Eric Richmond a photographer, a [recovering] rock and roll roadie and Founder of Expert SEO Consulting. A 25 year veteran of digital marketing, he has focused on SEO since 2007 and has spoken on the subject at SMX, SES and HSMAI. He is on the Board of Directors of the Internet Oldtimers Foundation and the US Internet Pioneers Foundation. Eric is also a life long car enthusiast, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Valley Region of the Porsche Club of America where he is also Editor of Challenge - the Club's monthly magazine.

Is ChatGPT the New Google? How Visual SERPs are Shifting User Behavior

Here's the thing nobody's talking about: ChatGPT just got a lot more comfortable for the average user, and that should terrify anyone who's been relying on traditional search traffic. OpenAI recently rolled out Top Stories and visual knowledge panels inside ChatGPT, making the interface look less like a blank conversation window and more like… well,…

Google SAGE + Agentic Search: How to Structure Service Pages So AI Agents Can Use Them

Here's the thing about service pages in 2026: they're no longer being read primarily by humans making buying decisions. They're being evaluated by AI agents determining whether you're worth surfacing to those humans in the first place. Google's SAGE (Search-Augmented Generation Engine) project has fundamentally changed how search works. Instead of matching keywords and ranking…

Ranking Volatility Spike (Jan 29–30): How to Tell If You Were Hit vs. Normal Noise

If you monitor your rankings closely (and you should), you probably noticed something on January 29-30. Rankings shifted. Sometimes dramatically. Search Engine Roundtable and the usual monitoring tools lit up with chatter about volatility spikes. But here's the thing: Google's rankings fluctuate constantly. The algorithm tests variations, personalizes results, adjusts for location and device, and…

How to Future-Proof Your Content for AI Search: Using the AI Content Readiness Auditor

Search has fundamentally changed. By 2026, over 60% of search queries will be answered directly by AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews: without users ever clicking through to websites. This isn't a distant possibility; it's happening now. The problem? Most content wasn't built for AI consumption. Traditional SEO audits focus on keyword…

65% of AI Chats Have No Commercial Intent: What This Means for SEO & Content

The digital marketing landscape has fundamentally shifted, and here’s the data that proves it: 65% of AI chatbot conversations have absolutely nothing to do with buying anything. This isn’t speculation: it’s the hard reality uncovered by Dan Petrovic’s comprehensive December 2025 analysis of 3.9 million AI conversation turns. For SEO professionals and content marketers, this…