Your SEO playbook is toast: Welcome to search in 2026

Traditional SEO strategies are collapsing, which is going to make for an interesting 2026 for many teams.

By ,
Founder, Marc Sirkin Consulting
Published on December 17, 2025 • Last updated on December 17, 2025 • 2 minutes read

Table of Contents

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    In this episode of Playbook Broken we’re talking to Myriam Jessier, SEO exec at Pragm and Neurospicy, to explore why traditional SEO strategies are collapsing in an AI-driven search world.

    Myriam breaks down what’s actually changing, why privacy-first SEO matters, how to build authority when zero-click results dominate and what brands must understand about context and relevance today.

    This is a practical, no-nonsense guide to rebuilding your SEO playbook for the future.

    Episode Guide

    00:00 Introduction to Playbook Broken
    00:08 Meet Miriam Jesse: The SEO expert
    00:31 The broken SEO playbook
    03:17 Relevance engineering in SEO
    08:08 The zero-click environment
    08:47 Adapting to AI and multimodal search
    12:35 SEO in the context of brand and user experience
    13:44 The future of SEO and marketing
    21:47 The impact of competitor clicks on Google results
    22:15 Algorithmic influence and new SEO tools
    23:06 Echo chambers and contextual relevance
    24:20 Understanding AI brand drift
    26:28 Introducing the ‘I’m Stuck’ segment
    28:16 Technical branding and AI narrated brands
    32:26 Practical tips for brand management
    35:15 Force yourself: Overcoming challenges
    40:53 Final thoughts

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    Marc Sirkin
    Founder, Marc Sirkin Consulting

    Marc Sirkin is a former CEO, CMO, and digital transformation leader known for driving growth, innovation, and exits at iconic brands including Microsoft, PwC, and Autism Speaks. As Founder of Marc Sirkin Consulting and host of the “Playbook Broken” podcast, he helps executives navigate existential change by integrating AI, aligning teams, and accelerating outcomes. He led the integration of Third Door Media into Semrush post-acquisition by preserving editorial independence while transforming virtual events and launching AI-powered products.

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