Podcast Summary: Voices of Search
Episode: AI Citation Dominance Will Be the New SEO Leaderboard by 2026?
Date: January 6, 2026
Host: Jordan Cooney
Guest: Josh Bliskel (Profound)
Episode Overview
In this concise but impactful episode, host Jordan Cooney welcomes Josh Bliskel from Profound to discuss the rapidly evolving future of SEO, specifically the rise of AI-driven citations and their potential to replace traditional click-based metrics. The conversation explores how search marketing will shift as bots—not humans—become the primary consumers and distributors of content, fundamentally redefining how brands measure influence and visibility.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. Lightning Round: The Death of the Blue Links
- Jordan Cooney kicks off a rapid-fire Q&A about emerging AI search trends and asks Josh for his perspective on major upcoming shifts.
- [00:43]
2. AI Citation Dominance: Buy or Sell?
- Jordan Cooney: “Are you buying or selling that AI citation dominance will be the new form or leaderboard in 2026?”
- [01:00]
- Josh Bliskel:
- “I buy it. Citations are the new clicks. Citations are clicks, but from bots basically.”
- [01:10]
- “I buy it. Citations are the new clicks. Citations are clicks, but from bots basically.”
3. Explaining the Value of Citations vs Clicks
- Jordan asks Josh to clarify the difference between citations and traditional clicks, and why this paradigm shift matters.
- [01:17]
- Josh Bliskel:
- “Human referrals are changing, right? Like the zero click experience we know is already going to be happening. But I think the important part is realizing that you are getting clicks from somebody. It's just who is that person. And that person has kind of shifted from being a pathing, information seeking, sentient human into someone who is basically given a mandate to answer questions instead of.”
- [01:32]
- AI models are answering user questions directly, reducing visible human referral traffic but not actual content engagement.
- “Human referrals are changing, right? Like the zero click experience we know is already going to be happening. But I think the important part is realizing that you are getting clicks from somebody. It's just who is that person. And that person has kind of shifted from being a pathing, information seeking, sentient human into someone who is basically given a mandate to answer questions instead of.”
4. Citations as a “Golden Metric”
- Josh Bliskel:
- “I am going to get clicks on Profound's website from bots who are seeking to answer people's questions… we can understand a citation basically as a stand in for a user… That to me, you know, citations are this, they're a golden metric because they don't depend on referral traffic, they don't depend on clicks. I think clicks are very fraught.”
- [03:24]
- Citations from AI (e.g., from ChatGPT’s user agent) represent moments when a brand answered a query, even if a human didn’t generate a visible click.
- “I am going to get clicks on Profound's website from bots who are seeking to answer people's questions… we can understand a citation basically as a stand in for a user… That to me, you know, citations are this, they're a golden metric because they don't depend on referral traffic, they don't depend on clicks. I think clicks are very fraught.”
5. Future of Goals & SEO Metrics
- Josh challenges the utility of human referral-based KPIs, noting that as AI tools take over more search experiences, teams should prioritize being cited as authoritative sources by these AI systems rather than focusing on traditional click metrics.
- Quote:
- “What we can do is we can make you more influential in the questions that people are already answering or asking.”
- [03:24]
- “What we can do is we can make you more influential in the questions that people are already answering or asking.”
Notable Quotes
- Josh Bliskel ([01:10]):
- “I buy it. Citations are the new clicks. Citations are clicks, but from bots basically.”
- Josh Bliskel ([01:32]):
- “It's just who is that person. And that person has kind of shifted from being a pathing, information seeking, sentient human into someone who is basically given a mandate to answer questions instead of.”
- Josh Bliskel ([03:24]):
- “You would have gotten a click though. That’s a moment where your brand provided an answer. You were valuable there. You were important on the web... Citations are this, they're a golden metric because they don't depend on referral traffic, they don't depend on clicks.”
- Josh Bliskel ([03:24]):
- “What we can do is we can make you more influential in the questions that people are already answering or asking.”
Memorable Moments & Timestamps
- 00:43: Start of the AI-focused lightning round.
- 01:10: Josh asserts that citations will replace clicks.
- 03:24: Clear, practical explanation of why AI-induced citations become the new gold standard metric.
- 04:28: Episode wrap-up and guest contact details.
Key Takeaways
- AI citations are poised to overtake clicks as a primary SEO metric by 2026.
- Citations act as evidence your brand influenced an answer, even when no human click occurs.
- SEO teams should focus on being influential and cited within AI-generated answers, not just on generating human traffic.
- Success in SEO will increasingly depend on being recognized by AI systems as authoritative sources.
For further exploration, connect with Josh Bliskel via LinkedIn or visit tryprofound.com.