In this episode of Clarity Digital Pod: All Things Digital, I sat down with Duane Forrester, one of the most respected voices in the SEO world. Duane’s track record speaks for itself. He helped launch Bing Webmaster Tools, co-founded Schema.org, ran SEO at MSN, led strategy at Bruce Clay Inc., and helped grow Yext pre-IPO. Today, he runs UnboundAnswers.com and publishes deep insights on his Substack, Duane Forrester Decodes, where he focuses on AI, search, trust, and the direction digital is heading.
This wasn’t your typical SEO conversation. We went deep into where SEO is actually going, how AI is reshaping everything from discovery to content creation, and what enterprise marketers need to do now to stay relevant.
Whether you’re in-house at a large brand, running an agency, or building something new, this conversation brings clarity.
AI, SEO, and the New Digital Playbook
Duane didn’t just adopt AI casually. He went all in. He studied it, took courses, built internal tools using Supabase and Pinecone, and spent real time experimenting with embeddings and APIs.
I had a similar experience. I went back to school over the summer, took ML and AI courses, and re-learned the fundamentals. Like Duane, I came to the same realization. The more you learn about how AI works, the less intimidating it becomes.
As Duane put it, AI is not something to fear. It’s something to use. But using it well means understanding project management, product thinking, and how these systems actually function under the hood.
We are not just doing SEO anymore. We are managing data, systems, and machine behavior. This is a major shift.
Where SEOs Are Falling Behind
Too many SEOs are still stuck in checklist mode. They’re optimizing title tags, chasing rankings, and reacting to every core update. That may have worked in the past. But the reality today is different.
Duane said it clearly. Most SEOs look at concepts like query fanout and think it’s just a different name for keyword research. It’s not. That mindset ignores how statistical modeling, prompt responses, and embeddings shape modern AI-generated content.
We talked about how tools like Perplexity can return search results based on Yelp, Google reviews, and other data — even if your site isn’t referenced. In one example, a business without a website ranked in the top 5 because of strong third-party signals.
If you’re still focusing only on your website, you’re already behind.
Backlinks Are Fading. Mentions Are Rising.
In traditional SEO, backlinks were the gold standard. In the AI-driven web, that signal is losing power. LLMs care more about trust and how often you are mentioned by credible sources.
Duane explained that the Holy Grail today isn’t getting a backlink from CNN. It’s simply being mentioned by a source that’s likely in the training data of OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity. And that includes publishers in partnerships with these platforms.
Your job now is to show up in structured, trusted, verifiable places. That could be a review site, news site, or even technical documentation. If you’re not referenced, you won’t be part of the answer.
Prompt Engineering Is the New Content Strategy
Duane shared his entire workflow. He doesn’t just jump into ChatGPT or Claude and start asking questions. He builds grounding documents. He sets context. He manages the project like an engineer.
Each AI project starts with a local folder, a multi-page brief, and a clearly defined objective. Token tracking, memory resets, prompt refinement — all of that is part of the workflow. It’s not about throwing in a clever prompt and hoping for magic.
Prompt engineering is a skill set. It’s what separates real operators from casual users.
Zero Click Is Already Here and Has Been Here
This part of the conversation hit hard. We’ve talked about zero click for years, but now we’re seeing it at a new level.
ChatGPT and other LLMs are triggering live searches and pulling real-time web content. Your impressions may go up, but no human ever sees your result. The AI reads your page, extracts the answer, and moves on.
This changes how we think about metrics. It explains why your rankings may hold steady while CTR drops. The traffic loss isn’t from human behavior. It’s from machine behavior.
You are being used as a source, but not credited in a way that drives traffic. That’s the cost of playing in an LLM-powered world.
Enterprise SEO AI Adoption Will Change Everything by 2026
Duane predicts 2026 will be a turning point. Enterprises are deploying internal AI agents trained on proprietary data. These agents will become the first point of discovery for internal teams and decision-makers.
This means external search visibility won’t matter unless you’re already part of that AI agent’s knowledge base. If you’re not in the training data, you’re not in the decision tree.
This raises new questions for marketers and SEOs. How do you ensure your business is included in training data? How do you influence agent responses without access to traditional search infrastructure?
These are questions that smart teams are already asking. The rest will catch up too late.
AI Content Tools Are Not the Solution
One of the best takeaways from the episode was Duane’s take on content creation.
When clients ask him to generate content using AI, he refuses. Not because he can’t. But because he shouldn’t.
Your product manager knows your product better than anyone. AI content only works when it’s based on deep knowledge and clear direction. Without that, you’re producing generic noise. And in a saturated market, that’s a waste of time.
Feed the system the right inputs. Guide it with structure and clarity. And edit aggressively. AI is your assistant, not your replacement.
SEO in 2025 and 2026 Requires a New Mindset
We are back in the Wild West. The tools don’t fully work. The metrics are unreliable. There are no playbooks.
If you’ve been in SEO since the early 2000s, this will feel familiar. The difference now is scale and speed.
Duane described it like going from high school to university. In high school, you know every hallway and every teacher. In university, you’re on your own. You have to figure things out. No one hands you a syllabus that explains everything.
SEOs who adapt, who learn AI fundamentals, who build new skills, will thrive. Those who stick to old playbooks will burn out or get left behind.
A Personal Note from Duane
Outside of AI and SEO, Duane spends time camping in California, building guitars and knives, and just unplugging from digital noise. His superhero alter ego? Mr. Train — the guy who gets everything where it needs to go without making a big deal out of it.
That mindset of steady delivery and quiet reliability sums up the kind of SEO leadership we need right now.
Where to Find Duane Forrester
- Website: https://unboundanswers.com
- Substack: Duane Forrester Decodes
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/duaneforster
Clarity Digital Pod: All Things Digital
Hosted by Al Sefati
Real conversations at the intersection of SEO, AI, marketing, and digital transformation.
