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Author · MAXPlaces Marketing

Brian Winum

Digital Marketing Director, MAXPlaces Marketing

20+ years turning search visibility into measurable growth — now helping brands become the answer AI engines recommend.

About Brian

I've spent the last twenty years in the trenches of search — as an entrepreneur, an in-house business development specialist, and now agency-side, where I've owned organic strategy for everything from regional service businesses to enterprise catalogs with millions of URLs. The thread through all of it: figuring out how discovery actually works, and engineering for it before everyone else catches on.

Right now that frontier is generative search. Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity are rewriting the rules of who gets found — and most brands are flying blind. At MAXPlaces I lead our GEO and AEO practice, building the audits, content systems, and entity work that get our clients cited inside AI answers rather than buried beneath them.

I write here to share what's actually working — tested on real client accounts, not theory. If it didn't move a needle I can measure, it doesn't make the blog.

Credentials & Expertise
Experience
20+ yrs

Enterprise & eCommerce SEO, technical search, and AI-search strategy.

Education
Computer Science

University of Scranton · alumniOf

Certifications
✓Google Analytics 4 Certified ✓Google Ads Search Certified ✓Semrush Technical SEO Certified
Specializes In
GEO AEO Technical SEO Entity SEO
Authority & Recognition
As featured in
Forbes
Newsday
Databox
ShareThis
Hubstaff
Best Company
Speaking
"LLM Authority Hacking & Stacking"
SEO Spring Training 2026 · Featured speaker
"How I Built 700+ Niche Sites from a Single Domain"
Niche Pursuits · Podcast Guest
"Optimize for Discover Desktop"
SEO Video Show · Podcast guest
"Authority Hacking & Trust Stacking"
SEO Rockstars 2024 · Featured speaker
Awards & Memberships
◆Member, SEO Professional Services Association ◆Member, American SEO Association ◆Member, Digital Marketing Association ◆Member, Digital Marketing Institute
Posts by Brian Winum
16 articles · page 2 of 2
Light-field comic panel showing a central credibility evidence console receiving proof, credentials, citation, and trust signals.
Authority

E-E-A-T for Executives: What “Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust” Really Means

A plain-English executive guide to E-E-A-T, the trust and authority signals Google and AI engines use to decide whether your brand deserves to surface.

Jul 3, 2026·⏱ 5 min read
Light-field comic panel showing a number-one search result card partly buried beneath a large AI answer panel that captures attention above it.
Audit

Why Ranking #1 No Longer Guarantees Visibility in AI Search

Ranking first no longer guarantees visibility when AI answers sit above organic results. Here is how to spot the leak and diagnose which pages rank but go uncited.

Jul 3, 2026·⏱ 5 min read
Light-field comic panel showing a brand source card sending citation paths into an AI answer panel with entity, data, and authority signals nearby.
GEO

Generative Engine Optimization, Explained: How to Get Your Brand Cited by AI

A plain-English explanation of how GEO earns AI citations through entity clarity, original data, extractable structure, and authority signals.

Jul 3, 2026·⏱ 6 min read
Light-field comic panel showing a stack of ranked search result cards at a cliff while an AI answer cites sources from across the gap.
GEO

The Citation Cliff: Why Top-10 Rankings Now Earn Far Fewer AI Citations

Top-10 rankings used to predict AI citation visibility. New data shows that link is breaking, which means brands need to measure and optimize for citation presence directly.

Jul 3, 2026·⏱ 5 min read
Comic-style panel showing a large AI search box pulling in multimodal inputs while faded result cards drift below.
GEO

Google I/O 2026: What the New AI Mode Search Box Means for Your Traffic

Google made AI Mode the global default Search experience. Here’s what the new search box means for organic traffic, clicks, and citation visibility.

Jul 3, 2026·⏱ 5 min read
Comic-style panel showing one search signal branching toward three abstract outcomes: a ranked result stack, an answer card, and a citation network.
GEO

GEO vs. AEO vs. SEO: How the Three Disciplines Actually Differ — and Why You Need All Three

A plain-English breakdown of how SEO earns rankings, AEO earns answers, and GEO earns citations, plus how to sequence all three.

Jul 3, 2026·⏱ 5 min read
Comic-style panel showing many search result cards feeding into one spotlighted answer card.
AEO

What Is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)? A Plain-English Guide for Executives

A plain-English guide to Answer Engine Optimization, why ranking well no longer guarantees visibility, and where marketing leaders should start.

Jul 3, 2026·⏱ 6 min read
Connect with Brian

Follow the work, or put it to work.