Growth Memo | Kevin Indig | Substack

Budget SEO for capacity, not output

Here’s how to rebuild your SEO budget for influence in a zero-click world.

Nov 10 •

and

LLM traffic is shrinking

LLMs are a visibility surface. Not traffic you can bank on.

Nov 3 •

AI is breaking the economics of content

Evergreen topics drop in value while additive content gains

Oct 27 •

Growth Intelligence Brief #9

Welcome to another Growth Intelligence Brief, where organic growth leaders discover what matters - getting insights into the bigger picture and guidance…

Oct 22 •

The impact of AI Mode on SEO - analysis of 10 studies

We looked for commonalities and differences across 10 AI Mode studies - here's what we found

Oct 20 •

and

Most Popular

2024 predictions

Jan 3, 2024 • Kevin Indig

The first-ever UX Study of Google’s AI Overviews: The Data We've All Been Waiting For

May 12 • Kevin Indig

Topic-first SEO: The smarter way to scale authority

Jul 14 • Kevin Indig and Amanda Johnson

What content works well in LLMs?

Mar 17 • Kevin Indig

Growth Intelligence Brief

Growth Intelligence Brief #9

Welcome to another Growth Intelligence Brief, where organic growth leaders discover what matters - getting insights into the bigger picture and guidance…

Oct 22 •

Growth Intelligence Brief #8

Bing's mysterious growth, AI Mode as default, the first-ever AI Mode usability study, Nerdwallet down / Reddit up / online retailers down

Sep 24 •

Growth Intelligence Brief #7

Welcome to another Growth Intelligence Brief, where organic growth leaders discover what matters - getting insights into the bigger picture and guidance…

Aug 28 •

Growth Intelligence Brief #6

The impact of Chat GPT-5, Perplexity ranking factors and how Google's Web Guide works

Aug 14 •

Research

LLM traffic is shrinking

LLMs are a visibility surface. Not traffic you can bank on.

Nov 3 •

The impact of AI Mode on SEO - analysis of 10 studies

We looked for commonalities and differences across 10 AI Mode studies - here's what we found

Oct 20 •

and

Google’s AI Mode SEO Impact | AI Mode User Behavior Study Part 2

This week, I’m covering what’s measurable, what’s guesswork, and what’s possibly next for visibility, trust, and monetization in AI Mode.

Oct 14 •

and

What Our AI Mode User Behavior Study Reveals about the Future of Search

Here’s what 250 sessions of user behavior in AI Mode tells us about the future of search: It’s quietly rewriting all the rules.

Oct 6 •

and

AI

Chat GPT Search

A warm welcome to 131 new Growth Memo readers who joined us last week!

Nov 4, 2024 •

AI on Innovation - part 2

More insights from +546k AI Overviews

Sep 24, 2024 •

AI on Innovation

Analysis of +546,000 AIO overviews

Sep 16, 2024 •

🤔Can Search GPT disrupt Google Search?

Jul 29, 2024 •

General SEO Frameworks

Keywords are dead. But the Keyword Universe Isn’t.

A better alternative to keyword research (including tool)

Jun 30 •

and

This Memo was sent out to 20,079 subscribers.

Jun 24 •

and

How to measure topical authority [in 2025]

Topical Authority is still a mystical concept, partly because we don't have a good way to measure it. In this post, I want to offer a method to quantify…

May 20 •

How I edit AI content

A workflow for the new age of content creation

Apr 14 •

Takes

AI Halftime Report H1 2025

Exclusive interview about the publisher lawsuit, exclusive data on the confidence of AI trackers, AI Overviews, AI Mode and how to upskill

Jul 28 •

A 360 degree view on how AI changes search, how you should adjust and what new metrics you should measure

Jun 17 •

Checking in: where are we with the Google lawsuits?

Have AI and Trump changed Google's trajectory?

Mar 24 •

The potential impact of AI Mode and Deep Search models

Mar 10 •

E-commerce

E-commerce Deep Dive, Q2 2025 (case study: Stitch Fix)

The era of volatility, tariff response, organic visibility goes from big to small sites

Apr 11 •

Transformation complete

Google's new AI shopping experience verticalizes Search

Oct 28, 2024 •

#240 Google's new shopping experience resurrects an old concept

Feb 12, 2024 •

E-commerce shifts

#233 Merchants face a rapidly changing e-commerce environment

Dec 27, 2023 •

SaaS

SaaS Deep Dive - Q1 2025 (case study: Zapier)

Is SaaS held up by AI? Why are Buffer and Rippling winning? How to waste millions with botched site migrations.

Mar 12 •

Beating incumbents at content in competitive spaces

Edd Wilson asks: How do you plan content investment for new companies/brands in competitive spaces?

Aug 21, 2023 •

Microsites were originally invented for short-lived campaigns.

Jul 17, 2023 •

Long sales cycles, the #1 enemy of SEO attribution

Attribution models are the most common way to quantify the returns on marketing investments, but not every company can use them successfully.

Apr 11, 2023 •

Marketplaces

Effective Marketplace SEO is more like Product Growth

There are two types of SEO: product-led and marketing-led.

Jun 3 •

and

Marketplace Deep Dive - Q2

How Chegg fights AI disruption, Eventbrite gains +34% SEO traffic, Homes.com invests $1 billion in brand

May 8 •

Can Network Effects replace Performance Marketing?

Airbnb crushed the third quarter of 2022.

Nov 21, 2022 •

Online platforms progressively blend paid with organic results

Organic and paid results on Google, Bing, Amazon, Facebook, and Co are blending more into each other. In this post, you learn what to do about it.

Oct 5, 2020 •

Deep Dives

E-commerce Deep Dive, Q2 2025 (case study: Stitch Fix)

The era of volatility, tariff response, organic visibility goes from big to small sites

Apr 11 •

Marketplace Deep Dive - Q1 (Case Study: Zillow)

Exclusive insights into Zillow's SEO strategy + large analysis of marketplace data

Feb 14 •

39:36

E-commerce Deep Dive, Q1 2025

Live Session recap: video recording, slides and show notes.

Jan 20

1:52:51

Annual Showdown 2024

Video recording, slides and show notes

Dec 17, 2024 •

Recent posts

Google’s AI Mode SEO Impact | AI Mode User Behavior Study Part 2

This week, I’m covering what’s measurable, what’s guesswork, and what’s possibly next for visibility, trust, and monetization in AI Mode.

Oct 14 •

and

What Our AI Mode User Behavior Study Reveals about the Future of Search

Here’s what 250 sessions of user behavior in AI Mode tells us about the future of search: It’s quietly rewriting all the rules.

Oct 6 •

and

How AI Really Weighs Your Links (Analysis of 35,000 datapoints)

No one has ever dug deep into the impact of backlinks on AI Visibility. Until Now. I found surprising insights that should define your backlink…

Sep 30 •

Growth Intelligence Brief #8

Bing's mysterious growth, AI Mode as default, the first-ever AI Mode usability study, Nerdwallet down / Reddit up / online retailers down

Sep 24 •

Making SEO Personas Actionable Across Teams

How to get the most out of your personas

Sep 23 •

and

Personas are critical for AI search

How to turn existing in-house data into actionable personas that shape briefs, prompts, and outcomes.

Sep 15 •

and

Trust Still Lives in Blue Links

This Memo was sent to 21,479 subscribers.

Sep 9 •

and

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