SEO in 2026: What's Changed, What's Timeless, and What's BS

Everyone is trying to keep you inside their platform. Google answers with AI, social keeps you scrolling, and the click you used to get for free is getting harder to earn. So what actually works in SEO now? John Kiama sits down with Eric Ibekwem of WithEric'sHelp to separate what has genuinely changed from what has not moved in twenty years, and to call out what is being sold as SEO but is not. WHAT WE COVER Why "AI SEO" is not a separate discipline, and what to do when someone pitches it to you Sentiment: what the internet thinks of your business, and why AI is now reading it How search has spread across seven or eight platforms, including social Niching down inside your niche, and why "plumber Adelaide" is no longer the target Why a five page website will not rank, and what the ranking sites have instead Service pages as sales enablement and retargeting assets, not just SEO pages The three audiences every website is built for: people, search engines and AI Headings, structure and schema, explained without the jargon The three seconds you get before someone bounces Are blogs still worth it, and what to do with them after you publish What is timeless: keyword research, search volumes, on page content and intent What is BS: backlinks in isolation, and the emails offering a thousand for ten dollars What to look for in an SEO partner, and why they should start with your website CHAPTERS 00:00 Nobody wants to send you a click any more 00:47 Meet Eric Ibekwem 01:41 AEO, GEO, AI SEO: why it is all just SEO 02:23 Good foundations are what get you into AI answers 03:22 Sentiment, and what the internet thinks of your business 04:18 Search is now spread across seven or eight platforms 05:08 Why Gen Z searches on TikTok and Instagram 06:28 What should you actually optimise for now 07:00 Niching down inside your niche 07:57 Targeting the products you install, not just your services 09:15 Why a five page website will never rank 11:06 Service pages as sales enablement and retargeting assets 14:28 You are building a website for three audiences 15:26 Headings, structure and schema, the ingredients list 16:34 Why developers skip this and clients pay for a rebuild 19:33 Clicks are harder to get, so make them count 20:59 Three seconds to convince someone 21:24 Message match from the click to the page 21:46 The call to action nobody can find 22:06 Working backwards: know, believe, do 23:29 Are blogs still worth it? 23:52 Turning blogs into press releases 24:55 What is timeless in SEO 26:21 Why AI cannot give you real search volumes 27:33 What is BS in SEO? 28:20 Backlinks in isolation 29:27 Your SEO agency should start with your website 30:24 Final word: get a website audit 31:11 War on catalogue websites GUEST Eric Ibekwem, WithEric'sHelp https://withericshelp.com THE CLIENT MULTIPLIER SHOW Hosted by John Kiama of Multiplier Factor. Multiply your leads, clients and lifetime value. All episodes: https://multiplierfactor.com/podcast/ Newsletter: https://multiplierfactor.com/newsletter/ Subscribe for practical marketing you can apply this week. #SEO #SEO2026 #LocalSEO #AISearch #SmallBusinessMarketing