Kern Media https://www.kernmedia.com/ SEO, GEO & Inbound Marketing Consulting Fri, 16 Oct 2026 16:29:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 How to Write Content AI Tools Cite (in Your Brand’s Voice) https://www.kernmedia.com/blog/write-content-ai-tools-cite/ Thu, 15 Oct 2026 04:47:49 +0000 https://www.kernmedia.com/?p=4861 Most advice on showing up in ChatGPT and other AI tools starts with “publish more content.” I start somewhere else: with the content you already have. Before I suggest a single new page, I want to know what your site says, whether it says it consistently, and how well it answers the questions your buyers […]

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]]> 20 Black Friday SEO & GEO Tips to Maximize Holiday Revenue (2026) https://www.kernmedia.com/blog/black-friday-seo/ Sun, 04 Oct 2026 23:18:39 +0000 http://www.kernmedia.com/?p=474 Updated October 2026. I first wrote this post in 2016 and have rewritten it for how people shop now, in Google and in AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. Black Friday is still one of the best weeks of the year for eCommerce sites to win sales from search. The catch is that most […]

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]]> How to Re-Optimize Your Website with Google Search Console’s Performance Report https://www.kernmedia.com/blog/how-to-optimize-website-google-search-console-search-analytics/ Sun, 04 Oct 2026 23:17:58 +0000 http://www.kernmedia.com/?p=2352 Updated October 2026. I first wrote this post in 2015, when Google launched what was then called the “Search Analytics” report. It’s now the Performance report in Google Search Console, and it’s still the best free source of keyword data for re-optimizing pages you already have. Google Analytics stopped showing organic keywords years ago (“not […]

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]]> Identifying Google Penalties & Algorithmic Traffic Drops https://www.kernmedia.com/blog/identifying-google-penalties/ Sun, 04 Oct 2026 23:16:45 +0000 http://www.kernmedia.com/?p=820 Updated October 2026. I first wrote this post in 2012, when Panda and Penguin were the big worries. Those are now part of Google’s core ranking systems, and traffic drops have a few other causes (including AI Overviews). I’ve rewritten this guide for how I diagnose traffic drops now, and folded in my old post […]

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]]> Insider eCommerce SEO & GEO Tips for Mid-Sized Shopping Sites https://www.kernmedia.com/blog/ecommerce-seo-tips-mid-tier-shopping-sites/ Sun, 04 Oct 2026 23:15:33 +0000 http://www.kernmedia.com/?p=3406 Updated October 2026. I first wrote this post in 2017. The core advice still holds, and I’ve added what mid-sized stores need to do to show up in AI shopping answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI Mode. I’ve spent most of my 20+ years in SEO optimizing eCommerce sites to compete against Amazon […]

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]]> Index Bloat: What Is It & How to Fix It (Carefully) https://www.kernmedia.com/blog/index-bloat/ Sun, 04 Oct 2026 23:14:23 +0000 http://www.kernmedia.com/?p=3535 Updated October 2026. I first wrote this post in 2017. The approach hasn’t changed much, but Google’s tools and a few of its rules have, so I’ve updated those parts. Keeping a clean index in search engines, especially Google, is key to surviving (and ideally benefiting from) Google’s core updates. It’s not the only factor, […]

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]]> 10 (Aha!) Reasons Why Google May Not Index (Pages on) Your Site https://www.kernmedia.com/blog/google-not-indexing-site/ Sun, 04 Oct 2026 23:13:49 +0000 http://www.kernmedia.com/?p=3281 Updated October 2026. I first wrote this post in 2016. Google Search Console has changed a lot since then, so this version walks through the current Page Indexing report and adds a few newer causes I see on client sites. Getting (and keeping) your pages indexed in Google can be a challenge, especially for new […]

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]]> How to Find, Select & Hire an SEO/GEO Consultant https://www.kernmedia.com/blog/how-to-find-select-hire-seo-consultant/ Sun, 04 Oct 2026 23:12:42 +0000 http://www.kernmedia.com/?p=3456 Updated October 2026. I first wrote this guide in 2017. This version adds what to look for in GEO (generative engine optimization), since most companies want help showing up in Google and in AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. Finding, selecting and hiring an SEO consultant you can work with for the long […]

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]]> How to Write a Robots.txt File (Including AI Crawlers) https://www.kernmedia.com/blog/how-to-write-robots-txt-file/ Sun, 04 Oct 2026 23:11:02 +0000 http://www.kernmedia.com/?p=2633 Updated October 2026. I first wrote this guide in 2016. A lot has changed since then: Google dropped a few rules this post used to recommend, its testing tools were replaced, and AI crawlers from OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity and others now visit your site too. This version covers all of that. A robots.txt file tells […]

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]]> How to Audit an XML Sitemap to Uncover Lost Traffic & Revenue Opportunities https://www.kernmedia.com/blog/audit-xml-sitemap/ Sun, 04 Oct 2026 23:10:55 +0000 http://www.kernmedia.com/?p=3024 Updated October 2026. I first wrote this guide in 2016. The process still works. I’ve updated the tools (Screaming Frog, Google Search Console and GA4 all work differently now) and added what Google says about the lastmod date. On larger websites, auditing the XML sitemap often uncovers lost traffic and gives search engines a more […]

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