Beyond borders and beyond the search box: How to win the global "messy middle" with AI-driven SEO

The traditional, linear customer journey is a relic, but for international brands, the reality is far more complex. We are not just navigating Google’s “messy middle”; we are navigating a “messy multiverse” of different cultures, languages, search engines, and channels. The rise of AI Overviews and generative AI in search adds another profound layer of challenge and opportunity, transforming how global brands are discovered. This session will confront this new reality head-on. David will explore how to build a resilient, future-proof international SEO strategy that thrives in a world where “findability” is an omnichannel imperative. This is a call-to-action for international search professionals to evolve their role: from optimising pages in different languages to architecting a unified brand narrative that influences fragmented user journeys across the globe.

Transcript

1. How to win the global "messy middle" with AI-driven SEO David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
2. Is it SEO or NOT? ➔ New business opportunities ➔ Monitor brand/product mentions ➔ Create a short how-to video
3. Search is everywhere • Engines & platforms • Multimodal • Experiences & surfaces optimization David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
4. The journey isn't a funnel • Non-linear real behavior • Micro-decisions • Reduce re-search and confidence David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
5. The international Complexity • Extra layers • Same query ≠ same SERP • Governance risk David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
6. Let's search for VPN...
7. Spain
8. México
9. USA
10. AI accelerates the journey into the unknown • More uncertainty • Less observable data • More fragmentation David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
11. The Trap : Result : “Talk to everyone” You talk to no one
12. Discipline: Narrow by driver × market × surface David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
13. Welcome to the Era of Influence • (Reach × Frequency × Message) + Trust • Humans & Models • Design influence • Shaping choices David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
15. Empathy ∩ SEO The Sentiment Fan-Out • AI gives us scale • Our value is Empathy • Balance: Machine logic + Human context David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
16. “LLMs Reproduce Human Purchase Intent via Semantic Similarity Elicitation of Likert Ratings” David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
17. From demographics to Decision Drivers
18. Personas that work: AI-assisted, evidence-backed • Start with signals • Draft with AI • Validate with human • Map Driver × Market × Surface David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
19. It’s not which persona you are, It’s what you do that defines you
20. Flipped Interaction Pattern Let AI ask first AI → Detect conflict → Deepen → Summarize → Next block • Better questions > faster answers • Flip the flow • Techniques
21. Stop creating Dead Personas • Personas must be living • Dead personas are generic, untested, ownerless • Incubate → Immerse → Integrate David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
22. Live Personas: 5 Signals Framework Behavior Signals Brand Signals Traffic Signals Social Signals Search Signals
23. 90-minute Persona Sprint 3S Framework for Content • 3x30’: Sales, Success, Support • What comes up unprompted? • Objections, blind spots, must-haves • Empathy Sprint backlog David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
24. The New Workflow: Content as a Service
25. The New Workflow: Content as a Service
26. The New Workflow: Content as a Service
27. The New Workflow: Content as a Service
29. Persona-driven AI search • Memory carries context • Prompts encode persona & constraints • Conversations evolve intent David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
30. International Nuance Words you can’t translate • Offering & Positioning • Proof package • Experience • Operations • Compliance
31. Internationalization ≠ Translating a Site We must Internationalize the Business
32. From tactics to strategy • Architects of visibility & trust • The art of NO • Make decisions David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
33. Architect a Unified Brand Narrative • Anchor content as your brand canonical • Governance keeps our truth consistent • Don’t be forgettable David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
34. From Tactics to Journey Architecture David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
35. Measurement that respects empathy • Qualitative model interrogation > prompt tracking • Score Empathy Coverage & Objection Coverage Index • Track Share of Answer & Entity Resolution Rate • First-Answer Sufficiency & Query Repeat Rate (QRR)
36. Three Pillars
37. Pillar 1: Findability • Show up wherever your customer searches • Findability is an omnichannel imperative • Topic clusters by intent & format • Entity-first schema • AI-readiness David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
38. Pillar 2: Identity • Brand Knowledge Graph • Strong brand recognition & narrative governance • Brand positioning & maintenance • What does AI understand about your brand? David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
39. Pillar 3: Fidelity • Reduce re-search • Localized 3S content • On Page + Off Page • Community David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
40. SEO as a Transformer
41. THE TRUE WINNER... Fidelity Findability Identity Fidelity David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
43. Are we optimizing a channel… …or are we transforming the business ?
44. I contain multitudes
45. David Carrasco dcp.bio | david@dcp.bio /in/david-carrasco-pamies/
46. References and Tools David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
47. References: • Why AI cannot simulate your customers behaviour • A Research Thinking Toolkit to Speed Up the Discovery Phase • Content as a Service (CaaS) • Making SEO Personas Actionable Across Teams • Map user journeys to search queries and prompts • Mastering Topical Authority in a Multi-Platform Search World • How to Succeed in a Zero Click World • Almost Half of Google Searches Are Branded. Here’s Why That Matters David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
48. References: • The Four Fits: A Growth Framework for the AI Era • SEO for Growth Case Study: Revolutionizing a Saturated Market • Keywords are dead. But the Keyword Universe Isn’t. • The New Normal • The Four Fits: A Growth Framework for the AI Era • The MKT1 Guide to positioning • The Arc Product-Market Fit Framework • The Messy Middle: How behavioural science can help you avoid a pricing race to the bottom David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
49. Tools: • Attention Insight • The hog • Keytrends • SparkToro • Also Asked • ListeningMind • Waikay • Alertmouse David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
50. Tools: • Consensus • Perplexity • Brandwatch • Talkwaker • NotebookLM • OpinioAI • Remesh • Brox David Carrasco @ #IntSSBarcelona
51. David Carrasco dcp.bio | david@dcp.bio /in/david-carrasco-pamies/