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What the episode covered
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015 - How Toxic Links Can Hurt Your Site with Christoph Cemper
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015 - How Toxic Links Can Hurt Your Site with Christoph Cemper
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02:01 The background of Christoph Cemper and how did he start on the link research tool?
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06:47 The key innovation that Google had recently that sets them apart from the other search engines.
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13:04 Why is Google saying that ranking without links is really, really hard?
16:30 How are filters affecting search results and what about penalties as filters?
17:49 The difference of social media, e.g. Facebook, in terms of organic ranking, with that of Google.
20:12 What is the impact of Google algorithm updates on how Google treats ‘no follow’ tags or indexing?
What I would emphasize today
Search has moved beyond one channel. Google still matters, but your buyers also use AI answers, YouTube, Reddit, reviews, communities, and comparison content before they decide.
That means the practical question is not just “does this rank?” The better question is: does this help the right buyer find enough proof to trust us?
How to apply this now
- Diagnose the actual visibility gap.
- Check whether the buyer researches this topic on Google, AI tools, YouTube, Reddit, or another platform.
- Create the asset that answers the question clearly.
- Add proof, examples, and structure so both humans and AI systems can understand it.
- Measure whether the work leads to better qualified demand, not just more traffic.
My current take
The topic still matters, but the playbook has changed. SEO is no longer only about ranking a page. It is about being present with the right answer, on the right platform, at the moment the buyer is forming trust.
If you want to know where your visibility gaps are now, start with a diagnostic call or the AI Readiness Check.