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Our analysis reveals a major shift in content performance. Find out which blog topics are winning and losing in the age of AI search.

Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · 25d

Full study here: www.siegemedia.com/research/blo...

Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · 25d

Engagement with trends content is on the rise.

We analyzed over 12.2k unique blog URLs across 15 categories to see what has been changing over the past two years.

It showed that AI is driving interest in trends, and the subsequent product announcements incorporating it.

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Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Sep 17

ChatGPT referrals are down for the second month in a row -- but Google's growth trend remains intact.

If ChatGPT traffic doesn’t soon show meaningful month-over-month growth, the idea it could overtake Google in the near future is officially moot.

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Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Sep 16

The value in looking at rankings 20-40:

Topical authority audit: if you’re in the 30-40 range, that’s often a good new page, as it’s saying you’re authoritative for that term even if it doesn’t map to the current page.

Refreshes: Rankings 20-30 can still bump to page one.

Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Sep 16

The value in looking at rankings 20-40:

Topical authority audit: if you’re in the 30-40 range, that’s often a good new page, as it’s saying you’re authoritative for that term even if it doesn’t map to the current page.

Refreshes: Rankings 20-30 can still bump to page one.

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Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Sep 10

LinkedIn posts are seeing a surge in SEO traffic.

This is a trend to watch closely.

It feels like it could be the start of a Reddit, Quora-type social acceleration trend -- and a reason to invest in organic social.

GA4 Engagement Rate Benchmarks: ChatGPT vs. Google

Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Sep 9

View our full post comparing ChatGPT engagement rate with Google's below.

We also took a look at how engagement rate is changing across other channels.

Blog engagement is actually up 15%!

www.siegemedia.com/research/ga4...

ChatGPT engagement is high. Our study breaks down what it means for organic search and how to update your hybrid SEO strategy.

ChatGPT Referral Traffic Trends: Traffic Down in July 2025

Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Sep 9

Google is sending higher quality traffic than ChatGPT in the last 60 days.

In the past 18 months, ChatGPT's quality is 2% better, but that continues to decline.

The narrative that ChatGPT is better in a generalized view is becoming less true than ever.

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Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Aug 31

ChatGPT is hiring an SEO-focused content strategist paying almost $400k/year!

Interestingly, there’s no talk of any LLM-facing optimization acronym besides SEO.

www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/42...

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Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Aug 19

AI citation volume by URL is the new keyword volume.

In Ahrefs’ URL view, they calculate a total number of AI citations for each URL from their prompt database.

This isn’t prompt volume, but it’s a holistic estimate of total topic interest around that concept.

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Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Aug 15

Yeah there’s definite seasonality. Hard to say if it’s on par with last year.

Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Aug 14

School being out is likely a major factor, but a decline being possible at all is a significant event.

Full study here: www.siegemedia.com/strategy/cha...

New data shows organic search is accelerating while ChatGPT referral traffic is volatile. Learn why a hybrid approach is best for SEO and AI.

Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Aug 14

ChatGPT referral traffic was down 3.8% in July. Is the bubble about to pop?

After a wave of graphs (including ours) predicting growth that would intersect Google’s in '27-28, metrics went negative.

On the other side of the coin, Google traffic was up 15.9% across 193 sites.

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Reposted by Ross Hudgens

Will Critchlow @willcritchlow.bsky.social · Jun 25

Join @rosshudgens.bsky.social and me tomorrow for a conversation about "future proofing e-commerce SEO".

I love Ross's take on how your 3 week vision is your new 3 year vision:

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Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Jun 4

I don't trust Google results" has been a common refrain.

Yet, many people are now using LLM results 98% powered by Bing and taking them as fact.

It feels like the net trust quotient has actually increased given this, improving conversion rate.

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Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Jun 4

SEO anchor text in the top nav is rarely the right idea in 2025.

Engagement rate is far more important.

As the importance of brand continues to grow, suggesting primarily SEO-focused anchor text in our top navigation is the wrong direction.

Optiversal - AI Content for Retail

Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Jun 2

Two months ago, I sat at an SEO breakfast and two enterprise retail SEOs independently brought up how amazing the tool has been for their company.

I knew we had to invest!

Learn more here: www.optiversal.com

Optiversal helps the world's top e-commerce companies harness generative AI at scale to drive more traffic and revenue.

www.optiversal.com

Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · Jun 2

We’re excited to announce that Siege Media has joined Optiversal’s Series A round as a strategic investor!

Optiversal is an AI-powered landing page platform that helps the world’s top e-commerce companies harness generative AI at scale to drive more traffic and revenue.

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Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · May 29

You probably don’t need thought leadership.

You need product-focused content that drives clicks and conversions. Thought leadership feels bigger and harder than it needs to be, lowering executive buy-in.

Here’s how we think about the difference:

Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · May 28

HubSpot’s LLM visibility skyrocketed without relying on backlinks.

Kieran Flanagan shifted to co-citations and brand mentions to win in AI-driven search.

Full episode: www.siegemedia.com/conversation...

Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · May 22

Content isn’t valuable just because it converts.

The best content brings sticky, high-LTV customers.

Semrush CMO Andrew Warden explains why: www.siegemedia.com/conversation...

Homepage Traffic is Up 10.7% from AI Overviews and LLMs [50-Site Study] - Siege Media

Ross Hudgens @rosshudgens.bsky.social · May 20

See the study in full here: www.siegemedia.com/strategy/ai-...

While AI Overviews and LLMs may be eating top-of-funnel search, they’re quietly boosting traffic where it counts most: your homepage. […]