Mitch Lee

After 15 years in corporate as an SEO, I’ve seen more SEOs fail from corporate politics than from Google updates. Agency folks especially struggle moving in-house because the game is different. My advice after all these years in enterprise SEO: - Take your PTO – I used to believe rankings would collapse if I stepped away. They do not. Burnout ruins judgment far faster than a week offline. - Document everything – Ideas, tests, dips/rises in traffic, even hallway conversations. A minor decision today can resurface months later as a major escalation. - Trust carefully – Collaboration is essential, but I learned not everyone who smiles in meetings is on my side. - Do not overstay – My biggest career growth came when I changed companies every 1-3 years. Staying too long rarely results in a promotion. - Respect cross-team partners – IT, analysts, engineers, and admins have saved me and my projects more times than I can count. They are allies, not support staff. - Detach emotionally – Leadership skepticism about SEO is rarely personal. It is a negotiation about resources and priorities, not a reflection of worth. - Listen first, talk later – In my early years I thought I had to prove I was the expert. Results earned credibility more than my words ever could. - Avoid gossip and SEO fights – I learned many many years ago that my time spent debating was wasting too much energy instead of influencing. Now I document my position and move on. - Guide through questions – Some of my biggest wins came when stakeholders work through to the solution themselves. Questions open doors. - Keep perspective – We are not saving lives. Most urgency is manufactured. SEO is a long game, and patience wins.

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I'm putting the finishing touches to one of the most detailed GEO vs SEO studies EVER. Firstly, I'm blown away by what I've learned. Secondly...ignore almost anyone saying GEO is just SEO. Not even close. As the current data stands right now, there is less than 20% cross over in the all important buyer intent search. Ranking is nearly irrelevant. Yes, you read this correctly, SEO is virtually irrelevant. Why? 4 factors. 1. LLMs are using such a wide variety of search queries, often long tail, that no site could be optimised for them. 2. LLMs are filtering sites out. Yes, even if by some chance you do rank, there is huge chance you'll be filtered out due to NOT displaying the required on-page information. 3. Lack of supportive evidence. Great, you made it to the end game...nah. Unless external evidence exists to support your positioning, you'll not be recommended. 4. Recommendations based on probability to solve the users problems not preferential treatment based on rankings. The last is big. And there's so much more going on. Now for the good news. There are countless real world tactics that can be applied to increase the likelihood you'll be recommended by AI. But... You are not going to find this easy. This requires higher level thinking. I still have some more data to collect before we can release the findings. However I'm super excited for the future of search. And I'm going to double down on the fact that AI kills SEO. You won't be SEOs You'll need to be organic search strategists. Our jobs are about to become more strategic. Our jobs are about to become more important. Our jobs are about to become more difficult. Bring it on.

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Yet another acronym just dropped - LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization). Meanwhile, somewhere out there, AEO and GEO are having an identity crisis. 😅 Every time I blink, someone coins a new O. SEO, AEO, GEO, LLMO… At this point, I’m just waiting for UNO (User-Nurturing Optimization) to become a thing. 👀😉 But here’s the truth: You don’t win at SEO by chasing algorithms, be it Google, ChatGPT, or the next shiny platform. You win by understanding and serving your users. Focus on: ➕What your audience is searching for ➕How fast does your content load ➕Whether your content solves a real problem ➕And if people find it simple and helpful ➕Do SEO for people, and the rankings will follow. 🎯Search engines will evolve. Algorithms will change. New platforms will emerge. But user intent will always guide the way.

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🚨Who owns your AI referral traffic in GA4? Chances are it's partnerships, events, or digital PR teams due to owning referral traffic. This isn't ideal to SEO teams who are working to improve AI visibility so we found a new solution that is easily applied in Looker Studio. Here is the fix: In Looker Studio, edit your GA4 data source and create a new calculated field that breaks out AI referrals as their own acquisition channel. Use this formula to define your new bucket: CASE   WHEN REGEXP_CONTAINS(     LOWER(Page referrer),     "^https?://(?:(?:www\\.)?(?:chatgpt\\.com|perplexity\\.ai|pplx\\.ai|claude\\.ai|you\\.com|phind\\.com|poe\\.com)|chat\\.openai\\.com|chat\\.mistral\\.ai|gemini\\.google\\.com|bard\\.google\\.com|copilot\\.microsoft\\.com)(?:/|$)"   )   THEN "AI Referral"   ELSE Session default channel group END AI referral traffic can now becomes its own channel in your reporting!

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ChatGPT isn't working for me. It's just spitting out fluff!" ~Meanwhile, the prompts: “Write a blog post.” “Make ad copy.” “Do SEO.” 💀💀💀 Let’s get real: If your prompt is boring, the answer will be even worse. AI isn't magic — it's a mirror [at least for now]. It just reflects what you give it. Garbage in, garbage out. Here’s why your ChatGPT content sucks (and how to fix it): ✅ Generic Prompts = Generic Results Saying “write blog about digital marketing” is like asking a chef to cook “food.” Be specific. Give structure, style, and substance. ✅ Context Is Queen What’s your audience? What do you want them to do after reading? ChatGPT doesn’t know unless you tell it. Treat it like your junior copywriter — it needs a brief. ✅ Command with Clarity Don’t just prompt — direct. Instead of: “Make an Instagram caption” Try: Write a scroll-stopping Instagram caption for e-com founders. Tone: clever + confident. Message: Scaling ad spend without tracking ROAS is like flying blind. Include a CTA to check their performance metrics. ✅ Iterate Like a Pro Great content isn’t written. It’s rewritten. Top marketers don’t settle for the first draft — they refine, test, and polish until it clicks. Same with ChatGPT. Treat it like your idea generator, not your final editor. Tweak. Reframe. Sharpen. Repeat. So, ChatGPT doesn’t replace creativity. It multiplies it — if you actually know how to drive it. Want better output? Start with better input.

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