Shalin Siriwardhana

Search, growth, and digital strategy notes.

Personal notes on SEO, AI search, content strategy, and durable organic growth.

Notes / SEO / Aug 11, 2026

The Real Reason the Traditional Link Building Model No Longer Works for AI Search

Yes. Links still matter because, without a certain baseline level of authority, competitive SEO thresholds become hard to clear. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read

Notes / SEO / Aug 10, 2026

Common Crawl Published a Manual for Being Visible to AI, I Automated It

The crawling has run monthly since 2008, and the snapshots are the raw material for C4, RefinedWeb, RedPajama, Dolma, FineWeb and. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read

Notes / SEO / Aug 10, 2026

A Practical Way to Remove Negative Content from Google Before AI Answers Cite It

Three different outcomes get called "removal," and conflating them is where most of the wasted effort comes from. Removal: The. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read

Notes / SEO / Aug 8, 2026

AI’s Impact Is Outrunning Measurement: the Trust and Attribution Gap Facing Brands

Indig's research found that roughly three out of four consumers pick the top result in an AI shortlist, unless a brand they. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read

Notes / SEO / Aug 8, 2026

AI Search Only Feels New If Your SEO Was Shallow

Everything Google has been suggesting, subtly and less subtly, for more than a decade is the training, and it comes down to. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read

Notes / SEO / Aug 7, 2026

Gen Z Now Treats Claude and OpenAI Like Consumer Brands, but Trust Is Still an Issue

That's the finding at the center of " Brands Rising Among Gen Z in the U.S. in 2026," a new analysis YouGov shared with me this. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read

Notes / SEO / Aug 7, 2026

What Six Perspectives Reveal About Demand Generation in AI Search

According to an ancient Indian parable, a group of blind men who had never encountered an elephant decided to learn what it was. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read

Notes / SEO / Aug 7, 2026

How Business Context Changes AI Recommendations

The assignment was straightforward. A company had invested in SEO for years, and its website was well established. Leadership. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read

Notes / SEO / Aug 7, 2026

How Cats.txt Showed LLMs.txt Evidence Is GEO Astrology

It began, as these things tend to, with irritation. For months I had been watching perfectly sensible people point at four. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read

Notes / SEO / Aug 7, 2026

Google’s Ex AI Chief Jeff Dean Explains How to Improve Context Engineering

Many people worry about which AI model they use and experience the anxiety of running out of tokens. Jeff Dean's answers suggest. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read