TL;DR:
- The Accidental Start: When Spam Actually Worked
- When SEO Became a Career, Not a Hack
- Why Google’s “Messy Middle” Changed the Game
- The Rise of AI: RankBrain, GPT, and the Content Arms Race
- Why Strategy Will Always Beat Scale
- What Most Agencies Get Wrong
- A New Model: Strategic SEO + In-House Execution
- Final Thoughts: It’s Not About Gaming the System Anymore
The Accidental Start: When Spam Actually Worked
Back in 2007, I wasn’t an SEO guy. I was in real estate. Mortgages. Creative side hustles. But then a buddy showed me how he was ranking YouTube videos on Google… in 15 minutes.
That was the wild west of search. Google Places had just launched, and if you knew how to keyword-stuff a title, you were golden. We weren’t strategizing—we were spamming. But we were also generating leads in a single afternoon. And for someone who loved building, testing, and tinkering… I was hooked.
When SEO Became a Career, Not a Hack
Between 2007 and 2010, I was living in two worlds. Half entrepreneur, half “the guy who kind of knows how to rank stuff on Google.” Friends would hit me up with random SEO questions. I started helping people because… well, it worked.
By 2011, the need was obvious. Small businesses desperately needed help getting online visibility, and most of them had no idea where to start. I saw the gap—and the opportunity. That’s when this stopped being a hobby and started becoming a business.
Why Google’s “Messy Middle” Changed the Game
Fast forward a few years, and Google’s search experience evolved.
What used to be a straight line from “search > website > call” turned into a chaotic zig-zag of search touches, social proof, video content, map listings, and more. Google calls it the Messy Middle, and it’s not just a cute phrase—it’s your customer’s reality.
Today, someone might see your Google Business Profile before your website. They might read your reviews on Yelp, watch a YouTube testimonial, and then finally land on your site. If your SEO strategy only focuses on your website, you’re missing 80% of the customer journey.
The Rise of AI: RankBrain, GPT, and the Content Arms Race
Around 2017, I started to see the shift. Google rolled out RankBrain, and it was clear: the algorithm wasn’t just analyzing links and keywords anymore—it was learning context.
When GPT-based tools hit the scene, we tested them like everyone else. But early AI writing felt like pushing a wheelbarrow uphill—it was just as much work to fix it as to write from scratch.
Then ChatGPT hit. And the floodgates opened.
Suddenly, the game was no longer “Who can write content?” It became “Who can produce the most content?” That’s a losing game. Because once everyone can scale content production, the value of that content drops. Fast.
Why Strategy Will Always Beat Scale
Here’s what I know: you can hire a dozen people to follow a checklist—write 10 blogs, build 18 backlinks, post 3 times on social.
But very few people can walk in and say, “I can make you $1M in new revenue.”
That’s the strategist. And that’s the skill AI hasn’t replaced—and won’t anytime soon.
What we’re building at Clixsy is a model that lets that strategist (me or someone like me) scale their expertise. Not just to do more, but to do what matters—in the right order, in the right way.
What Most Agencies Get Wrong
Here’s the dirty little secret of the industry: most agencies are selling activities, not outcomes.
They throw deliverables at the wall—blogs, backlinks, PDFs—and hope something sticks. But if those activities aren’t tied to a revenue goal, what’s the point?
That’s why at Clixsy, we don’t just deploy AI tools for the sake of it. Our proprietary AI platform doesn’t make changes to your site. We use it behind the scenes to inform human strategy—so nothing gets pushed live without a strategist signing off.
It’s AI + experience. Machine + brain.
A New Model: Strategic SEO + In-House Execution
One of our longtime clients told me years ago, “I love you guys, but someday I want an in-house team. I want someone thinking about my business 24/7.”
Totally fair. So we asked: how do we bridge that gap?
The answer: we partner with your in-house team. You keep control, and we bring the high-level strategy, AI insights, and prioritization. You don’t have to hire a million-dollar SEO brain—you rent one, and we show your team exactly what to do next.
Final Thoughts: It’s Not About Gaming the System Anymore
SEO used to be about tricking the algorithm. Now, it’s about understanding your audience—and proving to the algorithm that you’re the best answer.
If you’re still chasing traffic or trying to “out-content” your competitors, you’re playing yesterday’s game.
The future belongs to those who can combine insight with implementation. That’s what we’re building. And if that’s the kind of marketing partner you’re looking for?
We should talk.
