SEO 101 Ep 511: Instant Checkout in ChatGPT and the End of Traditional SEO Rankings

Host: WMR.FM
Episode Date: October 1, 2025
Hosts: Ross Dunn (CEO, Stepforth Web Marketing), Scott Van Achte (Senior SEO)

Episode Overview

This episode of SEO 101 dives into the rapidly changing landscape of search and e-commerce, sparked by groundbreaking developments like ChatGPT's new instant checkout feature and the resulting end (or at least radical transformation) of traditional SEO rankings and reporting. Ross and Scott unravel what these changes mean for digital marketers, e-commerce businesses, and SEO professionals—with a focus on practical advice, forecasts, and witty banter about the challenges (and absurdities) of the AI-driven web right now.

Key Topics & Insights

1. ChatGPT Meltdowns and Humanizing AI [02:48–04:03]

• Fun AI Moment: Ross shares a viral trick to see ChatGPT "lose the plot" if you ask which NFL team name doesn’t end with 'S'.
  • “It gets mixed up between the NBA and NFL and it goes, ‘no, no, that was the NBA Liberty.’ You see it talking to itself. It’s so funny. I just loved it.” – Ross (03:57)

2. Privacy & Paid Social Media in the UK [04:03–07:03]

• Meta’s New European Fees: Meta is introducing a $3.99/mo “ad-free” subscription in the UK, driven by privacy compliance.
• User Reaction: Mixed feelings about paying for privacy, with Scott likening it to “protection racket” tactics.
  • “Isn’t that basically blackmail? They’re blackmailing us. Like, we’re going to share your info if you don’t pay us $4. Like, this is like a crime syndicate type vibe here...” – Scott (06:40)
• Ad Blockers: Ad blockers are increasingly ineffective; Facebook appears to actively degrade site performance for users who try.

3. Instant Checkout in ChatGPT: The Next Era of Agentic Commerce [07:03–11:49]

• Launch Details:
  • “You can now do instant checkout in ChatGPT… powered by their agentic commerce protocol (ACP) and Stripe in the US. ChatGPT Plus, Pro and free users can now buy directly from US Etsy dealers right in chat.” – Ross (07:45)
  • Over a million Shopify merchants coming soon.
  • Results are organic, not sponsored (for now).
  • Sellers manage fulfillment; users pay nothing extra.
• Implications for SEO:
  • Marks a shift from traditional SEO to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).
  • Ross predicts drama around accidental purchases and fraud.
  • “This marks the beginning of agentic commerce. This is going to shape how AI users and business can connect…” – Ross (09:30)
• Paid Search Coming Soon: OpenAI is hiring to develop a paid ad platform for ChatGPT (essentially “ChatGPT Ads” by 2026).
  • “For now, I’m guessing it’s going to be a lot of paid product placement and things like that... It’s coming soon.” – Scott (11:01)

4. ChatGPT Becomes a Major Retail Traffic Source [12:03–13:29]

• Referral Traffic Data:
  • ChatGPT now drives 20% of Walmart and Etsy referral clicks, 15% for Target, 10% for eBay.
  • Amazon blocks AI crawlers (betting instead on their AI bot, “Rufus”).
• Analysis: Referral traffic from AI is still a small segment overall (<5% of total visits) but growing rapidly.
  • “I like this. Amazon is, I think, foolishly... betting on its own AI chat bot known as Rufus.” – Ross (13:12)

5. Optimizing for ChatGPT Instant Checkout [14:24–16:28]

• Best Practices:
  • Fill out all fields in your product feed—overkill is good!
  • Pack descriptions with product detail to power ChatGPT’s knowledge base.
  • Quote from Josh Blisskal: “Aiming for a hundred percent field completion when you’re creating your feed for instant checkout will give you more opportunities to be found.” (14:30)
  • “Your competitors aren’t going to put this much effort in… but I believe at this point overkill is going to be a win.” – Ross (15:34)

6. The Death of Traditional Rank Reporting [16:28–25:26]

• The Crisis:
  • Google removed the “num=100” search result parameter (09/10–11/2025), breaking all major rank trackers beyond page one.
  • Now, only the top 10 can be reliably reported; positions 11–100 are invisible.
  • “No rank reporting software, including Google Search Console, has been left unscathed. Everything’s broken...” – Scott (16:28)
• Platform Response:
  • Some tools (e.g., SEMrush) may introduce paid tiers for deeper rank info.
  • Expect increased costs passed on to agencies and clients.
  • “It’s going to be a lot of money passed to marketers, and then unfortunately, marketers are going to pass that expense along to clients.” – Ross (19:35)

7. The Future of SEO Reporting [21:24–29:15]

• What’s Left:
  1. Only Page 1 Rankings will be reportable – frustrating for progress tracking.
  2. Increased reliance on Google Search Console (now possibly more “accurate,” but with strange shifts in impressions/clicks).
  3. Focus on conversion points in GA4: leads, sales, form fills, dwell time, etc.
  4. Reporting on brand mentions and AI prompt visibility is rising, albeit difficult to quantify.
• Bigger Picture:
  • SEO is shifting from keywords to topics, personas, and answering user needs holistically.
  • “You can’t really track all variations of all search terms. Everybody's doing it differently. …We probably will see a future where keywords kind of are dead.” – Scott (29:18)

8. Google August Spam Update [31:33–32:54]

• Brief Recap: Standard anti-spam update took almost a month to roll out.
• **If hit by a December 2024 update, possible recovery; otherwise, expect only minor impact.
  • “These are kind of a palate cleanser: it happened, hopefully spammers are gone.” – Scott (31:45)

9. Local SEO News: AI Overviews Hit Local Packs [33:04–36:44]

• Change Detected:
  • AI Overviews now appear for some local search terms in mobile, as spotted by Joy Hawkins.
  • The implementation wastes valuable space, offers little useful info, and complicates user experience.
  • “Now, local search rankings, as much as they’re a mess, have been blissfully untouched by AI…this example is just terrible.” – Ross (34:27)
• Google Review Extortion Problem:
  • Extortion-style fake reviews are rampant (“contact me so we can remove all these comments”)
  • Enforcement remains lackluster.
  • “This is…so blatant. It’s far past excusable. This should have been cleared up and it’s just mind blowing.” – Ross (36:44)

10. YouTube Dominates AI Video Search [37:32–40:13]

• BrightEdge Study:
  • YouTube is cited 200x more than Vimeo in LLM-powered AI search results.
  • ~20% of AI responses across platforms include YouTube, just 0.1% include Vimeo.
• Actionable Advice:
  • If you want your video content to show up in AI overviews, you must be on YouTube.
  • “Please, I talk to so many clients and I recommend it and they all know they have to do it… so few actually do it and it drives me bananas. If you’re one of my clients and you’re listening to this, please just do it.” – Scott (39:49)

11. Mueller File: Old Domain “Baggage” [41:45–43:55]

• Reddit Question: New site, old domain, invisible in Google—does domain history hold you back?
• John Mueller’s Answer: Sometimes a domain’s “old state” lingers. Just keep working at it, build visibility elsewhere. Check that there are no manual penalties or URL removals.
  • “Sometimes it just takes a lot of time for the old state of a domain to be shaken off and the site to be treated like something new or independent.” – via John Mueller (41:45)
• Takeaway: Build authority on platforms like LinkedIn, Substack, Reddit to supplement site visibility.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Meta’s Privacy Subscription:
  “Isn’t that basically blackmail?...like the mafia coming to protect you and you have to pay their protection fee to protect you from them.” – Scott (06:40)
• On Rank Tracking Meltdown:
  “No rank reporting software, including Google Search Console, has been left unscathed. So for years now, Google...used to have this parameter...they just shut it off...every single ranking platform no longer can report beyond...the top 10.” – Scott (16:28)
• On Over-Optimizing Product Feeds:
  “Overkill is going to be a win in terms of taking a risk. This seems like a really smart risk… add that much more detail.” – Ross (15:34)
• On the Futility of Keywords:
  “You can’t really track all variations...everybody’s doing it differently. ... We probably will see a future where keywords kind of are dead.” – Scott (29:18)
• On Google Review Extortion:
  “It’s far past excusable. This has been so many years. This should have been cleared up and it’s just mind blowing.” – Ross (36:44)
• On YouTube:
  “Create content for YouTube. Just do it and please. I talk to so many clients… and so few actually do it and it drives me bananas…” – Scott (39:49)
• On Old Domains:
  “I feel like I would almost jump ship and change domains and panic and I would not recommend anyone do that. But I feel like I understand where people would be coming from when they want it.” – Scott (43:34)

Important Timestamps

• 01:27 – Show starts, banter and Ross’s return
• 02:48 – ChatGPT AI "meltdown" NFL S-name trick
• 04:03 – Meta’s UK privacy subscription & Facebook ad block woes
• 07:03 – ChatGPT launches instant checkout, implications for SEO/AEO
• 11:49 – ChatGPT as referral source for Walmart, Target, Etsy, and eBay
• 14:24 – Optimizing product feeds for ChatGPT instant checkout (Josh Blisskal insight)
• 16:28 – Google pulls “num=100”; rank reporting breaks across industry
• 21:24 – The future of SEO reporting (Search Console, conversions, AEO)
• 31:33 – August Google spam update recap
• 33:04 – AI overviews start to affect Local search (first sighting)
• 36:44 – Google review extortion: still out of control
• 37:32 – YouTube wins the “AI video search” game (BrightEdge data)
• 41:45 – John Mueller on slow domain trust and old domain history
• 47:18 & 47:44 – Closing thoughts

TL;DR Key Takeaways

• SEO is rapidly shifting from keyword and rank-focused strategies to a world powered by answer engines, AI referrals, and deeply-structured product data.
• Agentic commerce (like ChatGPT instant checkout) is rewriting how consumers discover and buy—right in AI-first interfaces.
• SEO reporting tools are in upheaval: Google’s parameter removal means only page one is reliably trackable, making conversion reporting and Search Console more important than ever.
• Local SEO, YouTube, and AI-driven referral sources are now priorities. Classic organic rankings are less actionable, while “answer engine optimization” moves center-stage.

Bottom Line:
The episode is a must-listen (or must-read!) for anyone in SEO or digital marketing looking for timely, candid advice on coping with 2025’s massive search paradigm shifts—while recognizing the enduring need for great content, channel diversity, and pragmatic adaptation in an AI-powered world.