Journal
Field notes from the build side of marketing.
Plain-spoken writing on WordPress and flat-file builds, migrations, accessibility, security and how AI search actually reads a website. For the agencies and marketing teams who have to ship.
Latest
- Filed under
- AI & Search
- Published
- Reading time
- 10 min read
What AI search optimization actually means (and what it costs to ignore)
GEO, AEO and AI visibility are the same job with different labels. Here is how ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google and Claude actually pick pages, what the 2026 numbers say, and what a marketing team should do.
More from the journal
11 articles-
How to choose an AI search optimization agency: 12 questions that expose the pretenders
A buyer's guide for marketing directors and agency VPs evaluating AI search optimization services: twelve questions on measurement, method, deliverables, honesty, ownership and pricing, with the answers to expect. 10 min read -
How to write an llms.txt that AI crawlers will actually use (with examples)
A worked llms.txt example for a multi-location business, what the 2026 server-log studies say about who fetches it, which generators to avoid, and why the file only pays off as part of a layer. 12 min read -
Headless WordPress in 2026: why we usually say no (and what we recommend instead)
Headless WordPress doubles your systems, drops the editor preview and most plugins, and the reasons people wanted it are now met elsewhere. What we recommend instead, and when headless WordPress is still right. 9 min read -
What a WordPress maintenance plan should actually cover (and what most leave out)
Hosting plans, cheap update subscriptions and developer care plans all call themselves WordPress maintenance. What each covers, the gaps that cause outages, and what to ask before signing. 11 min read -
The website migration SEO checklist: before, launch day, and the 90 days after
A working SEO website migration checklist in three phases: what to capture before the build, what to verify in the first hours after launch, and what to watch for 90 days. With a redirect map template. 9 min read -
The WCAG 2.2 AA checklist for marketing websites (what to test, how, and who owns it)
A working WCAG 2.2 AA checklist grouped by where marketing sites actually fail: header, hero, forms, carousels, cookie banners, PDFs and embeds. Each item has the criterion, the test, the tool and the owner. 12 min read -
What actually gets a business cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI
The 2026 studies are in: schema alone doesn’t move AI citations, llms.txt is barely fetched, and what works is where the answer sits on the page, how fresh it is, whether anyone else mentions you, and whether you can measure any of it. 7 min read -
How to migrate a website without losing your rankings
Most migrations lose traffic for a few weeks. Some never get it back. The difference is a redirect map, a content freeze and a 90-day watch, not luck. Here is the checklist we run, with Google’s own numbers. 7 min read -
WordPress security in 2026: what your IT team will ask, and the honest answers
11,334 WordPress vulnerabilities in 2025, 91% of them in plugins, median five hours from disclosure to exploitation. Here is what that means for a marketing-owned site, what managed hosting covers, what it doesn’t, and how to answer the security questionnaire. 7 min read -
WCAG 2.2 for marketing websites: what changed, what the law says, what it costs to ignore
94.8% of home pages fail automated accessibility checks and US web-accessibility lawsuits rose 27% in 2025. Here is what WCAG 2.2 adds for a marketing site, where Canadian and US law actually stands, and why an overlay widget is not the answer. 7 min read -
WordPress or flat-file: how to choose for a marketing site in 2026
A practical decision guide for marketing teams and agencies: when a flat-file CMS like Grav beats WordPress, when it doesn’t, and the questions that settle it in one meeting. 4 min read