Lily Ray

Lily Ray

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Head of SEO at Amsive Digital, recognized expert on Google algorithm updates and E-E-A-T, offering deep insights into search marketing.

Self‑promotional Listicle Sites Still Suffering Post‑algorithm Crash
SocialApr 6, 2026

Self‑promotional Listicle Sites Still Suffering Post‑algorithm Crash

Not all sites with self-promotional listicles have been hit, but for the handful that were hit on ~Jan 21, the crash is still crashing. As a reminder, these sites used dozens/hundreds/thousands of self-promotional listicles (plus other spammy approaches) https://t.co/Ri1SdOPJ1t

By Lily Ray
Google Flags .co Domain as Suspicious, Blocks Linking
SocialApr 6, 2026

Google Flags .co Domain as Suspicious, Blocks Linking

This will be an interesting little SEO/AEO experiment: Google Gemini won’t link to my new constancy site (yet) - it keeps saying it’s a “suspicious link” 🙄 I think cuz it ends in .co. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’ll be building links etc. to...

By Lily Ray
Don't Flood Your Site: Seek SEO Expert Advice
SocialApr 4, 2026

Don't Flood Your Site: Seek SEO Expert Advice

Oh now I “need” to write hundreds of articles? 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ Please consult experienced SEO professionals before burning down your site with stuff like this.

By Lily Ray
YouTube Secures Yet Another Core Update Victory
SocialApr 3, 2026

YouTube Secures Yet Another Core Update Victory

Oh look YouTube wins another core update, truly, who could have seen this coming? 🫠

By Lily Ray
AI Mode Delays Linking New Sites in Sandbox
SocialApr 3, 2026

AI Mode Delays Linking New Sites in Sandbox

Seems like AI Mode / AI Overviews have a “sandbox” waiting period for new sites. They are able to talk about the consultancy I launched yesterday but so far no links to the site yet in AIO/AI Mode. https://t.co/TG38v0lrV8

By Lily Ray
Gemini’s “Source” Links Redirect to Ad‑filled Google Searches
SocialApr 3, 2026

Gemini’s “Source” Links Redirect to Ad‑filled Google Searches

Only Gemini would provide a “link to a source” that actually just takes you to a Google search result with an ad for another company 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ https://t.co/wt9eXpthqz

By Lily Ray
Public AI Content Case Studies May Trigger Traffic Drops
SocialApr 3, 2026

Public AI Content Case Studies May Trigger Traffic Drops

Answer: they’re all public case studies about scaling AI content. Usually the case study was written near the time of the peak. Not sure if cause of drop is the content, the case study, or both 😅😅😅

By Lily Ray
LLMs Can't Render JavaScript, Trust Their SEO Advice Cautiously
SocialApr 3, 2026

LLMs Can't Render JavaScript, Trust Their SEO Advice Cautiously

Friendly reminder to be very careful taking technical SEO advice from LLMs; they will confidently make statements about how sites operate that simply aren’t true in many cases, because most LLMs can’t render JavaScript. This includes Claude.

By Lily Ray
Google Discover AI Redirects All Content to YouTube
SocialApr 2, 2026

Google Discover AI Redirects All Content to YouTube

So in my Discover feed, Google uses AI to summarize the situation and then gives the illusion of linking to multiple brand logos (no one is ever gonna click on that btw) - but when you click to expand? It’s...

By Lily Ray
Baidu's New English Wiki Boosts US Visibility
SocialApr 1, 2026

Baidu's New English Wiki Boosts US Visibility

Baidu's English pages appear to be exploding in visibility in the U.S. It looks like it's tied to the core update, but I think it's actually that they launched an English Wiki site within the last week: https://t.co/O54gTff7C8 https://t.co/R6b5Ntxk0B

By Lily Ray
AI Articles Prematurely Report March 2026 Core Update
SocialMar 30, 2026

AI Articles Prematurely Report March 2026 Core Update

AI-generated articles already being published (and one even quotes me with a quote I never said) about the March 2026 Core Update 🫠🫠 lol, the update was announced Friday and has barely kicked in yet, let alone completed. There is no...

By Lily Ray
No Clear Evidence of Core Update Yet
SocialMar 30, 2026

No Clear Evidence of Core Update Yet

FYI I just checked many sites; still not seeing any convincing signs of the core update hitting yet.

By Lily Ray
ChatGPT’s Site: Queries Fail on Exa, Work Elsewhere
SocialMar 28, 2026

ChatGPT’s Site: Queries Fail on Exa, Work Elsewhere

Fun fact: the site: search operator only works on Google and Bing, but not Exa. ChatGPT uses site: search operators in fan-out queries. 😅

By Lily Ray
Fan‑out Query Updates Dramatically
SocialMar 28, 2026

Fan‑out Query Updates Dramatically

My thoughts on the new fan-out query changes in ChatGPT (response to @chris_nectiv post) https://t.co/zChQKjii1S

By Lily Ray
Seeking AI Clone to Attend All Product Demos
SocialMar 27, 2026

Seeking AI Clone to Attend All Product Demos

Has anyone made an AI agent I can use to clone myself to be able to attend all the dozens of product demos I am pitched weekly?

By Lily Ray
Google's Fake External Links Create Confusing, Poor UX
SocialMar 25, 2026

Google's Fake External Links Create Confusing, Poor UX

This one is objectively bad for user experience though. I know Google often introduces changes that reduce clicks out to external sites. But in this case, it makes the user *think* they are getting an external link when they are...

By Lily Ray
Claude's Surprising Take on AI Search Citations
SocialMar 23, 2026

Claude's Surprising Take on AI Search Citations

Working on some new analysis of AI search citations and Claude just said this… 🤔 https://t.co/3tMq0fbAGF

By Lily Ray
Vibe Coding Risks SEO; AI‑generated Sites Fail without JavaScript
SocialMar 23, 2026

Vibe Coding Risks SEO; AI‑generated Sites Fail without JavaScript

I think vibe coding is going to create a lot of these types of SEO issues

By Lily Ray
AI Is Reshaping SEO Strategies, Says WSJ
SocialMar 23, 2026

AI Is Reshaping SEO Strategies, Says WSJ

I liked this part of the WSJ article about AI & SEO yesterday: https://t.co/JKEoR59sEz https://t.co/3bUjneWgaX

By Lily Ray
AI Spam Floods My Feed with Fake Quotes
SocialMar 23, 2026

AI Spam Floods My Feed with Fake Quotes

Every day I wake up to alerts for my name that include: - quotes I never said (like the one below) - AI rehashes of my original articles AI slop is out of control https://t.co/92UnlDqbYD

By Lily Ray
Google Penalizes Spammer Who Topped Discover Update
SocialMar 21, 2026

Google Penalizes Spammer Who Topped Discover Update

The biggest (and unexpected) winner of the Google Discover Core Update (via @GrowOnDiscover) has since been manual action’d The site was doing all types of spammy stuff so it was surprising they came out on top. Until Google took notice....

By Lily Ray
SEOs Still Unfamiliar with JSON‑LD
SocialMar 21, 2026

SEOs Still Unfamiliar with JSON‑LD

Ah yes, JSON-LD! SEOs had clearly never heard of or used it before GEO. 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ https://t.co/GSNcGB23GV

By Lily Ray
AI Renames Generic Images with Perfect Descriptive Accuracy
SocialMar 20, 2026

AI Renames Generic Images with Perfect Descriptive Accuracy

Just had Claude Cowork go into a folder full of images with generic filenames and rewrote them to be descriptive before uploading them onto a site and the output is perfect. 10/10. 👏🏽👏🏽

By Lily Ray
Avoid Risky AI Search Tactics; They Damage SEO
SocialMar 18, 2026

Avoid Risky AI Search Tactics; They Damage SEO

One of the worst things you can do for AI search visibility? Destroying your SEO performance with shiny new AI search tactics that are ultimately dangerous for SEO - and by extension - AI search. In my latest Substack article, I wrote...

By Lily Ray
LinkedIn Posts Now Surface in Google Discover for Influencers
SocialMar 18, 2026

LinkedIn Posts Now Surface in Google Discover for Influencers

Cool new update from Discover Snoop: Individual LinkedIn Posts are now appearing in Google Discover. This is in addition to X, Instagram, and TikTok posts already showing more frequently in there. And as @AndellDam has recently been highlighting, this appears to...

By Lily Ray
Tweet Relevant Content to Appear in Google Discover
SocialMar 18, 2026

Tweet Relevant Content to Appear in Google Discover

How to show up in Google Discover 2026 edition: tweet things you also might be interested in 😅 https://t.co/QuiAVIpyCy

By Lily Ray
Google Deleting Citations on Self‑promoting Listicles: Ultimate FAFO
SocialMar 18, 2026

Google Deleting Citations on Self‑promoting Listicles: Ultimate FAFO

Imagine if Google actually removes *all* citations for queries that previously showed self-promoting listicles. That would indeed be the ultimate FAFO

By Lily Ray
SEO/AI Case Study Drives Explosive 2024 Organic Traffic
SocialMar 16, 2026

SEO/AI Case Study Drives Explosive 2024 Organic Traffic

Dear lord, just found another SEO/AI case study about how the company exploded this site's organic traffic in early 2024... ...when do we get the follow-up case study? 😅 https://t.co/O5fQZBGYsg

By Lily Ray
Long‑standing Niche Gaming Content Thrives Post‑Discover Update
SocialMar 16, 2026

Long‑standing Niche Gaming Content Thrives Post‑Discover Update

Amazing to watch this site's Google Discover performance over time, including improving after the Discover core update. It's a super niche gaming site with authors who have been writing original, human-written content for the site for 15+ years https://t.co/9DKgLLJhnW

By Lily Ray
ChatGPT Isn’t Replacing Google Search, Despite Hype
SocialMar 16, 2026

ChatGPT Isn’t Replacing Google Search, Despite Hype

I guess ChatGPT isn’t killing Google search after all. (We knew that, but I still see posts on here and IG saying this daily)

By Lily Ray
Claude Simplifies Complex Academic GEO Studies
SocialMar 12, 2026

Claude Simplifies Complex Academic GEO Studies

Enjoying using Claude to break down some of the “academic GEO studies” I’ve been reading https://t.co/HNl9KQYHdn

By Lily Ray
Boasting About SEO Wins Gets You Caught Fast
SocialMar 12, 2026

Boasting About SEO Wins Gets You Caught Fast

The funny thing about people publicly boasting about their explosive SEO campaigns is that bringing viral attention to them is the single best and fastest way to get caught, including potentially having multiple accounts in your GSC all penalized at...

By Lily Ray
Google's Search Flooded with AI Rehashes, Official Sources Hidden
SocialMar 11, 2026

Google's Search Flooded with AI Rehashes, Official Sources Hidden

It’s officially getting annoying searching on Google for the official source of information, and needing to ignore all the top-ranking, “updated 3 days ago,” AI-generated rehashes of the actual article you’re looking for.

By Lily Ray
Listicle Placements Now Come with Brag‑worthy Plaques
SocialMar 11, 2026

Listicle Placements Now Come with Brag‑worthy Plaques

So now not only are there companies selling placements on listicles, there are other companies selling plaques you can buy for having been featured on the listicle 😂😂😂 https://t.co/NrDHMSvquN

By Lily Ray
Scribd’s /Document/ PDFs Boost SEO Visibility
SocialMar 10, 2026

Scribd’s /Document/ PDFs Boost SEO Visibility

Another blast from the past: Scribd is exploding in SEO visibility. Mostly from its /document/ folder (UGC PDFs & AI-generated summaries of PDF contents) https://t.co/ZGr1eYj5tr

By Lily Ray
Scaling Content Brings Hidden Risks for AI Search Tools
SocialMar 10, 2026

Scaling Content Brings Hidden Risks for AI Search Tools

Fantastic new article by @pedrodias about the risks of scaling content. A good read for some of the new AI search tools who have recently entered the space.

By Lily Ray
Gemini Faces First Wrongful‑Death Suicide Lawsuit, ChatGPT Leads
SocialMar 10, 2026

Gemini Faces First Wrongful‑Death Suicide Lawsuit, ChatGPT Leads

Wow, the first wrongful death suicide lawsuit against Gemini (Compared to 9 already for ChatGPT) Not a good sign. h/t @natejhake & Jamie Alberico 🤯 https://t.co/IEFIMObcTO

By Lily Ray
Google Consolidates Entities and Social Profiles in Discover
SocialMar 9, 2026

Google Consolidates Entities and Social Profiles in Discover

This is cool. And it fits with the larger trend Google has been implementing across Discover and News for years - highlighting entities, brands, recognized authors, and linking their social profiles all in one place

By Lily Ray
ChatGPT Traffic Mirrors Google Organic Rankings
SocialMar 9, 2026

ChatGPT Traffic Mirrors Google Organic Rankings

Screenshot 1: Grokipedia - projected organic traffic 2. Grokipedia ChatGPT citations 3. Grokipedia AIO citations 4. Grokipedia AI mode citations Interesting how closely ChatGPT aligns with Google organic traffic 👀 All data from @ahrefs https://t.co/insLf5sN2u

By Lily Ray
When SEO Webinars Turn Into Weekend Exit Signals
SocialMar 6, 2026

When SEO Webinars Turn Into Weekend Exit Signals

Someone just sent me a high-profile webinar about “SEO vs AEO” where the AEO part apparently focused on “adding FAQ schema to product pages” Ok. That’s my sign that it’s officially time to log off for the weekend 👋🏽👋🏽👋🏽 https://t.co/zWCUoVLqIw

By Lily Ray
Tracking Organic Visibility in Public AI Search Cases
SocialMar 6, 2026

Tracking Organic Visibility in Public AI Search Cases

It’s always a fun ride checking organic visibility for the public AI search case studies 😂

By Lily Ray
ChatGPT Carousels Align with 83% of Top Google Shopping Results
SocialMar 5, 2026

ChatGPT Carousels Align with 83% of Top Google Shopping Results

“Over 83% of ChatGPT carousel products were found as strong matches in Google’s top 40 organic shopping results.” Another article showing how ChatGPT uses Google’s results - this time for Google Shopping. Great new research by Tom Wells at @peec_ai https://t.co/ABBzFlGH55

By Lily Ray
Query Fan-Out Redefines Keyword Research Methodology
SocialMar 4, 2026

Query Fan-Out Redefines Keyword Research Methodology

Props to @Lem4 from @Similarweb for publishing some of the most well-thought out and actionable AEO/GEO research I've seen so far. Nice new article about how query fan-out/reformulation changes keyword research methodology: https://t.co/cLJLOo86IQ

By Lily Ray
Nano Banana Instantly Translates Screenshots Into Argentine Spanish
SocialMar 3, 2026

Nano Banana Instantly Translates Screenshots Into Argentine Spanish

Not gonna lie, using Nano Banana to say "take this screenshot and switch it to Argentine Spanish" is a pretty amazing feature. https://t.co/E7hxNdfMIK

By Lily Ray
Google Clamps Down on Spammy SEO Agency Sites
SocialMar 2, 2026

Google Clamps Down on Spammy SEO Agency Sites

The crackdown on SEO agency sites continues... These sites used lots of self-promoting listicles, service area pages for many cities (without physical offices there), excessive industry pages, and other scaled tactics that can eventually cause major SEO problems. https://t.co/7yQn2hMq1p

By Lily Ray
Recipe Site Gains Momentum After 2023 HCU Launch
SocialMar 2, 2026

Recipe Site Gains Momentum After 2023 HCU Launch

Wow, this is a recipe site I worked on after the 2023 HCU... cool to see its visibility growing so much now. https://t.co/tHwxnVrRKs

By Lily Ray
Google Discover Gets Major Profile Updates – New Article
SocialMar 2, 2026

Google Discover Gets Major Profile Updates – New Article

Nice new article on Google Discover and the latest Discover profile changes by my teammate @JohnnyHerge https://t.co/iQap8dufeJ

By Lily Ray
SEO Agencies Now Prioritize Profit over Client Success
SocialFeb 27, 2026

SEO Agencies Now Prioritize Profit over Client Success

There’s a new one. Right. Totally. SEO agencies suddenly stopped caring about their clients’ success. Yep. https://t.co/256DkiWsAT

By Lily Ray
LinkedIn Flags Shady Connection Request with Warning
SocialFeb 26, 2026

LinkedIn Flags Shady Connection Request with Warning

Imagine being so shady that LinkedIn literally sends a warning with your connection request 👀

By Lily Ray