Interview With Also Asked Founder: Mark Williams-Cook

Unscripted SaaS

Guest Introduction

• Mark Williams-Cook: Director of Kanda (formerly Candour SEO agency)
• Creator of Also Asked, a search intent research tool
• Publisher of Core Updates Newsletter
• Host of SEO Patent Podcast
• 20+ years of SEO experience

Key Topics Covered

Current Google Search "Meta"

• Google's algorithm favors brand-like signals over traditional relevance
• Example: The Vatican website ranking for CBD gummies after being hacked
• Mark describes this as "a bandaid for the shortfalls that have been magnified in Google's algorithm because of Gen.ai"

Content Creation Strategy

• Video-first approach: "Start at video and work backwards" using transcription tools
• Particularly effective for client information: "If you are having to get information, especially from clients, sometimes trying to get clients to write an article is like getting blood out of a stone"
• Allows natural expertise to flow: "They will happily talk your ear off"
• Tools turn video into written content without "regurgitating stuff"

User Knowledge Levels

• Google has patents for understanding user expertise through search patterns
• Demonstrated in People Also Ask (PAA) results showing different questions based on perceived knowledge
• Example: Car dealership knowledge levels
  • Novice: "Red car under $20k near me"
  • Intermediate: "2024 Honda Civic MPG vs Toyota Corolla"
  • Expert: "Civic Type R torque curve comparison"

Google Query Classification

• Google classifies queries into distinct semantic categories
• These classifications determine which SERP features appear
• Additional classifiers like "local intent" and "explicit local intent" work alongside these categories
• Mark is developing a tool to predict which category a query falls into

Evolution of SERP Features

• AI Overviews: Likely to eventually replace featured snippets
  • More dynamic and nuanced answers
  • Google reported 90% cost reduction in generating them
• Featured Snippets: Currently coexist with AI overviews
• People Also Ask (PAA): Critical for Google's query understanding
  • Mentioned in DOJ trial as part of Google's "induction loop"
  • Allow Google to understand different interpretations of the same query
  • Localization feature coming to Also Asked tool

The Future of Search

• Prediction: Shift from users doing research to AI agents doing it for them
• "I think we are going to have a fundamental shift of rather than people doing their own research..."
• Advantage to companies that own hardware (Google, Apple, Microsoft)
• Privacy concerns will diminish as convenience increases

SEO Tools Mentioned

• Also Asked: Mark's tool for analyzing PAA data
• Screaming Frog: For automated content analysis
• ChatGPT API: For content gap analysis
• Perplexity: AI search tool Mark recommends
• 11 Labs: Voice cloning technology (mentioned in context of potential misuse)
• Storm: Stanford's agentic model for scientific paper creation

Technical SEO Insights

• Google uses binary trust systems for many technical signals
• "If you get them all wrong, it's not like Google will trust you a bit less. They just have a very simple thing of, well, you don't seem to know what you're doing."
• Site reputation abuse handled manually rather than algorithmically
• Example of PageRank evolution: still used but significantly modified from original patent

People Referenced

• Mordy Oberstein: Mentioned regarding brand discussions
• Gary Illyes ("Garyish"): Google representative
• Danny Sullivan: Google Search Liaison
• Darren Shaw: Discussed query categories with Mark
• Arnoud Hellman: Provided examples of localized PAAs
• Bill Slawski ("Bill Flosky"): Known for patent analysis
• Olaf Kopp: Current patent analysis work
• Lily Ray: Mentioned regarding Reddit in SERPs
• Michael Buckby of Noah Toa
• Matt Brooks of SEOteric
• Commercial restaurant cost savings company:Save Fry Oil

Resources

• Search Engine Land guide: Mark's guide on using Screaming Frog with Also Asked
• learningseo.io: Referenced for learning about SERP features

Live Test Examples

• "Jam sandwiches" query test showing AI overview replacing featured snippet
• Demonstration of entity analysis with non-existent URL showing AI hallucination issues

Upcoming Developments

• Query classification tool (planned release before Brighton SEO in April)
• Also Asked localization feature allowing city-specific PAA monitoring
• Location-specific search results using longitude/latitude data

SEO Conferences Mentioned

• Brighton SEO
• SERPConf

Contact Information

• LinkedIn: Mark Williams-Cook
• Bluesky: Mark Williams-Cook (previously on Twitter/X)
• Newsletter: CoreUpdates.com