In this kickoff to Season 5 of the Page 2 Podcast, Jon Clark and Joe speak with Barry Schwartz — the legendary technologist behind RustyBrick and the prolific voice of Search Engine Roundtable and Search Engine Land. With nearly 45,000 posts under his belt and decades of SEO insights, Barry reveals how he's built an unstoppable publishing machine while running a thriving custom software business.

From automating billing at RustyBrick to maintaining an obsessive publishing schedule that starts at 5 AM, Barry shares how efficiency and passion drive everything he does. Learn how he's adapted to AI tools like Claude and Midjourney, his take on Google’s AI overviews, why automation doesn’t threaten jobs, and how he views trust, content longevity, and the future of search.

🤖 In This Episode
• Barry’s dual role as CEO of RustyBrick and SEO journalist
• How he manages 50,000 posts without SEO services
• Why automation empowers teams (not replaces them)
• His take on AI’s role in software and content creation
• Barry’s strict 5AM productivity routine & batching strategy
• Using Claude & Midjourney in real-world tech workflows
• Thoughts on AI overviews, content syndication, & traffic impact
• Why Barry won’t remove old SEO posts (archival value matters)
• The right way to become a speaker at SEO conferences
• The role of Feedly, social media scheduling, and A/B testing
• His honest view on LLM content usage and trust in search

This episode is a goldmine for marketers, SEOs, and technologists navigating the shifting landscape of AI, automation, and publishing in 2026.

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💬 Comment below: How are you using automation or AI to streamline your business or workflow?

Follow Barry Schwartz
• Search Engine Roundtable – https://www.seroundtable.com
• RustyBrick – https://www.rustybrick.com
• Youtube: ⁨@rustybrick⁩
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/rustybrick
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rustybrick

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https://page2pod.com - In this landmark 100th episode of the Page 2 Podcast, Rand Fishkin returns to reflect on life after Moz, the liberation of leaving venture capital behind, and his journey with SparkToro. He opens up about the recent Google API leaks, the real impact of AI and LLMs in marketing, and how the digital landscape is evolving toward a zero-click future. With transparency, humor, and loads of insight, Rand dives deep into audience research, entrepreneurship, and what still excites (and frustrates) him in search marketing.

Whether you're a digital marketer, entrepreneur, or SEO nerd, this episode is packed with actionable advice and real talk from one of the industry's most authentic voices.

🔍 In This Episode:
🎯 Rand explains the emotional toll and freedom of leaving Moz and VC pressures
🔍 Behind the scenes of SparkToro’s clickstream-powered insights
📁 The real story behind the Google search API leak and its validation
🔄 Why the SEO influencer space feels stale—and what might change
🧠 Rand's take on AI: useful tools vs. overhyped tech
📊 How SparkToro integrates LLMs to improve audience targeting
🧪 The importance of testing and data-driven marketing experiments
🧑‍🍳 A surprising story about ultrasonic knives and finding product-market fit
🛒 Smart Q4 e-commerce tips for brands both big and small
🌐 Why your website still matters—but so does zero-click marketing
🔮 Rand's predictions for SparkToro, AlertMouse, and the future of search

From philosophical shifts in business to the power of podcasts in training AI models, this episode is a masterclass in modern marketing.

📚 Resources Mentioned
• Rand Fishkin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randfishkin/
• SparkToro: https://sparktoro.com
• SnackBar Studio: Rand's game dev studio - https://snackbarstudio.com
• AlertMouse: Rand's media monitoring tool - https://alertmouse.com/
• Seattle Ultrasonics: Knife startup mentioned - https://seattleultrasonics.com/
• Google Leak: https://sparktoro.com/blog/an-anonymous-source-shared-thousands-of-leaked-google-search-api-documents-with-me-everyone-in-seo-should-see-them/
• IMEC Lab: https://sparktoro.com/blog/imec-lab/

Sponsored by Moving Traffic Media

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https://page2pod.com - In this episode, Jon Clark and Joe DeVita engage with Metehan Yesilyurt to explore the evolving landscape of SEO in the age of AI. They discuss the transition from traditional SEO metrics to new paradigms influenced by AI technologies, including the concept of Rank Fusion and the importance of brand visibility.

The conversation delves into practical strategies for optimizing content for AI search engines, the role of platforms like YouTube, and the future of e-commerce with AI integration. The episode concludes with predictions for the dominance of AI search engines by 2027.

Metehan dives deep into the seismic shifts in how search engines are evolving, including how visibility works in Large Language Models, the mechanics of Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF), and why the classic SEO metric of “rank” is rapidly becoming outdated.

From prompt analysis and AI-driven content strategy to platform-specific publishing cadences and the surprising power of YouTube in LLMs, this episode is a must-listen for digital marketers and SEOs who want to stay ahead of the curve.

💡 In This Episode (🧠):
• Why Metehan left traditional SEO for AI-driven discovery
• The founding story and mission behind AEO Vision
• How LLMs like ChatGPT and Perplexity “rank” content differently
• What Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF) is and how it impacts visibility
• Why brand mentions matter more than backlinks in AI search
• The role of schema, structured content, and semantic chunking
• Why you shouldn’t optimize solely for LLMs (and how it hurts SEO)
• How YouTube is a powerful but underrated channel for AI visibility
• Prompt analysis: what real user questions reveal about content strategy
• Predictions on who will dominate AI search by 2027

If you're looking to understand the next wave of search and how to optimize for it, this episode will arm you with the knowledge you need.

🔔 Subscribe to stay ahead in SEO, AI, and digital marketing trends every week!

💬 What are you doing to optimize for AI and LLM search? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!

🔗 Mentioned in the Episode:
• Follow Metehan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/metehanyesilyurt/
• AEO Vision: https://aeovision.ai
• AI Share Buttons: https://metehan.ai/blog/citemet-ai-share-buttons-growth-hack-for-llms/
• Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF)
👉 https://plg.uwaterloo.ca/~gvcormac/cormacksigir09-rrf.pdf
👉 https://metehan.ai/blog/chatgpt-is-using-reciprocal-rank-fusion-rrf/

Sponsored by Moving Traffic Media

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