SEO 101 Ep 515: Surviving the SEO Evolution with Steve Wiideman – Detailed Summary

Podcast: SEO 101
Episode: 515
Host(s): Ross Dunn, Scott Van Achte
Guest: Steve Wiideman (Senior Search Strategist, Wiideman Consulting Group)
Release Date: November 12, 2025

Overview

This episode welcomes veteran SEO strategist Steve Wiideman to discuss the ongoing evolution in SEO, especially in light of AI, large language models (LLMs), and industry hype. The conversation explores what has truly changed versus what remains foundational, practical advice for small to medium businesses, and how businesses should approach content creation and strategic SEO in today’s landscape.

Main Themes & Discussion Points

1. The SEO Landscape: Change vs. Fundamentals

• AI Hype & LLMs: While AI tools and large language models are gaining attention, foundational SEO principles remain crucial.

• SEO “Acronyms” Overload: Condemnation of jargon like GEO and AEO. “It's SEO. It's just SEO. Stop it, please.” (Ross, 03:01)

• Imposter Syndrome: Many seasoned SEOs are anxious about relevance due to new tech, but Wiideman reassures that principles remain the same.

  "There's this immediate sense of imposter syndrome. Like, oh my god, is everything that I've done ... still relevant?"
  — Steve, 03:18

Three Pillars of SEO (Steve, 03:53):

• Relevancy: Content matching user queries—now also for LLM references, not just URLs.
• Visibility: Once link-centric, now more about mentions, citations, knowledge graphs.
• User Interaction: How listings appear (snippets, reviews, calls to action, metadata).

2. Data, Hype, and Current Trends

• AI Referral Traffic:
  • “It’s only 2-4% of actual traffic coming from these LLMs, and that’s usually top of the funnel.” (Steve, 07:25)
  • Despite traffic declines, visibility and brand awareness are still possible (just measured differently).
• The Danger of Abandoning SEO:
  • Companies dropping SEO in favor of AI-only approaches are damaging their rankings. AI is just a small part of the bigger picture.
  • “They're literally just throwing the baby out with the bathwater ... they're letting go entire SEO departments and they're tanking their rankings because they're focusing everything on chatGPT.” (Ross, 06:37)

3. Steve Wiideman’s SEO Journey (09:38)

• Started in 1998: Freelance, learned by necessity, worked with early SEO greats (Aaron Wall, Bruce Clay, Danny Sullivan).
• Growth Story: Helping a DJ client go from no calls to being overwhelmed due to local SEO success.
• Corporate to Consulting: Left Disney and agencies to form his own consultancy in 2010, specializing in multi-location and franchise SEO (clients include Skechers, Meineke, Applebee's, IHOP, Qdoba).
• Teaching/Academia: Co-authored a Harvard textbook, teaches at UC San Diego and Cal State Fullerton.

“Built up a small team of folks that sort of stick it to the man. That’s kind of what the goal was. One day I'm going to run my own business and I'm not going to let someone tell me how to do X. Right?”
— Steve, 12:22

4. Advice for SMBs: Building Visibility in the Age of AI (17:53)

Wiideman’s 3-Part Roadmap:

• Content:
  • Map out a content strategy via competitor sitemap research; create unique pages for every key offering (e.g., each legal practice area gets a page).
  • Use AI tools for content ideas, but add real photos/videos and unique, firsthand experience.
• Technical Audit:
  • Ensure no crawling/indexing issues; keep the site simple for search engines and LLMs.
• Off-Page SEO:
  • It’s more about earning mentions and citations versus just links. Engage on platforms sources by LLMs (Yelp, TripAdvisor, Reddit, OpenTable, Medium, Quora).
  • “Be creative... how can we get our customers and our partners and our marketing teams to start engaging with those other platforms so that we're cited more often...” (Steve, 22:07)

5. Encouraging Clients to Create Quality Content (26:14)

• Common Challenge: SMBs won’t/can’t create the needed content; often want to outsource but budgets are tight.

• SEO Content Briefs: Wiideman’s team creates briefs with competitor analysis, metadata, headings, table of contents, and media recommendations. Makes it easy for clients to simply fill in the blanks.

• Dictation & Interviewing: Record answers or stories, then hand off to writers who can inject the all-important firsthand experience.

• Shortcut Pitfalls: Warns that copy-pasting ChatGPT text leads to generic, undifferentiated content.

  “If all your competitors are doing that same thing ... you're going to get ... the same regurgitated content. So that’s why it’s important to make sure you’ve got that firsthand experience in there ... The story-telling, the accolades, the awards, ... the video of you in front of the camera...”
  — Steve, 30:38

6. Post-Length, Structural Strategies & Modern Content Models (34:53)

• Living Documents: Encourage clients to treat content as evolving, adding new media and updates over time.

• Pillar & Cluster Content (Hub & Spoke, Siloing): Instead of 7,000-word mega-pages, break out subtopics as standalone pages with clear interlinking. Helps with both user experience and LLM referencing.

• Content Organization: The best SEOs create a site taxonomy and a strategic content roadmap, not scattershot blog posts.

  “The real experts will take the time to create that site structure, to create the taxonomy, ... whereas the other folks just use keyword clustering tools and just shrapnel their content wherever the hell they want to.”
  — Steve, 41:56

7. Authentic Link-Building & Knowledge Graph Strategies (45:12)

• Earned Media > Purchased Links: Doing authentic local PR/community actions (like helmet or surgery giveaways) drive genuine mentions, links, and publicity—far more valuable than purchased links.

  • “All those people are going to come that you get to talk to and make friends with that might foster a relationship that earns a link, earns a mention, earns referral traffic. But they just don’t want to do it.” (Steve, 45:41)

• Knowledge Graph & Authorship: Consistent branding/identity across all bylines and profiles aids semantic relationships and Knowledge Graph entries.

  “Why wasn’t your byline represent the semantic vector of what you want to be known for... keep that consistent across all of our social profiles and author bylines...”
  — Steve, 50:20

Notable Quotes & Moments

• AI Hype and SEO Survival:

  • "The more we look at the data... the more we realize this is still pretty much fundamental SEO." (Steve, 03:44)
  • “I don’t think that you would deprioritize traditional search to do AI. But that's all the calls we're getting...” (Steve, 08:09)

• SEO for SMBs:

  • “Just record [your expertise]. Connect with an intern ... Can you help me write this? Oh, and I’m going to be using Originality.AI to make sure you’re not using AI to write this...” (Steve, 35:49)

• On Content Roadmaps:

  • “If you take that two to three months ... and really build out your sitemap for the next five to ten years, you'll never have to worry about content anymore.” (Steve, 42:35)

• Link-building Real Talk:

  • “All these third-party link building companies are just, just garbage... We probably went through 11 different experts just to see if there was one out there that could genuinely deliver great results and we haven’t once found one that actually did that.” (Steve, 47:00)

• Strategic Calm:

  • "You don’t have to do extraordinary things to be successful. You only have to do ordinary things extraordinarily well." (Steve quoting Jim Rohn, 51:55)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:18] - Steve on Imposter Syndrome & SEO’s Core Pillars
• [07:25] - Real Numbers on AI/LLM Referral Traffic
• [09:38] - Steve’s SEO Origin Story and Agency Focus
• [17:53] - Advice for SMBs (Content, Technical, Off-Page)
• [26:14] - Combating the “Content Creation Problem”
• [34:53] - Making Content Living, Multimodal, and Clustered
• [41:56] - Siloing, Site Structure, and Expert vs. Scattershot SEO
• [45:12] - Authentic Link-Building and Earned Media Tactics
• [50:20] - Knowledge Graph, Authorship, Semantic Brand Consistency
• [51:55] - Closing Motivational Advice

Conclusion

This episode delivers a pragmatic, hype-free roadmap for SEO in 2025. Despite the noise around AI and changing search paradigms, Wiideman and hosts agree: strong fundamentals, unique content infused with real expertise, structured websites, and authentic engagement still form the foundation of lasting SEO success. Small businesses, in particular, should focus on these basics before chasing every shiny new tool. As Steve closes, do ordinary SEO things, but do them extraordinarily well.