In this episode of Chat With Sean, I’m joined by Azeem Ahmad, Strategy Director at Reflect Digital, international conference speaker, and host of the award-winning Azeem Digital Asks podcast.

We dive into the latest Reflect Digital Search Pulse Report, exploring how AI, social media, and multichannel search are reshaping how people find and trust information online.

Azeem explains why trust is the biggest barrier to AI adoption, how behaviour changes across generations, and what brands can actually do to stay visible and relevant in 2025 and beyond.

We cover:

- Why the “be everywhere” mindset is wrong

— and what to do instead

- The rise of multichannel search behaviour (and how age affects it)

- How trust issues are slowing AI adoption

- The future of Google, AI Overviews, and the open web

- Reflect Digital’s new Search Motivation Framework

- How marketers can balance visibility, creativity, and credibility

📘 Download the Search Pulse Report: https://searchpulse.reflectdigital.co.uk/

Connect With Azeem - https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeema1/

In this episode of Chat With Sean, I’m joined by Ben Steele, a Senior Content Marketing Specialist at Siege Media and former Managing Editor at Search Engine Journal.

Ben’s one of those people who makes you rethink how you approach SEO. He was one of the first people I read when I came into the industry - and he still challenges how we talk about intent, content, and the role AI is already playing in how people actually experience the web.

We discussed why so much top-funnel content feels stale, how marketers can make it meaningful again, and what the rise of LLMs means for creativity, trust, and the open web.

Topics Covered:

- Why most intent models are too shallow — and Ben’s three-layer intent framework (Utility, Context, Emotion)

- How conversational search and AI Overviews are reshaping user behaviour

- Why top-funnel SEO has become boring — and how to make it human again

- The hidden dangers of optimising for LLMs and “AI-like” content

- How marketers can protect creativity in a world of AI-generated noise

- The role of community, curation, and closed groups in the next internet- Why brands need to “be good”, not just visible

In this episode of Chat With Sean, I’m joined by James Congdon, founder of withFrontier — a recruitment agency specialising in search and digital marketing roles.With over 14 years’ experience in SEO before moving into recruitment, James has a rare perspective on how the digital marketing industry is evolving — from agency life and remote working to the rise of AI, automation, and shifting job demands.We explore how AI is reshaping recruitment, what skills employers are now prioritising, and how marketers can future-proof their careers in an era of automation and uncertainty.Connect With James - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescongdon/Related Links:https://www.womenintechseo.com/https://www.youtube.com/@UCB-tHTRgAe21toA_1LC3M_w https://ppc.live/https://ecomcollabclub.com/

In this episode of Chat With Sean, I’m joined by Jon Goodey, founder of Indexify - a London-based digital marketing agency combining AI, data, and automation to deliver intelligent SEO and content strategies.

With a background in software development, Jon builds AI-powered systems that transform how agencies make decisions, automate workflows, and measure performance.

We discussed how AI is reshaping search, content, and creativity — and what marketers and agencies can do to stay ahead.

Topics Covered:

- How Indexify is redefining the modern digital agency model

- The role of AI personalisation, memory, and agents in transforming workflows

- How to use AI automation for reporting, content optimisation, and data cleaning

- Why context matters more than ever in data analysis- How SEOs can move beyond “walls of text” to multimodal content

- What AI-driven assistants mean for user journeys and brand discovery

- The changing role of tools like Ahrefs, DataForSEO, SEMrush, and MCP connectors

- How to prepare for an AI-first future where personal search engines dominate

Connect With Jon - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marketing-intelligence/

Tools Mentioned:

Cursor - https://cursor.com/

Windsurf - https://windsurf.com/

DataForSEO - https://dataforseo.com/

Notion AI - https://www.notion.com/en-gb/product/ai

WhisperFlow - https://wisprflow.ai/

Speechify - https://speechify.com/

11Labs - https://elevenlabs.io/

Replit - https://replit.com/

In this episode of Chat With Sean, I’m joined by Myriam Jessier (SEO and technical brand visibility consultant) and Giulia Panozzo (Director of Customer Acquisition and founder of Neuroscientive)Together we explore how search behaviour, human psychology, and biases shape how people use Google, LLMs, and AI search — and what it means for marketers today.📊 Slides included in this video — so you can follow along with Myriam and Giulia’s visuals and examples - https://www.neurospicy.agency/post/search-behavior-of-brains-and-biasesTopics covered include:- How authority bias, social proof, and heuristics affect how people search and trust results- Why LLMs reflect and amplify human cognitive biases- The psychology behind visual search and why faces in marketing matter- How to create human-centred content that still works for AI- Why familiarity, emotion, and authenticity are key to trust in 2025- How marketers can use neuroscience and sociology to design better digital experiences⚠️ Apologies for a few small sound issues during recording — hopefully the subtitles help fill any gaps.Connect with Myriam - https://www.linkedin.com/in/myriamjessier/Connect with Giulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/giulia-panozzo/

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