Search Off the Record takes you behind the scenes of Google Search and its inner workings! In each episode, the folks from the Search Relations team will give you background info on the decision-making behind launches, feature prioritization in Search Console, and the projects Google Search teams are working on. They will share fun stories from the many conferences they attend as well as from their day-to-day working life at Google. They will also dive into the currently trending conversations in the SEO community at large. Have a listen!
GPT-5 vs Claude vs Gemini: 7 Brutal Real-life Tests
What if the world's most powerful AI model was also the most deceptive?
The GPT-5 hype is exploding, with reports of it crushing every benchmark.ย
But how does it perform on real-world business tasks?ย
In this episode, we go beyond the hype. After 12 hours of brutal, hands-on testing, we reveal the unfiltered truth about the new GPT-5 family of models.
We show you exactly what GPT-5 means for your business, including:
๐ The results of 7 brutal tests designed for online business owners.ย
๐ The critical flaw: How GPT-5 hallucinates and literally tried to deceive me.ย
๐ The secret weapon: Why GPT-5 Mini might be the most important AI model for your business.ย
๐ The ultimate showdown: How GPT-5 stacks up against Gemini 2.5 Pro and Claude Opus.ย
๐ A full breakdown of the new, cheaper API that could change everything for developers.ย
Stop reading sponsored posts and benchmark lists. Watch now to get the complete, unfiltered guide to what GPT-5 really means for your business.
CHAPTERS
00:00:00 – My Brutally Honest GPT-5 Review
00:02:42 – Benchmarks: Is GPT-5 Really the Smartest?
00:03:46 – The Hallucination Test: GPT-5 Lied To Me
00:07:52 – The REAL Game-Changer: GPT-5 vs GPT-5 Mini API
00:10:01 – Test 1: High-Stakes Email Writing
00:13:42 – Test 2: Ad Analysis
00:16:05 – Test 3: One shot vibe coding
00:19:23 – Test 4: Product Launch Plan
00:21:33 – Test 5: LinkedIn Post
00:24:18 – Test 6: Needle in haystack
00:25:59 – Final Verdict & The "Sleeper" Model
How does CSS affect SEO?
Martin and John dive into the world of CSS and explore its connection to SEO. Discover why CSS files matter for SEO, how modern CSS frameworks impact pages, and the SEO implications of CSS class names and pseudo elements. Moreover, learn practical tips for ensuring your CSS enhances – rather than hinders – your website’s search performance.
Resources:ย
Episode transcript โ https://goo.gle/sotr096-transcriptย
Chapters:
0:00 – Introduction 0:56 – What is CSS? 1:37 – CSS file crawlability 3:52 – CSS flexibility and power 4:55 – Website and CSS growth 5:43 – CSS file size 9:15 – CSS class names and SEO 10:51 – Important CSS concepts 11:27 – CSS specificity 14:24 – Pseudo classes and pseudo elements 20:56 – Stop using before and after 22:47 – Viewport height 27:11 – Hiding things and background colours 28:05 – CSS images 35:55 – CSS for SEO 37:16 – Outro
Listen to more Search Off the Record โ https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel โ https://goo.gle/SearchCentral
Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
#SOTRpodcast #SEO
Speaker: Martin Splitt, John Mueller
Products Mentioned: Search Console
How to Rank on ChatGPT (With Steve Toth)
Is traditional SEO dead? And is "ranking" on ChatGPT and other AI chatbots the new frontier for traffic and sales?
Many businesses are seeing their search traffic decline, while a new, highly-lucrative source of customers is emerging from AI-driven conversations. But how do you tap into this new channel? And what happens when AI starts giving out outdated or just plain wrong information about your brand?
In this episode, we're joined by Steve Toth, founder of the AI-focused agency Notebook.agency, to break down the new world of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). We explore the real-world opportunities and the hype surrounding AI-driven traffic.
The game has changed, and what worked for Google yesterday might not work for AI assistants tomorrow. In this episode, you will learn:
๐ The Truth About AI Traffic: Is the traffic from chatbots a tiny trickle or a high-converting firehose? We look at the real data.
๐ Why AI Gets Your Business Wrong: We share our own shocking experience of how ChatGPT described our business using two-year-old information and what you can do about it.
๐ Mastering "Generative Engine Optimization" (GEO): Steve reveals practical, actionable tips to influence what AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity say about your brand.
๐ Beyond Keywords – Winning "Deal-Breaker" Questions: Learn why optimizing for specific, high-intent customer questions within LLMs is more powerful than traditional keyword ranking.
๐ On-Page & Off-Page GEO: Discover how to structure your website content for optimal AI retrieval and how to correct misinformation about your brand on external sites like Reddit.
๐ The "Truth Alignment Framework": Steve unveils his agency's process for auditing and correcting how AI represents a brand online, ensuring your key features and selling points are accurately reflected.
๐ Prompt Injection & Future-Proofing: We explore some cutting-edge (and slightly controversial) techniques to feed information directly to AI models and discuss where this is all heading.
Stop letting AI misrepresent your business. Learn how to take control of your brand's narrative in the new age of search and turn AI chatbots into a powerful channel for high-intent customers.
CHAPTERS
00:00:00 – Intro: Is AI Traffic Overhyped?
00:02:49 – What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
00:04:05 – How AI Search Works: "Fan-Out" vs. "Agentic" Queries
00:06:17 – Is GEO Just a New Name for SEO?
00:08:29 – The Risk of Bloating Your Site for AI
00:11:14 – Do LLMs Trust Your Website's Information?
00:12:55 – Tracking Your Brand's Presence in LLMs
00:18:05 – Are AI Recommendations Driving High-Intent Sales?
00:23:08 – Will Higher Conversions Offset Lower Traffic?
00:30:03 – The Step-by-Step GEO Process
00:34:22 – How to Structure Content for AI Retrieval
00:41:31 – Correcting Misinformation & Off-Page GEO
SOTR096_Transcript.pdf
Search Off the Record takes you behind the scenes of Google Search and its inner workings! In each episode, the folks from the Search Relations team will give you background info on the decision-making behind launches, feature prioritization in Search Console, and the projects Google Search teams are working on. They will share fun stories from the many conferences they attend as well as from their day-to-day working life at Google. They will also dive into the currently trending conversations in the SEO community at large. Have a listen!
We Vibe Coded a $16k AI App. It was Amazing & Terrifying
Thanks to Fatjoe for Sponsoring this episode. Check out their white label Digital PR campaign services here: https://fatjoe.com/pr-campaigns/
Want to work directly with us?
https://www.systemstack.ai/
—
What if you could rebuild a $16,000 web app in under a week without writing a single line of code?
The AI coding hype is exploding, but the reality is more challenging than most tutorials show. In this episode, we cut through the hype to give you the real-world playbook for building a powerful web app with AI, even if you're a complete beginner.
We show you exactly how to build and launch an AI-powered tool from scratch, including:
๐ The A-Z playbook for turning an idea into a fully functional app.ย
๐ How to use AI to build, debug, and deploy your project securely for free.ย
๐ The vital planning process that prevents you from rebuilding your app three times over.ย
๐ How to protect your project from bots, budget-draining API calls, and major security holes.ย
Stop watching over-hyped tutorials. Watch now to get the complete, unfiltered guide to building real-world AI applications.
CHAPTERS
00:00:00 – Rebuilding a $16k App With AI
00:01:33 – The "BrandSnap" App Demo
00:07:12 – How The App is Monetized
00:11:25 – Step 1: Planning Your App
00:14:49 – Step 2: Setting Up The AI
00:23:17 – Step 3: Prompting The AI
00:32:30 – Securing Your AI App
00:38:32 – Step 4: Deploying For FREE
00:42:04 – Live Debugging
00:47:24 – The Future of Vibe Coding