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How to get blog post ideas: Tips to find inspiration

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What do you do when inspiration for your umpteenth blog post is low? What’s the solution to writer’s block or a general lack of ideas? Every writer will encounter a lack of inspiration from time to time. You’ll be staring at your screen, not knowing what to write about. Nevertheless, you are determined to write those blog posts regularly. Today, AI tools like LLMs or Yoast AI Content Planner can spark ideas when you’re stuck. Luckily, there are many other ways to get inspired!

Table of contents

Key takeaways

  • Use audience feedback as a source for blog post ideas, especially questions that need elaboration.
  • Check the Google Search Console’s Performance report for search queries that might inspire new content.
  • Consult your keyword research for long-tail keywords; they can point to potential blog topics.
  • Explore platforms like ChatGPT and Pinterest, and use tools like the Yoast AI Content Planner for fresh blog post ideas.
  • Draw inspiration from current events, your daily activities, and maintain a list of ideas to combat writer’s block.

Getting new blog post ideas on your site

Inspiration from your audience

If your blog has a comment section for your audience to leave comments or you have a contact form, you’ll receive feedback. While most of the reactions you get will just be positive or negative statements, you might receive questions as well. Perhaps some of these questions are easy to answer in a reply, but other questions will be off-topic or need elaboration. You can also send a questionnaire to your readers to gather input and feedback. Those kinds of questions are excellent starting points for your next post. You could try keeping a list of relevant questions whenever you come across them, so you have a place to look when inspiration is low. 

Read more: How to handle comments on your blog »

Find blog ideas in Google Search Console

Google Search Console is still one of the best tools to find new blog post ideas. It shows you the exact search terms people use to find your site. This helps you spot topics your audience cares about, but you haven’t fully covered yet.

The Performance Report is where you’ll find these insights. It lists the search queries that bring visitors to your site, along with clicks, impressions, and average rankings. Look for queries where your content ranks but doesn’t fully answer the question. For example, if people find your site by searching “how to keep toddlers busy without screens” but you don’t have a dedicated post on that topic, it’s a clear sign to write one.

If you use Yoast SEO with Google Site Kit, you can access Google Search Console data directly in your WordPress dashboard. This integration saves time because you don’t have to switch between tools. Just open the dashboard, click on the Yoast SEO tab, and open the General section. You’ll see your top search queries and performance metrics right there.

While tools like Ahrefs or Semrush offer deeper competitive analysis, Google Search Console provides direct data from Google. It’s free, reliable, and still one of the best ways to find information about what your audience is searching for. Use it alongside Yoast SEO’s tools to ensure you cover all the topics that matter to your readers.

Use the Yoast AI Content Planner

You know you need to publish, but deciding what to write about can sometimes take forever. To help you overcome this, we built the Yoast AI Content Planner. It scans your existing content, identifies gaps, and suggests five relevant blog ideas.

When you open a new post, Yoast SEO analyzes your site’s content and generates ideas tailored to your niche. These aren’t generic suggestions because they’re based on what your audience is already reading and what’s missing from your blog. For example, if you run a food blog and have written about meal prep but not quick vegetarian lunches, that might suggest that topic.

Once you pick an idea, Yoast SEO creates a structured draft with a suggested title, headings, and even a meta description. You get a clear outline so you can start writing immediately. If the first set of ideas doesn’t feel right, you can generate a new batch with one click.

Yoast AI Content Planner is included in all our Yoast SEO Premium products. It’s designed for anyone who writes regularly and wants to publish consistently without running out of fresh ideas. This tool helps you create content that fills real gaps for your audience. Give it a try the next time you’re stuck for ideas.

Yoast AI content planner feature suggestions list
Tailored content suggestions generated by Yoast AI Content Planner

Dig deeper into your keyword research

Your keyword research document contains many potential blog ideas. But don’t just pick a keyword and start writing, because digging deeper helps you find the best angle.

What’s the search intent behind a keyword? Are people looking for a how-to guide or an opinion piece? Tools like Yoast SEO’s Semrush integration, or Google’s autocomplete can help you figure this out. Don’t forget to check what appears in Google’s AI Overviews or AI Mode answers when you research these keywords and topics.

For example, if your keyword is “best running shoes for flat feet,” ask:

  • Are people looking for affordable options?
  • Do they care about durability or style?
  • Are they comparing specific brands?

Each of these could be its own post:

  • “Best budget running shoes for flat feet in 2026”
  • “Most durable running shoes for flat feet (tested and reviewed)”
  • “Nike vs. Brooks: Which running shoes are best for flat feet?”

This way, you’re not simply writing about a keyword, but answering the exact question your audience is asking. Plus, if you set up Wincher in Yoast SEO, you can track how well your posts perform for these keywords over time.

Finding ideas for blog posts on the internet

Pinterest

Pinterest is still a useful place to find inspiration, especially if your blog covers visual topics like food, DIY, fashion, travel, or home decor. But it’s not just for pretty pictures, because you can use it to spot trends and gaps in your niche. Search for keywords such as [blog post ideas], [blog ideas], or [what to blog about]. To get even more inspiration fast, include your niche in your search. For example: [blog post ideas for parents], or [blog post ideas for lifestyle bloggers]. Be sure to check the top-pinned post for the topics.

It’s a good idea to be cautious as well, because Pinterest is clickbait heaven. Falling into the trap of quantity over quality is easy. Keep your focus, or you’ll lose track of time.

Content Idea Generator

To be clear, the Content Idea Generator won’t give you ready-to-go article ideas. At best, it will point you in the right direction; at worst, it will provide you with a few good laughs to clear your head. For example, you can enter the term [house plant]. Content Idea Generator could give you the following title: ‘The 15 biggest house plant blunders’. A content idea about [wine]: ’17 unexpected uses for wine’. Enter [baby] and a suggestion that might come up: ‘20 ideas you can steal from babies’.

So, while the Content Idea Generator won’t give you what you want immediately, it’s sure to get your creativity flowing. Taking the previous examples, you could expand on that and get the following blog ideas:

  • ‘The 15 biggest house plant blunders’: a post about common mistakes people make when caring for the plants in their homes
  • ‘17 unexpected uses for wine’: a post about using wine for cooking, cleaning, baking, etc.
  • ‘20 ideas you can steal from babies’: could inspire a blog post about babies’ habits adults should adopt, such as getting enough sleep, dressing up warmly, expressing your emotions, etc…

Use AI and chatbots for inspiration

AI tools and chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini can help when you’re stuck. But don’t just ask for generic ideas, and always provide context about your blog and your audience. Here’s how to get the most out of them:

Ask for specific angles, so instead of “Give me blog ideas about parenting,” try:

  • “What are five unique angles on ‘screen time for toddlers’ that most blogs miss?”
  • “What are three common mistakes new bloggers make when writing about SEO?”

Always try to refine vague ideas, so if you have a broad topic, ask AI to narrow it down. For example:

  • “Give me five blog post ideas about ‘healthy snacks for kids’ that aren’t just recipes.”
  • “What are three easy-to-apply SEO tips for small e-commerce stores based in India?”

Reverse-engineer competitors by feeding AI a competitor’s blog URL and asking:

  • “What gaps does this blog have? Give me five post ideas they haven’t covered.”
  • “What are three topics this blog covers poorly? How could I do them better?”

Try to avoid producing commodity content, because AI often suggests ideas that feel generic or overdone. Always add your own perspective, your experience, or data, as this can truly make your content stand out from the crowd. For example, if AI suggests “10 tips for better sleep,” make it unique:

  • “The science behind sleep: What actually works, according to research”
  • “How I improved my sleep in 30 days (with data)”
  • “Why most sleep tips don’t work for parents (and what to try instead)”

Days Of The Year

Days Of The Year is a website that offers inspiration for all kinds of blogs. This website collects all the fun, bizarre, and nice holidays the world has to offer. You can easily lose a couple of hours while scrolling through that site. Keep your pen and notepad at hand, though, because it is bound to give you tons of inspiration. There are days available for every niche. Are you a fan of mythical creatures? April 9th is ‘Unicorn Day’. There’s also a ‘Leprechaun Day’ and a ‘Howl at the Moon Day’. May 25th is ‘Towel Day’, which can give travel bloggers and lifestyle bloggers ideas for posts. Think of blog posts such as: ‘How to keep your towels soft’ or ‘With this information you will never buy the wrong towel again’. 

Other blogs and fellow bloggers

The internet is full of inspiration for blog ideas, and there are many places to look. Perhaps you follow other bloggers who inspire you. A great way to come up with blog post ideas is to read other posts or just scroll through post feeds. Similarly, you can join Facebook groups related to your niche or for bloggers. Discussing ideas with fellow bloggers will surely get your creative juices flowing! Make sure you do not copy people’s ideas, though, and give credit where credit is due.

Get blog post inspiration from your life

Current events

Current events can give you great blog ideas if you connect them to your niche. The trick is to link the news to what your audience cares about in a way that feels natural. For example, if you run a parenting blog, a new study on screen time could inspire a post like “How much screen time is too much? What the latest research says.” If you write about personal finance, a change in tax laws might lead to “Three ways the new tax rules affect your savings (and what to do about it).” The key is to add value, so don’t just repeat the news, but explain what it means for your readers.

Set up Google Alerts for keywords related to your topic to stay updated. When something relevant pops up, think about how it affects your audience. For instance, if you blog about sustainable living, a new recycling policy could lead to a post titled “How to adjust your recycling habits under the new rules.” Avoid sensitive topics unless you can handle them thoughtfully. If you do cover them, focus on helping your readers, not just exploiting the trend. The goal is to turn news into high-quality content that fits your blog’s purpose.

Your daily life

Situations from your own work could also be great inspiration for blog posts. You can write about things that happen in your day-to-day life, and how you go about them. Or even about what you do if your clients or colleagues are faced with a certain problem. It’s quite possible that others encounter the same problem and are seeking input. 

If you write about real-life situations, you should always make sure that you respect the privacy of your clients, friends, or colleagues and ask for permission to use their cases on your blog. For example, a therapist with a blog offering mental health tips might want to use examples from their practice. In that case, it’s vital to change names and details to protect clients’ privacy and the practice’s future!

Clear your head to find fresh ideas

Sitting at your desk for too long can drain your creativity. If you’re staring at a blank screen, step away and do something that shifts your focus. A short walk, or even washing the dishes, can help reset your mind. The goal isn’t to force ideas but to give your brain space to wander. Often, the best thoughts come when you’re not trying too hard.

If you need a more structured break, try a ten-minute brainstorming sprint. Set a timer and ask yourself: “What are twenty blog ideas about [your topic]? Make five weird, five practical, and ten in between.” Don’t overthink it and just write down whatever comes to mind. When the timer goes off, pick the most interesting idea and freewrite about it for another five minutes. This exercise forces you to think outside your usual patterns and often leads to unexpected angles. When you return to your desk, you’ll likely feel more focused and inspired.

Keep a list of ideas

The solution can be very simple: some days, you have plenty of blog post ideas, some days you don’t. So, prepare for days when you have no inspiration and keep a list of blog ideas. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a list on your mobile phone or on paper. Every time you have a good idea, write it down. You can use these ideas on days you’re feeling uninspired.

Wrap up with fresh ideas

Don’t let a lack of inspiration derail your publishing schedule. Whether you use Yoast AI Content Planner or take a break to clear your head, there are always ways to find new topics. The best approach combines structure and creativity, using tools to generate ideas, then refining them with your own insights and voice.

The next time you’re stuck, pick one method from this list and give it a try. Maybe it’s deep-diving into your keyword research or setting a timer for a quick brainstorming session. Each of these strategies can help you break through writer’s block and keep your content flowing.

Keep reading: SEO copywriting: the ultimate guide »

The post How to get blog post ideas: Tips to find inspiration appeared first on Yoast.

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Web Design and Development San Diego

Introducing Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console

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Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of new Search Generative AI performance reports
in Search Console, including dedicated reports for Search and Discover, to help you understand your
site’s visibility within generative AI features on Search.

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Referral Traffic Is Declining for Smaller Publishers: What This Means and How to React

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Key Takeaways

  • Chartbeat data tracking more than 2,500 news sites globally shows Google search referrals declined 33 percent in 2025, with small publishers (fewer than 10,000 daily page views) seeing 60 percent declines over two years.
  • AI platforms are compressing multiple sources into single answers, driving a rise in zero-click behavior that bypasses publisher sites entirely. 
  • A top search ranking no longer guarantees a visit. AI summaries can satisfy the query without the user ever clicking through. 
  • Building owned audiences through email, social, and direct relationships is now a core distribution strategy, not a supplement to search. 
  • Content structured for AI discoverability (clear, well-organized, factually grounded) is the new version of ranking on page one. 

Referral traffic is down, and smaller publishers are absorbing the sharpest declines. Some have seen traffic drop by as much as 60 percent over the past two years. That is not a temporary dip from an algorithm update. It is a directional change in how audiences find and consume content online. 

The driving force is straightforward: AI-generated answers are satisfying queries that used to produce clicks. Users get what they need from a synthesized summary and never visit the source. The publisher who ranked for that query, optimized for it, and built content around it gets nothing. 

Understanding why this is happening and what to do about it is urgent for any publisher or content-driven brand relying on search as a primary traffic source. 

Why This Is Happening

It used to be that answering a search query meant earning a click. A user typed something into Google, saw a list of results, and visited a site. Publishers built their entire distribution model around capturing those visits. 

AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and similar platforms have disrupted that chain. Instead of surfacing a list of links, they deliver a synthesized answer assembled from multiple sources. The user gets what they came for. The click never happens.  

Chartbeat data about referrals.

Source 

The data on this is significant. According to Similarweb, zero-click searches increased from 56 to 69 percent between May 2024 and May 2025. For queries where a Google AI Overview appears, the zero-click rate hits between 80 and 83 percent. Pew Research found that users clicked on results only 8 percent of the time when AI summaries appeared, compared to 15 percent when they did not. That is a nearly 47 percent relative reduction in click-through from the presence of AI summaries alone. 

Smaller publishers absorb the impact more severely than larger outlets. Chartbeat data reported in March 2026 breaks this down clearly: small publishers with fewer than 10,000 daily page views saw 60 percent declines in search referral traffic over two years. Medium publishers with up to 100,000 daily page views saw 47 percent declines. Large publishers saw 22 percent declines.  

Scale and brand recognition provide a partial buffer, but even major names have not been immune. Business Insider saw organic search traffic fall 55 percent between 2022 and 2025. HuffPost lost half of its search referrals over the same period. 

Ranking at the top of search results used to mean something close to guaranteed visibility. That relationship has broken down. Visibility no longer guarantees influence. 

Why the Old Playbook Falls Short

The formula that drove publisher growth for the past decade was consistent: create content that ranks, capture organic traffic, monetize that traffic. SEO was the engine and search was the distribution channel. 

That engine is still running, but far less reliably than before. Reuters Institute survey data from early 2026, covering 280 media leaders across 51 countries, found that most publishers now expect to put less effort into traditional Google search this year. Media executives worldwide fear search engine referrals will fall another 43 percent over the next three years. 

The publishers navigating this period well are not the ones with the best keyword strategies. They are the ones with direct audience relationships that do not depend on any algorithm to survive. Strong email lists, consistent social presences, and loyal readerships keep them stable when search referrals drop. Publishers without those foundations are feeling the decline most acutely. 

Continuing to optimize exclusively for traditional search while ignoring how AI discovery works is a compounding mistake. The channel has already shifted, and waiting for it to shift back is not a strategy. 

What to Do Now

The response requires action on two fronts simultaneously: protecting your direct audience relationships and adapting your content for how AI surfaces information. 

Build owned channels as your primary distribution. Email is the most durable investment you can make. A subscriber who gets your content in their inbox is completely insulated from AI summaries, algorithm changes, and shifts in how Google decides to handle any given query type. The data supports this: publishers sent 28 billion emails in 2025, reaching over 255 million readers, with average open rates exceeding 41 percent. That outperforms most social media content by a significant margin. Build your list. Send consistently. Give people a genuine reason to keep showing up. 

Social media supports direct distribution, but the goal is consistent presence that builds recognition, not chasing reach. Regular posting across the platforms where your audience already spends time keeps you visible through channels that do not depend on search referrals. Chartbeat data shows social referrals were flat or slightly up in 2025, with X up 15 percent and Facebook up 9 percent year over year. Those are not transformative numbers, but they represent channels that are holding while search declines. 

Earned media and press relationships matter here too. Coverage in credible third-party publications builds the kind of authority signals that make your content more likely to be cited in AI-generated responses, which is the new version of organic discoverability. 

Optimize your content for AI citation, not just search ranking. There is a real upside to the AI traffic story that most coverage misses. Brands cited in AI Overviews earn 35 percent more organic clicks and 91 percent more paid clicks than non-cited brands for the same queries, according to Seer Interactive data.  

A graph comparing Paid & Organic trends.

Source 

Being cited by AI systems is not a consolation prize. It is becoming a primary visibility driver. 

Clear structure, direct answers to specific questions, and accurate, current information make your content easier for AI systems to pull from and surface. Practical, utility-focused content (guides, how-to articles, explainers) generates more page views per article from AI referrals than other content types, suggesting that practical resource content is more likely to earn a citation from an AI system. 

Think about what questions users in your category are asking AI tools right now. If your content is not appearing as a cited source for those queries, that is a gap to close through targeted content work. Google added dedicated AI search tracking to Search Console in mid-2025: use the Search Appearance filter to see your performance in AI Overviews specifically, and let that data guide your content priorities. 

Dedicated AI search tracking.

Source 

Monitor your AI presence actively. Check regularly what major AI platforms say when users ask questions your content should be answering. Track changes over time. If you are being misrepresented, omitted, or replaced by less accurate sources, you have a visibility and reputation problem that content strategy needs to address. Platforms like Writesonic have a sentiment feature to help gauge how your brand or a client’s brand is being portrayed. 

The Writesonic interface.

Thinking About The Bigger Picture

The 60 percent traffic decline some publishers have experienced did not happen overnight, and it has not reversed. AI platforms generated over a billion referral visits in mid-2025, a 357 percent year-over-year increase. Even so, AI referrals still account for less than 1 percent of total web traffic, because the volume of search traffic absorbed by AI is so large. 

The brands and publishers that adapt their distribution mix now, investing in owned audiences while making their content AI-discoverable, will be in a far stronger position over the next two to three years than those holding out for a search traffic recovery that may not come. 

FAQs

Is search traffic gone for good? 

Not gone, but fundamentally changed. Certain query types will always generate clicks: transactional searches where users intend to purchase, navigational searches for specific sites, and research queries requiring depth beyond what AI summaries provide. The shift is in emphasis: optimizing for AI citation and direct audience relationships is now a higher priority than chasing organic keyword rankings, particularly for smaller publishers without the domain authority to compete in contested niches. 

What types of content still drive clicks from AI-influenced searches? 

Practical, utility-focused content generates more AI referrals than editorial or opinion content. Guides, how-to articles, and detailed explainers are more likely to earn AI citations. Transactional content tied to specific purchase intent also continues to drive clicks because AI summaries do not fully satisfy the need to complete a purchase. 

How do I know if AI is affecting my traffic? 

In Google Search Console, go to Performance, then Search Results, and use the Search Appearance filter to select AI Overviews. This shows impressions and clicks specifically for queries where AI summaries appear. Impressions holding steady while clicks decline is the clearest signal of AI Overview impact. 

Should I be investing in Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)? 

Yes. AEO and traditional SEO share significant overlap: content structure, technical optimization, and authority building all remain relevant. The shift is in emphasis. Clear structure, direct answers, factual accuracy, and third-party credibility signals are the factors that most influence AI citation. 

Conclusion

The 60 percent decline in search referral traffic for smaller publishers is not a fluctuation. It is a signal of where information discovery is going. The publishers still performing have strong brands, direct audience relationships, and content that AI systems want to cite. 

Building those same assets is the path forward for any content-driven brand. Diversify your distribution, optimize for AI discoverability, and treat owned channels as your foundation rather than your backup plan. 

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Web Design and Development San Diego

How a ‘client brain’ gives AI the context SEO work needs

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How a client brain gives AI the context SEO work needs

Every SEO agency has a hidden context tax. It shows up when a strategist, content lead, or analyst opens Claude and starts rebuilding all the dos and don’ts for that particular account from memory: the brand voice, the keyword cluster killed last quarter, the CMS limitation, the founder’s rejected angle, the competitor the client doesn’t want mentioned.

That’s the part of AI adoption we’re still underestimating. LLMs can help with specific SEO tasks, but the problem with unleashing AI on more complex work is providing enough account context to make it useful without creating more review work.

One solution is a per-client memory system called a “client brain.” It gives account context a place to live, allowing AI to support the work without treating every task like it’s the first day on the account.

Context is the problem

Context is essential for any worker. A senior SEO account lead onboards human teammates onto client accounts by sharing the strategy, history, politics, preferences, constraints, client language, technical limitations, and all the “don’t do that again” lessons that never quite make it into the brief.

LLMs have inherited that same agency problem. The difference is that AI hits it every time it’s asked to support the work without knowing the account.

A lot of the AI conversation in SEO right now is about connecting data sources. Load GSC, GA4, Ads, crawl data, rank tracking, and maybe CRM data into one place, so that we can finally “chat” with the data.

That’s genuinely useful, especially with live alerts. But for agencies, analysis is just one part of the job. AI also needs account context to summarize a technical audit without recommending a fix the dev team already rejected or to write a brief that sounds like the client and fits the strategy.

That kind of work depends on institutional memory: the account knowledge that builds up after months of working with a client and its stakeholders.

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A client brain is the solution

A client brain gives that institutional memory a shared home. The team updates it as decisions are made, feedback comes in, and the account evolves. This isn’t a replacement for human judgment. It’s infrastructure that helps that judgment travel across workflows.

In an agency world, SEO work rarely belongs to one person. The strategist sets direction, the content lead builds the brief, the writer drafts, the analyst checks performance, and the technical SEO reviews implementation.

When context stays in people’s heads, every handoff creates drift. When it’s shared, the work stays aligned. A strategist ramps faster, a writer misses fewer client preferences, and the team spends less time re-explaining the account.

What a client brain is

A client brain is a structured, per-client knowledge base that AI reads before it starts the work. Think of it as the institutional memory of an SEO account, written in a way the machine can use.

Not all client knowledge behaves the same way. Some knowledge is stable: the brand, audience, positioning, voice, product, category, and lines the client doesn’t want to cross. Some knowledge is active: decisions, experiments, objections, failed angles, technical blockers, and lessons from client feedback.

Those two types of knowledge need different homes. A client brain splits them into two layers: the soul and the memory.

  • The soul is static, identity-level knowledge: Who the brand is, how they speak, who they serve, what they sell, and what “good” sounds like for them
  • The memory is dynamic, experience-level knowledge: What the team tried, what worked, what failed, what the client rejected, and what changed during the campaign

This split keeps the brain usable. If everything goes into one big file, brand principles get buried under meeting notes, and old keyword decisions start looking like the current strategy.

The technical anatomy of a brain

A client brain doesn’t need to be a complicated system. It is built as a simple folder of plain-text Markdown files. You don’t need special software, a database, or a custom interface.

Building core logic of the soul

To get started, go into your existing client project folder and create a sub-folder named brain, then create one more folder inside that named soul. This folder path (brain/soul/) is where the core logic of the system lives. It consists of five files, each doing one specific job:

brain/soul/
├── company-profile.md
├── style-guide.md
├── audience.md
├── keyword-map.md
└── never-do.md

company-profile.md 

This is the operating version of the client, not the polished marketing version. Who is this client? What do they really sell? Who do they compete with? Where do they win? Where are they not trying to play?

Six honest sentences usually beat a six-page deck because the AI doesn’t need the full brand story. It needs enough context to avoid bad adjacent decisions.

A real example, anonymized:

  • “[Client] is a DTC Japanese-style kitchen knife brand selling chef knives, paring knives, and care accessories. They serve home cooks who value craftsmanship over price, with an average order value around $180. Their differentiator is free in-house sharpening for life. They compete with Made In and Misen on the tier just below Shun and Global. They don’t sell to commercial kitchens or restaurant supply, those have separate procurement cycles. Their highest-converting traffic comes from long-form reviews and YouTube cooking channels, not paid social.”

That’s enough information for AI to make better SEO choices. It knows not to chase restaurant-supply keywords, not to position the brand as the cheap alternative to Shun, and to weight content toward reviews, comparisons, and care guides.

The point isn’t to sound impressive. The point is to be true.

style-guide.md 

This file is where most teams accidentally write something useless. “Warm but professional” doesn’t help AI much. Neither does “expert but accessible.” What works is concrete instruction: one paragraph on tone, a few examples that pass, and a few that fail.

audience.md 

The audience file is where the team stops writing for demographics and starts writing for people. “Small business owners aged 35 to 55” is a targeting box, not an audience. Useful audience context captures worries, objections, misconceptions, language, and what earns trust.

keyword-map.md 

You do not need to create a 500-row export from your keyword tool. Instead, capture how the brand thinks about the category: primary terms we own, secondary terms we want, competitor-owned terms we approach carefully, and terms we don’t want to touch.

never-do.md 

This is the file I wish I’d had years ago. It’s the list of things AI should never propose, never write, and never recommend.

  • Some are brand-level: “Never describe the client as an industry leader.”
  • Some are operational: “Don’t suggest content that requires legal approval unless the account lead confirms it first.”
  • Some are strategic: “Don’t recommend State X landing pages. The client doesn’t serve that state yet.”

Every “we already discussed this and decided no” should eventually end up here. AI is very good at confidently resurfacing dead ideas. This file stops the team from having the same conversation every month.

Memory captures decisions, patterns, and logs

Memory lives in brain/memory/. It’s organized differently from the soul because it comes from doing the work.

brain/memory/
├── decisions/    — choices made and why
├── patterns/     — things that worked or didn’t, by task type
└── log/          — chronological notes by date

The decisions/ folder stores choices made and why. A memory entry looks like this:

# 2026-04-21 — Content brief for Q2 implant campaign

Decided NOT to target "dental implants near me" as the primary keyword.
Reason: Client doesn't accept Medicaid; the highest-volume "near me" searches in our markets skew Medicaid.
Pivot to "premium implants [city]" framing.
Source: Client strategy call notes, 2026-04-21.
Tags: client:[name], task:content_brief, type:decision

The reason matters more than the decision. If AI only knows “don’t target dental implants near me,” it may avoid that keyword forever, even when the context changes. If it knows why, it can make better adjacent decisions later.

The patterns/ folder 

This stores what the team learns across repeatable work. After enough AI visibility audits, for example, our system started building a pattern file around where those audits tend to break: changing DOM selectors, fabricated review counts, Cloudflare blocking direct fetches, and tools returning partial data without making the failure obvious.

The log/ folder 

Here is where you keep the running journal: meeting summaries (AI transcripts are great here), daily notes, client comments, and small updates that don’t yet deserve to become formal decisions. Most of it won’t be read again. But when something breaks two months later, the answer is often in the log.

One warning: A brain should capture operating knowledge, not raw sensitive data. Don’t turn it into a warehouse for exports, transcripts, credentials, private client documents, or anything the team wouldn’t want surfaced in the wrong context.

Store the lesson, not the raw data.

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Building the brain step-by-step

Step 1: Pick the right starting client

Don’t start with every client. Pick the account where context loss is already costing you time.

Usually, that means a long-running client with a strong brand voice, a history of rejected ideas, and multiple people touching the work each week.

Step 2: Block 90 minutes and write the soul together

Get the account lead and strategist in the same room or on the same call. Open the five soul files and write in plain sentences. Use real examples. Don’t try to make it perfect.

The goal isn’t to create a brand book. It’s to write down the context your best account person already carries around in their head.

Step 3: Decide where the brain lives

If you’re solo, a local folder may be enough. If you have a team, you need one shared source of truth.

Technical teams can use git: track the Markdown files, not raw client data. Non-technical teams can use Google Drive, Notion, or another shared workspace. The tool matters less than the rule: one client, one brain, one place everyone trusts.

Step 4: Set ownership rules

Soul changes need friction. That’s intentional. If every passing comment gets added to the soul, the brand layer gets polluted. The account lead should own it, review changes, and decide what becomes stable client truth.

Memory should be easier to update. Anyone working on the account should be able to add a sourced entry when a client rejects an angle, a tactic fails, a blocker appears, or the team learns something that shouldn’t be lost.

Step 5: Schedule maintenance

Memory gets messy if nobody owns it. Every couple of weeks, someone should clean the brain: consolidate duplicates, remove stale notes, surface conflicts, and check whether old decisions are still true.

Then schedule a quarterly soul review and ask one question: “Is anything here no longer true?” A stale brain is worse than no brain because the AI will sound confident while working from old context.

How AI agents read the brain

Once a brain exists, the question becomes operational: Which files should the AI agent read whenit starts a brief, audit, competitor analysis, or reporting summary?

This is where the brain proves its day-to-day value. A strategist, content lead, and analyst may all touch the same client in the same week. Without shared context, the brief drifts from the strategy, the content drifts from the brief, and the audit repeats what the team already knows.

The brain keeps that work aligned without turning every task into another meeting, Slack thread, re-explanation, or rewrite. There are three ways to handle this.

Version A: Load everything

The simplest version is to have the AI read every file in the brain folder before it starts: all soul files and the full memory folder.

For a new client, that might only be a few thousand tokens. For a client active for six months, it can become 30K to 50K tokens per session. That’s a real cost, but often still cheaper than the human time lost re-explaining the account every week.

Start here if you’re testing the idea. Run the same task twice: once with the brain loaded, once without it. Use something real, like a content brief, metadata rewrite, technical summary, or internal linking recommendation. If the brain-loaded version is more accurate, more on-brand, or avoids a mistake the team would normally catch manually, you’ve got your signal.

Version B: Route by task type

The next version is selective loading. Instead of asking AI to read everything, you give it a router file that tells it which parts of the brain to load based on the task.

For example:

# claude.md

At the start of every task, ALWAYS read:
- brain/soul/company-profile.md
- brain/soul/never-do.md

IF the task involves writing copy, ALSO read:
- brain/soul/style-guide.md
- brain/soul/audience.md

IF the task involves SEO content briefs, ALSO read:
- brain/soul/keyword-map.md
- brain/memory/decisions/ latest 5 entries
- brain/memory/patterns/content_briefs.md

IF the task involves debugging a tool failure, ALSO read:
- brain/memory/patterns/tool_failures.md

AI reads the instructions, decides which rules apply, and loads only the relevant files. Token cost drops. Context gets cleaner. This is where most agencies should stop for a while.

It’s still just Markdown. No database. No new platform. No complicated setup. The discipline is in writing useful files, keeping them current, and making sure AI reads them before doing the work.

Version C: Vector retrieval

The more advanced version is vector retrieval. If you’re managing 20 or more active clients, each with deep memory, you can tag entries with metadata, embed them into a vector store, and retrieve only the most relevant items at the start of each task.

AI can also write back to memory, but this needs guardrails. Don’t ask it to summarize every session and dump the result into the brain. That creates noise fast. Write to memory only when something specific happens: a task fails, and the team finds a workaround, a client rejects an angle, the account lead corrects the AI on something client-specific, or a decision gets made that should affect future work.

Event-triggered writes are useful. Session-end summaries usually aren’t. And every write needs a source.

Using the brain across Claude Code, Chat, and Cowork

The surface matters less than the pattern. Whether the team is using Claude Code, Claude Chat, Cowork, or another AI workflow, the rule is the same: AI should read the client’s soul before doing anything important.

  • In Claude Code, place the brain folder at the root of your project and add a claude.md instruction telling it to read /brain/soul/ at the start of every task. Treat never-do.md as a hard constraint, not a suggestion.
  • In Claude Chat, create one project per client and upload the contents of brain/soul/ into Project Knowledge. Don’t share one project across clients. That’s how one client’s tone, rules, or constraints start bleeding into another.
  • In Claude Cowork, use a task template that attaches the brain folder at the start. For repeatable tasks like content briefs, SERP reviews, metadata refreshes, or AI visibility audits, build the brain attachment into the workflow.

You’re not just making AI faster. You’re making the starting context consistent.

Where this breaks (and how to fix it)

Once the brain starts shaping real work, a few failure modes show up quickly. Most aren’t technical problems. They’re maintenance problems, which means they’re fixable if someone owns the review process.

  • Drift: AI produces work that’s almost right, but slightly off. Usually, the style guide is too abstract. The fix isn’t more adjectives. It’s better examples: pass/fail pairs, before-and-after intros, weak and strong meta descriptions, or a sentence the client rewrote with a note explaining why.
  • Stale soul: The client repositions, changes their offer, shifts into a new market, drops a service, or changes how they want to talk about themselves. Nobody updates the soul, so AI keeps producing work from the old reality. The fix is a quarterly soul review. Ask: “Is anything here no longer true?”
  • Memory rot: Some memory entries were true when written, but stop being true later. A client rejected comparison content six months ago, then decided to test it. The fix is to date entries clearly, include the reason behind each decision, and remove or update entries when the account changes.
  • Fabrication: This is the failure mode to take seriously. AI can write false memory, not maliciously, but because it’s trying to be helpful. When a task fails or a source is incomplete, the model may still produce a clean-looking note that sounds plausible.

We’ve seen AI fabricate ChatGPT search queries, report review counts that weren’t tied to reality, and create explanations for tool failures that sounded reasonable but weren’t supported by the output. Memory compounds. One false entry can influence future briefs, audits, recommendations, and client-facing work.

The fix is provenance. Every factual memory entry needs a source: a meeting note, client quote, tool output, strategist correction, or linked deliverable. No source, no entry.

A brain is only useful if the team trusts it. Trust doesn’t come from the folder structure. It comes from knowing where the knowledge came from.

How to get started this week

You don’t need the full system to start. Start with one client, one 90-minute session, and one before-and-after test.

  • Pick one client. Choose the account where re-explaining context costs the most time.
  • Block 90 minutes this week. Write the five soul files with the account lead and strategist. Use plain sentences, real examples, and concrete corrections. Don’t let adjectives do all the work.
  • Add a router file. Keep it simple at first. At the project root, add one instruction: “At the start of every task, read everything in brain/soul/.”
  • Run a real SEO task twice. Use a content brief, keyword cluster, meta description rewrite, SERP analysis, internal linking recommendation, or audit summary. Run it once with the soul loaded and once without it. Compare the outputs honestly.
  • Start writing memory from the next session. When AI recommends a ruled-out keyword angle, a client pushes back on tone, or a technical recommendation gets blocked by the CMS, capture the lesson and the reason.

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AI works better when account knowledge survives

Most teams don’t have an AI intelligence problem. They have a context problem. They haven’t written down what their best account people already know, or separated stable client knowledge from working history. That’s what the client brain fixes.

The agencies that get the most from AI won’t just be the ones with better prompts, models, or automations. They’ll be the ones that preserve the context behind the work: the client history, rejected angles, technical constraints, tone corrections, and small decisions that make an account make sense.

Because speed without memory creates more review, more correction, and more “we already talked about this” moments.

The real opportunity isn’t using AI to push more SEO work through the system. It’s using AI to carry forward the context that makes the work better.

Read more at Read More

New: Track your brand visibility in Claude with Yoast AI Brand Insights

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Yoast AI Brand Insights, part of the Yoast SEO AI+ plan now lets you scan how your brand appears in answers generated by Claude. You can see your Claude data alongside ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, all in one dashboard. 

Why Claude is worth paying attention to

Think about how your own customers are making decisions right now. They’re not just Googling anymore. Nearly half of consumers used AI to research purchases in 2025, and 64 percent plan to use it in 2026, for everything from big investments to everyday buys. At the same time, the businesses they’re choosing between are catching on too. AI adoption among small businesses tripled in just two years according to the JPMorganChase Institute. 

What that means for your brand is that the conversation is happening across more places than ever. Your customers are using ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and now Claude, often for different reasons and in different contexts. Each platform forms its own view of the brands it mentions, drawing on different sources and applying different reasoning. So the same question about your business can get a very different answer depending on where it’s asked. 

With Claude now added to Yoast AI Brand Insights, you can see how all four platforms describe your brand, in one place. 

What’s new

You can now:

  • Run brand visibility analyses in Claude, in addition to ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini
  • Compare how all four platforms describe your brand, with a built-in historical view
  • Track brand mentions, sentiment, and citations across every platform in one place
  • Monitor changes over time in your AI Visibility Index

How to get started

If you’re already using Yoast SEO AI+, nothing changes in how you work. Log in through MyYoast and Claude will appear as a new option in your dashboard at your next analysis, at no extra cost.

If you’re not yet on Yoast SEO AI+, upgrading gives you access to AI Brand Insights along with on-page SEO tools, content optimisation, and AI-powered insights, so you can see how your brand is mentioned and act from the same workflow.

Get Yoast SEO AI+ to start scanning your brand across Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.

The post New: Track your brand visibility in Claude with Yoast AI Brand Insights appeared first on Yoast.

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Build a blog that drives real results

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A blog can grow your audience and build trust, but only if you do it right. AI search now answers questions before users click, so your posts need to stand out, not just rank. Where do you start? What should you write? How do you keep readers coming back? This guide covers everything from finding inspiration and writing great posts to optimizing for search, building an audience, and even making money.

Table of contents

Key takeaways

  • Blogging boosts SEO and serves as a powerful marketing tool, enhancing brand visibility and reader engagement.
  • Regular content creation helps improve Google rankings and allows targeting of new keywords.
  • Effective blogging requires careful planning, keyword research, and understanding search intent to draw an audience.
  • Original and readable posts attract readers; tools like Yoast SEO help optimize content for search engines.
  • Engagement through comments and social media is crucial for maintaining a blog’s visibility and attracting traffic.

Why blog?

If you have a website of any kind, you must blog occasionally. It doesn’t matter whether you have an online shop, a personal website, or a portfolio. Besides being great fun, blogging is one of the best things you can do for SEO. Not only that, thanks to a high-quality, unique blog, you can turn your site into a powerful marketing tool.

Google’s AI Overviews/AI Mode and other AI search platforms favor blogs that answer questions clearly and thoroughly. If you’re not blogging, you’re missing a great way to get seen in search and connect with your audience.

Blogging for SEO

Adding content regularly should be a part of every sustainable SEO strategy. If you write regularly, Google will see your site as active, alive, and relevant. These signals help your pages rank better in both traditional and AI-powered search. This also gives you more chances to appear in AI-generated snapshots, where Google summarizes answers for users.

In addition, blogging allows you to rank for new keywords and to keep ranking for those you’re already being found for. Since AI search favors fresh, well-structured content, regular updates ensure your site stays competitive. Your blog also gives you another way to target search intent, whether users are looking for answers, comparisons, or solutions. We’ll discuss that in more detail later on.

Blogging as a marketing tool

A blog is one of the best marketing tools for any website. It helps readers get to know your brand and products beyond just sales pitches. People remember stories, not ads, so share behind-the-scenes details or real customer experiences to build trust. Not everyone visiting your website is already committed to you or your products. A quality site will work in your favor in those cases: if you can offer people useful information in a post, they’re more likely to remember and convert in the future. Today, this kind of authentic engagement matters more than ever, as AI search prioritizes brands that users already know and trust.

Read on: To blog or not to blog »

A blog isn’t valuable just because it exists. It becomes valuable when it helps your audience solve problems, understand something better, or see your expertise in action. In today’s search landscape, the goal isn’t simply to publish, or even to publish more. It’s to create content worth being found, cited, and remembered.

Carolyn Shelby – Principal SEO at Yoast

Setting up a new blog

If you’re starting a new blog, preparing beforehand is important. A little planning now prevents headaches later, especially with AI search favoring well-organized, intent-driven content. Take some time to think about your niche and do proper keyword research. Remember, don’t just chase search volume. Focus on topics your audience actually cares about, like questions they’re asking or problems they need solved.

Please don’t forget to set up a clear and manageable structure for your blog. A logical layout helps both readers and search engines navigate your content, which improves engagement and rankings. If you give some thought to how you want to set up your blog before you start writing, it will save you a lot of work later. These include tasks such as mapping categories, setting up cornerstone topics, and developing an internal linking strategy. A strong foundation makes it easier to adapt as AI search evolves.

Keep on reading: How to start a blog »

What should you blog about?

You can only blog with ideas, so you’ll need many to keep a successful blog going. Whether blogging is your site’s main purpose or you use your blog as a marketing tool, you must consider which topics you want to cover. Don’t forget to think about what your audience needs to read. Where do you look for inspiration?

Keyword research

You’ll have to decide which terms you want to be found for before you start writing your content. To decide that, you need to get inside people’s heads and find out which words they use while searching for your type of business. Think beyond single keywords. Consider phrases, questions, and even conversational queries people might ask AI search tools. When you write, use these exact terms in your content to signal relevance to both search engines and AI-powered results. Keyword research is the first step in SEO copywriting and an essential part of any successful SEO strategy, even as search itself evolves.

Targeting the right search intent with your blog

As you’re doing keyword research, it’s important to know not only which keywords your audience uses but also what they’re looking for. People use search engines with a specific goal, so they have a particular intent for each query. The results pages provide some insight into a query’s intent. AI search tools like Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode now prioritize content that directly matches what users are looking for, whether they want to learn, compare, or buy.

In many cases, people are looking for information, so search engines favor informational pages. This is where your blog shines. For example, if you run an online shop, your product pages target commercial or transactional intent, but informational blog posts can attract a much larger audience. Write relevant, helpful articles to pull people into your site early in their research phase.

Which intent to target depends on your niche and goals. Are you trying to educate, entertain, or convert? Either way, aligning your content with intent is non-negotiable today.

Read more: Keyword research: the Ultimate Guide »

Where do you get inspiration for your posts?

If you’ve done your keyword research properly, you’ll end up with a long list of keywords and keyphrases to write content about, and you know which intent you want to target. A keyphrase is not yet a topic, though. You’ll need an angle or a specific story around a keyword to write a decent blog post, as well as a keyword.

Current events, your own work, and comments from your readers are just some things that could inspire new posts. For example, if customers keep asking the same question, that’s a sign you should write about it. Reading a lot is also a good way to find inspiration for your articles. Read magazines, newspapers, and other posts.

Of course, AI platforms and LLMs like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Perplexity, or Anthropic’s Claude can help, while Yoast AI Brand Insights can help you find out how you appear in chatbots.

Looking at your site’s stats or browsing the internet can also lead to inspiration. Which posts get the most traffic? Which ones keep readers on the page longest? Double down on what works. Pay attention to trending topics in your industry, but don’t just copy what’s already out there. Always ask yourself, how can you make this better or more engaging?

Be sure to keep a list of ideas for new posts on your mobile phone. Inspiration strikes when you least expect it.

Keep reading: How to get blog post ideas: 11 tips to find inspiration »

Beat writer’s block with Yoast AI Content Planner

Yoast AI Content Planner, available to Yoast SEO Premium users, helps you overcome frustrations about what to write next. It scans your existing content, identifies gaps, and generates five tailored post ideas. Each proposed post comes with a ready-to-use draft framework. Just pick an idea, and Yoast SEO provides a title, outline, focus keyphrase, meta description, and section notes to jumpstart your writing. If the first set of ideas doesn’t fit, refresh for new options. It’s all built into the WordPress editor, so you can go from blank page to first draft quickly.

Yoast AI Content planner feature example, showing possible article ideas for a travel site
An example of content suggested by the Yoast AI Content Planner

How to write a high-quality blog post

Writing requires some skills, and it’s more difficult for some people than for others. We’ll give you some tips to make writing easier for you later on, but first, let’s discuss two important aspects of high-quality posts: originality and readability.

Original content

Your posts should always be fresh, new, and original. Each one should stand out from other articles on the same topic. Today, this matters more than ever. Google’s AI search tools now filter out generic, repetitive content, so your posts need to offer something unique. Focus on what makes you different, even in a crowded niche. Your content should also be something people want to read. With competition fiercer than ever, good isn’t enough, so you need to go further.

Avoid commodity content. These kinds of posts rehash what’s already out there without adding value. Google recently warned that AI-generated summaries and search results prioritize content that stands out, not just repeats the same ideas. If your post doesn’t offer a new perspective or a fresh take, it risks being ignored. Don’t forget to ask yourself if this post teaches or solves a problem in a way others don’t.

With AI-generated content flooding search results, Google prioritizes human expertise and unique insights. These are the things AI can’t fake. Your blog can provide those, if you do it well.

Read on: The importance of original content for SEO »

Readable content

After writing a post with original content, you should ensure your article is easy to read. Readability is vital for your audience. If your text is well structured and clearly written, people will understand your message. Readability also impacts SEO, as Google’s AI tools favor content that’s simple to scan and digest. If your post is easy to read, with a clear structure with subheadings and logical paragraphs, chances are it’ll rank higher in the search engines, too.

Keep on reading: Does readability rank? »

Practical tips on how to write high-quality blog posts

Plan before you write

Before you start, take a little time to think about what you want to write. Who is your audience, and what do you want to tell them? What should they know, understand, or do after reading your post? Which topics will you cover, and in what order? Answering these questions upfront saves time and keeps your writing focused.

Read more: How to write a blog post »

Write clear paragraphs

Start each paragraph with the most important sentence, then explain or expand on it. This way, readers and AI systems can grasp your main points just by skimming the first sentences. Keep paragraphs short; seven or eight sentences is plenty. Think about the order of your paragraphs and ensure they flow logically. Avoid complex words when simpler ones work. Your goal is to be clear, not to confuse readers with jargon.

Keep reading: Practical tips to set up a clear text structure »

Get help and ask for feedback

Our Yoast SEO plugin helps you write readable posts. For example, the readability analysis checks for long sentences and suggests transition words. This is especially useful today, as AI search tools prioritize well-structured, easy-to-read content. If you use Yoast SEO Premium, you’ll also get AI features like Yoast AI Optimize to refine your writing.

However, tools aren’t everything. Always have someone proofread your post. A fresh pair of eyes catches typos and ensures your message is clear. If your proofreader struggles to understand your post, your audience will too.

Need more guidance? Here’s a step-by-step guide to crafting the perfect blog post!

Read on: 5 tips to write readable blogposts »

Optimize posts for search engines

After you’ve written a blog post that’s both original and readable, you should make sure your content is optimized for search engines. You should maximize the likelihood that Google will pick up your content. Don’t try to game the system, but make sure your article is genuinely good for search engines and readers alike. You must take this final step after you’ve written your post, though. SEO should never compromise your idea’s originality or the readability of your text.

the yoast seo premium analyse for a post about site structure, which has two red traffic lights, one for keyphrase in subheading use and one for competing links
Yoast SEO helps you optimize your blog post

How Yoast SEO helps

Yoast SEO gives you the tools to fine-tune your post without guesswork. We call this process “Yoast your post.” It’s about making small, smart adjustments to improve visibility.

  • The red and orange traffic lights highlight areas that need attention, like keyword placement or readability.
  • The plugin might suggest adding your focus keyword in the first paragraph or a heading to signal relevance.
  • It also helps you craft a compelling Google preview, which includes the titles and descriptions users see in search results.

Don’t just set it and forget it. Use Yoast SEO to spot opportunities, make improvements, and give your post its best shot at being discovered.

Keep on reading: Use Yoast SEO to make your content findable »

Blog engagement

Blog engagement is an important SEO factor. If your audience leaves comments on your posts and you respond, Google will see that your blog is very much alive and active. If people share your post on social media or talk about it online, it will definitely drive more traffic. Engagement goes beyond just comments and shares. Citations, when others reference your content, and mentions, even without links, also signal authority and trust.

Replying to comments is important for building engagement, but it takes effort. Answering questions and joining discussions shows your audience you value them, which encourages more interaction. Positive feedback is easy to handle, but negative comments require care. Please just stay professional and keep the conversation constructive.

For more tips, check out our guide on handling comments.

Marketing your blog

If you’re writing posts, you need an audience. Nobody wants to perform in an empty room! Ranking well in search engines through flawless SEO will, of course, help. But there is always more you can do.

Read more: Marketing your blog »

Social media and newsletters

Social media is a powerful way to connect with your audience and drive traffic. Start with a Facebook page and an X or Reddit account, but don’t stop there. If your audience is younger, Instagram and TikTok are essential for engagement. Short-form video content, such as Instagram Reels or TikTok videos, can help your posts reach a wider audience.

A newsletter is another great way to keep readers coming back. Collect email subscribers and send regular updates with your latest posts, exclusive insights, special discounts or gifts, or behind-the-scenes content. This builds a direct line to your audience, independent of algorithm changes.

Keep reading: Does social media influence SEO? »

Monetizing your blog

Growing your audience doesn’t automatically mean growing your income. Many bloggers focus on goals beyond money, like building a community or sharing expertise. But if you do want to monetize, here are the most effective strategies:

  • Advertising: Display ads like Google AdSense can generate revenue, but they work best with high traffic.
  • Affiliate marketing: Promote products you trust and earn commissions on sales made through your links.
  • Sponsored posts: Brands may pay you to write about their products or services.
  • Sell your own products or services: Use your blog to drive traffic to your online shop, courses, or consulting services

If you have an online shop, your blog can boost its rankings by attracting organic traffic and linking to your products.

Read on: Monetizing your blog »

Maintaining a blog

Starting a blog is easier than maintaining one. Writing blog posts regularly can be a lot of work. You don’t need to blog daily, but you should decide on a frequency and stick to it so your audience will know what to expect. Consistency builds trust, and trust keeps readers coming back. Blogging does require some discipline.

As your blog grows, you’ll probably face new SEO problems. How do you keep coming up with new content and keep your old content up to date? How do you manage different authors? What do you do when traffic to your blog is decreasing? And how will you keep your blog’s structure in shape?

Some challenges and how to solve them

As your blog grows, new problems pop up. Here’s how to tackle them:

  • Running out of ideas. Repurpose old content, and update outdated posts with new data or insights. Use the Yoast AI Content Planner to generate fresh topic ideas from your existing content. Don’t forget to listen to your audience, as their comments, emails, and social media threads can contain questions to answer.
  • Keeping old content fresh. Please audit your blog every six months, fix broken links, and refresh outdated advice. It might make sense to add “Last Updated” dates to show readers and Google that your content is up to date. AI search tools prioritize fresh content, which can revive traffic for old posts. If you have a lot of similar content, you can merge posts and combine thin or overlapping articles into a single comprehensive guide.
  • Declining traffic. Please check Google Search Console regularly to see which posts have lost rankings and why. Then, you can improve this underperforming content by adding depth, updating keywords, or merging with stronger posts. Promote strategically, and share old but valuable posts on social media or in newsletters.

Site structure

As your blog grows, it’s important to regularly analyze its structure. Organize your categories, subcategories, and tags well. As your blog grows, its structure will change and evolve. To keep your site structure clean, you can organize by topic clusters. Group related posts under pillar pages, like “SEO basics” linking to “Keyword research,” “On-page SEO,” et cetera. Don’t forget to update internal links. When you publish new posts, link to 2-3 relevant older ones. If your site becomes unwieldy, prune low-value content. Delete or redirect posts that no longer serve your audience. As long as you stay on top of that, your structure will remain SEO-friendly!

Keep on reading: Why you should add links to a new post as soon as possible »

Content planning

As your blog grows, writing shifts from spontaneous posts to strategic planning. Without a system, teams risk duplicate topics, inconsistent tones, or missed opportunities. A clear plan keeps your content organized and aligned with your goals, whether that’s driving traffic or conversions. Use tools such as editorial calendars, topic clusters, and the Yoast AI Content Planner to streamline the process. Assign roles and document guidelines for voice, style, and formatting to maintain consistency.

Planning saves time and reduces last-minute stress. An editorial calendar maps out topics, deadlines, and authors in advance, while topic clusters group related posts to boost SEO and reader navigation. Regular audits help you spot gaps and adapt to trends, keeping your blog relevant and valuable.

Read more: Content planning for a (growing) blog: 6 easy-to-use tips »

Avoiding content cannibalization

If you’ve been blogging in a certain niche for a long time, you’re bound to address the same topic more than once in your blog posts. That’s not necessarily a problem, but do make sure you’re not eating into your own ranking chances. Keyword cannibalization occurs when you have several different articles that could rank for the same and similar keyphrases. When a search engine can’t tell which article should rank highest for a certain query, it’s likely both will rank lower. The solution: stay on top of this by regularly doing an SEO audit of your blog posts to find and fix keyword cannibalization.

Conclusion

Blogging is great. It’s one of the most powerful tools for growing your website, whether it’s an online shop or personal blog. It boosts your search visibility and turns visitors into followers. But to get the best results, you’ll need more than just good writing.

Start with a good keyword strategy to target what your audience is searching for. Keep your content original and structured for AI search. Google’s algorithms, and your readers, reward clarity and depth. As your blog grows, stay organized with planning tools and engage with your audience to stay in the flow. Use our tips to build a blog that ranks and delivers real value. Now, go write something great!

Keep reading: WordPress SEO: The definitive guide to higher rankings for WordPress sites »

The post Build a blog that drives real results appeared first on Yoast.

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PR and SEO: How to Build More Authority Together (5 Steps)

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PR and SEO used to be separate disciplines.

Now you can’t afford to keep them siloed.

Google and LLMs both rely on third-party signals — backlinks, brand mentions, expert commentary, and coverage in trusted publications — to decide which brands deserve visibility.

PR and SEO both generate those signals, but most teams still operate independently.

PR and SEO authority overlap

When they do collaborate, it’s usually to treat PR as a link-building opportunity rather than a real partnership.

This leaves authority on the table.

But the real gains happen when these teams operate as one.

In this article, you’ll learn a five-step playbook for turning PR and SEO into an always-on authority engine.

I also spoke with two digital PR experts about how they’re partnering with SEO to build more authority across search, media, and LLMs.

Free resource: Download our PR + SEO Outreach Planner to align pitching, prioritize outlets, and track results. It includes a pitch ownership guide for deciding who pitches what and when.

Step 1: Align PR and SEO Research

An always-on PR and SEO partnership starts with shared intelligence.

Without it, you get predictable gaps:

  • Content that ranks but doesn’t earn media mentions or AI citations
  • Coverage that builds awareness but doesn’t improve search visibility
  • AI citations and media coverage that go to competitors because they published first

PR and SEO signals

Use PR Insights to Identify Emerging Content Opportunities

The biggest authority wins don’t come from PR and SEO staying in their own lanes.

They come from each team sharing insights that shape angles, assets, and placements.

For PR, this could be:

A sudden spike in journalist inquiries or media coverage around a topic

A new phrase or framing gaining traction among industry voices

Recurring themes across newsletters, conferences, or trade publications

Britt Klontz, digital PR consultant and founder of Vada Communications, says the strongest results come when PR and SEO combine their strengths at the ideation stage:

The best collaborations with SEO happen when PR is brought in early, before an asset or campaign is completed. We used to ask, ‘Can PR promote this?’ Now we ask, ‘How do we build something together that will help with search, media, and brand visibility from the start?’

To facilitate this partnership, build a regular channel for PR to flag insights to SEO.

This could be a shared Slack channel, spreadsheet, or standing agenda item.

For example, when I was the editor of the Hootsuite Blog, our PR team notified us that LinkedIn was shutting down its “Elevate” feature and suggested we should write a blog post about it.

No search volume existed yet, but we created the content anyway.

Hootsuite – LinkedIn Elevate shutting down

The post started gaining backlinks and driving a surprising amount of demo requests almost immediately.

Months later, the search volume appeared. And our post ranked #1.

LinkedIn Elevate shutting down post – Organic rankings

Today, it still ranks near the top of the SERPs for terms like “LinkedIn elevate alternatives.”

Google SERP – LinkedIn Elevate alternative

AI tools like Claude also use the blog post as a top source for relevant prompts:

Claude – LinkedIn Elevate alternative

That’s the power of PR and SEO sharing information and acting on it quickly.

Rankings, backlinks, and AI citations that would have gone to a competitor built lasting authority for Hootsuite instead.

Use SEO Insights to Inform Content Topics

SEO has signals PR can act on too, including which topics are heating up and editorial gaps.

When conducting keyword research for PR, SEO should flag two things:

  • Informational gaps: Questions audiences are actively searching for, but no one is answering well yet
  • Trending terms in your niche: Journalists are likely already interested, which gives PR a clear opening

That’s why Rola Tfaili, communications manager for North America at Xero, brings SEO into her process from the start:

I want SEO insights — like emerging search trends, keyword gaps, and audience intent — to directly shape our PR narratives and campaign angles from the outset, before content is developed.

Here’s how you can do the same.

Not all keyword tools show you trends over time, so I’ll use Semrush for this step.

Note: If you don’t have a subscription, sign up for a free trial of Semrush One, which includes Semrush Pro and the AI Visibility Toolkit.


Search any term in the Keyword Magic Tool and look at the “SERP Features” column.

Keyword Magic Tool – Email marketing – SERP Features

Two features in particular signal strong PR potential:

  • News and Top Stories: Google surfaces these for time-sensitive or trending queries — sometimes within 24–72 hours of a news event. If your topic triggers these features, journalists are actively covering it, and PR has an immediate opening.
  • Discussions and Forums: This signals that audiences are seeking advice or firsthand experience on the topic, which is often a sign of unmet demand and/or increasing interest

SERP Features – Top stories

Next, use the Keyword Overview tool’s 12-month trend graph to confirm whether a topic is gaining momentum, seasonal, or fading.

A consistently rising trend is your strongest signal — media interest is likely to be building as well.

Keyword Overview – Is email marketing dead – Trend

Pro tip: Don’t overlook existing topics. A trending term you already own is a valuable opportunity. PR can pitch it to journalists as a timely angle, repurpose it into new formats, or use it as a hook for a broader campaign.

For LLMs, you need a tool like Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit that shows actual prompt data, not just search queries.

Prompt Research – Email marketing tools

This gives you insight into the exact prompts your competitors are earning AI visibility for, but you aren’t.

Those gaps are worth flagging to PR, especially if competitors are being cited as authorities on topics your brand should own.

Visibility Overview – Klaviyo – Topic Opportunities

Use your shared doc or Slack channel to provide real-time insights, so neither team works from stale data.

Topics that show up in both PR’s emerging trends and SEO’s keyword data are your highest-priority opportunities.

Step 2: Collaborate on AI-Ready Assets

An AI-ready asset is built to be found, cited, and trusted by search engines and AI models (while being valuable to humans).

This is also called answer engine optimization (AEO), which is the process of creating and structuring content for AI systems.

It can include optimizations like:

  • Headings that mirror how people search
  • Front-loaded key stats, details, and definitions
  • Sections that focus on one core idea
  • Bullet lists and tables that make key information more extractable

When you combine PR’s distribution power with SEO’s technical expertise, you get assets that earn visibility across search, media, and LLMs.

AI-ready assets: Who does what

Original Research and Reports

Original data has long helped brands earn backlinks — now, it helps you build AI visibility too.

A collaborative workflow for this asset would look something like this:

SEO identifies the topic based on search demand and content gaps, and PR validates whether the angle is pitchable and shapes the findings into quotable hooks.

Together, they design the study so it’s structured for citations, with a clear methodology, front-loaded stats, and branded visuals that are easy to share.

Semrush blog – LinkedIn AI visibility study

SEO content teams might be tempted to create this type of asset on their own, then ask PR to pitch it.

But Britt says if PR is involved earlier, they can help answer questions like:

  • Is this a real story?
  • Is there a sharper edge here?
  • Do we need more reliable data?
  • Is there a better hook that fits the time?
  • Would it be more interesting if an expert gave their opinion?

That kind of information can make an asset more useful and impactful.

Pro tip: Give your asset a unique, branded name — like ‘The State of X Report’ or ‘The X Index.’ If journalists mention it without linking, people can still search for it and find you.

Don’t limit original data to a blog post.

High-value assets should have their own crawlable landing page — no gates, no PDF-only content.

Semrush AI Visibility Index

Use the same URL each year for recurring assets to build authority. Then, link these pages to related content on your site (and vice versa).

This way, search engines and AI see your topical coverage as connected, not random.

Free Tools

Free tools that solve a specific pain point earn AI visibility, backlinks, and return visits long after launch.

This includes calculators, templates, checklists, and interactive assets.

Backlinko tools – Reddit SEO opportunity

The gap here is usually distribution.

SEO can build and optimize tools, but without PR’s contacts and timing, even the best ones can be limited by organic performance.

A strong hook helps, too.

Britt says an asset is easier to promote when it “blends search insights with something more personal, like proprietary data, a strong point of view, or a story angle that is relevant right now.”

The payoff is an asset that is reported on and shared widely across channels.

NerdWallet’s tariff calculator is a good example of this in action.

Nerdwallet – Tariff calculator

It launched as tariffs dominated headlines — and earned media coverage because of it.

Spectrum News – NerdWallet tariff impact calculator

Podcasts

A branded podcast can generate tons of coverage, review articles, and inclusion in “best podcasts on X topic” listicles.

Spotify – Content, Briefly

Getting your experts on other podcasts is also valuable for building authority and visibility.

Third-party mentions get your brand and subject matter experts into the conversation, both in search engines and LLMs.

Google AI Mode – Best content marketing podcasts

PR typically drives guest placements, but SEO can identify which shows already rank or get cited by AI for your target topics, so you’re pitching the ones that build the most authority.

Press Releases

When published on your site and optimized properly, press releases can become standalone, crawlable assets that increase your AI mentions.

In fact, press release citations in LLMs grew 5x between July and December 2025, according to Muck Rack.

ChatGPT – Press release citations

To get the most out of press releases, both teams need to contribute.

Rola has seen the benefit of this collaboration firsthand:

For key assets like press releases, we integrate SEO insights early — before content is developed — and include SEO in the review process to ensure we’re maximizing visibility.

PR shapes the story and the hook. SEO makes sure the on-site version is crawlable, optimized, backed by citable data, and linked to related assets.

So the press release doesn’t just generate buzz, it feeds your broader authority.

Sprout Social press release

Explainer Content

Explainers are easy-to-digest resources (usually articles or videos) that simplify complex topics or highlight key info about your brand.

They help journalists and LLMs write accurately and consistently about you — especially if your category is niche or complex.

SEO can use keyword and prompt data to identify the questions your explainers should answer and structure them so AI can parse and cite individual sections.

PR knows which questions journalists and analysts ask most often — and where the current gaps are in how your brand gets described.

The format can vary:

  • One-page proof point packet with key stats and third-party validation that PR sends alongside pitches
  • YouTube video with citable brand facts or product details
  • Dedicated pressroom that organizes assets by category with founder bios and press releases

(Bonus points for all three.)

Airbnb – About us

Step 3: Co-Build Your Third-Party Presence

Brands are 6.5x more likely to appear in AI answers through third-party signals than their own content, according to AirOps.

This means PR and SEO have a real opportunity to work together to build more visibility across search and LLMs.

Rola sees this as an important shift for PR teams:

When we align closely with SEO to ensure our key messages land in credible, third-party outlets, we’re not just generating press; we’re helping position the brand to appear in AI search platforms. That intersection between PR, SEO, and now AEO is where I think we’ll see the most measurable impact moving forward.


Expert Commentary

When your experts are quoted consistently — on your own site, social media, and in trusted publications — Google and LLMs begin to associate them (and your brand) with that topic.

Backlinko – Expert commentary

The biggest coordination gap is knowing where to focus.

SEO has the data on which topics have the most search and AI demand — and which publications are already earning citations for them. PR knows which journalists and outlets are most receptive and what angles resonate.

Together, they can pinpoint the exact publications and topics where a placement will improve results for both teams.

Then shape the commentary accordingly.

Concrete, data-backed quotes with a specific stat or firsthand insight are far more citable than generic thought leadership — especially for AI, which favors specificity it can extract and serve directly in an answer.

Getting your experts quoted online is a strong start — but it works best when paired with the other authority-building sources below.

Further reading: 5 Best HARO Alternatives (Expert Review)

Review Sites and Forums

Review sites like G2, Yelp, Google Reviews, and Trustpilot are trusted by AI for the same reason they’re trusted by humans.

They aggregate specific, unbiased information about products from verified users.

And AI frequently cites them for product recommendations:

Claude cities G2

Reviews across multiple sites also strengthen your brand’s authority signals.

It gives AI detailed evidence of what category you belong in, your core features and pricing, and why you should be trusted.

G2 – Hootsuite vs Sprout Social

Forums work similarly — AI pulls from Reddit threads and Quora answers when users ask for honest recommendations or firsthand experience.

Brands that show up authentically and positively in these conversations earn another layer of trust signals.

ChatGPT – Reddit – Sources

You can’t control these mentions, but consistently showing up as a helpful, knowledgeable voice in your category’s communities builds the kind of organic mentions AI models trust.

PR and SEO should jointly identify which review sites and forums matter most in your industry.

Keep review profiles current and monitor relevant forum conversations for opportunities to contribute genuinely.

Further reading: How to Build a Brand Subreddit: Full Setup Guide (+ Examples)

Wikipedia

A Wikipedia page gives Google and AI a neutral, third-party source of facts about your brand.

It also helps establish your brand as a recognized entity in Google’s Knowledge Graph.

Wikipedia – HubSpot

It’s a common source for Google’s Knowledge Graph, and it’s baked into LLM training data.

Google SERP – HubSpot knowledge graph

But to qualify for a page, you need to meet Wikipedia’s Notability Criteria.

This includes having significant coverage in reliable, independent sources that address your brand directly and in detail.

PR can help you earn this kind of coverage by pitching stories about your company to journalists in reputable publications.

Forbes – HubSpot article

Once you have a page, you won’t be allowed to edit it directly, as Wikipedia’s rules prevent self-promotion.

But SEO can monitor the page for inaccuracies and flag corrections, and PR can handle reputation monitoring to keep the narrative positive.

Pro tip: Use the same brand name, category language, and positioning everywhere: across your website, social profiles, press releases, and review site listings. The more consistent your language, the more confidently AI and Google can categorize and recommend your brand.

Step 4: Unify Your Outreach Strategy

If PR and SEO know what — and to whom — each team is pitching, you avoid mixed messages and misaligned timing.

And your odds of a yes go up.

It doesn’t take much to fix. Just a shared source list, a strategy to split pitching, and a regular check-in to stay aligned.

Pro tip: Download our PR + SEO Outreach Planner to put the tips in this section into action.

Build a Shared Target Source List

SEO has a list of high-authority domains that show up in organic rankings and AI citations. PR has a list of journalists, analysts, creators, and publications that influence their category.

Merging these gives you a single view of every third-party source worth going after.

Build it as a shared spreadsheet with three columns:

  • PR Sources
  • SEO Sources
  • AI Citation Sources

Then prioritize.

Any source that appears on more than one list goes to the top. It has double (or triple) the potential to impact your authority and visibility.

Pro tip: Update your list quarterly as sources can shift fast — especially in LLMs.


Create a shared pitch doc to go with your source list. Use PR’s standard pitch brief, or if one doesn’t exist, create one. Include headline stats, agreed-upon positioning language, and target URLs.

PR and SEO worksheet – Pitch

Whoever sends the final pitch customizes it to their contact. But using the shared pitch doc as a starting point ensures your basic story stays consistent.
Split Pitching by Strengths
Many high-priority pitches will need both PR and SEO to weigh in. But not all.

Divide the work of pitching based on what each team does best.

Generally, that means structured, technical placements for SEO and editorial, relationship-based placements for PR.

Your company may want to organize these tasks differently depending on industry or org structure, but here’s what I suggest:

 
SEO PR
Pitch for inclusion in industry listicles Pitch journalists and editors on newsworthy content
Fix unlinked brand mentions Offer expert commentary to reporters
Reach out to sites with broken or outdated links Submit to industry awards
Identify warm contacts from referring domains Brief analysts at firms like Gartner and Forrester
Monitor AI citations for new outreach targets Explore sponsored placements in newsletters, podcasts, and trade publications

Plan Pitching in Advance

Meet quarterly or monthly — whatever works for your schedules — to decide who is going to pitch what, to which outlets, and when.

This will help prioritize high-impact efforts and reduce accidental duplication of work.

Map outlets to objectives and target KPIs to determine ownership.

PR and SEO outreach planner

Every time you meet, review results from the last period. Prioritize more of what’s working and cut what isn’t.

Further reading: Journalist Outreach: 9 Steps to Earn High-Authority Links

Step 5: Report on PR and SEO Performance Together

PR and SEO usually track different metrics, like mentions and outlet quality vs. rankings and organic traffic.

The fix isn’t merging into a single dashboard.

It’s building a shared lens for evaluating what each asset actually did, no matter which team owns it.

Britt recommends that both teams agree on a shared set of questions to evaluate each asset:

  • Did it get any attention?
  • Did it get picked up by reliable sources?
  • Did it help with search goals?
  • Did it contribute to conversions?
  • Did it have results that lasted longer than a short-term spike?

As Britt puts it:

The best shared work usually helps with more than one thing at a time, like visibility, authority, discoverability, and brand credibility.

Visibility: Did We Show Up in the Right Places?

Getting in front of your audience more often — and in the places they care about — is one of the main advantages of having PR and SEO collaborate.

Track these metrics to see if it’s working:

  • Quality mentions in relevant outlets: Not raw mention count. A placement in a niche newsletter your buyers trust outweighs 10 mentions on unrelated blogs. PR likely already has a media monitoring tool for this.
  • Recurring format mentions: Listicles, comparison posts, and “best of” roundups will continue to earn backlinks and AI citations over time. They also show how your brand is positioned relative to competitors. Track these separately in your media monitoring tool or a shared spreadsheet.
  • Share of voice in category coverage: Report on the percentage of category coverage that mentions your brand vs. competitors. Free tools like Google Alerts and Mention’s share of voice calculator give you a general sense of how you’re doing. But paid media monitoring tools let you dig into specific platforms, outlet types, and topics.

Mention – Share of voice calculator

For AI specifically, track how often your brand appears in AI answers for queries you care about.

You can manually check your top questions and prompts in LLMs to see if your brand is mentioned, but this gets tedious at scale.

Gemini – Top-social management tools

The AI Visibility Toolkit is helpful here. It automates tracking so you’re not manually checking every LLM for every query.

You get an overall AI Visibility score for your brand, which measures how often you’re mentioned in AI systems compared to other brands.

Visibility Overview – Sprout Social

The Competitor Research tool shows how your AI visibility stacks up against competitors, which is one of the clearest ways to show leadership whether you’re gaining or losing ground.

Competitor Research – Sprout Social

It also tracks your Share of Voice across AI platforms, a single metric that reflects the combined impact of your PR and SEO efforts.

Brand Performance – Sprout Social – Share of Voice

Authority: Did We Become More Credible?

This is where you show if your brand is becoming a trusted source online.

Start by tracking new referring domains.

New backlinks matter too, but new domains are more meaningful because they represent more unique sources vouching for your brand.

Backlink Analytics – Sprout Social

Reporting on your website authority is also helpful. This is a third-party estimate of the level of trust search engines are likely to assign to your domain, based on your backlink profile and other signals.

Different SEO tools calculate it differently (and call it different things).

So, focus less on the score and more on the direction it moves over time.

Backlink Analytics – Backlinko – Authority Score graph

Note: Meaningful changes to your Authority Score can take 3-6 months to appear.

The AI Visibility Toolkit tracks your mentions, citations, and cited pages over time, and tells you percentage increases and decreases.

When your authority score and AI mentions are both climbing, you’ll know your PR and SEO work is paying off.

Visibility Overview – Sprout Social – Main Metrics

Expert commentary placements, direct requests from journalists, and new journalist relationships are also worth tracking.

Increases in any of those areas are a strong signal that you’re gaining trust.

Google Alerts can catch mentions to help you track expert commentary placements, but a tool like Semrush’s Brand Monitoring gives you a more comprehensive picture.

It lets you track any query (SME names or other keywords) and provides:

  • Total mentions
  • Estimated reach
  • Traffic
  • Mentions with backlinks
  • Sources (Social media, news, and blogs)

Brand Monitoring – Analytics

Demand: Did It Help People Take the Next Step?

Did improving visibility and authority have any impact on your business goals and revenue?

PR and SEO sometimes sit at the top of the funnel, so this can be tricky to answer.

Start with these metrics to prove demand:

  • Referral traffic
  • Assisted conversions
  • Branded search lift

Track your referral traffic to show the number of visitors who visit your site directly from media coverage.

Even if numbers are low, they’ll tell you which topics make your audience want to know more about you. Then you can publish more on those in the future.

GA – Traffic Acquisition – Session source / medium

Tracking assisted conversions shows you conversions where organic search or referral traffic appeared somewhere in the buyer’s journey, but not necessarily as the last click.

PR and SEO content may not convert on the first visit, but it still influences the buyer’s journey.

This metric captures that concept.

Find this in GA4 under Advertising > Key event attribution paths, and switch to “Source/Medium” to see which specific outlets have the most impact.

GA – Advertising – Key event attribution paths

As AI search has decreased click-through rates, branded search queries have become one of the clearest signals that your PR and SEO efforts are building real awareness.

It’s a metric Britt prioritizes for exactly this reason:

I track branded search lift because it’s a sign that coverage or visibility made someone curious enough to go look up the company by name. That matters to me because not every asset will result in direct clicks.

The metric is also important to Rola:

Branded search lift connects awareness and intent, showing how media exposure actually drives people to seek out your brand.

Google Search Console tells you how often people search for your brand by name and how many of those searches result in a click to your site.

Look for spikes around major coverage dates to directly tie increases to your PR and SEO efforts.

GSC – Performance – Branded queries

Turn PR and SEO Into an Always-On Authority Engine

The brands earning the most trust right now aren’t doing it with PR or SEO in siloes.

They’re showing up consistently across media, blogs, review sites, search engines, and AI because all of those channels feed the same authority signals.

That takes more than a “quick sync” before campaigns. It takes an always-on partnership.

You don’t need to overhaul everything at once.

Start small:

  • Co-create one high-impact asset (and keep AEO best practices in mind)
  • Merge your source lists
  • Plan 3 pitches using our PR and SEO Joint Outreach Strategy Template

When you’re ready to go deeper on how to optimize your brand’s presence in AI, check out our complete guide to AI optimization.

The post PR and SEO: How to Build More Authority Together (5 Steps) appeared first on Backlinko.

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How to Create and Optimize Your Robots.txt File

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Key Takeaways

  • Robots.txt is a plain text file in your root directory that tells search engine and AI crawlers which pages on your site to crawl and which to skip.  
  • By guiding bots away from technical clutter and low-value pages, you make sure they spend their time on the important, high-value content that drives results. 
  • The four AI crawlers most worth knowing (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, and CCBot) respect robots.txt directives and can be blocked individually with their user-agent strings.  
  • Common robots.txt mistakes include using disallow: / on a live site, blocking CSS or JavaScript files (which hurts rendering), and confusing disallow with noindex, since a disallowed page can still be indexed if linked externally.  

Think of your robots.txt file as your site’s GPS.  

It tells web crawlers for search engines like Google or Bing (and now AI) where to look and what to index. That’s significant in today’s search world. Yet, it’s often an overlooked part of technical SEO. 

Many treat robots.txt with a set-it-and-forget-it mentality, not realizing the toll that can take on search visibility.  

With AI now claiming top positions on the search engine results pages (SERPs), the right robots.txt configuration is more important than ever.  

To help you stay ahead, I’ve put together this refresher on how to create a robots.txt file that promotes modern-day visibility and delivers real business results.  

What Is a Robots.txt File?

The robots.txt file, also known as the robots exclusion protocol or standard, is a text file that tells web robots (often search engine crawlers and AI scrapers) which pages on your site to crawl. 

It also tells web robots which pages not to crawl. 

Let’s say a search engine is about to visit a site. Before it visits the target page, it will check the robots.txt for instructions. 

There are different types of robots.txt files, so let’s look at a few different examples of what they look like. 

Let’s say the search engine finds  this example robots.txt file: 

An image displaying the correct basic structure of a robots.txt file 

This is the basic skeleton of a robots.txt file. 

The asterisk after “user-agent” indicates that the robots.txt file applies to all web robots visiting the site. 

The slash after “Disallow” tells the robot not to visit any pages on the site. However, it’s important to note that disallowing a page won’t prevent it from being indexed if external links are pointing to that page.  

Why Robots.txt Matters for SEO

You might wonder why anyone would want to stop web robots from visiting their site. 

After all, one of the major goals of traditional and AI SEO is to get search engine or AI bots to crawl your site easily, thereby increasing your visibility. 

That’s where the secret to this SEO hack comes in. 

You probably have a lot of pages on your site, right? Even if you don’t think you do, check. You might be surprised. 

If a search engine crawls your site, it’ll crawl every single page. 

And if you have a lot of pages, it’ll take the search engine bot a while to crawl them. That can negatively affect your ranking. 

That’s because Googlebot (Google’s search engine bot) has a “crawl budget.” This breaks down into two parts.  

The first is the crawl capacity limit, which is the maximum number of connections Google can use to crawl a site at any given time. Google goes into more detail here: 

A screenshot of Google Developer resources explaining how Googlebot’s crawl capacity limit works 

The second part is crawl demand, which is essentially Google’s appetite for your content. It comes down to how popular your pages are and how often you update them. Here’s a deeper explanation from Google: 

Google resources explaining how Googlebot’s crawl demand works 

Basically, crawl budget is “the number of URLs Googlebot can and wants to crawl.” 

You want to help Googlebot spend its crawl budget for your site as efficiently as possible. That means you want it crawling your most valuable pages. 

To make sure you’re leading bots to the right places, Google advises minimizing these common drains on your crawling resources: 

  • Faceted navigation: URL parameters for sorting and filtering can create an “infinite space” that traps bots in a maze of redundant pages. 
  • Duplicate content: When the same information exists across multiple URLs, consolidate them so crawlers can focus on your unique content. 
  • Hurdles and dead ends: Soft 404 errors and long redirect chains waste crawl demand, forcing bots to work harder for no reward. 
  • Server performance: If your site responds slowly, Google may not be able to read as much content from your site. 

OK, let’s come back to robots.txt. 

A well-structured robots.txt page tells search engine bots (and especially Googlebot) to avoid certain pages. 

Think about the implications. By curating your robots.txt file, you’re highlighting your best work. You’re effectively steering the bots away from technical clutter and toward your most valuable content. 

In other words, your robots.txt helps make sure that every second a bot spends on your domain is a worthwhile one. It’s the difference between a bot wandering aimlessly through your digital storage and one that heads straight for the pages that drive results. 

Intrigued by the power of robots.txt? Let’s talk about how to create a robots.txt file and use it properly. 

How to Create a Robots.txt File 

Using robots.txt effectively starts with getting the basics right. Follow these steps to create a robots.txt file that gets your “website GPS” off to the right start.  

Step 1: Open a Plain Text Editor

You can create a new robots.txt file by using a plain text editor, like Notepad on PC and TextEdit on Mac. Whatever you use, make sure it’s a plain text editor. 

If you already have a robots.txt file, make sure you delete the text (but not the file) to give yourself a fresh start. 

how to create a robots.txt file 006

Step 2: Locate and Format Your File Properly

To start, you must name your file “robots.txt.” That may seem obvious, but it’s so important that it’s worth stating. If you get your naming wrong, nothing else that you do will matter. 
 
Also note that each site can have only one robots.txt file. That file must also be placed at the root domain of the site it applies to. 
 
Google provides more context here (we also summarize the key takeaways below): 

Google documentation explaining the correct location and formatting for a robots.txt file  

 Think of it as the technical fine print. Here are the three biggest things to keep in mind from Google’s guidance: 

  • Location is everything: Your file must live at the root of your host (e.g., yoursite.com/robots.txt). If you tuck it away in a subfolder, crawlers simply won’t look for it. 
  • Stay in your lane: A robots.txt file only has authority over its specific protocol (HTTP vs. HTTPS), subdomain, and port. If you have a mobile site (m.yoursite.com), it needs its own dedicated file. 
  • Stick to UTF-8: The file must be a plain text file with UTF-8 encoding. If you use non-standard characters, Google might find your rules invalid and ignore them entirely. 

Step 3: Write Your Robots.txt Rules

I’m going to show you how to set up a simple robot.txt file, putting the rules we mentioned above into action. 

Every robots.txt file starts with the user-agent directive. This defines which crawlbot is subject to the rule. This example from Google’s robots.txt documentation sets Googlebot as the user. 

An example robots.txt rule allowing Googlebot to crawl any webpage on www.example.com that doesn’t have the /nogooglebot/ URL slug 

The example also defines two rules: allow and disallow. They enable the robots.txt file to guide Googlebot toward any page under the root domain www.example.com, except for those with the /nogooglebot/ URL path. All other crawlbots are free to crawl any page within the site.  

I know it looks super simple, but these two lines are already doing a lot. 

This rule also links to an XML sitemap, but that’s not strictly necessary. It serves as a universal map for all crawlers, including AI. It’s especially important for larger sites, as it gives bots a direct path to your most valuable pages without them having to hunt for links. 

Voila, you now have a basic robots.txt file with simple (but effective) rules in place.  

As you get more familiar with using robots.txt, there are more rules you can use to your advantage. Google lists them all, along with what they do, here.   

Step 4: Save and Upload to Your Root Directory

To do its job, your robots.txt file needs to be uploaded to your site’s root directory. How you do this depends on your hosting platform and your site architecture. 

A common exception to this is WordPress, which can generate its own virtual robots.txt file when you launch a site. To change it, you may need a plugin or manual upload to override it.  

When in doubt, though, contact your hosting platform or search through their support documentation for upload methods. You can usually do this by navigating to their help articles or knowledge base and searching “upload files [hosting company name].”  

How to Block AI Crawlers with Robots.txt

Blocking AI crawlers gives you more control over how your content is used.  

Some site owners do it to limit AI training use. Others do it to reduce crawler load, protect gated-style content that accidentally became public, or keep competitors from repackaging their work through AI tools. 

The trade-off is visibility. If you block everything, you may protect more of your content, but you can also reduce your chances of showing up in AI-generated results. 

The major AI crawlers worth knowing are GPTBot (OpenAI), ClaudeBot (Anthropic), Google-Extended (Google), and CCBot (Common Crawl). All four support robots.txt controls, and each publishes a specific user-agent string you can target.  

CCBot is one that many people overlook, even though its public dataset powers dozens of open-source models, making it too impactful to leave out. 

To block each crawler individually, list each user-agent with its own disallow rule: 

User-agent: GPTBot 

Disallow: / 

User-agent: ClaudeBot 

Disallow: / 

User-agent: Google-Extended 

Disallow: / 

User-agent: CCBot 

Disallow: / 
 
The major AI crawlers worth knowing span both training and search functions. OpenAI runs GPTBot for training and OAI-SearchBot for search. Anthropic runs ClaudeBot for training and Claude-SearchBot for search. Google uses Google-Extended for training. CCBot, run by Common Crawl, powers dozens of open-source models, so it’s worth including even though many people overlook it. 
 
That distinction matters in practice. Blocking GPTBot does not block OAI-SearchBot, and blocking ClaudeBot does not block Claude-SearchBot. If you want to stop both training and search crawling, you need separate rules for each bot. 
 
All of these crawlers support robots.txt controls, and each publishes a specific user-agent string you can target. To block them individually, list each user-agent with its own disallow rule: 

User-agent: GPTBot  
Disallow: / 

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot  
Disallow: / 

User-agent: ClaudeBot  
Disallow: / 

User-agent: Claude-SearchBot  
Disallow: / 

User-agent: Google-Extended Disallow: 
User-agent: CCBot Disallow: / 

If you’d rather block every non-search bot at once, flip the logic. Disallow everything by default, then explicitly allow the search engines you want to keep. 

User-agent: * 
Disallow: / 

User-agent: Googlebot 
|Allow: / 

User-agent: Bingbot 
Allow: / 

Note that Google-Extended is a separate token from Googlebot. Blocking it opts you out of Google’s AI training data and has zero effect on how you rank in regular Google Search. 

Keep in mind that while blocking AI crawlers stops your content from feeding model training, it also reduces your chances of getting cited in AI answers. It’s important to proceed with caution if you want to implement these rules.  

If AI visibility is part of your strategy, use an llms.txt file for SEO to guide AI systems toward your best content rather than locking them out entirely, as you would with your robots.txt file. 

How to Test Your Robots.txt File

After your robots.txt file goes live, confirm Google can read it correctly. Google retired the old standalone robots.txt Tester in late 2023 and replaced it with the robots.txt report inside Google Search Console. 

To find it, open Search Console, pick your property, and click Settings in the left sidebar. The report shows which robots.txt files Google has fetched for your site, when each was last crawled, and any syntax errors or warnings it hit during parsing. If you’ve just pushed an update, you can request a recrawl right from that screen. 

A screenshot displaying the location of the robots.txt report within Google Search Console 

Source 

To test how a specific URL behaves under your current rules, switch to Search Console’s URL Inspection tool. It tells you whether Googlebot can access the page or whether a directive is blocking it.  

This move is useful for catching a misplaced disallow rule before it tanks an important page. Make this part of your regular technical SEO site audit. 

A screenshot of Google Search Console’s URL inspection tool 

Another pro tip: Type the root domain followed by /robots.txt in your browser to view that site’s robots.txt file. It’s a quick way to see how competitors structure their rules, which directories they protect, and which AI crawlers they’re blocking.  

Pair it with a full SEO audit for a complete picture of where you can improve and overtake your competition. 

Common Robots.txt Mistakes to Avoid

Robots.txt mistakes are easy to make and hard to spot until traffic drops. Even small errors can have site-wide consequences.  

Here are the most common missteps to watch for: 

  • Using disallow: / on a live site. This single line blocks every URL on your site from every crawler, including your homepage. It usually slips into production when a staging file gets pushed live without being updated, so be sure to review your robots.txt after every migration. 
  • Blocking CSS and JavaScript. Googlebot renders your pages the same way a browser does, so it needs access to your CSS, JavaScript, and image files to evaluate them properly. Blocking these resources can force Google to crawl your site “blind,” resulting in demoted rankings. 
  • Confusing disallow with noindex. A disallow rule stops crawling but doesn’t prevent indexing. A blocked URL can still appear in Google Search if it’s linked from another site. To keep a page out of search results, use a noindex meta tag or password-protect the page instead. 
  • Leaving the file empty or missing. A missing robots.txt won’t break your site. Google will assume everything is crawlable, but you lose the ability to point crawlers to your sitemap, manage crawl budget, or opt out of AI crawlers. Build it into your standing SEO checklist so it’s not an afterthought. 

FAQs

How does robots.txt work? 

Crawlers check yoursite.com/robots.txt before crawling your pages. The file uses user-agent and disallow directives to tell them which paths to skip. Compliance is voluntary, but major crawlers respect it. 

 Do I need a robots.txt file? 

Not necessarily. Google can crawl your site without one, but the file lets you control crawl budget and block AI training crawlers, which is worth doing even for small sites. 

What should a robots.txt file look like?

A minimal file that allows all crawlers and points to your sitemap looks like this: 

User-agent: * 

Disallow: 

Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml 

Add disallow rules for any directories you don’t want crawled, like /wp-admin/ or /checkout/. Use a separate user-agent block per crawler you want to give different rules to. 

How do I edit robots.txt in WordPress? 

The easiest path is an SEO plugin like Yoast, which includes a robots.txt editor in its settings. Otherwise, edit the file via FTP or your hosting file manager and upload it to your site’s root directory. 

How do I fix “Indexed, though blocked by robots.txt?”

This warning means Google indexed a URL it couldn’t crawl. Either remove the disallow rule so Google can read your page’s noindex tag, or password-protect (or remove) the page entirely. 

Conclusion

Robots.txt is a small file with a big impact on how your site shows up across the web. A few well-placed directives can keep low-value pages out of search results and decide whether AI systems get to train on your content. 

Already have a robots.txt file? Audit it against the mistakes covered above.  

Starting from scratch? Build it using the steps in this guide and test it in Search Console before calling it done. 

The conversation around robots.txt has shifted. What started as a tool for managing Googlebot and the SERPs now extends to handling AI’s rise in search and emerging standards like llms.txt.  

Whatever comes next, robots.txt remains a foundational part of staying in control of your content. 

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Google’s latest AI ad push shows ads are becoming conversations, not clicks

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Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin recently published an extensive piece outlining more than 40 new innovations across Google Ads, Analytics, creative tooling, AI, lead generation, and measurement. While the updates span everything from conversational AI to predictive attribution, the bigger story underneath the announcements is much more significant.

Google is steadily reshaping advertising around intent prediction, AI-assisted decision-making, and automation systems designed to qualify users long before they become customers.

The article itself positions these launches as solutions to a problem every lead generation marketer understands well: the gap between generating leads and generating good leads.

Google wants ads to become conversations

One of the clearest examples of this shift is Business Agent for leads. Instead of relying solely on traditional click-through experiences, Google is introducing conversational AI interactions directly within Search Ads.

According to Marvin’s piece, prospective customers will be able to ask detailed questions about services, expertise, availability, or pricing and receive responses grounded in a business’s website content.

That fundamentally changes the role of the ad itself.

Historically, lead generation followed a relatively simple path: click the ad, visit the landing page, fill in the form.

Now Google is attempting to insert AI-powered qualification and reassurance directly into the ad experience.

For businesses operating in sectors where trust matters — such as finance, legal, healthcare, or home services — this could significantly alter lead quality dynamics.

The lead arriving after an interactive conversation is very different from someone who clicked impulsively on a headline.

Intent is becoming more important than volume

Many of the launches outlined by Marvin point toward the same strategic direction: Google increasingly wants advertisers to optimise toward predicted business outcomes rather than raw conversion volume.

Features like lead intent scores, journey-aware bidding, qualified future conversions, and enhanced spam filtering are all designed to reduce the number of low-quality leads entering pipelines.

In theory, this solves a genuine industry frustration.

Too many campaigns optimise toward cheap conversions that never turn into customers.

But there’s another side to this evolution.

As Google handles more of the qualification, forecasting, attribution, and optimisation process, advertisers lose more visibility into how decisions are being made.

And that becomes even more important as AI-driven campaign systems continue expanding.

AI Max feels like the next evolution of Performance Max

Another major takeaway from Marvin’s article is how aggressively Google is extending AI-driven optimisation into Search itself.

AI Max applies broader algorithmic exploration logic to Search campaigns, allowing Google’s systems to expand targeting and discover additional query opportunities beyond traditional keyword intent.

For ecommerce advertisers with strong revenue tracking and reliable first-party data, this could unlock meaningful scale.

For lead generation advertisers without robust offline conversion data, however, the risks are much higher.

This is where many advertisers may repeat the same mistakes seen during the early rollout of Performance Max: over-trusting automation without feeding back enough business-quality signals into the system.

AI systems optimise based on the data they receive.

If a campaign only tracks form fills, Google will optimise toward more form fills — regardless of whether those leads ever become customers.

That’s why so many of Google’s launches now focus heavily on offline conversion imports, first-party data integration, unified enhanced conversions, and CRM connectivity.

The advertisers who can feed richer revenue and sales-quality signals back into Google Ads will likely gain the biggest advantage in this new AI-led environment.

Measurement is becoming predictive

One of the most important shifts hidden within these announcements is Google’s move toward predictive measurement models.

Features like Attributed Branded Searches and qualified future conversions aim to connect ad exposure with downstream behaviours that may happen months later.

Instead of simply measuring what happened historically, Google increasingly wants to estimate what will happen next.

That could help advertisers better understand long buying journeys where awareness campaigns influence conversions far outside traditional attribution windows.

But it also creates growing dependence on AI-generated forecasting systems advertisers cannot independently audit in full.

This may become one of the biggest strategic conversations in PPC over the next few years:
how much visibility are advertisers willing to trade for automation and efficiency?

Creative production is becoming infrastructure

Another notable theme throughout Marvin’s piece is how Asset Studio is evolving into a full-scale AI creative production ecosystem.

Google is no longer treating creative generation as separate from media buying. Instead, the platform increasingly wants to generate assets, analyse them, optimise them, and test them automatically at scale.

For lean marketing teams, this could dramatically reduce production bottlenecks and lower creative costs.

But if AI-generated creative becomes widely accessible to everyone, differentiation becomes even more dependent on brand strategy, audience understanding, and first-party insights rather than production capability alone.

The bigger picture behind the announcements

Individually, many of these launches may feel incremental.

Taken together, however, they reveal a much larger shift happening across Google Ads.

Google is steadily positioning itself as the infrastructure layer behind modern advertising decision-making. The platform increasingly wants to:

  • facilitate customer conversations,
  • qualify leads,
  • generate creative,
  • optimise budgets,
  • predict future outcomes,
  • and unify measurement across channels.

For advertisers, the challenge now is balancing automation with visibility.

AI systems can absolutely improve performance. Predictive models can uncover opportunities humans miss. Automation can unlock efficiency at enormous scale.

But the marketers who succeed long term will likely still be the ones who understand which signals actually matter, what drives genuine business outcomes, and when human judgement needs to override the machine.

Dig deeper.

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Google’s Nick Fox: AI search rewards content that goes deeper

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Google go deeper

Content must go beyond surface-level answers to stand out as AI summaries take over more basic search queries. That’s according to Nick Fox, Google’s senior vice president of Knowledge & Information, who was interviewed at Google Marketing Live 2026 by Semafor editor-in-chief Ben Smith.

What hasn’t changed. Fox said the way to rank in AI search is still the same as traditional search.

  • “The way to optimize for AI search is the same way to optimize for search. Create great content.”

But you need to go further than basic summaries, he added:

  • “The additional piece of advice we give is go beyond the surface level.”

He said Google’s AI summaries may provide the first layer of information for many queries. The content most likely to perform well will answer the next layer of questions, he said:

  • “If you assume that the AI will provide sort of a first-level response, high-level framing, the best content that will do the best within AI is one that goes one level deeper, two levels deeper, and is really helpful there.”

Fox didn’t explain how Google measures “deeper” content or how it separates useful depth from longer, more detailed pages.

Google wants content AI can’t easily copy. The comments echoed Google’s new AI search guidance, which warns against “commodity” content that repeats what others have already published or what generative AI models can easily produce.

Google said content built around common knowledge and generic summaries adds “little unique insight.” It described stronger content as work that provides expert or experienced takes that go beyond ordinary information.

Fox reinforced that idea during the interview when discussing the future role of the web in AI search.

  • “If you’re looking to buy something, you don’t just want to hear what the AI says. You want to hear someone that’s used it. What did they think? What went wrong with it? What was amazing about it? How did they what accessories did they get? You know, all of that kind of rich human content.”
  • “As humans we want to hear from humans. We want to hear human perspectives. We want to hear human experiences.”

Traffic concerns unaddressed. Fox’s comments made clear that Google sees human experience as a key part of the web’s value as AI answers expand.

  • The interview didn’t address publisher concerns about AI summaries reducing organic search traffic. While Google says it wants original, experience-driven content, AI answers reduce the clicks that help support that work.

Search queries are getting longer. Search behavior has already changed as people become more familiar with conversational AI tools, Fox said:

  • “The questions that people are asking now are these two-, three-, four-sentence queries.”

He said users are increasingly searching with natural-language prompts that include more context, problems, and constraints, rather than short keyword phrases. Google didn’t share any supporting data during the interview.

Why we care. AI-generated answers are already giving searchers basic informational summaries. So your content needs original reporting, firsthand experience, or useful analysis that gives people something they can’t get from a generic AI response.

The interview. Google’s Nick Fox on the Future of Search and AI

Watch this video on YouTube

Dig deeper. Google’s AI search guidance is naive and self-serving

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