I talk and write about search, AI search and what the changes actually mean for a small business trying to be found. If you’re running an event, a podcast or a publication and want someone who’ll give a straight answer rather than a pitch, get in touch.
What I talk about
How AI search has changed being found. AI Overviews, AI Mode and assistants such as ChatGPT now answer a lot of the questions small business sites used to earn clicks from. What’s confirmed, what’s guesswork, and what a business should actually do about it.
What twenty years in search does and doesn’t teach you. I started as an SEO technician and worked up to a digital marketing director role with international companies, including the New York Times account while at a previous agency. Plenty of what worked then doesn’t now, and the parts that carried over aren’t the ones people expect.
Search for businesses without an agency budget. Most advice is written for teams with resources most small businesses don’t have. What genuinely matters when you’re doing this yourself.
Building tools instead of writing more pages. Calculators, configurators and try-on tools that answer the question stopping a sale, and why they often do more than another guide would.
Reading your own data honestly. Why your rankings can hold while your clicks fall, which figures are estimates, and how to tell a real change from noise.
Formats
Conference talks, panels, podcasts, webinars, workshops for in-house teams, and written comment or quotes for publications.
I’ll do a talk on any of the topics above, and I’d rather build something specific to your audience than deliver a stock deck. If you tell me who’s in the room and what they’re struggling with, that’s usually a better starting point than a title.
For journalists
I’m happy to comment on search and AI search stories, including Google updates, AI Overviews and what changes mean for small businesses specifically.
Two things I’ll always do: say plainly when something isn’t confirmed, and point you at the primary source rather than to an opinion. If I don’t know, I’ll say that instead of filling the gap.
[PAUL TO ADD: whether you want to be listed as available for comment, and a realistic response time.]
Previous appearances
[PAUL TO ADD: the list of talks, podcasts, panels, publications and quotes. This section is the reason the page exists, and it stays empty until there’s something real to put in it.]
Writing
I publish regularly on search and AI search, including news analysis, evergreen answers and a weekly roundup of what actually changed. The blog has the archive.
Get in touch
If you’re organising something and think I’d be useful, get in touch with the date, the audience and what you’d want covered. More about my background is on the about page.