Summary4 min read

Voices of Search Podcast

Episode: How will machine trust signals evolve for content creators next year?

Date: September 10, 2025
Host: Tyson Stockton
Guest: Duane Forrester (Unbound Answers)

Episode Overview

In this episode, Tyson Stockton and Duane Forrester dive into the future of machine trust signals—focusing on how search engines and AI language models (LLMs) will evaluate credibility and authority for content creators in the coming year. The conversation covers actionable strategies around structured data, third-party trust, user responsiveness, and the evolving concept of digital "footprints," highlighting the growing sophistication of algorithmic trust mechanisms and what creators must do to stay competitive.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Future of Machine Trust Signals: What Comes Next? ([00:43])

Crystal Ball Question: Tyson prompts Duane to predict how machine trust signals will evolve for creators in the upcoming year.
Structured Data is Foundational:
- Duane, who helped launch schema.org, insists that structured data is still mission-critical:
  - “Get it done. Don’t ask, should I use this? Yes, you should.” (Duane Forrester, [01:07])
- The schema.org library can be influenced and is not static, but proposals must be for broad, not selfish, benefits.
  - "You can't propose something that benefits you and not anyone else. It has to be a group benefit." (Duane Forrester, [01:17])
Format Doesn't Matter, Signals Do:
- Choice of markup (JSON, schema.org, RDFa) doesn’t matter, but maintaining accurate, up-to-date trust signals is vital.
Don’t Retroactively Panic:
- No need to go back and retrofit all old content with every new format; consistency and presence of signals are key.

2. Expanding Trust Beyond Schema: Third-Party References Matter ([02:00])

"Trust signals that we all tried to game back in the day” now matter more than ever for LLMs and AI systems.
Real-World Credentials:
- External validations (e.g., appearing as a graduate on your university’s public list, belonging to professional associations) influence machine trust.
- "It's kind of important to the LLM who doesn’t personally know you, that you are in fact that doctor, that there is a direct connection there—and who better to maintain that than you..." (Duane Forrester, [02:25])
Guard Your Signals:
- Maintaining these references is in your self-interest—bad actors will attempt to hijack them.

3. Responsiveness as a Ranking Vector ([03:15])

User Experience Signals:
- Responsiveness to customer feedback (e.g., how quickly you reply to reviews) will factor into machine trust and search rankings.
  - "That one signal, that one, one signal is a vector and that vector says you suck against the query. So you will immediately be filtered out in favor of somebody who sucks less..." (Duane Forrester, [03:36])
Differentiator in Commerce:
- Customer service records—especially for product queries—could determine whether your site is shown to consumers.

4. The Importance of Diligent Content Policing ([05:21])

Fact-Checking and Editing:
- Each piece of content must be fact-checked, typo-free, and rigorously edited; basic errors negatively impact trust signals.
  - "How anyone can publish something with a broken link or a typo today... it's beyond me." (Duane Forrester, [05:38])
Human Oversight:
- Keep a “human in the loop” to maintain credibility—even minor editorial diligence plays a role in trust.

5. Social Currency & Digital Footprint ([06:05])

Brand Footprint in the Digital World:
- Long-term engagement, local involvement, and “the exhaust” a brand leaves behind add to its trustworthiness.
  - "Over time, you are going to have conversations about the graffiti in your neighborhood ... and those kind of build up a social currency around your brand..." (Duane Forrester, [06:10])
LLM Personalization:
- LLMs (like ChatGPT/Bard) learn user and brand preferences over time—your accumulated signals affect whether you “fit the context” of a query.

6. Consistency is Crucial ([07:14])

Tyson reiterates the need for ongoing consistency:
- “It's looking for the consistency for a lot of that trust element, 100%.” (Tyson Stockton, [07:15])

Notable Quotes & Moments

Duane Forrester, emphasizing structured data:
- “Get it done. Don’t ask, should I use this? Yes, you should.” ([01:07])
On third-party validation:
- "It's kind of important to the LLM who doesn’t personally know you, that you are in fact that doctor..." ([02:25])
Responsiveness as a filter:
- "That one signal... is a vector and that vector says you suck against the query.” ([03:36])
Classic content diligence:
- “How anyone can publish something with a broken link or a typo today... it's beyond me.” ([05:38])
Footprint and context in LLMs:
- “What kind of footprint do I leave behind and what does my exhaust trail look like? Are people generally happy in my wake or are they generally perturbed?” ([06:23])
Tyson Stockton on consistency:
- “It's looking for the consistency for a lot of that trust element, 100%.” ([07:15])

Practical Takeaways for Content Creators

Implement and update structured data across your site—don’t wait.
Seek and maintain real-world, third-party references for your credentials and business reputation.
Respond rapidly and professionally to reviews and user inquiries to build a record of customer care.
Keep all content factual, polished, and error-free—use human editors whenever possible.
Cultivate a positive, meaningful digital footprint through ongoing engagement with your audience and community.
Be consistent—in your content, reputation, and interactions—to be favored by AI systems and search engines.

Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------------------------|-----------| | Future of Machine Trust Signals / Structured Data | 00:43-02:00| | Third-Party References & Trust | 02:00-03:15| | Responsiveness as a Ranking Vector | 03:15-03:50| | (Ad Break Omitted) | 03:51-05:21| | Content Policing & Human Editing | 05:21-06:05| | Social Currency & Digital Footprint | 06:05-07:14| | Consistency and Wrap-up | 07:14-END |

This episode offers a forward-looking roadmap for creators intent on maximizing trust and authority signals for next-generation SEO.

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Transcript6 lines

[00:00]
A
The Voices of Search Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast, I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice then visit iheareverything.com welcome to the Voices of Search Podcast. A member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network, ready to expedite your company's organic growth efforts. Sit back, relax, and get ready for your daily dose of search engine optimization wisdom. Here's today's host of the Voices of Search podcast, Tyson Stockton.
[00:43]
B
And this one's. This is a little challenging one, but then, so the next question I'm going to have here is crystal ball. And so this one, you know, we're looking out into the future. We're predicting what we think is going to happen. And the question would be how will machine trust signals evolve for content creators in the next year?
[01:03]
C
Okay, so that's actually fairly straightforward, at least in my view and in my opinion. Okay, please forgive my bias on this one, because as one of the people who launched schema.orgstructured data get it done. I don't know who else needs to hear this, right, but get it done. Don't ask, should I use this? Yes, you should. And if there is something legitimately not in a library that you think should be in there, then you should propose it. But just keep in mind, you can't propose something that benefits you and not anyone else. It has to be a group benefit. That is the only thing that will be added to the schema library. However, do not feel like the library is set like it is malleable. You can influence changes. Having said that, none of these systems care what structured markup you use. JSON, schema.org, rdfa, if anyone's still using that, like it doesn't matter, right? Here's the real point. The point is you don't have to go back and retrofit your other work with something new. Like you don't have to worry about that. Okay? But those trust signals matter. And not just those trust signals. The trust signals that we all tried to game back in the day, okay. Things like notations in other areas. So if you are a doctor, being a member of a professional association, being noted by your school as a graduate in their list of graduates, like, you might not care about that, but it's kind of important to the LLM who doesn't personally know you, that you are in fact that doctor, that there is a direct connection there and who better to maintain that than you because it's in your interest. So you should do that because I guarantee you at some point there's a bad actor who's going to go out there and try to claim that reference for themselves to try to game the system. Because that's what bad actors do. I think that the trust signals of responsiveness incredibly important because you can imagine people asking these AI systems, I want this product, but I want to buy it from a company who has good customer service. Okay, well if your history on responsiveness for reviews is that it takes you six months to reply to even good reviews, that one signal, that one, one signal is a vector and that vector says you suck against the query. So you will immediately be filtered out in favor of somebody who sucks less and so on up until someone who is great, who happens to have the product, has it available, same price and good customer service. Whoever makes like whoever hits that trifecta, quadfecta, whatever it is, they will be.
[03:51]
D
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[05:21]
C
You know, if you really want to dive in on the trust things, then police your content Human in the loop on this stuff. Don't write stuff and put it out there and Say, you know, oh, that's good enough. No, like, fact check every single thing. Be diligent. Don't make mistakes, fix your typos. How anyone can publish something with a broken link or a typo today is. It's beyond me. I don't know. I mean that I can't. I can't wrap my head around it. Not in a logical sense. I could understand it's a mistake. But again, you can, like, be an editor and fix that. You can, like, watch for that. Right? So there are a lot of things that way from a credibility standpoint. And then there's the other side of it, which is kind of the footprint and the exhaust that you leave in the world. So over time, you are going to have conversations about the graffiti in your neighborhood and about this that's happening down the road and welcoming the new business to the block and doing all these things and those kind of build up a social currency around your brand that tell these systems things about your entity that may matter to someone who's asking, and not because they ask specifically, but because it's the kind of person they are. And the LLM learns that about them. That's one of the things about LLMs. They learn a lot about you. The more you feed them, the more they get a sense of who you are, the more they bring you things that align with who they think you are. So you have to think that way as if your company was a person. What kind of footprint do I leave behind and what does my exhaust trail look like? Are people generally happy in my wake or are they generally perturbed in my wake? Because again, those types of things are signals that the LLMs can actually pick up on today and that will give them a sense of are you the right answer in this context?
[07:14]
B
Yeah, consistency too. Like, to that point, it's looking for the consistency for a lot of that trust element, 100%. So that's going to wrap up this episode of the Voice of Search podcast. Thanks again to Duane Forrester from Unbound Answers for joining us. If you'd like to get in contact with Duane, you can find a link to his LinkedIn profile in the show notes. Or you can get more information about unbound answers@unboundanswers.com also be sure to check out his substack, which will be in the show notes for some of these articles that have been referenced. And if you haven't subscribed yet and would like a daily stream of SEO content marketing knowledge in your podcast feedback, hit the subscribe button on your podcast app or on YouTube and we'll be back in your feed soon with that. That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by, and we'll see you in the next episode.