Don’t Think Like a Robot: A Conversation with Mark Williams-Cook

With 22 years in SEO, Mark Williams-Cook has built a reputation for cutting through noise and focusing on what actually works. As Director at Candour, founder of AlsoAsked, and author of the Core Updates newsletter, his perspective is shaped by both deep technical experience and practical business thinking.

In a recent conversation with SERP Conf. Sofia 2026 brand ambassador David Carrasco, Mark shared a clear message: the future of SEO will not be won by those who think like machines, but by those who understand how machines work and apply better human judgment.

Standing Out in a World Full of AI Content

In an industry increasingly flooded with AI-generated visuals and content, Mark has taken a deliberately different approach. His now well-known MS Paint illustrations may look simple, but they serve a strategic purpose. As AI tools became more widespread, feeds quickly filled with polished, generated images. Over time, users developed an instinctive filter for them. What once felt new began to feel repetitive.

Mark’s response was to increase effort, not reduce it. His five-minute drawings stand out precisely because they do not blend in. What started as a joke became a recognisable communication style, proving a simple marketing truth: differentiation still matters more than polish.

Consistency Beats Visibility Hacks

Over the past six years, Mark has published more than 1,500 SEO tips on LinkedIn. That level of consistency is rare, but the motivation behind it was not visibility. It was clarity.

At a time when the SEO community was fragmented across platforms, he saw a growing amount of poor advice circulating. Instead of arguing, he chose to publish useful insights. The process also reinforced his own understanding. Explaining ideas in a clear, generalised way forces you to remove edge cases and focus on what actually holds true. The success of that approach came gradually. Positive feedback reinforced the habit to share useful SEO tips, while unsuccessful experiments were quietly abandoned. The lesson is simple: sustainable visibility is built through iteration, not isolated wins.

Challenging Ideas, Not People

One of the more notable aspects of Mark’s public presence is his willingness to challenge questionable claims in the industry. But his approach is structured. He focuses on ideas, not individuals. And when disagreements arise, he actively seeks alternative perspectives rather than shutting them down.

Where he draws a firm line is around misleading claims, particularly when they are tied to commercial offers. A common example is the suggestion that AI can replace SEO agencies entirely. In Mark’s view, this is simply not true. The gap between automated outputs and strategic thinking remains significant, and no one has yet been willing to directly compare those approaches in practice.

The Core Idea: Don’t Think Like a Robot

At the centre of Mark’s upcoming talk at SERP Conf. Sofia 2026 is a simple but critical idea: SEO professionals often adopt the wrong mindset. Instead of asking how people make decisions, many focus on how algorithms interpret signals. That approach can produce short-term gains, but it rarely holds. The most effective SEOs understand how search systems work, but they do not try to replicate them. The advantage lies in combining that knowledge with human reasoning. This balance between algorithmic understanding and human judgment is where meaningful, long-term performance is created.

The Risk of Delegating Thinking to AI

AI is already deeply embedded in SEO workflows, but Mark warns against over-reliance, particularly when it comes to analysis. When you analyse data yourself, you build context. You recognise patterns, connect insights across time, and link findings to previous conversations or business decisions. These layers of understanding are difficult for AI to replicate. More importantly, AI errors are not always obvious. They are often subtle and plausible, which makes them harder to detect. When decisions are built on top of these errors, the impact compounds.

For Mark, the conclusion is practical: if you are reviewing everything AI produces anyway, you are better off staying directly involved in the thinking process.

Better Decisions Through Expected Value

Another key concept Mark applies to SEO is expected value, borrowed from poker.

Every decision should be evaluated based on potential benefit versus cost. Not every action needs to be proven to be worthwhile, but it must be proportionate. For example, certain emerging tactics related to AI visibility may not yet have strong supporting evidence. However, if they are inexpensive to implement, they may still carry positive expected value. The problem arises when unproven tactics are presented as established strategies and sold at scale. This is where decision-making discipline becomes critical.

Understanding Search Through Questions

Mark’s work with AlsoAsked is rooted in one of the most valuable sources of search insight: People Also Ask data. This data evolves rapidly and reflects real-time changes in user intent. It provides a clear view of what users are likely to ask next and how topics connect. By mapping these questions, SEO teams can better understand what content needs to include in order to meet user expectations.

This approach extends into AI search as well. Through processes like query fan-out, AI systems break complex queries into smaller components. By modelling this behaviour, SEOs can align their content more closely with how both users and machines process information.

SEO Is Now Fully Integrated

While the fundamentals of SEO remain consistent, its role has expanded. It is no longer an isolated channel. It intersects with digital PR, social media, brand marketing, and content strategy. Visibility is now the result of coordinated effort across multiple touchpoints. For established businesses, this makes long-term SEO investment more important, not less. Short-term tactics still exist, but they are increasingly fragile. The companies that succeed will be those that build sustainable visibility through integrated strategy.

What Makes a Great SEO Event – and What the Industry Still Needs

Mark’s perspective on SEO extends beyond strategy and into how the industry connects and learns. As he prepares to launch his own conference, Search Norwich XL, his approach is shaped by experiences from other events.

One moment that stood out was at SERP Conf. in Vienna that opened with a live violin performance. It set the tone immediately, creating atmosphere before a single talk had begun. His goal is simple – to create an environment that is accessible, welcoming, and genuinely valuable for attendees. That mindset mirrors how he views SEO itself. At its core, it comes down to the user. If he had to summarise his philosophy in a single MS Paint image, it would be “a happy user.”

At the same time, he is not afraid to challenge industry norms. One of his more controversial insights is that leaving meta descriptions blank can sometimes lead to higher click-through rates – a claim that sparked strong reactions despite being backed by data. He also brings a healthy perspective to the work. SEO, in his words, should not be taken too seriously. “We’re not saving lives.” That balance between rigour and realism is part of what keeps the industry moving forward.

See Mark Williams-Cook Live at SERP Conf. Sofia 2026

Mark Williams-Cook will open SERP Conf. Sofia 2026 with his talk “Do Not Think Like a Robot”, where he will expand on these ideas and share practical frameworks for making better SEO decisions in an AI-driven landscape.

If you want to understand how search is evolving beyond tools and tactics – and how to apply that understanding in real business scenarios – this is a session worth attending.

Join SERP Conf. Sofia 2026 on March 25th at the Inter Expo Center and be part of the conversations shaping the future of SEO.