How AI Search Is Changing Technical SEO

00:00:00

seeing people share things where it's like they've ranked number one in SEO but their geo is not there. So I think it's a lot of heavier focus on um brand mentionings and PR. Welcome everyone. Today we're joined by Peter Roa, one of the top SEO experts in the United States. Recently ranked number six in SEO marketing and sales. He was ranked nationally by favicon highlighting his expertise within the field. [music] Peter is an elite technical and onpage SEO specialist with over 10 years of real world experience.

‍

00:00:33

So today we're here to unpack [music] real insights with technical SEO in the AI search era. So let's give it up for Peter Roa. Welcome to the show. First question that we want to address today and what everyone has for you Peter is what pulled you into SEO and how has your focus changed since AI search emerged? Um, I guess my backstory is originally went to school for sports management and then I would basically had a sports blog at the time and I was looking for ways to promote it and as

‍

00:01:04

one does they start doing Google searches and I think I put in like digital marketing or internet marketing and I kept hearing the term search engine optimization mentioned and um basically I had a blogger site so I applied some of the stuff on there had some success and then um thought to get an internship and then I got another internship and then a job kind of doing like local listing/ like basic SEO and and would you say you you've gone into the wider part is because of your freelance and

‍

00:01:38

because of you know projects that you've done yourself and getting yourself out there or if you would have stayed in a normal role would you have branched out in the other channels? Um yeah, I mean I think so that same job two years into it I got like fire because like I was too negative. So basically I I ended up doing getting into freelance because of that. So I think it's kind of I almost recommend that to everyone just starting out to kind of get exposed to as much as you can cuz you can learn new things and

‍

00:02:10

it's forced me to like learn more about AI and learn new things. So, like, yeah, I'm I'm definitely happy I've gotten into it. >> So, um, in the last two years, what surprised you the most about SEO, technical SEO? >> I feel like in the past like people almost wrote it off like it wasn't important, but we see with LMS that many of them do not actually render JavaScript besides Gemini. So, it's really important that you do have your technical SEO. So, I mean, basically making sure that they

‍

00:02:45

can render the content in the um source code and then um kind of a lot of more semantic SEO where it's like put the most information on the top, make sure you're using bullets, declarative sentences, um schema has almost had a resurgence, too. I've kind of wrote it off as like not much benefit beyond the rich results, but I feel like now people are actually trying to put more impact on it. So, I'd probably say those two things. >> And so, with AIdriven search with, you know, this at the front now, um you're

‍

00:03:21

basically saying that good SEO >> is perfect for for L&M SEO, but is there any specific things that you would highlight that are top priority? Um, maybe you've just covered some, but is there anything that you'd highlight if like these are the major things that will cause you to rank in L&M's? >> Um, yeah. I mean, I think obviously I think there is some good SEO, but it's not always equal to good geo. At least what I'm seeing in the results. I mean, I'm seeing people shared things where

‍

00:03:50

it's like they've ranked number one in SEO, but their geo is not there. So I think it's a lot of heavier focus on um brand mentionings and PR >> and I think it's taken the um kind of change what determines success like in the past it was like basically rank high collects people will convert on your website now it's like um I think it's a lot heavier focus on your overall brand ecosystem and how people are finding you online and um how like you show them up on Reddit and discard the

‍

00:04:30

discussion forums and things like that. So I think it's just kind of uh making these machines jobs as easy as possible. So you're using bullets, you're um you're using semantic SEO. So it's like if you have a question for your H1, you're answering it almost immediately. Now um on the next question there which technical SEO issue um now matters that didn't two years ago or is there anything like technical SEO that people need to be aware of now if you had a client side um JavaScript website Google

‍

00:05:08

could eventually crawl that and render it but if you're basically on have spa single page application or heavily JavaScript framework um besides Gemini they're basically not going to see that. So, it's super important that you have all your important content and links in basically the um plain rendered source and and that leads me on to like L&M text and what you allow the bot to access. Would you say that's massively important? I've heard a lot of mixed reviews online that people are saying

‍

00:05:43

does matter, it doesn't matter, it doesn't change. Uh what would your opinion on that, Peter, be? one of our sites right now. Um, we thought LLMs are basically able to crawl it and it looks like they've been basically been getting blocked by Cloudfare. So, um, by default now, Cloudflare is being pretty aggressive with how they're blocking AI bots. So, you really want to look at your crawl logs and get a better idea of what's being crawled and what's not and if they're having any issues.

‍

00:06:11

>> Um, so what would be a simple fix for that if someone who's new to it or don't know much technical? um understanding of how to fix that. >> Cloudflare does have resources on that. So, usually you can find them on their website. I don't know of a specific link, but I I've seen posts where they talk about like how to do it. >> Peter, could you walk us through a recent technical win uh the issue also the fix and then the impact it had? I basically was reached out to by a men's

‍

00:06:43

health brand in Australia and they basically had been hit pretty hard with a core update. So I basically reviewed their website and I saw a lot of the pages were like more than four or so clicks lower than um in the website. So I basically prescribed essentially moving a lot of the pages up higher higher up in the hierarchy through a site map and breadcrumbs and then heavily focused on using a lot more contextual internal links. Um and they saw a pretty good increase as far as like keywords ranked

‍

00:07:26

and [music] overall traffic. Um and then there was another one where um the website I worked on initially it was fully client side JavaScript. So basically I had it so they set up the server side rendering and that improved our indexing a ton and um we saw a boost in clicks as well. >> Uh which analytics or tracking setups matter now for AI visibility not just for traditional search? Yeah. So I think the fundamental point with AI where it's like you can get cited and mentioned but you're not going to get a click. So I

‍

00:08:08

think you you need to basically set up in your analytics or basically seeing set up I think with G4 which still not a fan of you need to set up um basically tracking events or something to see how you're um basically being showed basically getting clicks or visits from LLMs. um you want to have like a visibility to like a semrush or an hrefs where they have they're showing how you're showing up in the citations when you're being brand when you're being mentioned when you're being clicked how your share of

‍

00:08:42

voices things like that also something I've actually posted about which is like don't expect your AI traffic to replace organic traffic because AI I think sends like was like point it was like maybe 1% or10% versus Google which sends like 246 more times of traffic. So, I think it's just realizing that um yeah, your traffic's going down, but you want to pay more attention to your um leads, conversions, and just having those important conversations with stakeholders and just showing them the reality of what success

‍

00:09:26

is now versus what it used to be 5 years ago. on just being transparent as far as like it's probably going to be less and less people will go to your website, but when they do, they'll probably convert better. >> Yeah. Um, we had a a funny question a viewer had as well. So, is it true that SEO is the cause of balding or is it that bald guys are just naturally good at SEO? >> Well, speaking to a fellow baldy, no, I'm just kidding. Um, I think because you lose your hair, you

‍

00:10:02

have to become better at your profession. So, I mean, I was I've been always decent in SEO. I didn't get bald until I was like, I think in my 30s, so SEO became before that. So, I think it was I became good because of SEO. [laughter] great for for general SEO for like Google, etc. But but do backlinks matter for L&M SEO? >> Yeah, they're they're still super important essentially because um if you have a backlink, it's often accompanied with a mention or sometimes you even

‍

00:10:43

have a branded mention for a backlink. So, you're still going to get benefits there. So, I think it's still going to matter for sure. Now um on the next question there which technical SEO issue um now matters that didn't two years ago or is there anything like technical SEO that people need to be aware of now that will affect um anything within [music] AI overviews and L&M you know citations within chats. >> If you had a clientside um JavaScript website Google could eventually crawl

‍

00:11:16

that and render it. But if you're basically on have an uh SPA single page application or heavily JavaScript framework um besides Gemini, they're basically not going to see that. So it's super important that you have all your important content and links in basically the um plain rendered source. I think another thing too, it's like um not like a technical issue, but going back to kind of a heavier focus on like semantic HTML, I think technical SEO in the past was a heavy focus just only on

‍

00:11:58

specifically your website versus now it's your you're having to focus on how you're appearing on LLM, sorry, LLMs and then obviously like social media and some things. So those kind of influence your overall technical uh how Google and LMS are viewing you. >> Great. So the next question we have there Peter is crawl and rendering. What do you check today for crawability and indexability that trip people up before? Like is is there anything that they need to know here? >> Do you have a good website structure?

‍

00:12:32

Are you basically as your craw like close possible to the root domain? Do you have breadcrumbs which make it easier for search engines and LLMs to do there? Um, are you being mentioned like online? Um, I mean, I would say those things as well. And then the also like JSON schema too where it's like I've seen not all the time, but there's some websites where they'll only have the JSON schema on the rendered copy. >> U, what skills will top SEOs need in 2026 that they don't have today? Yeah, I

‍

00:13:08

mean I think it's going back to becoming more of a marketer beyond just SEO. So, you kind of want to know become better as far as like copywriting. Um, have a better understanding of UX, which something I'm working on. Um, kind of have a better understanding of LLM's work, which I'm working on as well. I would say improving on like your soft skills and things like that. So, knowing how to like sell ideas and things like that if you don't already know how. And yeah, I mean, I'd say those are like the

‍

00:13:46

most important ones I see at this point. >> Um, right. Uh, Peter, so next question, uh, what we can look at is what are three actions viewers can take right after this episode? >> Yeah. So, I mean, definitely review your craw logs, get a better understanding of how LLMs are crawling your website to see if there's any issues there. Um, if your website is heavily in JavaScript, at least client side, make sure it's um rendered JavaScript. um focus on definitely getting into those listicles and being why your

‍

00:14:25

competitors are mentioned cuz those will help a lot too and um definitely schema as well. So using same as if you're on like your about page and connect all the entities that are related to you and why you're showing up online. So I'd say all those things. Pet, can you just share like what type of hobbies like what what interests you? What keeps you uh striving for more outside of work? >> For most of my life, I've been super into um fitness and working out. So, I feel like I get a ton of energy um from

‍

00:14:58

that. It's great for my mental health and it also boosts my SEO because I feel like I have more clarity. Uh, I'm also into eating pretty healthy, so I try to do that, but I'm also really into um trying new donuts. I'm a foodie. Peter, so for those who are wanted to learn more about you or even see your work uh and to learn from you, where could they find your work or where could they find your information? >> Yeah, it can be found if you Google Peter Roa. Um, I come up at least for my

‍

00:15:31

LinkedIn and my website as well. called Peter Roa SEO.com. Um, primarily do a lot of technical SEO, but I also do local SEO and a lot of onpage slash like uh I've done some backlink analysis too [music] as far as the dials too. So, I would say my bread and butter is on page and technical and at this point. >> So, it was a pleasure having Peter on. I appreciate your time. I appreciate your expertise. If you do want to follow Peter, his LinkedIn handle is in the description below. You can also find a

‍

00:16:04

link to his website and also to his Upwork, too. Thank you very much. I hope you've got some insight from today's show. We'll be having some amazing guests over in the new year. And if you haven't already done so, make sure you've subscribed to the channel so you can catch the next