Dan Lauer, Director of SEO and GEO at Walker Sands, joins E-Coffee with Experts to talk about what it really takes to succeed in both traditional search and AI-driven search.

Dan shares his unconventional journey from studying meteorology to building a career in SEO — and why he likes to say that “SEO chose me,” not the other way around.

He also breaks down the strategy behind his award-winning Holland America Line campaign, which drove a 65% increase in organic leads and 136% year-over-year revenue growth. Along the way, he shares how he approaches technical SEO for large enterprise websites with thousands of pages, including how he decides what to fix first.

The conversation also gets into Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and what it actually means for brands trying to show up in tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. Dan explains why a strong technical SEO foundation still matters, how query fan-out is changing the way we think about search intent, and why “ghost citations” could become a bigger problem for brands.

Beyond GEO, Dan shares his take on link building, explaining why five strong backlinks can be more valuable than a hundred low-quality ones. He also talks about why traditional attribution models struggle with today’s fragmented customer journeys — and why his advice to brands is simple: get your SEO foundation right first, then focus on AI visibility.

If you work in SEO, digital marketing, or brand strategy and want a clearer picture of where search is headed, this episode is packed with practical insights and real-world examples.

Get Your Exclusive AIO Growth Plan - We’ll kick off with a Live AIO Audit to see how shoppers find you, followed by Competitor Research to steal their spotlight: https://lunacal.ai/team/dws/dws-meetings

In this episode, we discuss:

00:00 - 00:26: Introduction to Dan Lauer

00:26 - 02:10: The Story Behind SEO Content Goblin

02:10 - 04:42: From Meteorology to SEO

04:42 - 07:08: Holland America Campaign: 65% Organic Lift

07:08 - 09:31: Prioritizing Fixes in Enterprise Technical Audits

09:31 - 11:30: Why SEO Foundations Drive AI Visibility

11:30 - 14:13: How AI Overviews Combine Search Intents

14:13 - 17:24: Query Fan-Out and Defining Your Brand Entity

17:24 - 20:19: Quality vs Quantity in Backlinks and Mentions

20:19 - 22:48: Ghost Citations and Earning AI Trust

22:48 - 27:17: Attribution Challenges in a Fragmented Journey

27:17 - 29:11: Balancing SEO and AI Investment

29:11 - 31:21: Final Thoughts

 Connect with Dan Lauer

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/danlauer1/

 https://www.walkersands.com/contact/

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