“SEO can’t sit in a silo anymore”: Nicola Hughes on Thriving in the Age of AI

In this episode, Ranking Raccoon talked to Nicola Hughes, Head of SEO at TAL, a UK-based data-drive marketing agency. Nicola has over 8 years of experience in SEO and shares her wealth of knowledge with her followers.

How can a small business build up brand awareness without breaking the bank? How can SaaS and eCommerce brands win amidst the AI-driven search? What link-building tactics will bring the best ROI?

You’ll know by the end of this article.

Let’s dive into it!

On boosting brand awareness with scarce resources

Ranking Raccoon: We keep hearing from SEO experts that brands need to invest more in brand awareness because AI will prioritize brand mentions in relevant contexts. But how can smaller companies or startups compete with big competitors if they lack the resources to build brand awareness in the first place?

Nicola Hughes: Yes, it's definitely a challenge for smaller brands. What we're seeing right now is larger players dominating, and there’s a lot of talk about platforms like Reddit taking up a lot of real estate in search results for a few months.

In 2025, SEO needs to be integrated into the bigger marketing strategy

We see many eCommerce and SaaS brands finding success on TikTok. It’s quite an affordable platform to create content and get it amplified by influencers. Instagram and paid ads are also valuable for gaining visibility and brand mentions.

Digital PR is another key tactic. If you’re struggling to rank on page one — or even if you do rank, but clicks are dropping — it’s crucial to get your brand mentioned in places where your audience consumes content, such as articles or videos.

"We're moving towards the zero-click world now where Google's trying to retain all the traffic for itself. So it’s really important to get your brand mentioned where your customers are digesting content, whether it's through video or articles on other websites."

Liaising with journalists and influencers can help. I understand it can be tough for smaller brands to decide where to allocate resources, but there are numerous options, and that’s where agencies like mine step in: to identify the best strategies and maximize ROI.

On influencer marketing for SaaS

RR: Let’s speak of influencer marketing for a moment. While I understand how influencer marketing works in eCommerce, how does it apply to SaaS?

Nicola: For SaaS, it’s about understanding where your customers consume content. It might not be the traditional influencer marketing you see on TikTok. Instead, it could involve collaborating with podcast hosts. Many people consume podcasts while commuting or exercising, and for SaaS, this could be a very effective channel.

RR: From what I’ve seen, influencer marketing platforms are rather expensive for smaller companies. How can companies leverage influencer marketing on a budget?

Nicola: To reduce costs, avoid using influencer platforms that add unnecessary expenses.

Instead, focus on building genuine connections directly. Reach out to relevant influencers, whether they’re on TikTok, hosting podcasts, or creating content your audience engages with. Direct relationships are not only cost-effective but also more authentic.

Relationship-building might take effort, but it pays for itself multiple times

On the best link-building tactics

RR: These tactics that we just discussed - do they also work for link building? Would you recommend any other tactics for link-building this year?

Nicola: In our agency, we prioritize digital PR over outdated tactics like guest posts or paid placements.

We focus on reactive PR, responding to journalist requests via databases to position our clients as experts. This often earns backlinks, or at least brand mentions, which still contribute to awareness.

We also run campaign-based PR, such as using data or insights to generate interest from journalists, and we engage in product placements for eCommerce brands. For example, getting products featured in gift guides during seasonal events like Christmas or Mother’s Day and offering discount codes to drive backlinks from high-traffic sites and influencers.

On how SaaS and eCommerce sites can stand out in search in 2025

RR: What should SaaS and eCommerce brands prioritize to stay competitive this year?

Nicola: For eCommerce, the search landscape is evolving rapidly. One major change is the rise of organic product grids, which have gained prominence in search results.

Click-through rates for these grids can reach 22%, compared to the average of 2%. So, if you've got your placement in those product grids, you're laughing. You're going to get the clicks and they're also more likely to convert once they're on the site.

If you want to optimize for these grids as an eCommerce brand, you can focus on:

• On-page SEO for product pages (e.g., keyword-rich descriptions, FAQs about delivery and payment options, and trust signals like reviews)
• User-generated content, like reviews, which Google places a huge emphasis on
• Using Google Merchant Center to align product titles, descriptions, and delivery and your returns information with your site. You can see what products are marked as low or medium click potential so that you can optimize there as well. That’s important to make sure the two are well connected.
• Implementing structured data for product pages to qualify for rich snippets
• Short videos, discussions, and forums. They’ll help to build brand awareness and drive traffic, and you’ll better understand your customers’ needs and pain points. So you can position your brand in the best way.

Read more: E-commerce Link-Building: How do You Make it Work? [A 2025 Guide]

For SaaS brands, the amount of rich snippets compared to eCom it's not as plentiful.

The focus should be on third-party visibility — getting mentions and links from trusted websites and media outlets. These mentions are important for AI-driven results from tools like ChatGPT, which rely on third-party content to generate outputs.

Another area of focus should be unique, high-quality content. With AI, it's so easy to churn out a load of content that doesn't provide any value.

So, as a SaaS brand, think about the expertise that you can provide in thought leadership pieces. You need a robust content strategy that sets you apart from the competition and from all of that AI dross that has flooded the web.

Read more: Link-Building for SaaS: The Big Guide for 2025

RR: To round up our chat - many say that because of AI advancements, SEO will soon be dead. What’s your take on it?

Nicola: I strongly disagree. I think SEO will always exist in some form. It’s about understanding where to pivot, whether it’s optimizing for new formats like product grids, leveraging alternative search engines, or creating standout content that AI and humans alike value.

RR: Thank you for an insightful chat Nicola!