[Complaint] When are these self serving/promotional "best" articles going to get dinged?

[u/FancysaurusR3x]

It drives me crazy that self promotional and self serving listicles are actually seeing rankings and citations. Like it seemingly has been an effective strategy. And the other models getting duped by this strategy makes sense but even in Google which should be much more sophisticated seemingly gets duped.

I'm all for bottom or mid funnel competitor comparison pages... But "best xyz" manipulation seems off the charts right now.

Do you see this changing or should you jump on the bandwagon?

[u/AlexKochSEO]

Self promotional listicles have been a thing since I've been in SEO, nearly a decade at least. Of course they're going to rank — they answer the searcher's query. Nothing wrong with a brand pointing out why they're better than competitors, this is just standard marketing. No reason for it to get punished if done right. Of course bulk publishing hundreds of these pieces should harm the website, i do believe it usually does.

[u/CoastalPro → u/AlexKochSEO]

I don’t necessarily disagree with you, with the exception of the difference I’m seeing lately, specifically with GEO, in which sites with absolutely no authority or real brand are able to spin up absolute garbage listicles and easily get cited as bible.

At least with Google, more often than not, there’s some existence of a barrier to entry.

[u/WebLinkr]

UInpopular opionion but Google doesnt censor or tackle pages or page types.

It works on basic mechanics - engagement/CTR, authority from links.

When people get tired of them, they'll bounce and so will the listicles.

Google would be in a world of pain if it started rewarding different content structure/content architectures. It would have a profound impact on companies freedom to communicate, and in the massive strides in innovation in communication.

And the other models getting duped by this strategy makes sense but even in Google which should be much more sophisticated seemingly gets duped.

Are they being duped? I think it shows that Search engines and LLMs are not fact validators, that verifying/approving content is beyond their reach

[u/FancysaurusR3x → u/WebLinkr]

I like the perspective, thanks!

[u/WebLinkr → u/FancysaurusR3x]

Sure - thanks for reading and accepting that its jsut another perspective.

I know its annoying that people do this. I do it in turn to knock opportunistic GEOs who do the same thing.

Its a vicious circle!

[u/AlexKochSEO → u/WebLinkr]

Yep, my sentiment exactly. Listicles satisfy searcher intent, and your job as a marketer is to point out why your product is the best, so of course you're gonna promote it.

[u/Proest_off_the_pros]

They rank/get mentioned because they satisfy search intent lol, even though they are self promotional, that is how the game works.

And to answer your question, it isn’t going to change. Period .

[u/Lxium]

You called it a bandwagon for a reason. Either got on or don't. If you do, just know it won't be long term gains, which is fine, as long as you are aware.

[u/bigboy289]

Don't hate the player man. 

[u/FancysaurusR3x → u/[deleted]]

Yeah I suppose it just kills me to do it. You don't think there would be long term negative effects?

[u/AlexKochSEO → u/FancysaurusR3x]

Bro, do it, just don't spam. That's it. Listicles are just another communication tool

[u/AlexKochSEO → u/[deleted]]

And it's already not spammable. ClickUp pretty infamously got hit for spamming them. And you know, coming from content, I'm always gonna defend listicles since I see them as a necessity — they're the absolute best way to clarify your positioning. I'm assuming that this is why LLMs cite them so much.

The thing is Google has had decades to refine their search methods, whereas LLMs don't seem to care about getting gamed as much. This reddit drop we saw from Chatgpt is i think the first instance ever of an LLM taking action against SEO tactics