SEO WILL Change in 2026 (Here's How to Win)

SEO will change in 2026. Here's how to win. I'm going to show you the exact moves that are working right now. While everyone else is stuck doing old SEO, Google just changed everything. And most people don't even see it coming. The things you do in the next few months will decide if you win or lose. This is what's actually working today. And I need to tell you something. Most people are doing SEO the old way. They're about to get left behind. I'm going to show you exactly what's changing and how to stay ahead. Let me start with what's happening right now. Google is different. The search results you see today are not the same as last year. They're not even the same as 6 months ago. Something big shifted. And if you're still doing SEO the 2023 way, you're in trouble. Here's what I'm seeing. When you search for something on Google now, you see AI answers at the top. Google calls this AI overviews. It sits right above all the normal results. This means people don't need to click your website anymore. They get their answer right there on the search page without ever visiting you. Hey, if we haven't met already, I'm the digital avatar of Julian Goldie, CEO of SEO agency Goldie Agency. Whilst he's helping clients get more leads and customers, I'm here to help you get the latest AI updates. Think about that for a second. You could rank number one. You could have the best content. But if Google just takes your information and shows it in their AI answer, nobody clicks, zero traffic, even if you're ranking. This is already happening right now. I've seen websites lose half their traffic, some lost more. And these are good websites with good content. They just didn't adapt to the new game. So, what's the new game? Let me break it down. First thing, Google is looking for something different now. They don't just want content. They want the best answer. Fast, clear, easy to read. If your content is full of fluff, you're done. If you write like you're trying to hit a word count, you're done. Google wants the answer. That's it. Here's what this means for you. Every page on your site needs to answer one thing, one clear thing, not five things, not 10 things, one thing. And it needs to answer it in the first hundred words, maybe less. Now, here's where it gets interesting. Google is using AI to read your content. They understand what you're saying. They know if you're actually helping people or just trying to rank. You can't trick them anymore. The old SEO hacks don't work. Now, if you want to dive even deeper into AI automation, I've got something special for you. I run a community called the AI Profit Boardroom. The best place to scale your business, get more customers, and save hundreds with AI automation. Learn how to save time, and automate your business with SEO. The link is in the comments and description. It's at school. com/iprofitlab. Let me tell you what does work. Real value, real answers, real help. If someone searches for how to fix a leaky faucet, show them faucet. Don't tell them the history of faucets. Don't tell them why faucets leak. Just show them how to fix it. Step one, step two, step three. Done. This is what Google rewards now. Direct answers, clear steps, no waste. Second thing, you need to think about AI overviews. Remember, these sit at the top of search results. If Google is going to show your content in an AI overview, you want it to be your content, not your competitor's content. So, how do you get into AI overviews? Here's what I've learned. You need to format your content in a way that AI can easily pull from it. Use clear headings, use lists, use short paragraphs. Make it so easy the AI can just grab the answer and go. But here's the catch. If AI shows your answer in the overview, people might not click. So you need to make them want more. Give the answer, but make them curious. Make them want to learn the details, the full process, the extra tips. Think of it like this. AI overview shows how to fix the force it. Your content it the right way, the way that lasts, the way that saves money. See the difference? Third thing, search intent is everything now more than ever. Google knows what people actually want when they search. If someone searches best running shoes, Google knows they want to buy. If someone searches how do running shoes work, Google knows they want to learn. Your content has to match what people actually want, not what you think they want, what they actually want. This means you need to look at what's already ranking. What type of content is Google showing? Are they showing blog posts, product pages, videos, lists? That tells you what Google thinks people want. If Google is showing lists, write a list. how to guides, write a how to guide match the intent. This is basic, but most people still get it wrong. Here's something else that's changing. User experience matters more now. How fast does your page load? Can people read it on mobile? Is it easy to navigate? Does it look good? All of this affects your rankings. Google tracks how people use your site. If people click on your result and immediately go back to Google, that's bad. It tells Google your content didn't help. If people stay on your page and don't go back to Google, that's good. It tells Google you answered their question. So, make your site fast, make it clean, make it easy, remove pop-ups, remove annoying ads, remove anything that makes people want to leave. Just

give them what they came for. Fourth thing, AAT is huge now. This stands for experience, expertise, authority, trust. Google wants to know that you actually know what you're talking about, that you've done the thing, that you're not just writing about it. This is why AI content is struggling. Anyone can generate content with AI, but does that content come from real experience? Usually, no. Google can tell. They're getting better at spotting AI content that has no real expertise behind it. So, what do you do? Show your experience. If you're writing about SEO, show your results. Show your clients. Show your work. If you're writing about cooking, show your recipes, show your photos, show that you actually cook. This doesn't mean you can't use AI. It means AI can't be all you use. AI can help you write, but you need to add the real experience, the real expertise, the real stories. Let me give you an example. Say you're writing about how to start a garden. AI can write the basic steps. Plant seeds, water them, give them sun. But you need to add what AI doesn't know. The mistakes you made, the things that surprised you. The specific problems you solved. That's what makes content valuable. Now, the human part, the part that AI can't copy. Fifth thing, links still matter, but different now. Google doesn't just count links anymore. They look at the quality. One link from a trusted site beats a 100red links from random sites. Maybe a thousand links. So stop chasing links. Start earning them. How? Make content that's so good people want to link to it. Make original research. Make useful tools. Make content that actually helps people. The links will come. And here's what most people miss. Internal links matter, too. How you link pages on your own site tells Google what's important. If you have a page you want to rank, link to it from other pages on your site. Use good anchor text. Make it clear what the page is about. Now, let me talk about something nobody is talking about. ZeroClick searches. These are searches where people get their answer without clicking anything. They see it right on Google in the AI overview or in a featured snippet or in the knowledge panel. Zeroclick searches are growing fast. Some estimates say 50% of searches are zero click now, maybe more. This is a problem if you rely on traffic, but it's an opportunity if you're smart. Here's how you win with zeroclick searches. Brand awareness. If people see your content in AI overviews, they remember your brand. They might not click today, but they'll remember you. Next time they need something, they'll search for you directly. So, optimize for brand. Make sure your brand name is visible. Make sure people associate you with the answer. Even if they don't click now, they'll come back later. Sixth thing, video is taking over. YouTube is the second biggest search engine and Google loves showing videos in search results. If you're not making videos, you're missing out. But here's the thing, you don't need fancy equipment. You don't need a studio. You just need to help people answer their questions, show them how to do things. That's it. And here's a secret. Google owns YouTube. So if you have a video on YouTube and you embed it on your website, Google loves that. It keeps people on Google properties. They rank content like this higher. So make videos, put them on YouTube, embed them on your site, write content around them. This is powerful. Seventh thing, local SEO is different. Now, if you have a local business, this matters. Google is showing different results for local searches. They're showing the map pack, the business profiles, the reviews. You need to optimize your Google business profile. Fill out everything. Add photos, get reviews, post updates. This stuff matters a lot. I've seen businesses double their calls just by optimizing their profile. And here's something new. Google is showing AI answers for local searches, too. So, if someone searches best pizza near me, Google might show an AI answer with recommendations. You want to be in that answer. And remember, if you want to dive even deeper into AI automation, I've got something special for you. I run a community called the AI Profit Boardroom. The best place to scale your business, get more customers, and save hundreds with AI automation. Learn how to save time and automate your business with SEO. The link is in the comments and description.