Ross Hudgens sits down with Eli Schwartz, author of Product-Led SEO and former VP of SEO at SurveyMonkey, for a wide-ranging conversation on the real state of SEO in 2026.
They break down Google’s new AI search guidance (spoiler: it’s basically just SEO), why there’s a massive mismatch between what companies want from SEO teams and what they’re getting, and why Eli thinks the SEO career path is broken but the demand for real SEO has never been higher.
They also get into which industries are best positioned for the LLM era, why technical SEO is actually becoming more valuable, and why Eli thinks SEOs should start thinking of themselves as product managers.
Show Notes
00:00:10 – Google’s new AI search guidance
00:07:26 – Manipulation isn’t a strategy
00:12:22 – The SEO career mismatch
00:17:50 – Why SEO teams can’t show their value
00:25:26 – New entrants and dying conferences
00:36:17 – The skills SEOs need now
00:43:35 – Why the best SEOs build things
00:57:45 – Which industries win in the LLM era
