Welcome to Search With Sean: Weekly News - your roundup of the biggest stories shaping SEO, AI, content, and digital strategy this week.

Co Hosts:Nicola Agius – https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-agius-8b330956/

Amanda Walls - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandajwalls/

We covered the following + more 👇

📰 Top Stories

This week we covered Google’s new tool for reporting fake negative reviews, the rise of extortion scams, and how quickly Google is now removing fraudulent ratings - a growing issue as AI-generated review spam increases.

We also looked at the surge of low-quality YMYL content appearing in Google Discover. Google has acknowledged the problem and confirmed a fix is on the way.

Another standout moment was the 27,000% traffic spike for a small UK charity after Alan Carr selected them as his Traitors donation — a real example of unexpected celebrity impact.

We explored whether ChatGPT will introduce ads, how an affiliate-style model could differ from Google Ads, and what that might mean for brands trying to gain visibility inside AI assistants.We also discussed an AI-generated music artist topping the charts, raising fresh questions about authenticity, creativity and whether audiences really care if content is made by humans or AI.

💬 Top Social Posts

Aleyda Solis’s research into zero-click searches revealed that falling clicks aren’t only caused by AI Overviews. Organic listings are now pushed down by product carousels, SERP features, and increased prominence of Google/partner properties like YouTube and Reddit.

Phil Pearce shared a breakdown of how to audit Consent Mode v2, highlighting how GA4 data can drop by ~30% when consent triggers block click IDs too early - and how to diagnose the issue with a Chrome extension.

Marie Haynes summarised Google’s new AI shopping features coming into Gemini and Search — including conversational shopping, automated store-calling, and GenAI-powered price-tracking and auto-purchase options.

And finally, new Profound research showed that 80% of buyers now rely on answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity) for at least half their purchase decisions, heavily influencing where they buy afterward.

🎬 Top Videos

Nick highlighted Lily Ray’s alligator animation breaking down SEO vs GEO vs AEO - showing how RAG powers LLM responses and why traditional SEO remains the foundation of AI visibility.

Amanda covered Neil Patel’s 2026 social predictions: on-platform conversions, long-form video returning, expert-led personal brands, and the decline of virtual influencers.

Sean explored Sam Altman’s new “World” identity project — a biometric system designed to verify real humans online — and the ethical questions it raises. He also summarised Ahrefs’ AI search myth-busting, including the lesser-known fact that some LLMs can process JavaScript.Watch / listen on Spotify - View all stories + more here - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRgApI9fMAMVswEIcS8iz2HXYpWXPlA2hjHZs8B9stlS6s8mvX-cAkHydCWW2yvca6Jv2sn0xu6w4Eg/pubhtml