How to Influence ChatGPT & LLMs in 2026 - The SEO Playbook Nobody Is Talking About
Release Date: 01/13/2026
From SEO TikTok to $18M Agencies: How Creators Actually Scale
The Edward Show
E945: I’m joined by Matt Diamante and Jake Tlapek for a long-form, unfiltered conversation about what actually happens after you win on social media. All three of us came up through SEO content on TikTok and Instagram. This episode isn’t about going viral - it’s about turning attention into durable businesses, building teams, and deciding what you want to scale next. We cover the real mechanics of growing agencies, removing yourself from delivery, using content as leverage, and how AI and social search are changing SEO in practice - not theory. What we talk about in this episode: - How...
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Is E-commerce SEO Dead? Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol & the Future of Search
The Edward Show
E944: Google has introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a system that allows merchants to send product data directly to Google so users can discover and buy products inside search, AI Mode, and Gemini - without ever visiting a website. In this episode, we break down what UCP actually is, how agentic commerce works, and what this shift means for e-commerce SEO, CRO, brand authority, and margins. Joining the discussion are Harpreet Singh, Gagan Ghotra, and David Quaid, three experienced SEOs with deep backgrounds in e-commerce, SaaS, B2B, and technical SEO. Together, we unpack...
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How to Get High-Quality Backlinks From Podcast Appearances
The Edward Show
E943: How to get high-quality backlinks from podcast appearances and why podcast guesting is one of the most effective and overlooked SEO strategies available right now. This is based on real experience. In 2022, I went on 30 podcasts in three months before I had an audience, social media presence, or this podcast. Those appearances helped me build backlinks, branded searches, topical authority, and ultimately led to everything I’m doing now. This episode covers why podcast backlinks work, how they affect SEO directly and indirectly, and exactly how to get booked on podcasts consistently....
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An $80 Press Release Ranked #1 on Google (And Tricked AI)
The Edward Show
E942: A real case study showing how an $80 press release from Matt Diamante (Hey Tony Agency) ranked #1 on Google for a non-branded keyword and influenced Google’s AI Overview. This isn’t theory. This actually happened. I walk through exactly how a single press release, distributed through AB Newswire, showed up at the top of Google search results, was cited by a publication, and continued to influence AI search results weeks later - even after the original press release was no longer publicly accessible. This episode explains why press releases still matter, how they influence search...
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Google Is Breaking SEO: Permanent Manual Actions, AI Search & the Rise of Black Hat
The Edward Show
E941: Edward is joined by Charles Floate and David Quaid for a deep, technical conversation about what is actually happening in search right now - and why many long-held SEO assumptions no longer hold. We discuss a growing pattern of manual actions that appear to be permanent, rejected reconsideration requests even after large-scale cleanups, and why some businesses may never fully recover organic traffic from Google. From enterprise sites to small publishers, the rules are shifting fast. The conversation moves into AI search, ChatGPT visibility, Reddit’s dominance in the SERPs, and how...
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Google Penalties Are Becoming Permanent (And That Changes Everything)
The Edward Show
E940: Google penalties are no longer feeling like temporary setbacks. More and more site owners are fixing everything they’re told to fix, submitting reconsideration requests, and still getting rejected. In this episode, I break down why Google manual actions appear to be becoming semi-permanent, what multiple SEO practitioners are seeing in real data, and why Google may no longer be asking “did you fix it?” - but instead “should we ever trust you again?” We cover what’s changing, what’s being reported by people deep in the weeds, and what this means if you’re using aggressive...
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How to Build Backlinks for a Brand New Website (From Zero Authority)
The Edward Show
E939: If you’ve just launched a website and have no backlinks, this episode walks through how to build links the right way - without shortcuts, spam, or jumping into strategies that don’t work for new sites. This episode is based on a real thread from Charles Floate’s r/linkbuilding subreddit, where someone asked how to build high-quality backlinks for a brand-new beauty blog with no existing authority. I break down the best answers, add real-world context, and explain what actually matters when you’re starting from scratch. We cover why most people make link building harder than it...
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YouTube Just Overtook Reddit in AI Search (Here’s How to Win Citations)
The Edward Show
E938: I break down new data showing that YouTube has officially overtaken Reddit as the most cited social platform in AI search, including large language models like ChatGPT. We’ll cover what this shift means for SEO, brand visibility, and how to actually get your content cited by AI using YouTube. What changed in AI search - YouTube is now cited more frequently than Reddit in AI-generated answers - Transcripts and descriptions make YouTube content easy for LLMs to read - AI systems increasingly rely on YouTube for explanations, reviews, and comparisons Why YouTube now beats Reddit for AI...
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Claude Cowork Is a Literal Cheat Code for SEO (Here’s How Agencies See It)
The Edward Show
E937: Watch on YouTube: A deep, practical look at how Claude Cowork is changing the way SEO work is actually executed. This is not a theoretical discussion about AI. The focus is on real workflows: how Claude Cowork performs hands-on SEO tasks that normally require hours of manual effort, and how agencies can realistically use it today. The conversation walks through live examples of Claude Cowork performing local SEO audits, Google Business Profile analysis, competitor research, and on-page SEO evaluations by directly interacting with the browser and SEO tools. Sarvesh Shrivastava joins the...
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How to Build Local Backlinks That Actually Increase Local Rankings
The Edward Show
E936: Local SEO lives or dies by local authority - and one of the biggest drivers of that authority is local backlinks. I break down exactly how to build high-quality local backlinks that help search engines see your business as an authority in a specific city or region. This applies whether you’re starting a local business, competing in a crowded market, or expanding into new locations. I cover practical strategies that send real referral traffic, strengthen local topical authority, and support long-term ranking improvements - not theory. What you’ll learn: - Why local backlinks matter...
info_outlineE923: Metehan Yeşilyurt, one of the most respected AI visibility and SEO researchers in the world, joins the show! Metehan has spent the past year reverse-engineering how ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google’s AI systems decide which brands get cited, recommended, and shown to users.
This conversation goes far beyond surface-level AI SEO. We break down how large language models select sources, how consensus is formed across the web, and why some brands dominate AI answers while others disappear - even when they rank well on Google.
If you care about visibility, traffic, and sales from AI systems, this shows what really matters.
What you’ll learn:
- How ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI choose which brands to cite
- Why ranking on Google is no longer enough to appear in AI answers
- How “consensus” across the web determines AI trust
- Why press releases and off-site mentions now matter more than ever
- How comparison tables influence LLM parsing and citation behavior
- Where to place tables and structured content for maximum AI impact
- How LLMs treat the beginning, middle, and end of a page differently
- Why JavaScript-heavy websites hurt AI visibility
- How server-side rendering improves crawlability for AI systems
- What content chunking actually does (and doesn’t) do for LLMs
- How YouTube, Reddit, Medium, and social platforms influence AI search
- Why TikTok and YouTube are becoming AI training and discovery engines
- How query fan-out works inside LLMs
- How citations change every time you ask the same AI question
- How AI re-ranking differs from Google’s ranking system
- What “rank fusion” means in AI search
- How embedding models affect which pages get surfaced
- Why some brands with top Google rankings get ignored by ChatGPT
- How PR campaigns influence AI recommendation systems
- How to use entity SEO to build brand trust inside LLMs
- How to collect real user questions to drive AI-generated sales
- Why content freshness inside the last 180 days is critical
- Why updating publish dates changes AI ranking
- How FAQ sections increase AI visibility when done correctly
- How to audit a site for AI visibility
- How Metehan uses Screaming Frog, embeddings, and crawlers to find gaps
- How Google’s Discovery Engine reveals how chunking really works
- How the Universal Commerce Protocol and AI agents may change ecommerce
Why this episode matters:
Search is no longer just Google.
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and AI Overviews are now deciding which brands people see, trust, and buy from. These systems do not rank websites the same exact way Google does. They use embeddings, citations, re-ranking systems, and consensus across the web.
This episode explains what you need to know for visibility in 2026.
Who is Metehan Yeşilyurt?
Metehan is an AI visibility and SEO researcher with over 10 years of experience. He is followed by some of the most respected names in search and has worked directly on AI visibility experiments for ecommerce, SaaS, and global brands.
His work focuses on:
- AI citation systems
- LLM ranking behavior
- Entity SEO
- Off-site consensus building
- Reverse-engineering ChatGPT and Perplexity
⭐️ Metehan Yeşilyurt on 𝕏 - https://x.com/metehan777
⭐️ Metehan Yeşilyurt on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/metehanyesilyurt/
⭐️ Metehan Yeşilyurt blog - https://metehan.ai/
💎 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 and Overview
00:21 Influencing LLMs: Key Strategies
01:02 Building Consensus and Content Strategies
04:51 Context Issues and Solutions
07:22 Comparison Tables and Formatting
12:37 Experiments and Case Studies
16:23 SEO and AI Visibility
21:38 Press Releases and Offsite SEO
26:49 Content Chunking Debate
30:53 Google's Discovery Engine and Chunking
34:48 Reverse Engineering and Surprising Findings
40:22 Impact of SEO Fundamentals on Rankings
41:05 Offsite SEO and AI Citation Building
41:43 Platform Investment Strategies for AI SEO
43:17 Leveraging Social Media for SEO
46:09 Effective Use of User Questions for Conversions
51:32 Conducting AI Visibility Audits
54:38 Rapid Changes in AI Visibility Strategies
57:35 The Future of E-commerce and AI Agents
01:03:01 SEO Research Tools and Techniques
01:05:31 Content Freshness and FAQs for AI Visibility
01:11:00 Global Opportunities and Language Considerations
01:11:59 Conclusion and Upcoming Episodes
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
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