100,000 SEO Articles Later, What Actually Ranks in 2025

Former agency owner turned AI-SEO pioneer Luke analyzed 287,043 AI-written articles to answer one question: What actually makes content rank in 2025?

The results are shocking. One in three AI articles ranked. That's 6X better than the industry average. After scaling and exiting his agency built entirely on organic traffic, Luke now works to automate all of the complex manual SEO tasks using AI. His team has cracked the code on AI-powered SEO at scale.

You'll discover:

The 4-step content process that beats human writers 6X more often
Why "extraction design" boosted CTR by 43% with one simple change
The "proof of work" principle that separates ranking content from the graveyard
How entity-first content wins Google's AI overviews
The multi-AI system that outperforms any single model

This isn't theory. It's battle-tested data from the largest AI content study ever conducted. Luke opens his data vault to reveal exactly which factors impact rankings. You'll learn surprising wins like why author bios matter and how simple flashcard-style answers escape the "Search Console alligator."

Walk away with actionable tactics you can implement immediately. Perfect for agency owners looking to scale or in-house SEOs wanting better results.

"Stop wasting time making AI sound human. Start spending time making your content impossible to replicate."

Transcript

1. 100,000 SEO Articles Later, What Actually Ranks in 2025 Luke Heinecke Adaptify Speakerdeck.com/lukeheinecke @lukeheinecke @lukeheinecke
2. What You'll Gain From This Talk Discover What Google Rewards in 2025 Master a Proven Content Process Make AI Your Secret Weapon
3. Articles 287,043
4. Articles ranking on Google (search console verified) 93,153
5. higher click-through rate 43% Extraction design lead to
6. If your page doesn’t give people what they came for, it doesn’t matter how good it is.
7. Proof of Work show the evidence that you actually did the work How can you show the steps you actually took? How can you prove that something changed? Who can vouch that this really worked?
8. Entity First Knowledge “SEO is no longer about keywords, it's about entities, relationships, and user intent.” Bill Slawski
9. 1 Think of entities as the cast of characters in your topic. Google wants to see the right characters in the story, not just the same word repeated. 2 If you wrote a “movie review” but never mentioned the actors, director, or plot, Google wouldn’t believe it’s a real review. 3 Same with SEO: If you write about “marathon training” but never cover hydration, shoes, or injury prevention, Google knows you’re missing pieces.
10. E-E-A-T Signals Who wrote this? 1 How do they know? 2 Why trust them? 3
11. E-E-A-T Template “Hi, I’m [Name], a [Role] with [X] years in [specialty]. STEP 1 I’ve [specific proof: certifications, brands, results]. STEP 2 In this guide, you will learn [outcome the reader wants]. STEP 3
12. Building Content Systems “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” James Clear
13. 32% Our Content 5% Industry Avg
14. Content Creation System Research 1 Outline 2 Write 3 Review 4
15. Understanding the Searcher What job does the searcher actually need done? How can you help them complete it faster and more completely? What angle do the competing articles take?
16. Answer 1 Deliver immediate value Match search intent Complete the task Proof You're Right 2 Experience Expertise Authoritativeness Trustworthiness Everything Else 3 Supporting content Related topics Additional context Building an Outline
17. Write like everyone knows you're using AI—because they do.
18. We tested X and found Y Best Practices Named sources with links Experts say
19. “We haven't said AI content is bad. We've said, pretty clearly, that content written primarily for search engines rather than humans is the issue” Danny Sullivan
20. Build AI Systems Research Outline Write (then enhance)
21. Above-fold infographics resulted in 31% longer time on page
22. Multi-Model Intelligence ChatGPT researches Claude writes Gemini designs
23. Multiple Models + Multiple Passes Have different models check each other, do more than one pass. A.I. Review Your Content AI Checklist ✅ Intent match verified ✅ E-E-A-T signals present ✅ Entity coverage complete
24. When AI content ranks 33% of the time, maybe the question isn't 'human vs AI', it's 'who builds the better content system?
25. Luke Heinecke Adaptify SEO