Interview With Also Asked Founder: Mark Williams-Cook

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