Content and Conversation · 2026-06-17 · 58 min
Ross Hudgens sits down with Tom Critchlow, founder of AI Search Leaders (the evolution of his SEO MBA community), for a candid conversation about what GEO actually is in 2026 and why nobody has fully cracked it yet. Tom makes the case that AI search measurement looks far more like brand measurement than classic SEO: less about prompt monitoring and keyword ranking, more about share of model, awareness, and how LLMs describe you (not just whether they cite you). Along the way they dig into the "yes" stance SEOs need to take with executives, why brand, PR, and product teams, not SEO teams, tend to own the outcomes that move GEO, the real career risk facing SEOs, technical SEO in the age of model distillation, NavBoost and clicks as a trust signal, and the personalized, push-not-pull future of search. Show Notes 0:00 - Why SEOs can't afford to be defensive 2:35 - How do you measure GEO? 6:24 - Measuring GEO like a brand 15:04 - Who really owns GEO?
Inside HubSpot's Category-Leading GEO Program w/ Aja Frost82 / 100Eli Schwartz on Google’s GEO Advice and SEO Careers TodayLily Ray on AI Slop, GEO, and What Actually WorksIs Content Syndication Worth It? w/ Stacker's Noah GreenbergBuilding a Media-First Content Marketing Strategy w/ Devin Bramhall