is no such thing as good, affordable, scalable backlinks. They're either good, hard to scale, and expensive. Or their easy to scale, affordable, and trash. So, we stopped link building entirely for most clients almost 4 years ago and moved that time towards white glove content. This is why. I see leads like this all the time. 4x the links = nearly inverse decline.