Episode Details

E1177: Ross Hudgens of Siege Media breaks down the page type driving the most AI search traffic across his clients: versus pages.

Ross says Siege Media's correlation analysis found that clients with the most AI traffic also had the most comparison and versus content. We get into why these pages perform so well across ChatGPT, Gemini, Google, and traditional search, how to structure them, and why most companies still execute them poorly.

We also go deep on branded subreddits, Reddit SEO, AI search measurement, link building, digital PR, keyword research, content refreshes, publisher traffic declines, and how SEO strategy is changing as more searches end without a click.

In this episode: - Why versus pages are driving so much AI search traffic - Why comparison pages belong on landing pages instead of blogs - Where to put comparison tables - How to write versus pages without turning them into templated SEO garbage - How to choose which competitors deserve comparison pages - Why three-way comparisons sometimes work - How versus pages support sales teams beyond SEO - Why companies struggle to publish honest competitor comparisons - Using YouTube influencers when a brand refuses to publish comparison content itself - Why branded subreddits matter for SEO, reputation management, and LLM visibility - When a company has enough branded search demand to justify its own subreddit - How little traction a branded subreddit needs before it starts ranking - Why Reddit still matters even as its AI citation share changes - Repurposing existing website content onto Reddit - Using branded communities to rank for review and reputation queries - Why Siege Media does less manual link building than it did years ago - Where link-building budget is moving instead - Why fewer niche bloggers exist today - The growing role of LinkedIn, YouTube, influencers, and UGC in search - Why backlinks still matter even as the open web shrinks - How Siege Media approaches digital PR differently today - Using proprietary data across multiple existing ranking pages - Why recurring annual and quarterly data studies compound over time - How publishers need to rethink monetization as AI takes top-of-funnel clicks - Why publishers still hold valuable influence inside LLM answers - The problem with treating Perplexity like it has the same importance as ChatGPT - How Ross measures AI search and GEO performance - Why "How did you hear about us?" remains one of the strongest attribution questions - The AI search tracking tools Siege Media uses - How third-party citations influence LLM visibility - Why generic "best overall" positioning often fails - How LLMs categorize brands into specific use cases - Siege Media's KOB keyword research framework - How Ross now adds LLM visibility into keyword prioritization - How to decide whether a keyword deserves a new page - Why top-of-funnel informational SEO keeps getting harder - The types of informational content that still defend their clicks from AI

Ross has spent more than 14 years building Siege Media and working across SEO, content marketing, link building, digital PR, and now AI search.

This conversation gets into what Siege Media is doing more of in 2026, what it has reduced, and where Ross thinks search is moving next.

⭐️ Ross Hudgens on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosshudgens/ ⭐️ Ross Hudgens on 𝕏 - https://x.com/RossHudgens ⭐️ Ross Hudgens' book, Generative Engine Optimization: The Definitive Guide to AI SEO - https://www.amazon.com/Generative-Engine-Optimizations-Ross-Hudgens/dp/1394439806 ⭐️ Siege Media Book page - https://www.siegemedia.com/geo-book

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