The Same Side: A Digital Marketing Podcast Rooted in Human Connection

Sep 17, 2026 · Show notes by @Jonathan Danz

Episode Summary

Host Jonathan Danz uses the "Buddy in Elf" metaphor to explore SEO FOMO in the AI search era. With GEO, AEO, LLMO and a dozen other acronyms flooding marketing feeds, it's easy to feel like you're missing out on some secret to ranking well. The core argument: the fundamentals of SEO (clean code, relevant content, site architecture, schema markup) haven't changed, they're just as important for AI-driven search as they were for traditional search. Rather than chasing every new vendor pitch, the episode makes the case for foundational housekeeping done consistently over time.

Topics Covered

1. The acronym overload — GEO, AEO, LLMO, AIO, AAIO and more, all describing roughly the same thing
2. A history lesson — from keyword-stuffing and link farms to personalization, and why AI search is really just the next evolution
3. Schema markup — what it is, why it's been a foundational tool for 15+ years, and how it disambiguates content for search engines
4. Why "SEO" still fits — generative engines are still search engines, and the old terminology keeps the focus on foundational work
5. E-E-A-T — why experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness matter more, not less, when AI is synthesizing answers from your content
6. Vendor skepticism — why "complete AI visibility" claims are hard to verify, since the underlying models and rankings shift on their own
7. Practical next steps — checking GA4's AI Assistant channel, filtering historical AI referral traffic, and using Google Search Console and Screaming Frog for site audits

Tools & Resources Mentioned

• GA4 (AI Assistant channel) | Native default channel grouping AI-assistant referral traffic (rolled out June 2026)
• GA4 (Session source/medium) | Manually filter for chatgpt.com, gemini.google.com, perplexity.ai, copilot.microsoft.com and claude.ai referrals from before June 2026
• Google Search Console | Free indexing, crawl error, mobile usability and Core Web Vitals reporting
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider | Free tier crawls up to 500 URLs; hierarchical view for auditing site architecture
• Schema.org markup | Structured data standard (Google, Bing, Yahoo, Yandex) for explicitly typing page content

Key Takeaway

SEO fundamentals, clean site architecture, quality content and structured data, still do the heavy lifting, even in an AI-driven search landscape. Don't let vendor pitches or acronym fatigue push you into overcomplicating the basics. Build a roadmap, work it consistently, and remember that your agency and your goals are on the same side.