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Content Caffeine

Content, PR, and SEO insights from Nicole DeLeon

My team and I have been helping brands reach their SEO traffic and conversion goals through content and links for over 10 years. Recognized by industry leaders and household brands as an authority in both organic content and digital PR.

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Featured Post

Content Caffeine #48: Skills for SEOs to win search, a Google insider talks AI content...

Content Caffeine For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs Hi there, Today, you'll see a couple of thought-provoking perspectives on the state of content and how SEOs can thrive going forward. Let's dive in.Highlights include: Gary Illyes Reveals His Stance on AI Content What Percentage of Web Pages Are Created With AI? (and what this means) How To Become a Commercially Minded SEO Tools Are Underrated As always, thanks for being here. I'll be back on September 4.Nicole P.S. Well, this post on...

10 days ago • 7 min read
A screenshot from Google Search showing the appearance of more embedded links in AI Mode answers.

Content Caffeine For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs Hi there, ICYMI: The Google Search Liaison role is defunct. Danny Sullivan stepped away from the public-facing role he's held for nearly 8 years to "work on various projects within the Google Search team." Is this the end of any transparent communication with the search community?Today's highlights include: Just do normal SEO Rank tracking doesn't exist Brand mentions by LLMs: Mentions vs citations As always, thanks for being here. I'll...

24 days ago • 7 min read
pie chart showing how AIO citations rank in search. the 3 pie slices are colored blue (76.10%), Orange (14.4%) and yellow (9.5%)

Content Caffeine For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs Hi there, Google added an AI Mode button on the right side of the search box. Have you seen it yet? We may never be able to accurately track traffic from AIOs and AI Mode, but getting your brand (or your clients' brands) mentioned in AI-enabled search is a huge credibility lever. I discuss the best way to do that in the 'Inspiration' section below.Today's highlights include: SEO ranks #1 in B2B June Core Update: Winners and Losers...

about 1 month ago • 7 min read
A pie chart showing how AIOs currently rank. Most are still in position 1 at 87.6%, but 10.4% are now in position 2 or 3.

Content Caffeine For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs Hi there,Today's highlights include: The correlation between AIO clicks and income How individuals use generative AI in 2025 - AKA, "Connect with a human today." Are you mixing too many search intents in your content? As always, thanks for being here. I'll be back on July 24.Nicole P.S. Do you ever forward this newsletter to a friend or colleague? Reply with a "Yes" if you do (because I'm working on something for you). P.P.S. I'm sorry...

about 2 months ago • 7 min read
bar chart showing the most cited domains in AI Overviews. Quora and Reddit are at the top.

Content Caffeine For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs View in browser Hi there, It's not all about AI :) Today's highlights include: The Redditification of Search Results [Insights] What Metric Matters Most for SEO? [Insights] Statista's Content Marketing Trend Study 2025 [Information] Polished Content, Empty Thinking [Inspiration] Thanks for being here and have a wonderful July 4th weekend! I'll be back on July 10.Nicole P.S. I recently posted a quick reality check for your SEO strategy....

2 months ago • 7 min read
Bar chart showing percentage of people who used traditional search vs AI tools for search.

Content Caffeine For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs Hi there, Did you see this?Anthropic (Claude) started an AI-generated blog and it only lasted a month. Maybe, just maybe, the content wasn't up to the standard of an expert, human writer? The highlights today include: How traditional rankings drive AI Search Let's put search data into perspective What's the top driver for showing up in AIOs? You have a passive page problem (scroll to the Inspiration section) Thanks for being here and...

3 months ago • 7 min read
graph with dates at the bottom showing the number of searches for SEO in the past year and past quarter. Searches are up 43% in the past quarter. The graph profile is a delicious lime green color.

Content Caffeine For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs Hi there, Are you keeping up? Since Google's annual I/O event, SEO writers have been working their keyboards overtime. You've probably read 97 opinions in the past week! Let's just say that Google seems determined to cram AI into...well, everything. Meanwhile, here's what you'll see below Lost traffic may not have been valuable Searches for SEO higher than ever Forget clicks, focus on outcomes Why we need slow-motion marketing Thanks...

3 months ago • 6 min read
a chart showing 2 lines. the green line is google and the red line is ChatGPT. it represents who sends the most referral clicks from their platforms

Content Caffeine For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs Hi there, Did you see this? Sam Altman was asked whether ChatGPT would replace Google as the primary search engine. Altman responded, “Probably not.” I'm not surprised by his answer because who's capable of indexing the entire web at scale?You'll find useful data, thoughts on AI, and the results of my ChatGPT experiment below. Thanks for being here and I'll see you next time,Nicole P.S. Is a lack of brand visibility holding you back?...

4 months ago • 7 min read
image showing the second-order effects of AI. there are 5 colored rungs, like a ladder. the first rung says 'gen ai generates content' and the last rung is labelled 'trusted authentic content becomes more important than ever'

Content Caffeine For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs Hi there, May 1 is a public holiday just about everywhere, except North America. If no one replies to your messages today, you know why. In other news... My content feed is overrun by AI-related themes. On the bright side, I found an interesting AI framework to get feedback on my writing. You'll find that in the "Quote-worthy" section below. Thanks for being here and I'll see you next time,Nicole P.S. I love supporting my readers, i.e....

4 months ago • 7 min read
a horizontal bar graph with text on the left and a purple bar showing percentages. responses to a question on which types of pages people prioritize when link building. Articles, homepages and product pages were the top 3.

Content Caffeine For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs Hi there, Here's what I've got for you today: Passage ranking back in focus [Insights] A new link-building trends report [Information] What Google is testing [Insights] The thing killing your creative marketing [Inspiration] Enjoy! Thanks for being here and I'll see you next time,Nicole P.S. After a break from social media, I'm back on LinkedIn. You'll find useful tips and content I don't have space for in this letter. If we're not...

5 months ago • 6 min read