Content Caffeine #44: Redditification wins, ditch your 'content gaps,' measure this metric


Content Caffeine

For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs

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.


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Insights

The Redditification of Search Results

Like you, I've been monitoring the ongoing shifts in search results.

You'll have noticed that Reddit threads, Quora answers, and social media posts consistently appear in organic rankings, AIOs, and LLM responses.

What we're seeing is a breakdown in the lines between SEO, social media, and PR.

And those lines get blurrier by the day.

Search rewards real talk

What’s driving this shift?

Real voices.

User-generated content on these platforms feels messy, detailed, and human. In the mass of AI-written content and keyword-stuffed pages, that stands out.

When someone Googles "best project management software," they're increasingly clicking on the Reddit thread with 47 comments instead of your well-optimized comparison page.

Google AIOs and most LLMs are rewarding these platforms accordingly.

It makes sense when you think about it.

These sites contain the unfiltered experiences and honest opinions that users actually want.

Your target audience is literally telling you where they go for trustworthy information.

How to handle it as a marketer

1. Rethink your content strategy

Think distribution-first, not content-first.

Create assets that can be repurposed as answers, threads, or deep dives on Reddit, LinkedIn, or Quora.

2. Get active in communities

Build community credibility.

When you focus on genuinely helping people in relevant discussions, it now has SEO value.

Share your expertise, answer detailed questions, and build authority through consistent quality.

The opportunity here is huge.

You get direct access to real customer conversations and pain points.

You expand your opportunity to build trust through your expertise rather than via traditional SEO tactics.

Yes, it's harder work, but the results are often more meaningful.

3. PR = SEO

Try thought leadership content, podcast guesting, and high-authority quotes.

These traditional PR activities feed into your SEO visibility as they show up in LLM summaries or citation sources.

4. Monitor what’s ranking (not just your site)

Google your priority keywords regularly. If Reddit or Quora threads are dominating, analyze what makes them valuable and inject your brand into that space.

Don’t always fight to outrank them. Sometimes it’s smarter to be part of the conversation.

Final word:

Get your distribution right and your audience will reward you.

Related: AI Platform Citation Patterns


Quoteworthy

“From my experience, the average AI output is usually more consistent, logical and well-structured than the average human-written article. But crucially, there is still a big gulf between the quality of the best human-written content and AI outputs. For now, skilled human writers still have a sizeable edge—especially when they use AI as an input into their writing process.”


Ryan Law, Director of Content Marketing, Ahrefs

[Source]


Reinventing Search

In an article for SE Ranking, Victor Schmitt-Bush said he thought AI Mode was a 'gimmick.'

His observations on AI Mode are a good read, but there was a section that caught my attention.

Schmitt-Bush shared a side-by-side study comparing AI Mode with AI Overviews using 50 queries.

The results showed:

  • AI Mode responded to 100% of queries vs. a 56% response for AI Overviews
  • AI Mode uses fewer but more curated sources (12.26 vs 23.36 average)
  • Only a 10.6% URL overlap with AI Overviews, suggesting a completely different source logic
  • Heavy integration with Google Maps for local queries

Since the exact URL overlap between AIOs and AI Mode (for the same queries) was just 10.6%, it indicates AI Mode pulls results from entirely different sources.

This begs the question: How does optimizing for AIOs help you here?

Victor Schmitt-Bush's conclusion is that AI Mode isn't just a UI experiment but potentially a "soft launch" of Google's future search experience.

What do you think?

Related: Digital marketing and SEO-related topics may start driving more visitors from AI search to websites than from traditional search by early 2028.


What metric matters most for SEO?

2 weeks ago, I asked this question in a LinkedIn poll:

"Which metric matters most for your SEO success this year?"

The results:

Google tells us that, when people click to a website from AI Overviews, these clicks are higher quality.

Soon after my poll closed, Mark Williams-Cook ran a poll which appears to reinforce Google's assertion re higher quality clicks:

Are you optimizing for what happens after a user lands on your site?

For example:

● Conversion metrics (sales, form fills, signups)​

● Engagement (time on site, pages per session, interactions)

● Intent fulfillment (Did they find the info they needed? Did they act on it?)

In other words, focus on an outcome-based approach to SEO.

Track what people do when they get to your website and you'll see where they fall through the cracks.

This allows you to tweak your pages to optimize for a desired action—whether that's leads, conversions or something else.

Related: Ahrefs reported that AI search visitors to their platform convert at a 23x higher rate than traditional organic visitors.

Meanwhile...

2 days ago, Ahrefs published a study suggesting that AI users visit fewer pages and bounce more often.

Do you follow me on LinkedIn? I share regular tips and stories I don't have room for here. Come and join me​.

This is not an ad...

Grow your brand mentions and visibility online.

Digital PR is fast becoming the new organic search.

If you need innovative ways to stand out from your competitors, we have ideas for you.

↩ Steer your brand North today.


Information

✶ Noticed in the wild

Lately, several of my Google searches have resulted in an AIO appearing BELOW a website link.

I even tested this by searching for my newsletter.

You can clearly see the AIO in second position—after the link to Kit.

We definitely want more results like this.

Have you seen this, too?

Hit reply and send me your examples.

I'll post an update in my next newsletter.

✶ AI Mode traffic data

Google’s AI Mode is now live for all U.S. users.

Google also updated its Search Console help document to clarify how clicks, impressions, and positions are counted in AI Mode.

As expected, it seems Google won’t let us filter to see AI Mode impressions, clicks, and CTR separately.

The challenges:

  • You'll struggle to distinguish AI Mode performance from traditional search results in your reports.
  • Each link in AI Mode has its own position, but follow-up questions reset rankings as if they were new queries.

That means your page might not appear on the first query, but could show up later and still drive the most valuable click.

The catch? There’s no easy way to track this.

Yet another layer of complexity in understanding search performance.

✶ Statista's Content Marketing Trend Study 2025

The highlights:

  • 61% of B2B marketers say that building credibility is the most important benefit of content marketing. This surpasses lead generation (55%) and engagement (57%).
  • 86% of B2B companies integrate data storytelling into their content strategies.
  • 92% of B2B marketers use AI regularly.

Download link: The Content Marketing Trend Study 2025


Inspiration

Polished Content, Empty Thinking

I've seen content teams rewrite the same articles over and over again.

We attempt to fill the "content gap" and pat ourselves on the back for finding ways to make our version "10x better."

We add more statistics, fancier graphics, longer word counts.

We convince ourselves we're innovating when we're really just iterating on the same tired ideas that have been circulating since 2007.

All we're doing is contributing to the noise, not cutting through it.

Beware of writing another article that exists in 47 different variations across the web. Sure, we could make it "better" with fresh examples and updated data.

But better isn't the same as original.
There's no distinct advantage in optimizing existing topics. The real opportunity lies in starting the conversations no one else is having.

What questions is your audience asking that nobody's answering?

What are the obvious truths that everyone assumes but nobody says out loud?

Instead of asking "How can I write about this topic better than everyone else?" try asking "What angle is everyone else missing?"

Your audience doesn't need another guide to how to develop a content strategy.

They need you to notice the thing they're struggling with that nobody's talking about.

They need your weird perspective, your specific experience, your contrarian take on conventional wisdom.

Stop competing to be the best version of someone else's idea.

Start owning the original, not the replica.

The internet has enough content.

What it needs is more thinking.



I'll see you again on July 10.

In the meantime, feel free to ask me a question, send an interesting link, or tell me what's on your mind. I read all your emails!


Dates to watch

July Monthly Observances

  • Family Golf Month
  • Ice Cream Month
  • National Parks and Recreation Month
  • National Picnic Month
  • National Independent Retailer Month
  • National Blueberry Month

Weekly Observances

  • July 14-20: Capture the Sunset Week

Days

  • July 1: International Joke Day
  • July 2: World UFO Day
  • July 4: Independence Day
  • July 5-6: Ashura
  • July 5-July 27: Tour de France
  • July 6: International Kissing Day
  • July 7: World Chocolate Day
  • July 8: National Video Games Day
  • July 11: World Population Day
  • July 12: Pecan Pie Day
  • July 15: MLB All-Star Game
  • July 16: Moon Landing Anniversary
  • July 17: World Emoji Day
  • July 18: Nelson Mandela International Day
  • July 20: International Chess Day
  • July 20: National Moon Day
  • July 21: National Junk Food Day
  • July 24: Amelia Earhart Day
  • July 26: Aunt and Uncle Day
  • July 27: Parents’ Day
  • July 28: World Hepatitis Day
  • July 30: International Day of Friendship
  • July 31: World Ranger Day

Keep in touch

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Content Caffeine

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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