In this episode of Chat With Sean, I’m joined by the brilliant Christian J. Ward – Chief Data Officer at Yext, bestselling author of Data Leverage: Unlocking the Surprising Growth Potential of Data Partnerships, and a leading voice on digital presence and AI.We discussed the future of search, localisation, and how brands can prepare for an AI-driven world.We covered a wide range of topics, including:- What Yext’s analysis of 8.7 million Google results reveals about local search and ranking factors- Why there are no universal SEO best practices – and how location and competitors change everything- The rise of AI citations and what brands should do to influence them- How consumer loyalty may shift from brands to AI assistants- What “dead software theory” means for Excel, PowerPoint, and future workflows- The merging of SEO and SEM strategy in an AI-first environment- Why companies should stop treating AI as Maslow’s hammer – and where it really fits- How to prepare for always-on AI assistants reshaping the customer journeyConnect With Christian - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wardchristianj/Related Links - https://www.yext.com/researchhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbbG0RSkpFw&t=3418shttps://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/ai-customer-loyalty-hospitality-hotels-study.php

In this episode of Search With Sean, I’m joined by Cindy Krum, Founder & CEO of MobileMoxie. We dive into the changing search landscape, the impact of AI Overviews, and why branding has become more important than ever. Cindy shares her take on journey optimisation, the “four S’s” of discovery, the decline of long-tail search, and how SEOs can adapt to AI-driven search. We also discuss the future of SEO tools, social platforms like TikTok and Reddit, and what EEAT really means in 2025.

Connect With Cindy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindykrum/

Get curated digital marketing news and essential channel updates sent directly to you via Whatsapp - https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbB9zsvAe5VlZK5gmt1V

Filmed On: 19th September 2025Host: Sean Barber - / https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrbarber/ - He & HimIn this episode of Chat With Sean, I’m joined once again by Garrett Sussman - Director of Marketing at iPullRank and contributor to Search Engine Land – to dive into the brand-new AI Search Manual his team has produced, and what it means for the evolution of SEO.We covered a wide range of topics, including:- What “relevance engineering” really is – and how it builds on SEO- The overlap (and differences) between GEO and traditional SEO- Why query expansion and probabilistic outputs change how we optimise- The growing role of listicles, mentions, and digital PR in AI search results- How content incentives are shifting, and whether brands will still invest in quality- Case studies showing the shift from clicks to conversions- The technical challenges of bias, hallucination, and vector embeddings- What brands need to monitor – from sentiment analysis to share of voice- The skills and mindsets SEO teams should adopt to thrive in GEO- Why SEOs may need to rebrand as “relevance engineers”Related Links:https://ipullrank.com/ai-search-manualhttps://www.searchwithsean.com/post/seo-ai-audio-guides