Erin welcomes Carolyn Shelby, the Principal SEO at Yoast and a renowned authority in technical and enterprise SEO. Carolyn brings decades of hands-on experience from her pioneering days in digital marketing, working with brands like Disney’s ESPN, Tribune Publishing, and major nonprofits. The conversation kicks off with a surprising twist—Carolyn’s unique title as Queen of the micronation Ladonia—before diving into her role at Yoast and their latest innovation: the LLMs.txt file generator.

Carolyn explains how this new file helps websites communicate their most valuable content directly to large language models like ChatGPT and Google’s AI, streamlining the way future search agents discover and answer questions with information from your site. We explore what inspired Yoast’s push to roll out LLMs.txt to over 13 million sites, what website owners should include in their files, potential industry pushback, the adoption challenge with search giants, and how this moment could change the way websites optimize for AI-driven search results.

Key Segments:

• [00:01:46] Introducing Carolyn Shelby, Senior SEO at Yoast
• [00:03:09] Queen of the Micronation Ladonia?
• [00:07:56] What is the LLMS.txt file?
• [00:08:59] LLMS.txt is a Treasure Map
• [00:14:38] A New File, along with Robots.txt and Sitemap.xml
• [00:15:41]  What inspired Yoast to create this LLM text file?
• [00:17:12]  EDGE of the Web Sponsor: PreWriter.AI
• [00:18:22] LLMS.txt proposed by Jeremy Howard (Sept, 2024)
• [00:22:37] Standard Uniformity and Acceptance?
• [00:24:43] Housekeeping
• [00:29:37] LLM Markdown Effort Questioned: Exploitation?
• [00:31:41] LLMs Lack Memory at Inference
• [00:34:07] EDGE of The Web Sponsor: Inlinks (WAIKAY)
• [00:36:09] Pushback on the LLMS.txt file

Thanks to Our Sponsors!

PreWriter.AI: https://edgeofthewebradio.com/prewriter

Inlinks WAIKAY https://edgeofthewebradio.com/waikay

Follow Our Guest

Twitter: @cshel

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cshel/

Resources

Learn about Ladonia (DONATE!): https://www.ladonia.org/about/

Carolyn’s Posts on LLMS.txt:

https://www.cshel.com/ai-seo/how-llms-interpret-content-structuring-for-ai-search-unedited-version/

https://searchengineland.com/llms-txt-isnt-robots-txt-its-a-treasure-map-for-ai-456586

Is Google Search thriving or dying? How is AI eating your PPC lunch, and why won’t Google make up its mind?

This week, we cover trending topics including Google’s expanded AI mode for multi-lingual search, Reddit’s sneaky push for publisher power with brand new Pro Tools, and the surprising court ruling that lets Google keep Chrome… while also sharing some of its special sauce (most likely a can of Ragu). You’ll hear how shifting digital consumer behavior (think: the Four S’s—searching, scrolling, streaming, shopping) is making marketers rethink their omnichannel strategies, and why social media optimization keeps creeping into every SEO conversation.

Plus, Cindy Krum shares fresh holiday search trends and reveals why TikTok Shop might outpace traditional ecommerce. We even poke fun at Google’s “reality”—the web’s apparently booming and crumbling at the exact same time, depending on who’s asking.

News from the EDGE:

• [00:02:24] BrightonSEO Tickets!
• [00:05:33] Google expands AI Mode beyond English
• [00:10:04] Reddit launches Pro tools for publishers
• [00:12:46] EDGE Sponsor: Site Strategics
• [00:14:09] Judge lets Google keep Chrome, but says it must share search data with rivals

SEO News Segment:

• [00:21:16] Holiday shopping: Unlocking the modern consumer’s new value equation
• [00:29:43] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: WAIKAY
• [00:31:30] Are Google’s AI Overviews eating your PPC revenue?
• [00:35:53] Google can’t decide if the web is thriving – or dying

Thanks to our sponsors!

• Site Strategics https://edgeofthewebradio.com/site
• Inlinks WAIKAY https://edgeofthewebradio.com/waikay

Follow Us:

• X: @ErinSparks
• X: @Suzzicks
• X: @TheMann00
• X: @EDGEWebRadio

Google’s AI is poised to wipe out half of news publishers’ traffic, but Barry Adams isn’t here to panic—he’s here to bring the hard truths (with a side of hope). On this week’s EDGE of the Web, we dive deep into how Google’s relentless AI advancements, from overviews to the new AI mode, threaten the very foundation of news publishing.

Join host Erin Sparks and News SEO specialist Barry Adams as they break down the seismic shifts hitting news publishers: AI overviews stealing clicks, Top Stories boxes protecting (for now), and why AI mode is a technological hand grenade waiting to go off. Barry shares what’s working, what’s not, and why keeping up with Google’s user experience data from the Chrome browser is harder than ever. We cover how publishers can future-proof themselves—think personalization, paywalls, and bundling—before Google fully flips the AI switch.

Side quest: Ever wondered how to train your audience to pay for news in a world where everything’s free (thanks, Google)? Barry makes a compelling case for why quality, unique journalism is more vital than ever—even if it means surviving on half your pie.

Wrap up by buckling in for the impending Google traffic apocalypse, arming yourself with Barry’s don’t-panic (but have your towel) wisdom, and getting the inside scoop on what grows in the new AI-powered world of news.

Key Segments:

[00:04:44] Current Status on News SEO: Minimal Impact

[00:06:46] "AI Mode Simplifies Web Browsing"

[00:15:00] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: PreWriter.ai

[00:17:12] AI Mode Impact on Google Traffic

[00:22:31] Google Outlasts ChatGPT: Future Forecast

[00:30:18] Stand Out or Fade Away

[00:33:25] News Industry Consolidation Trends

[00:34:33] EDGE of The Web Sponsor: Inlinks (WAIKAY)

[00:37:10] Thriving Small Publishers Need Uniqueness
[00:39:58] Balancing Integrity and Audience Appeal

Thanks to Our Sponsors!

PreWriter.ai: https://edgeofthewebradio.com/prewriter

Inlinks/WAIKAY: https://edgeofthewebradio.com/waikay

Follow Our Guest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barryadams/

Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/polemicdigital.com