Training Example: Darren McManus – SEO – Review the Data, Give Your Score & Compare to the Real AI Evaluation

[H2] Award-Winning SEO Consultant based in Galway, IReland
More About Darren
[H3] How I Can Help You:
After 10 years of working with some of the biggest brands in Ireland / the UK as well as some of the most exciting startups in the US, I have built up the kind of broad SEO experience required to know how to supercharge organic traffic for any kind of business. I can help you to make sure that your website sends the right signals to Google as well as other search engines and LLM platforms to ensure that you appear in front of your target audience for queries relevant to your product or service offering.
[H3] My Services:
[IMG: SEO Consultancy Icon (1)]
[H3] SEO Consultancy
You want your business to appear as high as possible for relevant queries on search engines. I can help!
[H3] SEO Audits
SEO is about more than keywords. I will provide a comprehensive report on your site structure, content & link profile.
[IMG: SEO Migrations Icon]
[H3] SEO for Site Migrations
If you're planning a website migration or redesign, I can help you to save your hard earned organic traffic.
[IMG: SEO Training Icon (1)]
[H3] SEO Training
I have been delivering SEO training for organizations and individuals for years. Get in touch for online or in-house training.
[H3] Featured Posts:
[H2] SEO vs GEO vs LLM Optimisation: An Attempt To Demystify Modern SEO
The purpose of this article is to dig into these different terms, understand how they relate to each other and demystify the process of getting your brand and website mentioned in modern platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity et al. Read More
[H2] Web Accessibility & Good SEO – Two Sides of the Same Coin
The overlap between WCAG conformance and SEO best practices is striking. If you think about it, that makes sense because both aim to make websites more usable, structured, and discoverable – just for slightly different audiences. Read More
[H2] SEO for Services Pages in the Age of LLMs – Advice, Examples, Checklist
With AI Overviews impacting informational-intent search traffic, services pages are more important than ever to attract high-intent, bottom of funnel organic traffic. Read More
[H3] Who I've worked with:
[IMG: galway crystal]
[IMG: knowi seo (1)]
[IMG: matheson seo (1)]
[IMG: sony alpha universe seo (1)]
[IMG: ILCU seo]
[IMG: drink moment seo]
[IMG: kore energy seo (1)]
[IMG: catalyst esg consultants logo]
[IMG: The HR Suite - Ireland]
[IMG: https://www.fernwood.eco/]
[IMG: connexus recruit - digital recruitment agency dublin and belfast]
[IMG: gluten free mummy - gluten free recipes]
[IMG: nexus inclusion Digital Inclusion and Web Accessibility Platform]
[H3] Has your website been affected by a recent Google algorithm update?
I have extensive experience in helping organizations recover from algorithm hits. Get in touch to discuss how I can help you get back on track. Get In Touch

[H1] SEO Training: Mastering the Core Concepts
Unlock the full potential of your website with our comprehensive SEO Training Course, designed and led by SEO expert Darren McManus. With over eight years of agency-side experience, Darren has a deep understanding of all aspects of SEO and a proven track record of driving organic traffic, visibility, and conversions for a diverse range of clients.
[H3] Course Overview
It’s 2024 – Google is looking for more than just keywords! Find out how search engines work and what you can do to keep them happy in the long term.The key to sustainable, long term SEO gains is not to focus on SEO tactics and content that you think will trick the current Google algorithm into ranking your site well, but rather to really focus on delivering an excellent UX and genuinely useful content to your end-user as well as showcasing your authority to search engines to ensure that they trust you and your content.I have been delivering SEO training for organizations and individuals for years including as a trainer for:New Frontiers National Programme for Developing EntrepreneursFounder UniversityI have also spoken at large conferences and events on the latest SEO practices including at:3XE Digital ConferenceDC Startup WeekMy SEO Training Course will soon be available online as a self-guided e-learning course. The course is structured to provide you with the the knowledge and practical skills needed to cut through the noise and focus on long term, sustainable SEO growth. Whether you’re a beginner looking to understand the basics or an experienced marketer seeking to refine your strategies, this course covers it all. In the meantime, I also offer bespoke SEO training either in-house or online via Zoom. Such training will follow a similar structure to the online course but with tailored examples and exercises based on your specific organisation, industry and goals
[H2] Course Outline
[H6] Lesson 1: What is SEO & Why is It Important?
Understand the fundamental concepts of SEO and its significance in the digital marketing landscape.
[H6] Lesson 2: The Google SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
Learn about the the evolution of Google’sS SERP over time and different types of search results including Google’s Search Generative Experience.
[H6] Lesson 3: How Google’s Organic Search Algorithm Works
Gain insights into the core elements of Google’s ranking algorithm – crawling, indexing and ranking.
[H6] Lesson 4: Optimizing for Google - The 3 Pillars
Discover the three key pillars of SEO: Technical SEO, On-Page SEO, and Off-Page SEO.
[H6] Lesson 5: Technical SEO
Dive deep into the technical aspects of SEO, including site speed, site structure, XML sitemaps, and robots.txt files.
[H6] Lesson 6: Content Creation & Optimization
Learn how to carry out keyword research and mapping. Master the art of creating high-quality, SEO-friendly content that resonates with your target audience. And learn how to format it in a manner that increases it’s ranking potential.
[H6] Lesson 7: Building Domain Authority
Learn about the importance of building trust through relevant backlinks. Learn some strategies for enhancing your website’s authority through effective link-building techniques.
[H6] Lesson 8: Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) & AI
Understand the latest controversial update to Google’s SERP – Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) and its impact on SEO. And learn how to convince Google to mention your brand and link to your content.
[H3] Why Choose This SEO Course?
Expert Instructor: Darren McManus, with his extensive experience and award-winning strategies, brings practical insights and real-world applications to the course.Comprehensive Curriculum: Covers all aspects of SEO, ensuring you have a well-rounded understanding of the field.Hands-On Learning: Interactive lessons and practical exercises to apply your knowledge effectively.Stay Updated: Keep up with the latest trends and updates in SEO, including AI and new Google algorithms.
[H2] SEO Training Testimonials
One of the best sessions ever! I loved the technical depth and actionability of this session.Founder University AttendeeAwesome presentation! One of my favorites; wish there was more time.Founder University AttendeeI appreciated that he didn’t dive right in the weeds but worked down from a high level approach.Founder University Attendee
[H2] Join the Waitlist / Request Bespoke Training
The online course is not live just yet. If you’d like to join the waitlist for the course or discuss a tailored SEO training session for your business, get in touch via the form below.

Table of Contents ToggleApparently SEO is dead – at least that’s what I’m seeing in approximately 90% of posts on my Linkedin feed right now. It’s been replaced by some new things – namely GEO and LLM optimization. I’ve also heard the term “Answer Engine Optimisation” bandied about.But then Google Trends must be broken, right? It’s telling me that SEO searches are actually increasing above and beyond levels ever seen before?
[IMG: Google Trends - SEO v GEO v LLM Optimisation vs AEO]
The purpose of this article is to dig into these different terms, understand how they relate to each other and demystify the process of getting your brand and website mentioned in modern platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity et al.
[H2] Common Misconceptions about the Relationship Between Generative AI & SEO
Before we get started, I would like to clear up 2 common misconceptions in relation to Generative AI & SEO:Chat GPT (and other Generative AI Platforms) are NOT Search EnginesGoogle is NOT Losing Market Share to Generative AI Platforms
[H3] Chat GPT (and other Generative AI Platforms) are NOT Search Engines
There is fairly significant overlap between the use cases of Generative AI Platforms like Chat GPT and search engines like Google. But it’s important for businesses to note that they are not the same thing. Generative AI Platforms in their current form are “do everything machines”. Sure, some people use them for traditional searches that they might previously have used Google for, but I’m always amazed by how people overestimate this portion of ChatGPT usage. SEMrush recently carried out a study based on 80 million lines of global clickstream data to identify how people interacted with ChatGPT. They found that only 30% of ChatGPT prompts in their dataset could be identified as fitting into one of the traditional four categories of intent associated with traditional search engine queries (navigational, informational, commercial, transactional).The other 70% consisted of unique queries rarely seen in standard search engines. This indicates that many ChatGPT queries represent entirely new types of intent, potentially related to problem-solving, brainstorming, or exploratory inquiries that don’t fit neatly into traditional categories.
[IMG: Search Intent on ChatGPT]
This distinction is further emphasized when we look at the average length of user queries on ChatGPT – another Semrush study suggests that the average length of a user query on ChatGPT is 86 words. Compare this to the average length of a query on Google search in the USA – which is 3.4 words.
[IMG: Average Query Length - Google vs ChatGPT]
Clearly, ChatGPT and other Generative AI Platforms are being used for a much broader set of use cases than traditional search – from creative writing, to coding, to summarising documents, to organising tasks, and so on.
[H3] Google is NOT Losing Market Share to Generative AI Platforms
With all of the hype around Generative AI Platforms (ChatGPT in particular) and the latest “death of SEO”, you would be forgiven for assuming that these platforms are aggressively eating into Google’s market share. However, you would be wrong.According to a SparkToro study in March 2025, Google saw more than 5 trillion searches in 2024, or about 14 billion per day, giving it a 93.57% market share.ChatGPT saw an estimated 37.5 million search-like prompts per day, giving it a 0.25% market share. That’s less than Microsoft Bing (4.10%), Yahoo (1.35%), and DuckDuckGo (0.73%).
[IMG: Number of searches per day - Google v ChatGPT]
Even more recent data from SEMrush suggests that the framing of ChatGPT vs Google is a false dichotomy, pointing out that when new users adopt ChatGPT, their quantity of Google searches spikes, and remains higher-than-before even months later.
[IMG: ChatGPT is not replacing Google]
All that being said, usage of ChatGPT and some other Generative AI platforms is likely to continue to rise as long as the astronomical investment in these products continues. Usage and market share estimates vary wildly depending on the source. The reality is that no-one can predict the future – we may see Generative AI platforms completely taking over from search engines and I may end up eating my words, or the Generative AI bubble may burst and we may end up back at square one with a more AI-focused version of the same old Google monopoly. Regardless, whilst it’s not wise to redirect all your focus into “ranking” within Generative AI platforms, it’s equally unwise to ignore them entirely. They are a new channel that is very much worth your consideration, and as we will outline throughout this post – optimising for Generative AI platforms is likely to have a positive impact on your search engine rankings and vice versa. By tweaking the focus of your SEO strategy and increasing the focus on a couple of tactics, you should be pretty well covered in terms of GEO.
[H2] Time for Some Definitions
So now that those clarifications are out of the way, let’s move on to some some definitions:SEO (Search Engine Optimisation): The practice of improving a website’s visibility and ranking in traditional search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) through technical optimisation, content creation, and authority building.GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation): The practice of optimising for Generative AI Platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, etc.) so your brand is cited, recommended, or linked in AI-generated responses.LLM Optimisation is another term that I will define after providing some more context.. It’s a term often used interchangeably with GEO but technically they are not the same thing because technically an LLM and a Generative AI Platform are not the same thing.
[H2] What’s The Difference between an LLM and a Generative AI Platform?
People often use the terms interchangeably but there is a distinction to be made between “LLM” and “Generative AI Platform”.An LLM (Large Language Model) is an AI modeI focused specifically on understanding, processing, and generating text. LLMs are essentially massive statistical engines trained on huge amounts of text (books, websites, articles, code). They predict the most likely sequence of words, based on patterns it learned during training. A Generative AI Platform is a system built on top of LLMs (and other generative models), providing the tools, infrastructure, and integrations businesses and users need.ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity are all generative AI platforms built on large language models. They go beyond the base LLM by adding features such as “grounding” via web search (in some cases), multimodal inputs (text, images, audio, etc.), and user-friendly interfaces.With fine-tuning and external grounding, these platforms become tools that feel like they can “understand” and “reason,” even though it’s fundamentally still just pattern prediction.
[H2] What about Google’s AI mode and AI Overviews?
Google has also introduced its own generative AI experiences inside Search, most notably AI Overviews (AIO) and AI Mode. These are not standalone Generative AI Models but rather Generative AI features within existing products.AI Overviews (AIO): A feature within Google Search that generates concise, AI-written summaries at the top of results pages, often with links to supporting sources. These summaries are powered by Google’s Gemini LLM, grounded in web content retrieved from the index.AI Mode: A newer interface within Search that blends traditional results with generative answers. When users switch to AI Mode, they are effectively interacting with Search powered by Gemini, rather than just the classic ranking algorithm.While the technology under the hood is similar to generative AI platforms like ChatGPT or Perplexity, there’s one crucial difference: to be included in AI Overviews or AI Mode, your content first needs to be visible in Google Search.According to Google themselves: “You can apply the same foundational SEO best practices for AI features as you do for Google Search overall: making sure the page meets the technical requirements for Google Search, following Search policies, and focusing on the key best practices, such as creating helpful, reliable, people-first content.”Both AI Overviews and AI Mode function slightly differently to traditional search results though in terms of information retrieval. They both use an information retrieval process called “query fan-out”.
[H2] What is Query Fan-Out?
Query fan-out (sometimes called multi-query expansion or search fan-out) is when a Generative AI system takes your single prompt, rewrites it into multiple sub-queries, sends those out to external sources (like web search or databases), and then combines the results before generating an answer. Olaf Kopp explains the purpose of query-fan out very well:“The core function of query fan-out is to transform a single, potentially complex or ambiguous, user query into a multitude of more specific sub-queries.”According to Google, AI Mode and AI Overviews…“may use a “query fan-out” technique — issuing multiple related searches across subtopics and data sources — to develop a response. While responses are being generated, our advanced models identify more supporting web pages, allowing us to display a wider and more diverse set of helpful links associated with the response than with a classic web search, enabling new opportunities for exploration.”
[IMG: Query Fan Out]
You can read more about query fan-out in Google’s AI mode in this excellent article by Marie Haynes.The truth is that some form of query fan out has been used by Google for years even for “pre-AI” search. Other search-centric platforms like Perplexity and Bing Co-pilot also rely heavily on query fan-out. Chat-centric platforms like ChatGPT and Claude use it for queries that can’t easily be answered via their training data – in other words the queries that require “grounding”.
[H2] What is “Grounding”?
LLMs are powerful but have two big limitations:Knowledge cut-off: they don’t know events or data after a certain date.Hallucinations: they sometimes generate fluent but factually wrong answers.Grounding is an attempt to counteract these limitations by pulling in relevant, authoritative information at the time of the query. Grounding essentially means connecting an LLM’s answer to real, external data sources (usually via web search) instead of relying only on what the model learned during training.A platform like ChatGPT or Claude typically won’t use grounding for straightforward questions with “permanent” answers like “Where was Erling Haaland born?”.However, for a search like “Who is currently the top scorer in the 2025/26 premier league?”, the platform will use “grounding” in the form of query-fan out across the live web to ensure that they can provide an accurate and up to date answer to the query.
[H2] Let’s Revisit Our Definitions
So now that we understand this context and the relationship between LLMs and Generative AI Models, we have a clearer distinction between GEO and LLM optimisation.LLM Optimisation: The practice of ensuring your brand, expertise, and content are well-represented in the training data of Large Language Models (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini), so the model “remembers” and generates responses that reference or recommend you even without live grounding. This relies on building widespread, high-authority, high-visibility signals across the open web that are likely to be captured during model training.GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation): The practice of optimising for Generative AI Platforms (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) so your brand is cited, recommended, or linked in AI-generated responses. This encapsulates LLM optimisation but also includes influencing grounded responses that draw from live information across the web. GEO therefore covers both the long-term objective of being embedded in model training data and the short-term objective of being surfaced when platforms ground their answers in real-time web content.Read that second objective again… We want to optimise our website and brand to be:“surfaced when platforms ground their answers in real-time web content”. Sounds familiar, right? Replace “platforms ground their answers” with “users search for answers”This, in effect, shares the exact same objective as traditional SEO – we want our brand and our content to be surfaced prominently when users or bots search the web for relevant queries.
[H2] So what does GEO involve?
To be honest, I’m hesitant to even use the term GEO due to how it tends to be used by a certain group of people – i.e. fearmongers, charlatans and frauds who position it as a brand new discipline, completely distinct from SEO in order to upsell “new” services.I tend to share the frustrations expressed by Catherine Lux, Head of SEO at Assembly global below (yet here I am writing a 4,000 word article on GEO…): The reality is that at a tactical level GEO is a subset of SEO and, in fact, the tactics required to optimise for Generative AI Platforms are much the same as those required in traditional SEO with an increased weight on a few specific tactics. If you’ve got a good SEO agency, consultant or in-house team who has been doing all the right things over the past number of years, then you can rest assured that this has been having a positive impact on your visibility in Generative AI Platforms and Google’s AI Features as well. If we must use the term, then the GEO equation, as I see it, is as follows:GEO = LLM Optimisation (the objective is to get into the model’s training data so it’s “baked in” and recalled even without grounding) + Grounding Optimisation (the objective is to be visible to Generative AI bots for relevant “grounding” queries on the live web – essentially this is traditional SEO with some slight tweaks).There is a tonne of overlap between both of these “pillars” when it comes to the actual tactics required to achieve both objectives. As is the case with Traditional SEO, we can still pretty neatly segment these tactics into 3 categories – Technical Optimisations, Content Optimisations and Authority Optimisations (again with some overlap).
[H3] Technical Optimisations for GEO
[H4] Ensure that Your Website is Accessible to “AI Bots”
From a technical perspective, the first thing you want to do is ensure that your website and content is actually accessible to bots. Without access to your site’s content, generative AI platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, etc.) cannot surface your brand in responses.Many of you may feel conflicted about this and for good reason – the ethical and copyright concerns associated with allowing these companies to train their LLMs on all of the information on the open web are significant. On the flip side, visibility in Generative AI platforms depends on those systems being able to access, crawl, and learn from your content. Blocking their crawlers risks your brand being invisible in AI-generated answers (at least t

Table of Contents ToggleThe European Accessibility Act (EAA) came into effect in Ireland on June 28th of this year. The EAA is is a European law that sets accessibility requirements for a wide range of products and services to improve access for people with disabilitiesWhen it comes to digital properties – the EAA mandates that  websites, mobile apps, and other digital content must be accessible to people with disabilities. This includes e-commerce sites, public service websites, and any website targeting EU citizens. For a full overview of the EAA, I encourage you to check out this European Accessibility Act Guide by Nexus Inclusion. This post of mine however, is not going to focus on the EAA itself, but rather on a topic that all of my recent reading on the EAA has got me thinking about – the overlap between web accessibility and SEO.
[H2] The Connection Between Web Accessibility & SEO
The EAA (and most other web accessibility legislation worldwide) is heavily based on a set of standards known as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).The overlap between WCAG conformance and SEO best practices is striking. If you think about it, that makes sense because both aim to make websites more usable, structured, and discoverable – just for slightly different audiences (people with disabilities vs. search engine bots and general users).WCAG outlines a specific set of rules that must be met to achieve “conformance” – these are known as “Success Criteria”. These are essentially the testable requirements that determine whether a digital product (like a website or app) is accessible to people with disabilities. Below I will discuss the main areas of overlap between WCAG and SEO in the context of these Success Criteria.
[H3] Semantic HTML Structure
WCAG Success Criterion 1.3.1: Info and Relationships requires that “the structure and relationships of content be conveyed programmatically, not just visually”. Essentially this relates to correct use of semantic HTML, i.e. headings (<h1>–<h6>), lists, and landmarks (<nav>, <main>, <footer>, etc.) for screen reader navigation.Note: WCAG also includes Success Criterion 2.4.10: Section Headings (Level AAA), which recommends using headings to organize content into meaningful sections. While this is not required for Level AA conformance (the level on which most accessibility legislation is based on), it’s a best practice that benefits both accessibility and SEO by improving navigation, readability, and content structure.Why is it important?This requirement is crucial because sighted users rely on visual cues like font size, spacing, color, and layout to understand structure and relationships in content. Without proper semantic markup, these cues are lost to users of assistive technologies like screen readers. This criterion ensures that headings, lists, tables, and form fields are conveyed programmatically, allowing all users, regardless of ability, to access and understand the same information.SEO benefits: Meeting WCAG 1.3.1 not only improves accessibility but also provides several SEO benefits by enhancing the semantic structure, crawlability, and contextual clarity of a webpage. Some of the specific benefits include:Improved Crawlability and Indexing: When HTML elements like headings (<h1>–<h6>), lists (<ul>, <ol>, <li>), tables (<table>, <th>, <tr>, <td>), and form labels (<label for=””>) are used correctly, search engines can better interpret the structure and meaning of a page. This helps ensure that key content is indexed correctly and that search engines understand how information is grouped and prioritized.Enhanced Topical Clarity: Search engines use headings and other semantic signals to understand the topics and subtopics on a page. Proper use of semantic HTML reinforces content hierarchy and relevance, improving a page’s ability to rank for related keyword clusters and featured snippets.Better Chance of Rich Results: Using proper semantic HTML (ideally along with structured data markup) helps search engines understand your page more clearly, increasing the chance of showing rich results and featured snippets.
[H3] Alt Text for Images
WCAG Success Criterion 1.1.1: Non-text Content requires that “all non-text content that is presented to the user has a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose.” This means that meaningful images must include descriptive alt attributes so that users who cannot see them can still understand the information being conveyed.Why is it important?Sighted users often rely on images to quickly understand content – things like photos illustrating a concept, icons indicating functionality, or infographics summarizing data. But users with visual impairments or those using screen readers can’t interpret images unless a text alternative is provided. Alt text allows assistive technologies to describe the image’s content and function, ensuring that users who can’t see the image can still perceive its meaning and relevance. Without it, key context may be entirely lost.SEO benefits:Providing meaningful alt text improves not only accessibility but also a page’s SEO performance. Benefits include:Better Image SEO: Alt text helps search engines understand what an image is about, increasing the likelihood it will appear in image search results, which can drive a surprising amount of additional organic traffic. Google doesn’t openly share data on image search traffic and any “statistics” that I can find online are totally unfounded – but take it from me, getting your image SEO right can be hugely beneficial to your overall web traffic.Improved Keyword Context: Alt attributes contribute to the page’s overall keyword relevance when used naturally and appropriately, reinforcing topical signals.Enhanced Indexing and Usability: Pages that use images to convey important information are more comprehensible and indexable when alt attributes are present, helping both search engines and users understand the full context of the content.
[H3] Link Anchor Texts
WCAG Success Criterion 2.4.4: Link Purpose (In Context) requires that “the purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone or from the link text together with its programmatically determined link context.” In practice, this means that links should have clear, descriptive text (rather than vague phrases like “click here”) so users understand where the link will take them.Why is it important?Sighted users can often rely on surrounding layout and context to infer where a link will go, even if the anchor text itself is ambiguous. However, users of screen readers frequently navigate a page by skipping from link to link, hearing only the anchor text without any surrounding content. If the link text is unclear, like “read more” or “click here”, it becomes meaningless in isolation. Descriptive anchor text ensures all users can confidently navigate a site and understand its structure, no matter how they interact with it.SEO benefits:Writing descriptive, contextually relevant anchor text helps search engines better understand how pages on your site are related. Specific benefits include:Improved Internal Linking Structure: Clear anchor text strengthens internal links by signaling the topic of the linked page, which helps search engines understand site architecture and topical clusters.Enhanced Topical Relevance: When anchor text includes relevant keywords (used naturally), it reinforces the semantic relationship between linked pages, improving their chances of ranking for related queries.Better Crawl Efficiency: Search engine crawlers use anchor text as a guide to evaluate the purpose and context of linked content. Descriptive links reduce ambiguity and help crawlers index pages more effectively.
[H3] Page Titles
WCAG Success Criterion 2.4.2: Page Titled requires that “web pages have titles that describe the topic or purpose.” This means every page must include a clear, descriptive <title> element in the HTML <head>, which accurately reflects the content of the page.Why is it important?For users of assistive technologies like screen readers, the page title is often the first piece of information they hear when arriving on a new page. It helps them understand where they are, what the page is about, and whether it’s relevant to their needs. Sighted users see this title in the browser tab or search engine results, but for non-visual users, it provides essential orientation and context for navigating and revisiting content.SEO benefits:I see page title optimisation coming in for a lot of heat from some in the “SEO community” these days but descriptive and unique page titles are still significant on-page SEO signals. Benefits include:Improved Ranking Signals: Search engines use the <title> tag to determine the primary topic of the page. Including relevant keywords naturally in the title helps pages rank for those terms. I will fight anyone who says otherwise.Better Indexing and Discoverability: A well-written title clarifies the page’s intent, making it easier for search engines to categorize and serve it in relevant queries.Enhanced User Experience in SERPs: Even though this isn’t an accessibility issue, clear page titles make your links more compelling in search results, improving engagement and reducing pogo-sticking (users bouncing back to results after clicking).
[H3] Video and Audio Content Accessibility
WCAG Success Criterion 1.2.1: Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) and 1.2.2: Captions (Prerecorded) require that multimedia content be made accessible through alternatives such as transcripts, captions, or audio descriptions. This ensures that time-based media is perceivable to users who cannot hear or see the content.Why is it important?Multimedia content often conveys critical information e.g. through narration, dialogue, sound effects, or visual demonstrations. Sighted and hearing users can absorb this information directly. However, users with hearing impairments may miss spoken content, while blind or low-vision users may not perceive visual elements. Captions allow deaf and hard-of-hearing users to follow audio content, and transcripts enable screen readers to convey spoken information. Audio descriptions, when needed, narrate visual-only elements. Without these alternatives, entire portions of content may be inaccessible to users with disabilities.SEO benefits:Making multimedia content accessible not only broadens your audience but also improves search visibility. Benefits include:Increased Indexable Content: Transcripts provide search engines with readable, keyword-rich text that helps them understand and index the content of audio and video files.Expanded Keyword Coverage: Spoken words in videos often include natural phrases and long-tail keywords. Captions and transcripts allow these phrases to be captured by search engines, improving relevance for a broader range of queries.Better Content Engagement: Accessible video content can lead to higher user engagement i.e. users are more likely to stay on the page longer and interact with the content, which are positive behavioral signals for SEO.
[H3] Consistent Navigation
WCAG Success Criterion 3.2.3: Consistent Navigation requires that navigational mechanisms that are repeated on multiple pages occur in the same relative order each time they appear, unless a user initiates a change. This includes things like menus, search bars, breadcrumbs, and footer links.Why is it important?For users with disabilities, particularly those using screen readers, keyboard navigation, or assistive tools like voice commands, consistent navigation is key to understanding and predicting how to move through a website. When menus or repeated elements shift position or order from one page to the next, users can become disoriented or frustrated. Consistency allows users to develop a mental model of the site’s structure, reducing cognitive load and enabling faster, more confident navigation. This is especially important for users with visual, cognitive, or motor impairments who may rely on repeated scanning or memorized keyboard paths.SEO benefits:Consistent navigation also benefits SEO by supporting site crawlability, internal linking, and user experience. Specific benefits include:Improved Crawl Efficiency: When navigation menus are consistent across pages, search engine bots can more easily discover and follow internal links, leading to better indexing of deep content.Stronger Site Architecture: Repeated, structured navigation reinforces a clear hierarchy and helps distribute link equity across priority pages.Better User Engagement: A predictable layout improves user trust and reduces friction, increasing the likelihood that users will stay longer and explore more content—positive signals for search engines.
[H2] Comparison Table: WCAG Requirements – Accessibility & SEO Benefits
RecommendationRelevant WCAG Success CriteriaAccessibility BenefitsSEO BenefitsSemantic HTML Structure1.3.1, 2.4.10 (AAA)Ensures that structure and relationships (e.g. headings, lists, landmarks) are conveyed programmatically, enabling screen readers to interpret and navigate the content accurately.Improves crawlability, indexing, and topical clarity; enables featured snippet eligibility; supports rich results through clearer content hierarchy.Alt Text for Images1.1.1Enables screen readers to describe the content and function of images to users who are blind or visually impaired, ensuring the information is still perceivable.Boosts image SEO, keyword context, and page relevance; contributes to content indexing; drives traffic from image search.Link Anchor Texts2.4.4Allows users navigating via screen reader to understand where a link will take them, especially when scanning a list of links out of context.Strengthens internal linking and site architecture; reinforces keyword relevance; helps crawlers understand page relationships and content intent.Page Titles2.4.2Provides essential orientation and context for screen reader users upon entering a page, helping them understand the purpose of the content.Provides a strong relevance signal to search engines; improves indexing and keyword targeting; enhances SERP performance and CTR.Video and Audio Content Accessibility1.2.1, 1.2.2Provides equivalent alternatives for users who cannot hear or see multimedia content, ensuring no critical information is lost.Enables indexing of spoken content; expands keyword footprint; improves content engagement and dwell time.Consistent Navigation3.2.3Helps users with visual, cognitive, or motor impairments navigate predictably by keeping repeated navigation elements in the same relative order across pages.Supports crawl efficiency and deep content discovery; reinforces site architecture and trust; improves behavioral metrics like time on site.
[H2] Final Thoughts
This has been just a small sampl

Table of Contents ToggleThere is a lot of talk at the moment about LLMs like ChatGPT, Grok and Perplexity taking over from search engines. Realistically though, the impact that these “competitors” are having in terms of market share is minimal. According to SparkToro data, in 2024 Google received ~373 times as many searches as ChatGPT.
[IMG: Google vs ChatGPT daily searches (SparkToro)]
So far, the noise around standalone LLMs killing Google and other search engines is much ado about nothing (or at least, very little).That is not to say, however, that LLMs are not going to have a negative impact on organic search traffic. At the moment, the only LLM that is a genuine threat to Google Search is Google’s own LLM – Gemini, or more specifically Google’s AI Overview search results – these are AI answers at the top of Google search results that are powered by a customized version of Google’s Gemini LLM, specifically designed for search.Google officially launched AI Overviews in the U.S. on May 14, 2024 and has been steadily rolling them out across the world since then. Research from the excellent Flow Agency, shows that AI Overview results increased by 300% between June 2024 and February 2025.As Google increasingly answers informational, top-of-funnel queries directly in the search results via AI Overviews (AIO), we’re seeing a fundamental shift. Global search trends suggest a decline in organic CTR due to the increasing presence of AI Overviews (AIO) and other zero-click results – a Seer Interactive study claims that Organic CTR declines by as much as 50% when Google’s AI Overviews are present.And on the 26th March 2025, Google rolled out AI Overviews in Ireland. What this means is that Irish based organisations can expect a further reduction in CTR for top-of-funnel and informational queries, as Google begins answering more user queries directly on the SERP here in Ireland.The good news? AI Overviews tend to show up less often for bottom of funnel / transactional focused queries.
[IMG: Likelihood of AI Overview Appearing by Search Intent (Flow Agency)]
Now, I’m not advising anyone to completely ditch their informational / blog content strategy – in fact, doing so completely would definitely be a bad idea. Your informational content is still key for a number of reasons including:If you write great informational content, Google is still likely to reference you and show your brand name and logo in it’s AI Overview results. The CTR is likely to be lower than a traditional 1st place result but don’t underestimate the power of having your brand associated with a helpful answer.Google still likely uses the informational content on your website to help to decide the relevance and ranking potential of your services pages. Think about it – which is Google more likely to rank at the top of it’s results for a transactional query – a product or service page that stands alone in a website with no additional context, or a product or service page that’s part of a wider content cluster of blog posts and resources that showcase a companies expertise in relation to the solutions that the product/service offers?However, with the likely downward trend for traffic from informational searches, it’s now more important than ever for Irish organisations to ensure that their services pages are well optimised to attract high-intent, bottom of funnel traffic. With that in mind, let’s look at some of the key SEO optimisations to consider specifically for service pages.
[H2] SEO Considerations for Services Pages
Keyword focused: You’ll want to include your targeted keywords in your page title and throughout your content – this helps you rank well in search results for those specific terms. This is crucial for SEO landing pages, though less important for paid search landing pages that visitors reach through advertisements rather than organic search.Compelling, Conversion-Focused Content: Let’s face it. The user is likely to be shopping around – that’s why it’s super important to have clear, compelling, conversion focused content to convince them that you are the best choice, whatever the service you are providing. You should include:An overview of the serviceUse cases / industry relevanceBenefitsDifferentiators (USP)A Strong CTAA clean and uncluttered design: Nobody enjoys a chaotic, overwhelming page. Keep your design clean and focused to improve the user experience. A cluttered page often leads to high bounce rates as visitors quickly click away. Make it easy for people to find what they need and take action.Clean, well formatted html: Good code matters! Search engines rely on your HTML to understand your content, so keep it clean and well-structured. Focus on:Using proper heading tags (<h1>, <h2>, etc.) to create a clear content hierarchyApplying the right HTML tags for different content typesAdding descriptive alt text to all your images to help both search engines and visually impaired usersHigh Quality Visuals: Search engines favour content that engages users and that usually includes compelling visuals. Use relevant, professional imagery to illustrate your services and team, supported by well-written, benefit-driven text. Every image should include an SEO-friendly alt tag. Not only does this help with image search rankings, it also supports accessibility and provides context for visually impaired users and search engines alike.Structured data / schema.org markup: This might sound technical, but it’s worth implementing. Adding structured data in the form of schema.org markup to your page gives search engines extra context about your content and can significantly improve your visibility in search results. It’s like giving search engines a roadmap to better understand what your page is all about. Where possible, use structured data (Review or AggregateRating) to enhance how these appear in search results.Integrated into site structure and navigation: Your pages need to fit logically within your website’s overall structure for several important reasons:Better crawlability: Search engines need to easily find and index your pages – if they’re hidden away or difficult to access, they might as well not exist!Improved link equity: When your pages link to each other, they share “link juice” that boosts their collective ranking power. Pages that aren’t well-connected miss out on this benefit.Effective content clustering: Grouping related content helps search engines understand how everything fits together, providing context and relevance that can improve your rankings.Testimonials & Trust Signals: Social proof isn’t just good for users — it helps SEO too. Including client testimonials, partner logos, star ratings, or trust badges increases the page’s credibility in the eyes of both visitors and search engines. These elements signal quality and relevance, which can influence rankings and conversion rates. Page performance and mobile-optimization: This isn’t just nice to have – it’s essential. With most searches now happening on mobile devices, your performance affects SEO in three critical ways:Google explicitly uses site speed as a ranking factorSlow pages mean search engines crawl fewer of your pages with their allocated budgetGoogle’s “Core Web Vitals” (speed, responsiveness, stability) have been a direct ranking factor since 2021Related Content / Clustering: Service pages shouldn’t exist in isolation. Link to relevant blog posts, case studies, and related services to help build content clusters around your topic. This improves topical authority and helps Google understand the depth and breadth of your site’s expertise. It also helps to convince users that you really know what you are talking about.
[H2] An example of an SEO Optimised Service Page
As the old saying goes, a checklist is worth a thousand words, or something like that. So let’s review a real life example of a services landing page against the SEO considerations above.The page that I’m going to review is an eCommerce & Product Recruitment Agency service page that was recently published by one of my clients, Connexus Recruit. Let’s dig in:Keyword Focus: Strong use of “eCommerce & Product Recruitment” in H1, headings, and content. Could add a bit more long-tail variation.Score: 9/10
[IMG: SEO Optimised Service Pages - Keyword Focus]
Conversion Focused Content: Includes service overview, benefits, and clear process. Could improve slightly with more obvious USPs and industry-specific case examples.Score: 8/10Clean, Uncluttered Design: Modern, easy to read, visually clean with good layout and CTAs.Score: 9/10HTML Structure: Well organised, uses correct headings and tags like,, <link>, and <script> are used appropriately in <head>.  Could be slightly improved by wrapping main content in semantic tags (<main>, <section>, <article>) to improve machine readability and accessibility.Score: 8/10High Quality Visuals: Visuals are relevant and appealing. Alt tags are present and optimised.Score: 9/10Structured Data / Schema: Contains detailed WebPage schema.org markup but could benefit from adding Service markup (I tested the page using this Schema.org Validator)Score: 6/10Site Structure Integration: Well integrated into the site navigation and linked to from a main Hire Talent page as well as all Hire Talent child pages. Also links to related content. Could benefit from stronger content clustering links from related blog posts.Score: 9/10
[IMG: SEO Optimised Service Pages - Internal Linking]
Testimonials & Trust Signals: Includes testimonials and client logos as well as information on key team members.Score: 10/10
[IMG: SEO Optimised Service Pages - Testimonials and Trust Signals]
Page Performance & Mobile: No Core Web Vitals issues reported via Google Search Console. However a manual PageSpeed Insights test suggests that overall page loading speed and, in particular, Largest Contentful Paint, could be improved.Score: 7/10Related Content / Clustering: Includes blog section “Hiring Advice & Insights” which supports clustering and topical authority. Also links to relevant job listing page – eCommerce Jobs Ireland. The page is also linked to from some relevant blog posts but this could be improved.Score: 9/10Final Score: 84 / 100. As you can see from the checklist above this service page is pretty well optimised from an SEO perspective, and that is reflected below in the improvement in ranking for the term “ecommerce recruitment agency ireland” since the page went live back in early February. Connexus went from not ranking at all, to ranking in 5th position a few days after the page was published and up to 2nd by April 8th.
[IMG: SEO Optimised Service Pages - Impact on Rankings]
If you’d like to carry out a similar review of one of your services pages, feel free to make a copy of my Service Page SEO Checklist which should help you to get started.
[IMG: darren mcmanus seo]
[H5] Darren McManus
+ postsBioI'm Darren, founder of SEO by Darren. I develop bespoke SEO roadmaps and implement long term SEO strategies to build organic visibility, traffic and conversions for my clients.Darren McManusWhy is Google Getting Worse? And What Can Regular Businesses Learn From It?Darren McManusThe Internet is Getting Worse. And SEO is to blame.*Darren McManusTikTok SEO Guide: How to Boost Your Visibility and Engagement on TikTok

[H1] About Me
My name is Darren McManus. I’m an experienced SEO Consultant with 10 years experience helping companies in Ireland, the US and UK to supercharge their organic traffic and conversions.
[H3] My Background
I am an SEO Consultant with 10 years experience working with top US, Irish and UK-based organizations across a range of sectors.I initially worked for 2 years in-house as a Digital Marketing Executive with one of Ireland’s biggest and most trusted brands, Dublin Airport, where I was responsible for digital marketing and web analytics.I moved on to spend 4 years working with one of Ireland’s leading digital agencies, Arekibo, during which time I worked on award-winning Search Engine Optimisation strategies with some of Ireland and the UK’s most recognisable businesses.After that I moved back to my home county of Galway  and set up my own SEO consultancy business and with a focus on assisting businesses in the west of Ireland in getting on the Digital Marketing ladder alongside working as Search Engine Optimization Manager at Adaptive & Co.In October 2022, I joined Velocity Growth as Head of SEO where I have worked primarily with US-based organizations (mainly startups) like Safely.com, Knowi.com and DrinkMoment.com to boost their organic presence, traffic and conversions.Outside of SEO, my interests include hiking, running, cycling, travelling, fantasy premier league, ecology & rewilding, and learning new things (just finished a course in woodworking and another in ecology and currently learning Spanish).
[H3] Why work with me?
Guaranteed SpecialistUnlike many digital marketing consultants, I don’t try to offer all the digital marketing services under the sun. I have broad experience and understanding of all aspects of digital marketing but in terms of the services I offer, I my area of genuine expertise – SEO and dedicate my time to keeping up to date and mastering the latest updates and trends in the niche of SEO, rather than attempting to cover all bases. TransparencyI don’t outsource or delegate any key strategy or technical work. I work on a project by project basis and guarantee that I will personally undertake your SEO project from start to finish myself – only outsourcing content creation from time to time to suitable content writers (which is always agreed in advance with clients). This is not a guarantee you will get from many other consultants or agencies where very often the senior team does the pitch and hands over the implementation to junior teams or outsources some aspects of the work. ExperienceI’ve got 10 years experience working on SEO projects both in-house and agency side. I’ve worked with countless different organisations of all sizes across all industries using all different kinds of content management systems and platforms.  No Hidden ChargesAll SEO projects are different so I don’t offer a set menu of prices for my services outside of my audit packages. I do, however, provide detailed estimates for strategy and implementation work (free of charge) and work with clients to find a suitable payment plan.
[H3] Has your website been affected by a recent Google algorithm update?​
I have extensive experience in helping organizations recover from algorithm hits. Get in touch to discuss how I can help you get back on track.​ Get In Touch