Backlinks Versus Mentions

SEO in 2026 isn't what it was in 2024 — or even late 2025. Today's most successful businesses aren't choosing between traditional search engine optimisation and AI Search strategies. They're mastering both.While Google still processes 16.4 billion searches daily compared to ChatGPT's 800 million prompts, the quality of AI search traffic tells a different story. Some data shows visits from ChatGPT convert at five times the rate of traditional search, making AI Search Optimisation essential for businesses targeting high-value customers.The challenge? You can't afford to optimise for one at the expense of the other. Google's AI Overviews reduce click-through rates by roughly 50% when present on search results pages, whilst AI tools like ChatGPT rarely recommend brands directly from their own websites — they cite third-party sources instead.In this video, I reveal:• How SEO works in 2026 across both traditional web search and AI search platforms — including the "hybrid SEO" approach that captures traffic from both• Why traditional on-page SEO remains the foundation (and which technical elements matter most for AI search optimisation)• The critical role of schema markup in helping AI tools understand and recommend your business• Why digital PR and third-party mentions have become more important than traditional backlink building — with real examples of how AI tools source their recommendations• A behind-the-scenes look at Elite Renewables (one of our own websites), demonstrating practical optimisation using Rank Math Pro• The emerging impact of AI agents on SEO strategy and what this means for your website's user experienceI'll also demonstrate ChatGPT's Atlas browser in agent mode, showing exactly how these AI tools navigate websites and make purchasing decisions — revealing why optimising for both human visitors and AI agents is becoming essential.If you're ready to understand how SEO works in 2026 and implement a strategy that captures traffic from both traditional search engines and AI platforms, this episode provides your complete roadmap for staying ahead while your competitors figure out which approach to choose.

Watch this as a video instead: https://exposure.ninja/seo-2026

Get the show notes: https://exposureninja.com/podcast/373/

Listen to these episodes next:

The BEST SEO Strategies for 2026 — https://exposureninja.com/podcast/368/

The BEST AI Search Optimisation Strategies for 2026 — https://exposureninja.com/podcast/366/

How To Create and Optimise Your Content for AI Search — https://exposureninja.com/podcast/363/