These Tech SEO Moves Are Basically Useless
Technical SEO experts weigh in on practices about to become useless in 2026.
The discussion covers LLM.ext and AI-driven rendering, with panelists questioning whether advanced AI systems make basic text rendering techniques obsolete.
The group also critiques synthetic AI ranking tools and simulated testing, arguing that focusing on actual user experience delivers more value than investing heavily in simulated metrics.
What technical SEO techniques [music] will be useless in 2026? >> Ooh, llms.ext. Um, I don't know. I'm just like a big believer that like AI [music] is really smart and so why would we have to do like basic like text rendering, right? Like they can infer things. Like to me that just seems something useless. And I laugh saying that cuz [music] it's that like sort of an old thing. It's something people are talking about now, but I just I think it's not useful. [laughter] Huh? Oh, good question. Oh my god. Um, I don't know if that llm.ext thing counts as a useless technical SEO thing. I just I don't think it does anything. >> Maybe I'm wrong. >> Come on, give me something. >> Oh, well, it's a spicy answer. And no, but there's they're they're good people. They're friendly people. They are. You know, >> something's going to drop off. Well, let me let me just say uh I love data, but AI ranking is the lighthouse of AI
tracking. >> Yeah, it's synthetic. It's simulated. So, how much value is there really in a simulated test versus focusing on what your users actually experience? And I think a lot of people put a lot of budget into that. >> Catch the other videos to find out what else we ask these experts.
Key takeaways
Quotes
“I'm just like a big believer that AI is really smart, and so why would we have to do like basic text rendering, right? Like they can infer things.” — Martha van Berkel
“It's synthetic. It's simulated. So how much value is there really in a simulated test versus focusing on what your users actually experience?” — Dana DiTomaso