Stephen Wilson Downey - The New Playbook: GEO, E-E-A-T, Signals & Being "The Answer"

Stephen Wilson Downey returns to The Builders to share what changed since his last visit and why he pivoted from building an AI WordPress maintenance plugin to doubling down on services at Speire. We talk through the hard lessons behind that shift—protecting the “core” business, the realities of cost/scale, and how clear communication and measurable ROI became the bedrock of growth and client retention.

From there, we unpack GEO—Generative Engine Optimization—and why builders must evolve from “ranking pages” to “being the answer” as behavior shifts to AI Overviews, LLM search, and voice assistants. Stephen contrasts GEO with classic SEO, emphasizing research around real questions (not just keywords) and the need to show up where assistants actually pull answers.

The episode gets tactical: orchestrate credible multi‑channel signals (site, YouTube with transcripts, Reddit/communities, maps/listings, and third‑party reviews), apply E‑E‑A‑T across everything, and keep content fresh so you’re consistently cited. We also hit PR/trade journals for authority, and Stephen’s simple playbook: map ICPs, cluster their questions, publish answer‑first content across channels, and maintain cadence.

Key Takeaways

• Be the answer, not just a result: Shift from chasing blue links to being the concise, credible answer assistants surface.
• Signals > single channel: Build consistent signals across website, YouTube (with transcripts), Reddit/communities, maps, listings, and reviews.
• E‑E‑A‑T everywhere: Show Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness in every artifact—owned content, PR, and third‑party sources.
• Freshness & cadence matter: Update often; assistants vary citations and reward up‑to‑date, active sources.
• Protect the core while experimenting: Keep your main value engine healthy; retention follows relationships + ROI.
• Simple GEO playbook: ICPs → question clusters → multi‑format, answer‑first content → broad distribution → iterate.