What Google Actually Says About GEO vs. SEO
By Chuck McCarthy · August 24, 2026 · 24:26 read
Category: News & Politics
Show: To The Power of X
Your rankings can climb while your leads dry up. They can also drop while nothing's actually wrong. Jenna joins Chuck and Kayleigh to break down what's really happening with AI SEO, AEO, and generativ
Your rankings can climb while your leads dry up. They can also drop while nothing's actually wrong. Jenna joins Chuck and Kayleigh to break down what's really happening with AI SEO, AEO, and generative engine optimization, and why "search volume" can't account for the millions of private conversations happening inside ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.
AI search is more conversational than a Google search bar ever was. That demands more human work, not less. Keyword tracking still has a place: treat it like a topic map, then expand into the actual questions people ask, the language they use, and the problems they're trying to solve. Jenna explains why the team is anti-slop, why LLMs are predictive text that still need a human doing the reasoning, and what "good farmer SEO" means: going back through existing content and making it clearer, fresher, and easier for both AI and people to use.
Brand reputation feeds AI visibility too. Customers complaining on Reddit or third-party sites shows up in what AI surfaces. That's why digital PR and outside validation matter, and why a single "AI visibility score" can hide what's actually happening across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and the rest. If you want reporting you can explain to a client without jargon, and a strategy built on outcomes instead of vibes, this episode's for you.
In this episode:
Why keyword tracking is a starting point, not the whole strategy
Turning keywords into a topic map instead of a checklist
Why AI SEO takes more human involvement, not less
What "good farmer SEO" actually means
Topic authority vs. just publishing a lot of content
Being anti-slop: why LLMs can't reason and still need a human
How Reddit reviews and public sentiment shape AI visibility
Why digital PR and third-party validation matter for AI search
The problem with a single "AI visibility score"
How to explain AI SEO to clients without the jargon
Chapters
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