Eli Schwartz Consulting

Eli Schwartz is a leading SEO consultant and the author of Product-Led SEO. He has worked with industry giants like Zapier, Tinder, Coinbase, Quora, LinkedIn, and WordPress to build and execute global SEO strategies that significantly enhanced their organic visibility at scale. In our conversation, Eli shares: • How AI and LLMs are reshaping the SEO landscape • Why you should be focused on mid-funnel SEO strategies • How to determine if SEO is the right approach for your business • Why SEO should be treated as a product rather than just a marketing tactic • SEO myths • The future of search in light of recent legal challenges faced by Google • Much more — Brought to you by: • Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application • Brave Search—A smarter way to search • OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster — Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/rethinking-seo-in-the-age-of-ai-eli-schwartz — Where to find Eli Schwartz: • X: https://x.com/5le • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwartze/ • Website: https://www.elischwartz.co/ • Newsletter: https://www.productledseo.com/ — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Eli’s background (02:10) The impact of AI on SEO strategies (11:34) Understanding search intent (15:30) Real-world impact and structured vs. unstructured data (20:19) Top-of-funnel vs mid-funnel SEO strategies (22:57) Case studies (31:29) Steps for getting started with SEO (35:20) Examples of when not to focus on SEO (39:17) Evaluating SEO investment (44:00) Understanding the tradeoffs in marketing channels (46:23) SEO conversion metrics and expectations (52:09) Understanding the time horizon of SEO (59:37) The role of AI in content creation (01:05:26) AI overviews  (01:07:40) Brand building and SEO (01:09:51) Programmatic vs. editorial SEO strategies (01:16:06) Insights from the Google antitrust verdict (01:20:36) Google’s dominance in search (01:23:52) The future of SEO and user choice (01:26:28) SEO myths debunked (01:36:58) Forecasting SEO success (01:44:18) The need for SEO expertise (01:46:26) Lightning round and closing thoughts — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. — Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

HitchBOT was an experiment in stewardship: A small, rudimentary robot unable to move on its own, depending on the kindness of passersby to help it along its journey. Until it met an untimely end. Trust is a two-way street, and because robots are not powered by their own moral code, they rely on humans to supply both empathy and support.  Dr. Frauke Zeller shares HitchBOT’s origin story. Eli Schwartz recounts his heartbreak upon learning what happened in Philadelphia. Dr. Julie Carpenter analyzes why it all went down. And Georgia Guthrie epitomizes the outpouring of sympathy that followed. Together, they tell a layered story about humans, and how we respond to robots. With HitchBOT, we find a little hope in the shadow of its demise. If you want to read up on some of our research on robot-human interaction, you can check our all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. Follow along with the episode transcript.

Frauke Zeller

Professor

Toronto Metropolitan University

Eli Schwartz

SEO Advisor and Author

ECEli Schwartz Consulting

Julie Carpenter

Research Fellow

Georgia Guthrie