Rand Fishkin on SEO, AI Overviews, and the Future of Content Marketing
Release Date: 05/09/2025
EEAT Explained: What Google Actually Uses to Judge Trust & Quality
The Edward Show
E915: We break down EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) and how Google evaluates website quality - straight from Google’s own documentation, quality rater guidelines, and real-world SEO experience. Joining me is Shaun Anderson, one of the most respected SEO professionals in the industry with over 20 years of experience. This is a fast-paced, no-nonsense discussion designed to clarify what EEAT is, what it is not, and how it affects real websites. This episode focuses on how Google determines trust, why some sites are labeled low quality, and why EEAT matters...
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Why “Easy SEO” Beats Fancy SEO (And Always Has)
The Edward Show
E914: Cody See joins the show. We break down why simple, fundamentals-driven SEO consistently outperforms complicated, “advanced” tactics - and why that’s been true for over a decade. We talk through real-world experience running affiliate sites, agencies, and client campaigns, and explain why most SEO failures come from overengineering, ego, or chasing shortcuts instead of focusing on what actually converts. This is a practical, honest conversation about how SEO works today. Topics covered: - Why “easy SEO” isn’t lazy SEO - and why it works - The difference between ranking for ego...
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Stop Guessing SEO: How to Let Google Tell You What to Rank For
The Edward Show
E913: Practical, repeatable ways to use Google Search Console to make better SEO decisions without guessing. Instead of relying on assumptions, third-party tools, or long content cycles, this conversation focuses on using Google’s own data to identify what your site is already eligible to rank for - and how to expand from there. We cover real workflows you can apply immediately, whether you’re working on a small site or managing SEO at scale. David Quaid joins the show! We cover: - How to use Regex in Google Search Console to analyze branded vs non-branded searches - Why Search Console...
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How Perplexity Ranks Content (And What LLMs Really Care About)
The Edward Show
E912: New research explains how Perplexity evaluates, ranks, and even discards content. If you want your content to be shown, cited, or recommended by large language models, understanding how one major AI answer engine works gives you insight into how the rest likely operate. We walk through research that analyzes Perplexity’s ranking systems, including entity re-ranking, manual domain boosts, early engagement signals, and freshness requirements. While the research is currently unverified, the findings closely align with what we already know about how AI search and answer engines prioritize...
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Google Says This Is the #1 SEO Rule Most People Ignore
The Edward Show
E911: I break down what Google’s John Mueller has repeatedly said is the most important rule in SEO: consistency. Not shortcuts. Not trends. Just consistent execution over time. John Mueller has shared this advice for years without fully explaining why it matters. Barry Schwartz helped add context, and in this I explain how consistency impacts rankings, trust, and conversions across both technical SEO and content. This conversation focuses on why inconsistent implementation quietly holds back many websites, even when they are doing other things right. What you’ll learn: - Why Google...
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How ChatGPT Actually Works (and How to Get Your Content Shown in AI Answers)
The Edward Show
E910: How ChatGPT and other large language models actually generate answers, based on widely shared research on how AI systems use search, training data, and real-time web results. If you’re doing SEO in 2026 and beyond, understanding how AI decides when to search, what it pulls from the web, and why certain content gets shown in AI answers is no longer optional. This episode explains the mechanics behind ChatGPT, AI Overviews, and LLM recommendations - and how to adapt your SEO strategy so your content gets surfaced. What You’ll Learn in This Episode - How ChatGPT really works behind the...
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Why AI Garbage Content Ranks in Google
The Edward Show
E909: When you search Google today, you’ll often see obviously AI-generated, low-quality content ranking in the top results - sometimes even from big global brands. In this episode, I break down why that happens, what’s actually going on inside Google’s algorithms, and why copying what you see in the SERPs is often the wrong takeaway for long-term SEO. This isn’t an episode about shortcuts or spam tactics. It’s about understanding how search really works, where the leniency comes from, and how to think about SEO beyond “what ranks right now.” We cover: - Why low-quality AI...
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Vibe Coding for SEO: Building Rankable Apps, Tools, and Revenue in Minutes
The Edward Show
E908: We break down how SEOs are using vibe coding and AI development tools to build rankable web apps, calculators, and tools that generate organic traffic and revenue faster than traditional content. Today’s guest is Ram Berrouet, a longtime co-founder, friend, product builder, and founder of Relief, a Series A startup with hundreds of thousands of users. Ram explains how recent breakthroughs in AI models have fundamentally changed what’s possible for SEO-driven businesses - from building full web apps in minutes to replacing large engineering teams with AI-assisted workflows. This...
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How One Blog a Week Took a Local Dentist to 130,000 Monthly Visits
The Edward Show
E907: An SEO copywriter quietly helped a single local dental office grow from almost zero traffic to 130,000 monthly organic visits - using nothing more than one blog post per week. No backlink campaigns. No complicated SEO frameworks. No content farm. Just consistent blogging, strong keyword choices, and writing that people actually want to read. That SEO copywriter is Tiffani Daniel. She joins us today and we break down exactly how this happened, why it worked, and what most people misunderstand about blogging, SEO, and conversion-focused content. What we cover: - How a local dentist grew...
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Google Wasn’t Lying: What the Google API Leak Really Revealed About SEO
The Edward Show
E906: I sit down with Shaun Anderson (Hobo Web), one of the most respected SEOs in the industry - someone who has been working in search since the early 2000s and has firsthand experience with every major Google shift, from early link-based ranking to AI-driven systems. We look at what the Google API Leak actually showed, what Google has been consistent about for years, and where SEO narratives have gone wrong. This is a technical, honest conversation focused on how Google really evaluates websites today. Topics covered: - Why Google wasn’t lying about how rankings work - What the Google API...
info_outlineE674: Rand Fishkin joins the pod!
Founder of Moz. Creator of SparkToro. Hugely influential in how millions of people - myself included - approach marketing.
He goes deep on:
- The future of SEO in an AI world
- Why engagement beats backlinks (confirmed in Google’s own court testimony)
- The unexpected top-of-funnel gap being left to exploit
- The marketing metrics he actually tracks
- And why audience insights are the most overlooked growth lever
⭐️ Rand and his companies:
Rand on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@randderuiter
Rand on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randfishkin/
SparkToro: https://sparktoro.com/
Snackbar Studio: https://snackbarstudio.com/
💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/
00:00 Introduction to Rand Fishkin
00:57 Evolution of Moz and Digital Marketing Insights
02:46 Rand’s KPIs
04:02 Impact of AI on SEO and Marketing
16:20 Marketing Strategies for Snackbar Studio
22:05 Data-Driven Approach to Game Marketing
30:42 Importance of Data-Driven Decisions
34:36 Influence of Anecdotes and Stories
35:30 Understanding Audience Resonance
36:38 Challenges with Data Accuracy
39:17 Evolution of SEO and SparkToro
45:39 Customer Success Stories with SparkToro
54:10 Google API Leak: Engagement vs Backlinks
01:05:03 Final Thoughts
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
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