Grumpy SEO Guy – Bonus Episode 129 (October 14, 2025)

Overview

In this candid bonus episode of Grumpy SEO Guy, the host—known for his no-nonsense, often contrarian approach—recaps fundamental SEO truths gleaned from 14 years in the industry. He provides clarifications for new and returning listeners, reiterates essential SEO concepts, and debunks persistent industry myths. If you're seeking clear-eyed guidance on ranking websites—and want to avoid falling into common traps—this episode is a concise refresher.

Key Discussion Points

1. Housekeeping and Communication Updates

• Podcast Release Schedule Issues
  • The host acknowledges recent inconsistency with episode releases and assures listeners the issue is being addressed.
    • "I am aware that these things are happening and I am taking steps to get everything sorted. So this is all going to be fixed. Don't worry." (01:29)
• How to Contact Grumpy SEO Guy
  • Listeners can email hellorumpyseoguy.com and should check their spam folder for responses about SEO and backlinks (since such emails are often flagged as spam).
  • Questions can also be posted on the Grumpy SEO Guy subreddit, but new posts may be manually approved due to anti-spam policies.

2. Getting Answers and Forum Culture

• Active users and the host answer questions on Reddit, but the forum is tightly moderated against spam and unwarranted promotions.
  • Posts may be held for manual approval, especially if promotional.
  • "Everybody who doesn’t break the rules is allowed to post there. That doesn’t mean you’re gonna get the correct answer." (04:11)
• Not All Advice Is Good Advice
  • Occasionally approved posts contain "wrong" answers—like the persistent myth that “content is king.”
    • "Some people, you know, still think content is king or whatever, but we’re trying to not have people think content is king." (04:32)

3. Debunking 'Content is King'

• The host strongly refutes the idea that content quality alone drives rankings:
  • "Quality of content has nothing to do with where you rank. Hopefully... But I’m sure there’s somebody who, this is their first episode and they’re like, wait a minute, that’s not true. Because this person said that content is king and all I have to do is write good content. No, it’s not how it works." (05:32)
  • High quality content is necessary, but not sufficient; ranking is about more than writing good stuff.

4. Core SEO Ranking Factors Recap

• The four essential elements to rank are:

  1. Avoid penalties
  2. Have content (good or bad quality; just something on your site)
  3. Relevancy
  4. Authority (primarily through backlinks)
  • "Authority only comes from backlinks. So basically you need backlinks in order to rank. Backlinks is the most difficult part of SEO. Once the first three things are in place, it becomes the biggest thing that you have to do most of your time. Effort. Most of your time and effort in SEO will be spent getting backlinks." (07:10)

• Four ways to get backlinks:

  • Do nothing and hope for organic links
  • Buy them
  • Guest posting or link outreach
  • Build your own

5. AI SEO and Industry Myths

• The host denounces claims that AI SEO (GEO, AEO, AIO, etc.) requires separate strategies:
  • "There is no separation between GEO or AEO or AIO or whatever. AI SEO... and normal SEO. OK? So anybody who is trying to tell you, oh, you have to do these special things for the AI tools to crawl your site. No, you don’t. It’s the same as regular SEO." (08:20)
  • AI tools use the same ranking data from search engines; do good SEO and you're doing good 'AI SEO.'
• LLMs.txt Is Pointless:
  • Dismisses the need for LLMs.txt files (meant for AI bots) as ineffective and unnecessary.
    • "No, because LLMs TXT doesn’t even do anything. We have another episode that explains this. And it’s the AI tools themselves that are telling you that LLMs txt isn’t even useful." (09:40)

6. Final Reminders

• Stick to the basics:
  • Avoid penalties
  • Have content
  • Ensure relevancy
  • Build authority (through backlinks)
• For genuine learning, keep listening to the show and re-listen to foundational episodes as needed.
  • "Do the four things that you need to rank, avoid penalties, have content, have relevancy, have authority, understand those, listen to the episodes until you understand them, and then you’ll be doing good SEO." (10:20)

Notable Quotes

• Grumpy SEO Guy (on SEO industry myths):
  "No, no, that’s not how it works. But anyways, you get the point. So quality of content has nothing to do with where you rank." (05:30)

• On AI SEO Myths:
  "So stop making a big deal out of LLMs txt and do good SEO instead and you will be fine." (10:05)

• On forum moderation and advice quality:
  "That doesn’t mean you’re gonna get the correct answer to your question... some people, you know, still think content is king or whatever." (04:13)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00–01:29 — Housekeeping: Podcast schedule and episode release issues
• 02:30–04:10 — How to contact and interact: Email, Reddit, anti-spam policies
• 04:11–06:10 — On forum culture and persistent myths (e.g., content is king)
• 06:11–07:45 — The four things needed to rank
• 07:46–09:10 — The necessity and realities of backlinks
• 09:11–10:20 — Dismantling AI SEO (AEO/AIO) myths and LLMs.txt

Conclusion

This bonus, ad-hoc episode is a straight-shooting refresher for both new and veteran listeners, reiterating that effective SEO isn’t about chasing fads—AI or otherwise—but about consistently applying core principles: avoid penalties, have content, create relevancy, and build authority through backlinks. Disregard the noise around supposed 'AI SEO' tricks and focus on foundational work—because, as Grumpy SEO Guy repeats, "do good SEO and you will be fine."