In mid-2024, our agency Xponent21 faced a surprising kind of identity crisis. We had pulled off something big – launching Richmond Water, a sustainable hydration brand that became a local sensation. The project got press coverage and community buzz; Richmond Water was a growing brand on social media, at events, and with partners throughout the community. Yet the team behind…

We partnered with Factory Direct Oil—an official AMSOIL affiliate—to deliver a custom WordPress website built to boost organic search visibility, drive sales, attract fleet and wholesale customers, and support future content growth. With UX tailored to different vehicle types, SEO-focused infrastructure, and seamless affiliate integration, the new site offers a cleaner, faster, and more strategic experience. Early results show a 370% increase in impressions—positioning the site as a powerful launchpad for long-term digital growth.…

As AI-driven search becomes central to how people discover and trust information, understanding how large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT think—and more importantly, how they search—is now a true competitive edge. A new, brilliantly simple tool created by Ziggy Shtrosberg, a search engine optimization professional and Senior Technical SEO Analyst at 26PMX, gives us an unprecedented look into this hidden…

Have you noticed a drop in your website’s organic traffic or a dip in the performance of your paid search campaigns? You’re not alone, and the good news is that a strategic, up-to-date SEO plan can turn things around. In today’s AI-driven search landscape, simply tweaking a few keywords isn’t enough – you need a comprehensive approach that addresses technical…

The search landscape just shifted—again—and we captured the play-by-play on our latest Xponent21 Podcast episode. Minutes after Advanced Web Ranking confirmed that Google’s AI Overviews now surface in more than half of all queries, we hit record to unpack what this means for visibility, trust, and revenue. That conversation—now live wherever you get your podcasts—lays the groundwork for the analysis…

The search landscape is undergoing its most dramatic shift in decades. Generative AI now sits atop many Google results pages, answering queries directly and reshaping how brands gain visibility online. For forward-thinking companies, this upheaval presents a rare opportunity: those who move first to optimize for AI-driven search can secure dominant visibility that latecomers will find hard to unseat. Xponent21…

If your brand isn’t showing up in AI-generated answers, you’re already losing—and most people don’t even realize it yet. Search traffic is quietly collapsing across industries. Not because people are searching less, but because AI is answering faster—and cutting you out. Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity aren’t just changing how people find answers—they’re deciding which brands get seen and…

There’s a reason the same brands keep showing up at the top of AI Overviews: they didn’t wait for permission. In essence, those brands practiced Predictive SEO – the art of answering tomorrow’s questions today. Predictive SEO is the proactive practice of identifying emerging search queries and creating high-authority content for them before they hit peak popularity. Rather than waiting…

In the age of AI-powered search, your content doesn’t just need to rank—it needs to deserve to rank. That means the days of black hat SEO tricks—keyword stuffing, link farms, cloaking, fake author bios—are numbered. And if your SEO agency is still deploying them, you’re not just falling behind. You’re actively burning your budget. AI Search Engines Are Getting Smarter…

We’re living in the era of answer engines, not search engines. If your brand isn’t authoring the best answers, you’re invisible to your next would-be customer. It’s no longer enough to rank for broad, high-volume keywords. Today’s most effective content strategies are built around answering the right questions—specifically, your brand’s Most Valuable Questions (MVQs). Why Short-Tail Keyword Optimization Is Obsolete…