Shalin Siriwardhana

Shalin Siriwardhana

Search, growth, and digital strategy notes.

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

Google Says Why It May Ignore Robots.txt and Negatively Impact SEO: the Operator's View

Notes / SEO / Jul 25, 2026

Google Says Why It May Ignore Robots.txt and Negatively Impact SEO

The person who asked the question on Reddit was suffering from a search bar spam attack. What spammers do is search with a query. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

7 min read
Emergency Brand Audit: What AI Says About Your Locations: the Practical Angle

Notes / SEO / Jul 25, 2026

Emergency Brand Audit: What AI Says About Your Locations

They ask a full question and accept the summarized answer. In GatherUp consumer data collected in fall 2025, 55% of consumers had. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read
AI Search Can’t Verify Your Business — Here’s How to Fix It: the Strategic Visibility Angle

Notes / SEO / Jul 24, 2026

AI Search Can’t Verify Your Business, Here’s How to Fix It

An AI search retrieval system doesn't browse a website the way a person does. It looks for specific, verifiable facts: who runs a. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read
Search Growth Slows, Publishers Weigh Leaving Google – SEO Pulse: the Operator's View

Notes / SEO / Jul 24, 2026

Search Growth Slows, Publishers Weigh Leaving Google, SEO Pulse

Alphabet reported Q2 2026 earnings, with Google Search & other revenue up 17% year over year to $63.27 billion. The growth rate. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read
AI Search Is Working. How to Prove It with Real Tests.: the Strategic Visibility Angle

Notes / SEO / Jul 24, 2026

AI Search Is Working. How to Prove It with Real Tests.

For a subset of sites, yes. On June 3, Google launched dedicated Search Console reports for AI Overviews and AI Mode, showing. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read
Are We Repeating History & Risking Backlink Penalties Again?: the Practical Angle

Notes / SEO / Jul 23, 2026

Are We Repeating History & Risking Backlink Penalties Again?

Google's Penguin algorithm, which is now a part of the core algorithm, was a series of standalone updates that focused on. The practical question is what this changes for SEO, content quality, and AI search visibility.

6 min read