Eric Richmond is a (recovering) rock and roll roadie and President of Expert SEO Consulting, a Connecticut-based digital marketing consultancy he founded in 2006. With nearly two decades focused on organic search, Eric now specializes in AI search optimization — helping businesses get cited and recommended by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and other generative platforms. He is also the creator of CiteMetrix, an AI citation tracking platform, and Chatly, an AI-powered chatbot for WordPress. Before Expert SEO Consulting, Eric held senior roles at Complex Media, TechMediaNetwork, 360i, and Grey Interactive, and has spoken on search optimization at SMX, SES, HSMAI, and MTMP. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Internet Oldtimers Foundation and is a founding Board Member of the US Internet Pioneers Foundation. A lifelong car enthusiast, Eric is the founder of Cars and Coffee Darien — held at the historic starting line of the 1979 Cannonball Run — and Cars and Coffee Events, the largest car and motorcycle event listing website in the US. He is an accredited member of the International Motor Press Association, and on weekends you can often find him and his Mazda Miata on the track at Lime Rock Park.
The blue link is officially lonely. For twenty years, the hierarchy of the internet was simple: you built a website, you begged or bought backlinks, and Google rewarded you with a spot in the top ten. If a user clicked, you won. If they didn't, you tried again. But as of May 2026, the game…
If you’re still optimizing for single keywords and checking off meta tags like it’s 2018, you’re not just behind the curve: you’re practically invisible to the modern web. The search landscape has shifted from traditional SEO to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). In this new world, success doesn’t come from chasing isolated terms. It comes from…
Search doesn’t work the way it used to. Ranking still matters, but rankings alone no longer decide who wins attention, trust, or business. If your SEO strategy is still built around getting a blue link in front of a searcher, you’re optimizing for a version of Google that’s already gone. In 2026, being visible is…
Search didn’t disappear—it changed layers. What used to be a straightforward contest for clicks is now a competition to become the source an AI system trusts enough to use, summarize, and act on. That’s the strategic shift most marketers are still underestimating. We aren’t just dealing with “Answer Engines” anymore. We have moved into the…
AI search is no longer a side feature layered on top of traditional results. It is now the front door to discovery for a growing share of users, and that changes everything about how brands earn visibility online. If you’re still obsessing over where you rank in the "ten blue links," you’re essentially fighting for…
Let’s be honest: the old marketing funnel doesn’t feel like much of a funnel anymore. If you’re still measuring success by how many blue links you’ve turned into clicks, you’re playing a game that ended two years ago. People are getting answers faster, making decisions earlier, and forming opinions before they ever reach a website.…
Let’s be honest: the era of "ten blue links" isn't just dying: it’s effectively a ghost. If you’ve spent the last decade perfecting your keyword density and backlink profile, you’ve done a great job for the 2010s. But it’s 2026, and the game has fundamentally changed. According to the latest data, a staggering 58% of…
Let’s face it: the traditional "ten blue links" era of Google is effectively a relic of the past. If you haven't looked at a search results page lately, you might have missed the fact that 58% of Google searches are now AI-powered. Whether it’s Google’s AI Overviews, Perplexity, or ChatGPT’s SearchGPT, the way users consume…
58% of Google searches are now AI-powered. Take a second to let that number sink in. If you’re still operating under the assumption that SEO is just about keywords and backlink counts, you’re missing the seismic shift happening under your feet. We aren’t just optimizing for human users anymore; we are optimizing for highly sophisticated,…
It is Wednesday, May 6, 2026, and the digital landscape has fundamentally shifted. If you are still relying on a static XML sitemap and hoping a weekly crawl will keep your rankings afloat, you are already behind. The numbers don’t lie: 58% of Google searches are now AI-powered. We are no longer optimizing for a…