Measuring what matters

Rankings, traffic, domain authority… none of them tells you whether you’re winning any more. AI systems aren’t judging your site – they’re judging your brand, services and proposition across all of reality, and through all of time. It's time to tear up the vanity metrics, laugh at the futility of AI rank trackers, and explore how to measure what really matters: coherence, cultural salience, input quality, and whether your brand is even legible enough to be taken seriously.

Transcript

1. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Measuring What Matters
2. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant The illusion we built
3. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Clicks don’t count
4. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant We built dashboards around what we could see
5. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Rankings and tra c were interface artefacts
6. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Composite authority scores were confidence theatre
7. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Attribution was a polite fiction
8. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant SEO was forced into a channel-shaped box
9. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant We measured artefacts, not causes
10. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant AI exposed our measurement fictions
11. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant What changed
12. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant We optimised documents
13. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Systems now evaluate entities
14. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant AI aggregates distributed signals
15. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant The battleground is your reputation surface
16. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant …Through time
17. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant The decision layer moved upstream
18. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Most of your metrics describe moments that no longer happen
19. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant The hard pivot
20. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Discoverability and desirability are no longer separate problems
21. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Discoverability without desirability was a temporary glitch
22. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant We mistook algorithmic gaps for strategic strength
23. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Broader evaluation shrinks easy wins
24. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant SEO rejoins marketing
25. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant “This Isn’t SEO”
26. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant SEO isn’t dead, but…
27. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Prompt tracking
28. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Prompt tracking feels like control
29. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant It’s the same trap
30. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Prompts are not stable units of demand
31. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Variance is a feature, not a signal
32. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Inclusion is not preference
33. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant You must measure minds
34. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Yes, surveys are challenging
35. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Models cannot report memory
36. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Synthetic journeys are still interface observations
37. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Synthetic personas drift towards optimism
38. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant If prompt tracking doesn’t count, what should?
39. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant None of this is new theory
40. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Byron Sharp and the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute
41. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Growth comes from availability
42. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Availability is structural
43. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant AI doesn’t change the theory
44. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant So measure availability , not just visibility
45. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant The model
46. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Experience integrity Physical availability Mental availability Distinctiveness Reputation Commercial proof
47. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Experience integrity Physical availability Mental availability Distinctiveness Reputation Commercial proof
48. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Experience integrity Physical availability Mental availability Distinctiveness Reputation Commercial proof
49. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Experience integrity Physical availability Mental availability Distinctiveness Reputation Commercial proof
50. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Experience integrity Physical availability Mental availability Distinctiveness Reputation Commercial proof
51. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Experience integrity Physical availability Mental availability Distinctiveness Reputation Commercial proof
52. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Experience integrity Physical availability Mental availability Distinctiveness Reputation Commercial proof
53. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant And visibility ?
54. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Experience integrity
55. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Become an expert in Jobs to be done
56. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Task completion rate (completed tasks / task attempts) × 100
57. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Satisfaction rate (scores > 8 / responses) × 100
58. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant High friction sessions % non-converting sessions with ‘high friction’
59. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Technical quality [I’m not going to tell you how to evaluate your technical SEO]
60. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Physical availability
61. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Distribution coverage [I’m not going to tell you how to evaluate links]
62. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Inclusion in meaningful comparisons [I’m not going to tell you how to evaluate mentions]
63. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Buying question & documentation coverage [I’m not going to tell you how to research the questions your audience are asking]
64. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Structured data completeness [I’m not going to tell you how to evaluate schema]
65. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Mental availability
66. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Share of branded search (vs competitors) brand search volume / total branded search volume in category
67. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Share of search vs share of market share of search vs (revenue / total category revenue)
68. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Relative direct tra c direct sessions / total direct sessions in category
69. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Category entry point coverage CEPs where the brand has meaningful recall / total CEPs in category
70. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Category entry point coverage respondents recalling your brand for a CEP / total respondents mentioning any brand for that CEP
71. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Unaided recall mentions of your brand / total brand mentions across all respondents
72. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant NB, cultural salience is future cashflow
73. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant …And salience compounds
74. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Distinctiveness
75. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Distinctive asset recognition respondents correctly attributing the asset to the brand / total respondents who recognised the asset
76. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Message consistency score assets with correct positioning / total assets evaluated
77. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant NB, distinctiveness reduces cognitive load
78. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Reputation
79. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Sentiment [I’m not going to tell you how to measure sentiment]
80. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Narrative coherence across time historical brand descriptions aligned with current positioning / total historical descriptions analysed
81. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant NB, reputation compounds
82. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant …and sentiment stability matters
83. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant NB, stability increases recommendation probability
84. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Commercial proof
85. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Conversion e ciency [I’m not going to tell you how to measure conversion rate]
86. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Price resilience sales during promotion / sales outside promotion revenue generated during promotions / total revenue
87. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Acquisition e ciency [I’m not going to tell you how to measure cac]
88. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Retention & loyalty signals [I’m not going to tell you how to measure retention/churn]
89. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant The model
90. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Experience integrity Physical availability Mental availability Distinctiveness Reputation Commercial proof
91. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Experience integrity Physical availability Mental availability Distinctiveness Reputation Commercial proof Visibility
92. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Visibility
93. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Visibility is a reflection layer
94. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant NB, prompt tracking lives here
95. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Visibility is volatile because reputation is aggregated
96. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant When visibility rises but revenue doesn’t …
97. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Visibility without foundation is theatre
98. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Closing thoughts
99. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Stop playing with the surface
100. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Start optimising the truth
101. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Contribution beats manipulation
102. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant What you measure shapes behaviour
103. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant Clicks didn’t count. Competitiveness does .
104. Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant