Stop Chasing Keywords Start Building Authority

In this episode, Alex Milshtein, Head of Organic Growth at AutoDS, breaks down what SEO actually looks like in the AI era, and why old-school SEO strategies just aren’t enough anymore. We talk about why chasing rankings and traffic is becoming less important, and why brands now need to focus on authority, visibility, and being mentioned across the internet. Alex shares how AutoDS rebuilt its SEO strategy by connecting content, YouTube, PR, product, and growth teams instead of keeping everything siloed. He also explains his “second-wave backlink” strategy for earning powerful backlinks naturally, why digital PR is massively underrated right now, and why long-tail educational content is winning in AI search. If you’re a founder, marketer, SEO, or growth leader trying to figure out where search is heading next, this episode is full of practical ideas you can actually apply. 🔗 Get Your Exclusive AIO Growth Plan - We’ll kick off with a Live AIO Audit to see how shoppers find you, followed by Competitor Research to steal their spotlight: https://lunacal.ai/team/dws/dws-meetings In this episode, we discuss: 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction 01:00 - 03:20: Fixing a Broken SEO Structure 03:20 - 05:40: Why SEO Cannot Work in Silos 05:40 - 07:10: Using Content to Build Trust 07:10 - 08:30: The 12-Hour YouTube Education Strategy 08:30 - 10:00: Why Consistent Messaging Matters in AI Search 10:00 - 12:00: AEO and “Answer First” Content 12:00 - 13:40: Education Content vs Comparison Content 13:40 - 15:20: “Be the Citation or Appear in It” 15:20 - 17:00: Building Downstream Content Paths 17:00 - 18:40: Internal Linking and SEO Structure 18:40 - 21:00: The Second-Wave Backlink Strategy 21:00 - 23:00: Getting High Authority Backlinks Naturally 23:00 - 25:00: Why Digital PR Is Underrated 25:00 - 27:00: Finding Winning Content Ideas 27:00 - 29:00: Cross-Team SEO Brainstorming 29:00 - 31:20: SEO Advice for 2026 31:20 - 33:10: Why Long-Tail Keywords Win 33:10 - 35:30: The Viral “Editor’