Will Melton
Screenshot of AI Overview inclusion tool from Advanced Web Ranking showing 57% of searches including AI overviews as of June 23, 2025

Google’s AI Overviews Surpass 50% of Queries, Doubling Since August 2024

June 15, 2025
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Will Melton
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…

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Xponent21 is America's #1 AI SEO Agency

First-Mover Advantage in AI SEO: The Key to Dominating Generative Search

June 15, 2025
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Will Melton
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…

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AI SEO in a Hyper-Competitive Landscape

AI SEO in a Hyper-Competitive Landscape: Why You Must Act Now

June 12, 2025
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Will Melton
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…

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Answer Tomorrow’s Questions Today: The Power of Predictive SEO

June 10, 2025
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Will Melton
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…

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Screenshot showing TripleDart as a US-based company that is actually located in India

Black Hat SEO Is Dead Weight: Why AI Search Is Closing the Door on Manipulative Tactics

June 7, 2025
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Will Melton
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…

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Understanding and optimizing for your company's MVQ or Most Valuable Question is the key to generating revenue with AI search.

Why Discovering Your Brand’s Most Valuable Questions Is the Smartest AI SEO Strategy Today

June 7, 2025
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Will Melton
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…

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Why Most Digital Marketing Agencies Are Behind on AI SEO

June 7, 2025
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Will Melton
If you’ve recently asked your agency how they plan to help you rank in AI search results—and got blank stares or vague answers—you’re not alone. AI-powered systems like Google’s AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT are transforming how people discover products, services, and brands. The top of the search page is no longer filled with ten blue links—it’s dominated by AI-generated…

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AI SEO and the SaaS Visibility Shift: Preparing for AI-Driven Decision-Makers

June 4, 2025
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Will Melton
On a recent afternoon, a marketing director searches Google for “best subscription management software.” Instead of the usual scroll of blue links, he’s greeted by an AI-generated summary at the top of the page. It lists a few familiar tools with pros and cons, all before the first organic result. Later, he asks ChatGPT the same question and gets an…

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From SEO to AEO: The Wake-Up Call Businesses Need to Survive the AI Search Shift

June 4, 2025
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Will Melton
Search engines aren’t gateways anymore. They’re filters—and AI is the one deciding what gets through. It determines what people see when they search, how answers are framed, and which brands stay visible. That shift has made traditional SEO feel slower, less reliable, and harder to measure in real time. If your business isn’t actively working to be recognized across AI-powered…

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How to Optimize Your Website and Content to Rank in AI Search Results

May 29, 2025
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Will Melton
Latest update: June 23, 2025 As AI-powered search engines like Perplexity, Google’s AI Overviews—and now AI Mode—as well as tools such as ChatGPT continue to reshape how users find information, content creators must evolve their SEO strategies to keep up. In 2024, 60% of Google searches never left the search engine results page (SERP), underscoring the need for tactics that…

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