Research — That SEO Agent

https://thatseoagent.com/en/research/feed.xml Research — That SEO Agent Long-form research grounded in Google Search Central, peer-reviewed papers, and causal studies — no SEO blog recycling. Newest first. 2026-05-16T14:00:00.000Z That SEO Agenthttps://thatseoagent.com That SEO Agent https://thatseoagent.com/icon-192.png https://thatseoagent.com/icon-192.png © 2026 That SEO Agent. All rights reserved. https://thatseoagent.com/en/seo-cargo-cult-cycle The SEO Cargo Cult Cycle: How Tactics Get Born, Spammed, and Killed 2026-05-16T14:00:00.000Z 2026-05-16T14:00:00.000Z

FAQ schema didn't die because Google got mean. It died because the industry abused it — exactly like meta keywords, link wheels, and PBNs before it. The cycle is repeating with AI SEO. Here's the pattern.

https://thatseoagent.com/en/semantic-faq-html-pattern From FAQPage Schema to Semantic HTML: The Post-Deprecation FAQ Pattern 2026-05-16T13:00:00.000Z 2026-05-16T13:00:00.000Z

Now that FAQ rich results are gone, the question is how to mark up Q&A content. Here's the semantic HTML pattern that works for users, AI engines, and the surfaces that still reward structure.

https://thatseoagent.com/en/google-ai-optimization-guide What Google Actually Says About Optimizing for AI Overviews 2026-05-16T12:00:00.000Z 2026-05-16T12:00:00.000Z

Google's own AI Optimization Guide tells site owners to ignore llms.txt, chunking, and AI-specific rewriting. Here's what the official document says — and what to do instead.

https://thatseoagent.com/en/schema-ai-citations-study Does Schema Help AI Citations? The Ahrefs Causal Study, Decoded 2026-05-16T11:00:00.000Z 2026-05-16T11:00:00.000Z

Ahrefs ran the first causal experiment on JSON-LD schema and AI citations: 1,885 treated pages, 4,000 controls, 7 months. Here's what the numbers actually mean for your site.

https://thatseoagent.com/en/faq-schema-deprecated FAQ Schema Is Dead: What the May 2026 Deprecation Actually Means 2026-05-16T10:00:00.000Z 2026-05-16T10:00:00.000Z

Google removed FAQ rich results on May 7, 2026. The Ahrefs causal study shows schema gives no AI citation boost. Here's what the primary sources actually say, and what to change.

https://thatseoagent.com/en/generative-engine-optimization GEO Research: What Gets You Cited in AI Search 2026-04-11T00:00:00.000Z 2026-04-11T00:00:00.000Z

What 9 peer-reviewed papers, 4 official platform docs, and 7 industry studies say about appearing in AI search answers. Primary sources only. No opinion.