7 Hard SEO Questions CMOs Are Finally Asking And What to Do About Them

In this solo episode of Performance SEO Unpacked, Ruchi Pardal answers seven tough SEO questions from CMOs and growth leaders. She breaks down intent mismatches, AI-driven visibility, and hub-and-spoke SEO for multi-location brands. Ruchi also shares how to tie SEO to revenue, shape product roadmaps, and use AI to amplify, not replace strategy.

TIMESTAMPS

Time Topic

00:00

Welcome and episode overview by Ruchi Pardal

00:37

Introduction to the seven most common and tough SEO questions

01:03

Flat traffic & falling conversions: fixing intent-page mismatches

01:59

AI overviews: authority signals and third-party mentions

03:00

Multi-location SEO: hub-and-spoke model and NAP consistency

04:00

AI content: best uses and importance of human review

04:40

New product launch: involving SEO in roadmap and pre-launch content

05:20

Leadership reporting: focusing on pipeline, revenue, and V.O.L.T.

06:04

SEO focus for next quarter: shifting from keywords to entity strength

06:44

Episode wrap & key takeaways

“Move beyond keywords. Build concepts, topical clusters, and authoritative mentions to make your expertise unavoidable.” — Ruchi Pardal, SVP of Innovation, ResultFirst

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

In this episode, you'll learn how to spot intent mismatches behind flat traffic and low conversions, why authority signals and third-party mentions matter more than keyword counts in AI visibility, and how a hub-and-spoke structure keeps multi-location SEO manageable. You’ll also discover where AI content adds value, how to integrate SEO into product planning, ways to report around revenue and pipeline, and strategies to shift from keywords to entity-driven, concept-based SEO.

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