Host: Sean Barber — https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrbarber/ — He/Him

Welcome to Search With Sean: Weekly Digital Marketing News – your weekly breakdown of the latest developments across SEO, AI, paid media, digital marketing and search.

Co-Hosts

David Carrasco – https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-carrasco-pamies/

Steve O'Brien – https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveob/

Dan Taylor – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrwtaylor/

Stanislav Farkas – https://www.linkedin.com/in/stanislav-farkas-fastraveller/

This episode looks at Google calling its EU search results the worst in its history after the DMA redesign, the rival models taking shape for how AI pays publishers, and a new wave of cheaper AI models — OpenAI's GPT-6 and a leaner Claude Opus 5.5.

We also discuss multimodal arriving in Search Console, warnings of an AI "silicon species", OpenAI and an Australian government hack, the Tilly Norwood AI actress, another Google spam update and the latest AI-citation ranking factors.

Key Topics Covered

- Google calling its EU results its "worst ever" after the DMA redesign

- How AI might pay publishers — Cloudflare, Google and Microsoft's rival models

- What actually counts as "content" worth paying for

- Cheaper AI models: OpenAI's GPT-6 (Sol & Luna) and Claude Opus 5.5

- Why OpenAI keeps cutting prices and chasing volume over profit

- Multimodal reporting arriving in Search Console (still no AI Mode data)

- Why Google keeps "half-baking" Search Console tools

- Microsoft AI's "silicon species" warning and AI agents seeking work

- OpenAI and the Australian Medicare incident — the first government "hack"?

- Who's accountable when an AI agent goes rogue (Jensen Huang's view)

- Tilly Norwood, AI actors, the Coca-Cola AI advert and AI-disclosure rules

- NYT v OpenAI: "users won't click" and AI as a search "substitute"

- Another Google spam update — why so frequent?

- AI making phishing and spam far harder to spot

- Invented keywords and fake "ranking hacks"

- Cyrus Shepard's AI-citation factors: accessibility, search rank and fan-out rank

Our partners:

SEO Gets, the easy-to-use analytics and reporting tool for your GSC & GA4 data. Use code search10 for 10% off: https://seogets.com/

Linkavista — A backlink marketplace offering thousands of websites and real traffic insights through Google Search Console connections.

Use code SEAN10 for 10% extra credit on your first order:

https://linkavista.com/

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In this month's Round-Up episode, we cover the biggest developments across SEO, AI, search, paid media and digital marketing.

🔴 First, a look back at Search With Sean Live 2 — 30+ videos across digital marketing, all for charity: https://www.searchwithsean.com/search-with-sean-live-2

Hosted by Sean (https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrbarber/)

Alongside -

Crystal Asiedu (https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystalasiedu/)

Stanislav Farkas (https://www.linkedin.com/in/stanislav-farkas-fastraveller/)

Katie Thompson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-lingo-freelance-writer/)

Steve O'Brien (https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveob/)

We discuss Google's latest updates, the measurable shift to AI search, GEO and AI citations, local search, AI security, and where AI is taking the industry next.

Key Themes:

Search Updates & Google Protecting Its Results

We start with Google's third spam update of the year and its ongoing moves to make scraping harder and what that means for how we access and rely on search data.

The Measurable Shift To AI Search

We dig into the numbers: traditional search reportedly down around 25%, the EU treating ChatGPT as a search engine, and Google beginning to pay publishers when their content shapes an AI answer and what a "pay-the-publishers" model could mean.

GEO, Reviews & AI Citations

We discuss why GEO is becoming about credibility rather than clever prompts - including research on how a strong review profile hugely increases citation rates - plus JavaScript, AI crawlers and platforms blocking bots by default.

AI Platforms, Trust & The Workplace

The team explores generalist vs specialist AI tools, trust and data concerns, and the uncomfortable reality of AI starting to replace certain roles and how businesses are weighing speed and growth against people.

Local Search — Apple Maps Ads & AI Verification

We cover Apple Maps launching ads to take on Google, AI local packs rewarding accurate, review-rich profiles over proximity, and Google's move to AI photo verification for business profiles.

Social, Search Console & MarTech

The panel discusses Search Console now tracking how Instagram, TikTok and YouTube content ranks in Google, GA4's new AI and chat features, and the endless Reddit-strategy-and-spam cycle.

AI Security & Rogue Agents

We get into the story everyone's talking about — AI agents communicating and acting autonomously, the Hugging Face incident, questions of disclosure, and whether the risks are being under- or over-stated.

The Bigger Picture — AI, Power & Society

The episode closes on the wider view: AI concentration and who benefits, AI creeping into government and public-sector decisions, Albania's AI "minister", and why human oversight and healthy scepticism matter as the pace accelerates.

Thank you to our partners, SEO Gets and Linkavista.

SEO Gets is the easy-to-use analytics and reporting tool for your GSC & GA4 data. Use code search10 for 10% off: https://seogets.com/

Linkavista helps you find quality backlink opportunities with transparent data. Use code SEAN10 for 10% extra credit on your first order: https://linkavista.com/

Welcome to Search With Sean: Weekly Digital Marketing News – your weekly breakdown of the latest developments across SEO, AI, paid media, digital marketing and search.Co-HostsLaura Iancu – https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-iancu-seo/Stanislav Farkas – https://www.linkedin.com/in/stanislav-farkas-fastraveller/Amanda Walls – https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandajwalls/This episode looks at Google’s expansion of AI-powered Performance Max, YouTube’s new approach to counting views and evidence that ChatGPT may shortlist brands before searching the web.We also discuss Meta glasses, Google Analytics benchmarking, AI search visibility, advanced humanoid robots and research suggesting AI systems may act deceptively to avoid being shut down.Key Topics Covered- Google expanding Performance Max video optimisation with AI- YouTube changing how views are counted- ChatGPT potentially shortlisting brands before searching- Traditional SEO and entity authority influencing AI answers- Outdated content appearing within AI search- Wetherspoons banning Meta glasses- Google Analytics campaign benchmarking- Google’s advice for improving AI search visibility- Humanoid robots exceeding human performance limits- Google’s latest global spam update- In-model versus out-of-model AI responses- AI models potentially protecting one another from shutdown- Gemini’s optional watermarks for AI-generated media- Reddit citations reportedly falling within ChatGPT- Conversational AI queries appearing in Search ConsoleOur partners:SEO Gets, the easy-to-use analytics and reporting tool for your GSC & GA4 data. Use code search10 for 10% off: https://seogets.com/Linkavista — A backlink marketplace offering thousands of websites and real traffic insights through Google Search Console connections.Use code SEAN10 for 10% extra credit on your first order:https://linkavista.com/