Hi iwan,

Cyrus Shepard has 16+ years in SEO and used to run search at Moz.

Three months ago, AI optimization made up 0% of his consulting work.

Today? 70-80%.

And he's expecting that to reach 100% in 2026.

Here's the exact playbook he's using with clients right now:

1. Audit your content by type (some will survive, some won't)

E-commerce and service-based content is holding strong.

Informational blog content is getting destroyed.

According to Cyrus,: "If you can write the article with AI without any proprietary knowledge, that's exactly the content seeing declines."

Run through your site and separate content into three buckets:

  • Transactional (product pages, service offerings) - these are safe

  • Informational with unique data (case studies, original research) - these can survive

  • Generic informational (standard blog posts anyone could write) - these are dying

Focus your energy on buckets one and two.

2. Add proprietary elements AI can't replicate

Cyrus is telling every client the same thing: your content needs something AI can't generate.

Examples that work:

  • Webinar libraries with actual expert insights

  • Human interviews with industry leaders

  • Custom graphics showing your specific data

  • Proprietary information from your business (manufacturing specs, internal processes, client results)

  • Firsthand experience with photos and specific details

One of his attorney clients added "expert in X, recognized by Y" statements directly on their homepage.

Near-instant improvement in AI Overview citations.

The AI could parse that expertise signal immediately.

3. Optimize your homepage for AI parsing

Most people ignore their homepage for SEO.

Big mistake in the AI era.

Cyrus found that putting "about us" content directly on the homepage with clear

expertise signals works.

Structure it so AI can easily extract:

  • What you're an expert in

  • Who recognizes that expertise

  • Specific credentials and achievements

  • Clear service or product offerings

AI tools need to parse this information quickly to cite you.

Make it obvious.

4. Track AI visibility (not just rankings)

Cyrus runs AI visibility reports every week for clients using tools like Gumshoe AI.

These tools ask thousands of questions to AI search engines about your brand and

track how often you appear.

Then they reverse engineer why those brands show up and give optimization

suggestions.

You need to know:

  • How often your brand appears in AI responses

  • What sentiment those mentions carry

  • Which competitors appear instead of you

  • What content types get cited most

Traditional rank tracking won't cut it anymore.

5. Accept the automation paradox

Here's the conflict every SEO faces right now:

Social media tells you to automate everything with AI.

Google actively devalues automated AI content.

Cyrus is clear: "The content that's really rising, that people want to link to, that Google wants to reward? That's the stuff that's NOT being automated."

Use AI to assist your process, not replace it entirely.

Curation now matters more than production.

6. Prepare for Google's quality rater changes

Earlier this year, Google started instructing quality raters to identify auto-generated AI content.

According to Cyrus, it takes about a year for quality rater feedback to work into the algorithm.

That means ranking impacts could be coming soon for obviously AI-generated content.

If your content looks like it came straight from ChatGPT with no human touch, you're at risk.

7. Focus on content with images and detailed how-tos

Generic text-based articles are struggling.

Content with rich visuals and step-by-step processes still performs.

The more your content requires visual explanation, the better it survives AI summarization.

Users still click through for detailed visual guides even when AI provides text summaries.

8. Don't chase AI Overview appearances blindly

When asked about the most overhyped trend, Cyrus said: "Appearing as a source in AI

Overviews."

Why? No click-through rate.

He's still doing it for clients because "we have nowhere else to go," but he's honest about the limited value.

Appearing in AI Overviews builds brand awareness, not traffic.

Adjust your expectations accordingly.

Want to know if your content is ready for this shift? I'll audit your site and show you exactly which content types are at risk and what needs to change.

Get your free AI audit here.

To your continued success,

Matt Diggity