The Unscripted SEO Interview Podcast

Alex Zweydoff came up in the property management industry before founding ClearLead Digital, an agency that niched down to do SEO right for property managers — measuring success in doors added, not vanity metrics. We get into why you target owner-intent keywords instead of tenant traffic, how hyperlocal city and sub-community pages win the highest-intent owners, speed-to-lead, and why property managers who don’t adapt to AI search now could vanish in 12–24 months. Alex also breaks down custom client dashboards and the local-SEO plays most PM agencies get wrong. More interviews + free SEO SOPs at Unscripted SEO.

Zozimus EVP David Wilson — an SEO since the AltaVista days — joins Jeremy Rivera on The Unscripted SEO Podcast to argue that "search engine optimization" is now search everywhere optimization: findability across social, LLMs, and Google, not rankings for their own sake. He breaks down the expected-CTR model that turns raw Google Search Console data into the traffic clients are leaving on the table, the internal-linking tactic that still works after a decade, digital PR and brand as the new link building as AI erodes unbranded search, and a Gemini + ChatGPT + Claude → NotebookLM method for tearing down a competitor's SEO weak points. Plus: building a defensible moat, faceless brands vs. putting a face forward, and why the About page is now an AI asset — more from David at Zozimus.

Sonia Urquilla (SEO by Sonia) turns SEO into something the average coach or consultant can actually use. Jeremy met her on TikTok, and in this episode she shares the framework she calls “brand optimization” — getting found and mentioned everywhere your audience searches, not just ranking a website.

It’s personal for her: she watched her dad’s local shop close for lack of visibility — no Google Business Profile, no website — and now helps female founders and service providers avoid that same fate.

What you’ll learn:

What “brand optimization” means — and why SEO now spills into PR, Reddit, podcasts, citations & local events

How one client’s masterclass went from ~100 attendees to 1,000+ by combining a press release, ads, email & Reddit

The local “goldmine” online service providers ignore — and how sponsoring local charities/events (via Zip Local) earns links, trust & leads

Why AI has leveled the playing field — and why fear-mongering keeps small businesses from using it

The follow-up gap: ~80% of local businesses never reply to a message (and how to fix it)

How to vet an SEO: do they actually do their own SEO?

Jeremy’s open-source tool pick: OpenSEO (GSC + backlink data, an MCP, ~$10–20/mo)

Watch the video: youtube.com/watch?v=M1fdsssDiw8

Connect with Sonia: Website: seobysonia.com (grab a free video website audit) · LinkedIn: Sonia Urquilla · TikTok & Instagram: @seobysonia

More interviews at unscriptedseo.com — browse the topical hubs for past guests like Rand Fishkin & Grant Simmons. Plus the keyword-research tool at SEO Arcade

Unlock the secrets of effective branding with Benjamin Behrooz! In this episode, we dive deep into the importance of empathy in business and how it can transform your client relationships. Discover how to scale your business while maintaining authenticity and learn about innovative marketing strategies that work in today's competitive landscape. Key takeaways:

The role of empathy in understanding customer pain points.

How to balance scale and authenticity in marketing.

Strategies for home service businesses to thrive in a saturated market.

The impact of AI on marketing and customer engagement.

Tips for leveraging community involvement to enhance brand visibility.

Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:16 Meet Benjamin Behrooz 00:58 The importance of empathy in business 01:28 Solving client pain points 03:16 Balancing scale and authenticity 05:39 Common pitfalls in business planning 08:09 Marketing strategies for home services 10:22 The future of blue-collar work 12:10 The impact of AI on marketing 15:45 Unique implementations of AI 19:45 The silver lining of AI adoption 24:20 Community involvement and brand visibility 31:22 The biggest mistake brands make 32:13 How to connect with Benjamin What's your biggest challenge with branding? Drop it in the comments! Subscribe for more insights on effective marketing strategies and branding tips!

Most SEOs treat link building like a chore. Kristiyan Yankov built a whole agency on it. He’s the founder of Above Apex, a link-building agency niched hard on SaaS — and in this conversation with host Jeremy Rivera he lays out one of the sharpest, most practical models we’ve heard for building links (and brand mentions) in the AI era.

Kristiyan freelanced since high school, went through “generalist hell,” and niched down after Alex Hormozi’s “one avatar, one ICP, one service” clicked. Now he runs SaaS link campaigns full-time — and he’s refreshingly blunt about what actually works.

In this episode

Why SaaS is a richer link-building field than local — 5–10 viable strategies vs. a narrow local playbook

The real bottleneck isn’t knowledge, it’s bandwidth — why teams need a dedicated partner they don’t have to micromanage

Two pricing models: per-link vs. fixed, month-to-month (and why no lock-in drives lifetime value)

How to actually evaluate a link opportunity — 5–10 metrics, not just DR: “if it makes sense to me, it makes sense to Google”

The two best SaaS strategies: listicles/roundups (40%+ carry traffic and feed AI Overviews) and reverse expert-quote outreach (they’ve earned BBC links this way)

Anchor velocity, Penguin, and why spammy links get disregarded, not penalized (his read of the Google leak)

Timeline to impact (~30–60 days for well-run sites), the SMB sandbox, and the best DIY strategy for bootstrapped founders: three listicle “buckets”

The big-picture take: AI search is an extension of the fundamentals, not a replacement — and more than half of AI citations trace back to UGC platforms

Chapters

(00:00) Meet Kristiyan Yankov — from “generalist hell” to SaaS link building

(02:56) Why SaaS is a richer link-building field than local

(07:07) The #1 hurdle: bandwidth (and the case for a dedicated partner)

(08:37) Pricing — per-link vs. fixed, month-to-month, no lock-in

(12:34) Has AI/LLM demand made link-building budgets an easier sell?

(17:03) How to evaluate a link: “Google isn’t more stupid than me”

(19:59) Is Bing / alternate-engine link behavior worth chasing?

(22:31) The top two SaaS strategies: listicles & expert quotes

(27:03) Anchor velocity, Penguin & spam devaluation

(30:54) Timeline — when link building shows measurable impact

(32:12) Advice for SMBs & the sandbox effect

(35:15) The best DIY strategy: three listicle buckets

(37:08) Where to find Kristiyan

Notable quotes

“You shouldn’t trust anyone. You should verify — especially in our industry.” — Kristiyan Yankov“If I look at a link building opportunity and it makes sense to me, it would be the same for Google — because Google is definitely not more stupid than me.” — Kristiyan Yankov“The fundamentals aren’t going to disappear. When the hype is over, my team can still provide everything we do today.” — Kristiyan Yankov

Resources & links

Above Apex — Kristiyan’s SaaS link-building agency (he’s active on LinkedIn 5–6 days a week)

Go deeper on the mechanics in SEO Arcade’s complete guide to link building & authority

Kristiyan & Jeremy both count guesting as link fuel — that’s the idea behind podc...