No Hacks: Optimising the Web for AI Agents

Slobodan "Sani" Manić
  • 5.0 (7)
  • MARKETING
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Your next million website visitors won't be human. And most websites are completely unprepared. Navigation that makes sense to humans confuses agents. Checkouts break. Critical information is invisible. No Hacks is the podcast about this shift. We explore how to optimise websites for AI agents: what breaks, what works, and what companies need to do now to stay visible in an agent-driven web. Hosted by Slobodan Manic (slobodanmanic.com), consultant and speaker on Agent Experience Optimisation (AXO). New episodes weekly. Subscribe to the companion newsletter at nohacks.substack.com.

  1. 2D AGO

    216: The Machine Layer - Building Trust in the Age of AI Search with Duane Forrester

    Duane Forrester, 30-year search veteran who co-launched Schema.org and built Bing Webmaster Tools, explains why AI systems prioritize trust above all else. We discuss machine comfort bias, chunk-level content optimization, why SEO is now a multidisciplinary role, and how to prepare for a world where LLMs decide who gets cited. About the Guest Duane Forrester is the author of "The Machine Layer" and search industry pioneer 30 years in search and digital strategySenior Product Manager at Microsoft - built Bing Webmaster ToolsCo-launched Schema.org structured data standardLeadership roles at Bruce Clay Inc. and YextFounder of Unbound Answers, creator of CitationIQChapters 00:00 - Intro01:01 - The biggest shift SEO has ever seen03:30 - Machine Comfort Bias: the 5 layers of trust09:19 - Chunking: writing for AI and humans16:01 - Making content citation-ready18:35 - Schema.org: the trust infrastructure25:46 - Ironman vs Superman: AI as amplifier, not savior32:28 - EEAT, Universal Verifiers, and why trust is everything42:59 - Latent Choice Signals: the invisible metrics52:35 - The Machine Layer book57:53 - Emerging roles in AI discoverability01:01:16 - Where to find DuaneKey Takeaways Trust is the new algorithm - LLMs need multiple dimensions of verification before citing you. If you can provide everything they need without them having to guess, they'll lean into that "machine comfort bias"Chunking matters, but not how you think - Don't reformat your entire page into 300-word blocks. Instead, put key facts, figures, and bullet points at the top. LLMs get "lost in the middle" of long-form contentBe the canonical source - Your goal isn't rankings, it's being seen as THE source of knowledge on your topic. If you haven't expanded the LLM's training data with net new information, you won't be citedSEO is now multidisciplinary - Technical SEOs must understand branding, conversion, engagement, PR, and UX. Silos are killing companies in the AI discovery layerAI is Ironman, not Superman - These systems amplify your skills but require you to drive them. Hope is not a strategy. Always ask self-referencing questions to verify outputsLLMs want to save money - They won't waste tokens looking elsewhere if you provide everything they need. Consistency and trust reduce their computational costsResources Mentioned Duane's Work Book: The Machine Layer - Available on Amazon (Kindle & Paperback)Website: duaneforrester.com - Free frameworks from the book availableSubstack: duaneforresterdecodes.substack.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dforresterConnect with No Hacks Website: https://nohackspod.comNewsletter: Subscribe for weekly episodesNo Hacks is a podcast about web performance, technical SEO, and the agentic web. Hosted by Slobodan "Sani" Manic.

    1h 3m

  2. JAN 28

    215: The Agent-Broken Web - Why AI Can't See Your Website

    Your website might rank #1 on Google but be completely invisible to ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. In this episode, let's break down why a huge chunk of the web is fundamentally broken for AI systems - not because of bad content, but because of technical decisions that made sense for humans but make sites invisible to the AI systems rapidly becoming the front door to the internet. Chapter Timestamps 00:00:00 - Introduction: The new game your website is losing00:01:43 - The Scale of the Problem: AI crawler traffic explosion00:05:19 - The JavaScript Problem: Why AI crawlers can't see your content00:10:28 - The Bot Protection Paradox: Accidentally blocking AI00:14:40 - The Speed Requirement: Why 200ms matters00:17:46 - AI Agents Are Struggling Too: Browser agents and their limitations00:20:46 - How to Fix It: 6 things you need to do00:25:33 - Closing: The web is adapting againKey Statistics 569 million GPTBot requests on Vercel's network in a single month370 million ClaudeBot requests in the same period305% growth in GPTBot traffic (May 2024 to May 2025)157,000% increase in PerplexityBot requests year-over-year33% of organic search activity now comes from AI agents~40% failure rate for the best AI browser agents on complex tasksThe 6 Things to Fix Implement Server-Side Rendering (SSR) - If your site uses a JavaScript framework (React, Vue, Angular) with client-side rendering, switch to SSR or static site generation immediately. Use Next.js, Nuxt, or a pre-rendering service.Add Structured Data with JSON-LD - Expose key information in machine-readable format using schema.org markup. Microsoft confirmed Bing uses this to help Copilot understand content.Optimize for Speed - Target server response time under 200ms. First Contentful Paint under 1 second. Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds.Check Your Bot Protection Settings - Review Cloudflare, AWS WAF, or your CDN's bot management. Make a deliberate decision about GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and PerplexityBot access.Kill Infinite Scroll and Lazy Loading for Content - Use paginated URLs with standard HTML links. Ensure high-value content is in the initial HTML response.Keep Sitemaps Current - Maintain proper redirects, consistent URL patterns, and fix broken links.Tools Mentioned Glimpse - Free tool to test how AI sees your website: glimpse.webperformancetools.comShow Links Sources Referenced in This Episode AI Crawler Statistics: Vercel Blog - The Rise of the AI CrawlerCloudflare 2025 Year in ReviewCloudflare - From Googlebot to GPTBotSearch Engine Land - AI Optimization GuideJavaScript Rendering: Prerender.io - Understanding Web CrawlersSearch Engine Journal - Enterprise SEO Trends 2026No Hacks is a podcast about web performance, technical SEO, and the agentic web. Hosted by Slobodan "Sani" Manic.

    30 min

  3. JAN 14

    214: How Google Just Took Control of AI Commerce (UCP + Apple Deal Explained)

    Google just made two massive moves in 48 hours, and together, they could reshape how AI interacts with commerce forever. First: the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard that lets AI agents shop on your behalf. Discovery, checkout, payments, post-purchase, the whole journey, with one common language. Backed by Shopify, Walmart, Target, Visa, Mastercard, and 20+ others. Second: a multi-year deal with Apple. Gemini will power the next generation of Apple Intelligence, including Siri. That's Google's AI running on 2 billion Apple devices. In this episode, I break down what UCP actually is, how it works, why the Apple deal matters, and what this means for merchants, developers, and anyone building for the agentic web. CHAPTERS 00:00 – The Anthony Joshua smile meme (and what it has to do with Google) 02:59 – The landscape: AI agents, fragmentation, and the assistant wars 06:36 – What is UCP? Universal Commerce Protocol explained 11:04 – Who's backing UCP and what it enables today 14:21 – The Apple-Gemini deal: what it means 17:55 – Why Apple chose Google (and what happens to OpenAI) 21:00 – Connecting the dots: Google's full strategy 24:00 – What this means for merchants and developers 26:30 – The bigger picture: who controls the agentic web? 29:07 – Closing thoughtsLINKS UCP Documentation: https://ucp.devUCP GitHub: https://github.com/Universal-Commerce-Protocol/ucpGoogle's UCP Announcement: https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/agentic-commerce-ai-tools-protocol-retailers-platforms/Google-Apple Joint Statement: https://blog.google/company-news/inside-google/company-announcements/joint-statement-google-apple/Shopify's UCP Deep-Dive: https://shopify.engineering/UCPKEYWORDS/TAGS Google, UCP, Universal Commerce Protocol, AI agents, agentic commerce, e-commerce, Apple Intelligence, Gemini, Siri, AI shopping, MCP, Shopify, OpenAI, retail technology No Hacks is a podcast about web performance, technical SEO, and the agentic web. Hosted by Slobodan "Sani" Manic.

    30 min

  4. JAN 7

    213: Why Google & ChatGPT Are Ignoring Your "Dead" Content with Jono Alderson

    For the last 20 years, digital marketing had one goal: drag a human across a "threshold", onto your website, so you could control the message and sell the product. In 2026, the threshold is gone. In this episode, Jono Alderson argues that we have entered the era of "Marketing to Machines." We are no longer optimizing for clicks; we are optimizing for the AI agents that intermediate the web. We discuss why 90% of websites are now "Zombies" (technically online but functionally dead), why AI models treat marketing fluff like an allergen, and why the future of SEO isn't about meta tags, it's about "Upstream Engineering." In this episode, we cover: [00:00] The Death of the Threshold: Why the era of "interrupting humans to get them to your site" is over.[02:24] The Surface-less Web: Why your brand is no longer just your domain, but an aggregation of everything said about you on the web (Reddit, YouTube, 2013 microsites).[06:52] The "Zombie Web" Theory: Why "commodity content" (like generic dentist blogs) is worthless to an LLM that has already memorized the facts.[11:05] The Machine Immune System: Why AI models view persuasive copywriting and sales fluff as "noise" or hallucinations to be filtered out.[16:40] The Incoherence Penalty: How machines spot the gap between your marketing claims ("We love customers") and your reality (bad Reddit reviews).[20:30] The llms.txt Trap: Why creating a separate "agent-friendly" version of your site won't work (and why machines won't trust it).[22:50] MCP (Model Context Protocol): Is this the future of how websites communicate?[28:14] Upstream Engineering: The new SEO. Why you need to optimize your return policy, logistics, and customer service instead of your title tags.[33:05] The Timeline: The best and worst-case scenarios for the web in the next 5 years.[38:39] How to Survive 2026: One final piece of advice for optimizers.Resources: Connect with Jono: jonoalderson.comFollow Jono on LinkedInNo Hacks is a podcast about web performance, technical SEO, and the agentic web. Hosted by Slobodan "Sani" Manic.

    42 min

  5. 12/17/2025

    212: Goodbye 2025 - Digital Tinnitus and the Non-Human Future

    If 2025 felt like a constant, high-pitched ringing in your ears, you aren't alone.  We call it "Digital Tinnitus", the exhausting result of two years of AI hype, "pivot or die" mandates, and confident mediocrity. In this 2025 finale, let's shut off the noise. We look back at why "Fatigue" was the word of the year, and why the crash of the hype cycle is actually the best news for serious professionals. Sani breaks down why Deep Work is the only antidote to the chaos and reveals the massive strategic shift coming to No Hacks in 2026. The internet is changing. We are moving from an Attention Economy to a Utility Economy. And next year, we focus on one thing only: The Non-Human User. In this episode, we cover: The Hangover: Why 2025 broke us, and why the silence of 2026 is a gift.Deep Work vs. Shallow Hacks: Why "Vibe Coding" is a trap and true craftsmanship is the only moat left.The 82:1 Prediction: Palo Alto Networks predicts 82 AI agents for every 1 human online. What does that mean for your website?The 2026 Mission: Announcing the sole focus for next year: Optimizing the Human Web for Non-Human Users.Links: Connect with Sani on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slobodanmanic/Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://nohacks.substack.com/See you in 2026. No Hacks is a podcast about web performance, technical SEO, and the agentic web. Hosted by Slobodan "Sani" Manic.

    11 min

  6. 12/10/2025

    211: Why AI is Killing Your Clicks: The New Metrics for a Zero-Click World with Joe Doveton

    The ground beneath the digital marketing industry is shifting. For decades, the mantra was simple: optimize for traffic, measure clicks, and track conversions. But with the rise of Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), and Answer Engines, that rulebook is obsolete. In this powerful episode, I sit down with Joe Doveton to discuss the urgent reality facing every brand that relies on web traffic. We dive into the phenomenon Joe calls the "Crocodile Mouth", the unsettling visual trend where brands maintain high search impressions but see clicks vanish, a direct result of zero-click searches. With the proliferation of platforms like TikTok, Reddit, and various generative engines, we discuss why the Google monopoly on the customer journey is over, and how users can now move from the awareness stage to purchasing a product without ever visiting a Google property. This episode is a wake-up call for marketers still clinging to outdated KPIs. Joe introduces the new alphabet soup of optimization, GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), and LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization). Crucially, we explore what this means for your analytics. If traffic and conversion rate are "lousy metrics", what should you measure? Joe reveals emerging metrics like Visibility within LLMs and competitive positioning. Most importantly, we agree that this "Wild West" era is finally killing all the outdated SEO hacks, forcing brands back to the core long-term strategy: writing useful content and focusing on the customer experience. About the Guest Joe Doveton is an experienced digital strategist, consultant, and speaker focused on the intersection of AI, search, and customer experience. With a background that includes working in advertising and a deep understanding of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Joe is now pioneering tools and strategies for the Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) space. He is the founder of GEO Jet Pack, a platform designed to extract and visualize entities from content to help brands gain visibility in LLM responses - a critical new metric for the AI era. What You'll Learn The difference between traditional SEO and the new acronyms: GEO, AEO, and LLMO.What the "Crocodile Mouth" is and why it confirms the end of the reliance on clicks.Why the old marketing KPIs, specifically web traffic and conversion rate—are now "lousy metrics" for measuring success.The new metrics emerging for the middle of the funnel, such as Visibility within LLMs and competitive position within prompt responses.Why the entire AI shift proves that long-term SEO success is still about being useful, interesting, and trustworthy (EEAT).Why the current AI era is killing all the old SEO hacks and discouraging tactics like content farming.How and why brands like Google are undermining their own profitable ad business by integrating AI Overviews.The vision of the Semantic Web and why the current structure of websites is inherently ill-suited for machine consumption.Guest Contact: Joe Doveton's websiteJoe Doveton on LinkedInNo Hacks is a podcast about web performance, technical SEO, and the agentic web. Hosted by Slobodan "Sani" Manic.

    38 min

  7. 11/26/2025

    210: AI Agents Are Here (And They Hate Your Website) with Jes Scholz

    There is a new user on the internet. It doesn't have eyes, it reads code, and it has zero tolerance for bad UX. In this episode, I sit down with Jes Scholz (SEO Futurist & Marketing Consultant) to discuss the "Great Correction" coming to our industry. We talk about why a decade of obsessing over short-term metrics has "corrupted" brand marketing, and why AI is finally forcing us to fix the fundamentals we’ve ignored for too long. Jes explains why AI agents are abandoning websites with messy HTML, why "entity optimization" is the real key to future visibility, and why the popular tactic of spamming Reddit to influence LLMs is a ticking time bomb for your brand. Topics Covered: Why short-term metrics broke modern marketing (and how to fix it).The "New User": How to optimize for AI agents that read code, not screens.Why "trash" code and interstitial popups are fatal for AI discovery.The "Reddit Spam" Rant: Why trying to hack AI will destroy your brand reputation. Shocker, right?The #1 skill AI cannot replace in 2026. Can you guess what it is?Timestamps:  00:00 - Intro  00:02:07 - How Short-Term Metrics "Corrupted" Brand Marketing  00:03:59 - Why Marketers Must Relearn to Work Without Perfect Metrics  00:08:00 - AI Agents: Why They Fail on Bad UX & Messy HTML  00:17:52 - Beyond the Website: Why Entity Optimization is Key for AI  00:21:14 - Why Spamming Reddit to Influence AI Will Destroy Your Brand  00:27:23 - Final Advice: The #1 Skill to Keep & The #1 Habit to Drop About the Guest: Jes Scholz is a global digital strategist and SEO futurist. Formerly the International Digital Director for Ringier, she has led digital transformation across 140+ media and e-commerce brands in Europe, Africa, and Asia. She is now an independent consultant helping enterprises adapt to the AI era.  Connect with Jes: Website: jesscholz.comNewsletter: SEO Brief on SubstackLinkedIn: Jes ScholzConnect with Sani: LinkedIn: Slobodan (Sani) ManićWebsite: nohackspod.comNewsletter: No Hacks on SubstackNo Hacks is a podcast about web performance, technical SEO, and the agentic web. Hosted by Slobodan "Sani" Manic.

    37 min

  8. 10/21/2025

    209: The Zero-Effort Lie - How AI Is Accelerating the Death of the Internet

    The promise is irresistible: generate anything you want, instantly, with zero effort. We’ve been told that AI is the great democratizer, but in this episode, we argue it’s actually the most catastrophic lie of the digital age. The truth is, this endless supply of cheap, fast content is fundamentally destroying value and driving the collapse of the internet as we know it. We're not seeing liberation; we're seeing an intellectual lazy river that's turning the web into a toxic digital swamp. In this episode, we break down the three deadly flaws of the zero-effort economy: The Dunning-Kruger loop: Why amassing "zero knowledge" before hitting 'generate' is so dangerous. We look at why amateurs, armed with powerful tools, lack the expertise to judge quality, creating a flood of confidently flawed content that only "kinda looks good."The meaning crisis & The Betty Crocker dilemma: If creation is instant, cheap, and disposable, why should you care? We dive into the psychology of effort and the IKEA Effect to explain why platforms had to force you to "add the human egg." The only way to save your work is to deliberately reintroduce friction.The platforms are killing at (the enshittification): This isn't just an accident; it’s calculated decay. We expose how platforms are actively boosting AI Slop (low-quality, high-volume garbage) to maximize their profits, directly crowding out genuine human creators. We reference Cory Doctorow's essential concept of Enshittification to explain how the entire internet is being systematically poisoned.The final warning: What happens when we keep chasing "more, more, more low-effort shit"? The existential threat of model collapse, where AI trains on its own garbage, fundamentally poisoning the source of all knowledge and accelerating us toward a "dead internet."The only way to fight back is to choose effort over ease. Find more No Hacks content: If you want to support the podcast, please subscribe, rate, and share this episode. You can also read more No Hacks content at nohacks.substack.com. No Hacks is a podcast about web performance, technical SEO, and the agentic web. Hosted by Slobodan "Sani" Manic.

    16 min
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About

Your next million website visitors won't be human. And most websites are completely unprepared. Navigation that makes sense to humans confuses agents. Checkouts break. Critical information is invisible. No Hacks is the podcast about this shift. We explore how to optimise websites for AI agents: what breaks, what works, and what companies need to do now to stay visible in an agent-driven web. Hosted by Slobodan Manic (slobodanmanic.com), consultant and speaker on Agent Experience Optimisation (AXO). New episodes weekly. Subscribe to the companion newsletter at nohacks.substack.com.

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