Search with Candour

Every Monday, Jack Chambers-Ward has in-depth conversations with SEO experts from around the world.Covering topics from attribution in GA4 to networking tips for introverts and everything in between.Search With Candour is the perfect way to kickstart your working week!https://withcandour.co.uk/podcast

Search with Candour is a business podcast hosted by Candour, with 374 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Candour hosts Search with Candour, a business show with 374 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #84

  SEO, design and brand in the age of AI | Search With Candour

  Aug 16, 20261h 20mS4

  Candour’s Principal SEO Consultant, Brendan Bennett and Design Lead Mark Salisbury join Search with Candour to discuss the growing overlap between SEO, design, UX, and brand, and how AI/LLMs and emerging agentic experiences affect the way we build and use websites. The Candour trio also explore what brand means beyond just a logo, how third-party signals like reviews, Reddit, and search results shape perception, and how SEOs measure brand through metrics such as brand search volume, sentiment, and frameworks like Google’s HEART. The conversation covers trust signals, page clarity, semantic HTML, the tension between brand-led copy and keyword-focused headings, and the risk of AI-generated “slop” versus human differentiation. Follow Mark and Brendan: Website: https://withcandour.co.uk/ Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-salisbury-701b8911/ Brendan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanbennett1989/ Chapters 00:00 Welcome, Brendan Bennett and Mark Salisbury 01:09 Design vs SEO No Versus 03:01 Why Brand Matters Now 09:45 Defining Brand Beyond Logos 17:17 Brand Metrics and Frameworks 22:40 SERP Signals and Trust Issues 27:19 When Brand Beats SEO 33:01 AI Websites and Human Proof 36:12 Luxury Branding vs AI Content 42:05 Websites as Experiences 42:48 Designing for Agents 43:50 Trust and Spend Thresholds 45:47 Technical SEO Meets Semantics 49:10 Brand Voice vs Keywords 53:31 Traffic vs Conversion Tradeoffs 56:43 What Makes a Site Good 59:04 Trust Signals and UX Proof 01:02:14 Vibe Coding and Web Slop 01:03:44 Future of SEO and Design 01:08:51 Recommendations: Actionable tips 01:12:00 Recommendations: Tools to try 01:15:23 Recommendations: Fun things like dancing and video games

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #83

  AI Search & SEO News (July 2026): Google Trends Update, ChatGPT + Yelp, AI Mode Ads & New Studies

  Aug 9, 202640 minS4

  Jack Chambers-Ward hosts a July 2026 AI search and SEO news roundup on Search With Candour. This episode covers everything from new Google Trends features and social media data tracking in Google Search Console to research about ads in Google AI Mode and if Google punishes AI-generated content. Links to articles https://www.linkedin.com/posts/analyzing-search-interest-just-got-more-powerful-share-7478017577340968960-qsi3/ https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7480247562084638720/ https://seranking.com/blog/google-ai-mode-ads/ https://www.tryprofound.com/blog/google-com-is-now-ai-mode-s-2-cited-domain https://ahrefs.com/blog/google-doesnt-punish-ai-content/ https://www.similarweb.com/corp/reports/2026-generative-ai-landscape/ https://www.axios.com/2026/07/23/yelp-reviews-chatgpt-geo-partnership Chapters 00:00 Coming up on this episode 00:29 Introduction 01:53 Live Podcast returns on 7 October 2026 04:19 Google Trends new comparison feature 09:31 ChatGPT adds Yelp reviews 12:35 SE Ranking study: Ads in AI Mode 18:39 Profound study: Google cites itself more 23:01 Ahrefs study: Does Google punish AI content? 29:37 SimilarWeb Generative AI Report 36:33 Wrap up

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #82

  Turn client expertise into SEO gold | Search with Liv Day and Ellie Wraith

  Aug 2, 20261h 2mS4

  Liv Day and Ellie Wraith from Digitaloft join Search with Candour to explain how to turn client expertise into SEO gold and why you need to create content your competitors can’t copy. They explain why unique, non-commodity content matters more in the AI era, how to extract insights from hesitant clients, and how to build processes (checklists, writer access to experts, ongoing client questions) to ensure information gain. They discuss using first-party data (sales, customer service transcripts), surveys, and sources like Reddit to uncover real audience pain points, plus repurposing interviews and video assets across site pages based on page goals. Follow Liv & Ellie: Digitaloft: https://digitaloft.co.uk/ Liv on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-day-seo/ Ellie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliewraith/ Chapters 00:00 Welcome to Search with Candour 02:46 Introducing Ellie Wraith 03:38 Introducing Liv Day 04:30 Why expertise matters now 09:48 Measuring information gain 15:12 Client chats vs keyword research 18:17 Handling hesitant experts 27:25 Personal brands and authority 32:53 What is trust in the AI era 35:10 Convincing clients to get on camera 37:04 Proving real Experts 39:30 Repurposing your content and assets 41:58 Technical difficulties 42:05 Finding Proprietary Data 46:50 Measuring Content Success 51:03 Recommendations: Ask more questions and prioritise based on your bottom line 54:01 Recommendations: Collate customer service data and check Reddit 56:44 Recommendations: Summer gigs and Widow’s Bay 59:00 Where to Follow and Wrap

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #81

  June 2026 SEO News: Google is in legal trouble for AI Overviews, AI traffic reports in Google and Bing

  Jul 26, 202634 minS4

  Jack Chambers-Ward recaps the biggest SEO news from June 2026 on Search With Candour. Jack covers Google’s “Preferred Sources” expanding from Discover into AI Mode and AI Overviews, the new Search Console generative AI performance reporting and contrasts it with Bing Webmaster Tools’ expanded AI visibility reporting. He also highlights the new ability to connect Google Business Profile to GA4 for richer local reporting and a landmark German court ruling that Google can be held liable for false claims in AI Overviews, treating them as Google’s own content. Links to news stories https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/original-high-quality-content-search/ https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/a-new-profile-to-help-publishers-and-creators-highlight-their-work-on-search/ https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/06/gen-ai-performance-reports https://blogs.bing.com/search/June-2026/New-AI-Visibility-Insights-in-Bing-Webmaster-Tools-Intents-Topics-Citation-Share-Compare https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/16930347 https://the-decoder.com/landmark-german-ruling-declares-googles-ai-overviews-are-googles-own-words-and-makes-it-liable-for-false-answers/ Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:27 Preferred sources expand to AI Mode 05:08 Google adds creator Search Profiles 08:32 GSC AI performance reporting 10:25 Bing AI visibility tools 17:23 Google Business Profile data in GA4 22:34 German court finds Google liable for AI Overview content 31:11 Wrap up

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #80

  Navigating SEO in the Age of AI and Misinformation

  Jul 19, 20261h 5mS4

  Sean Barber joins Search with Candour to discuss fighting misinformation in the health industry. Misinformation has been exacerbated with the growth of LLMs and AI, which increasingly cite piecemeal sources in ways that can mislead or endanger users. Sean and Jack share examples such as incorrect CPR guidance and confusing emergency and non-emergency phone numbers. Follow Sean: Website: https://www.searchwithsean.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SearchWithSean LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrbarber/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/searchwithsean.bsky.social 00:00 Fighting misinformation in YMYL industries 01:36 Meet Sean Barber 05:15 Why misinformation spreads so quickly 08:09 AI Overviews causing health risks 11:26 Patience versus accuracy 15:02 Organisation-wide strategies for companies fighting misinformation 21:19 The importance of transparency and reputation 26:28 Defensive vs proactive tactics 29:51 Proving your expertise 34:01 Put experts on camera 37:58 Low-budget video setup 39:51 Authenticity beats big productions 41:10 Why showing your face matters 43:13 How to build trust signals 46:18 AI search and funding 50:03 Bad press is actually bad press 52:59 Always keep a human in the loop 55:11 Recommendations: Sean’s actionable tip 57:41 Recommendations: Sean’s SEO tools 59:38 Recommendations: TV and movies 01:03:54 Episode wrap-up

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Search with Candour. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.