Voices of Search // A Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Content Marketing Podcast What’s your go-to move for reallocating spend to stay competitive?
Jan 10, 2026
Josh Blyskal, Head of AI Strategy at Profound, dives into the evolving world of AI and SEO. He reveals that strategic context optimization is key for brands winning in AI discovery, backed by research into billion citations. Josh discusses how backlinks are losing their edge, suggesting that semantic mentions could take their place. He highlights the importance of digital signals for visibility, especially for small companies, and advises funding AI visibility monitoring to stay competitive. Tune in for actionable insights!
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Reallocate Backlink Spend To AI Strategy
- Move budget from low-impact backlink buys into AI/search strategy work.
- Monitor how content performs in AI channels before reallocating large SEO spends.
Few Links Pass The AI 'Vibe Check'
- A few backlinks get content into AI answer engines' consideration sets.
- Additional backlinks show diminishing returns for AI-driven answers.
Semantic Mentions Rival Actual Links
- Semantic mentions can be as influential as inline links for AI answers.
- Authoritative statements in content transfer credibility to specific pieces for answer engines.