95% of SEO Work Is Waste: Marcos Ciarrocchi on Winning AI Search with Topical Authority

The conversation dives deep into how SEO strategy is shifting from keyword-first thinking to topic-first systems built around search intent, topical authority, AI prompts, and answer engine visibility. The discussion also explores how AEO and SEO may not be separate disciplines, but two versions of the same strategic question: what does the user want, and are you the best answer?

In This Episode

• Why Graphite believes 95% of SEO work does not drive meaningful impact
• How Marcos defines a “topic” as a cluster of intent, not just keywords
• Why topic graphs are living systems that change as search behavior evolves
• How AI prompts, question clusters, and query fan-outs connect to traditional SEO and content marketing
• The role of topical authority in deciding what content a site can realistically rank for • Why smaller sites may need to target more specific topic variants before expanding
• How internal linking helps redistribute authority across large websites
• Why content structure, FAQs, headings, and direct answers matter for AI citations
• How RAG, citations, off-site reputation, and digital PR influence AEO visibility
• Why consistency across owned and earned channels is critical for AI search This episode is packed with practical SEO strategy insight for marketers, SEOs, and growth teams trying to understand how search strategy should evolve in the age of AI answer engines.

Connect with Marcos Ciarrocchi

Graphite
Marcos on LinkedIn