Personas for AI keyword research | Google breaks rank trackers | Search with Candour with Mark Williams-Cook

Search with Candour

Join hosts Jack Chambers-Ward and Mark Williams-Cook in this week's episode of Search with Candour as they discuss recent Google SERP changes and the impact of AI on keyword research.

Discover why the SEO community is buzzing about Google changing the num100 parameter and how these modifications affect impressions and rank tracking.

Additionally, the dynamic duo share conference experiences, and tease upcoming speaking engagements.

Links:

• Search ‘n’ Stuff conference: https://searchnstuff.co.uk/conferences/search-n-stuff-antalya-conference-2025/
• International Search Summit: https://events.transperfectdigital.com/international-search-summit/
• Personas for AI search: https://searchengineland.com/seo-personas-ai-search-461343
• Google search drops num100 parameter: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-drops-100-results-parameter-40097.html
• Jack’s brightonSEO talk: https://brightonseo.com/events/october-2025/talks/the-future-of-content-with-zero-clicks
• Sponsor Jack’s charity MMA fight: https://justgiving.com/page/jack-chambers-ward

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

00:44 Conference Highlights and AI Keyword Research

01:58 Personalisation in AI Search

07:30 Upcoming Conferences and Events

12:56 Google's Search Parameter Changes

21:55 Impact of Bot Traffic on Google Search Console Data

24:13 Rise of New Crawlers and Tools

25:34 Google's JavaScript Requirement Update

27:33 AI Mode and the Future of Search

35:10 Transparency and Data Limitations

40:20 Upcoming Events and Conferences