How to Manipulate AI Search (Before It Manipulates You)

E1060: AI search is not magic. It is pattern recognition at scale. It looks for consensus, relevance, authority, repetition, and reinforcement across the web. If you understand that, you can influence it. In this episode, Kasra Dash and I break down how AI search engines like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude, Grok, and Perplexity decide who to recommend. We go deep into what is working right now, what most SEOs are missing, and how brands can control what AI says about them. This is based on live testing, deleted pages, AI citation tracking, and real-world case studies. We cover: Why YouTube is massively underutilized in AI search How AI engines build “consensus” around a brand Why reviews impact not just SEO, but paid ads and AI recommendations How to swap out review platforms when one is hurting you The real effect of listicles in AI citations How ChatGPT uses multiple bots (and why that matters) What happens when you delete pages that are being cited in AI Differences between ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Perplexity How to influence AI by amplifying reviews across external sites Why most SEOs are undervaluing their skillset Whether affiliates and publishers still have a future in AI search Why customer service may be the most overlooked SEO lever How to think about fan-out queries and recommendation prompts When schema helps and when it does nothing We also talk about: Click manipulation in competitive industries Query fan-out strategy for product recommendations Why brand beats anonymous affiliate sites in the current environment Why owning assets beats running an agency long term How to structure comparisons and “alternatives” pages properly If you run a SaaS, local service business, agency, affiliate site, or media brand, this episode will change how you think about AI search. The goal is simple: Do not let AI decide your narrative. Understand how it works.Build consensus.Control your positioning.Use SEO as leverage. ⭐️ Kasra Dash on YouTube -    / @kasradash   ⭐️ Kasra Dash on 𝕏 - https://x.com/Kasra_Dash ⭐️ Kasra Dash on LinkedIn -   / kasra-dash   ⭐️ Kasra Dash’s Website - https://kasradash.com/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Meet Kasra Dash 00:20 From Web Dev to SEO 01:54 YouTube Parasite SEO 03:55 Fixing AI Review Consensus 06:55 ChatGPT Reviews Thought Experiment 10:00 Swapping Review Platforms 13:53 Avoiding Cannibalization 15:51 Retargeting Warm Traffic 18:05 Claim Frame Prove 22:05 Customer Service Drives Reviews 25:53 iGaming Click Manipulation 27:05 Building Your Own Assets 35:10 AI Citation Testing 42:41 Getting Recommended by LLMs 45:37 Local SEO Foundations 46:48 Reviews and Kitchen Sink 47:59 Omnichannel Content Coverage 50:10 Grok and LLM Citations 54:06 Listicles and Schema Myths 58:13 Knowledge Panels and SameAs Schema 01:01:16 Future of Affiliates 01:07:14 Early SEO Mistakes 01:12:21 Building Authority Backlinks 01:18:25 Rapid Fire Takeaways 01:21:33 Presence and Mindfulness 01:24:01 Fail Faster and Seven Figures 01:29:00 Where to Find Kasra The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #generativeengineoptimization #answerengineoptimization #searchengineoptimization