The Founder and Director of SEO at Woya Digital, Steve O’Brien, shares how AI, Digital PR, and the rise of AEO and GEO are reshaping search, and why Woya Digital’s global, winning culture keeps clients ahead.
A Vision for Digital Dominance
Steve, Woya Digital is built around the mission of helping brands achieve digital dominance. What does that mean in practice?
Digital dominance means going beyond rankings in search engines. It is about creating a presence that is visible, trusted, and authoritative across every platform, from traditional search to AI driven answer engines. For our clients, it means being consistently cited, referenced, and recognised as leaders in their field. This has been central to Woya Digital since the very beginning.
Global Reach with Local Expertise
Woya Digital works with clients globally. How does that international reach influence your strategies?
We have many clients in the UK and EU, and also work with clients across the USA and South Africa. Having a global team of SEO, PR, digital and AI experts is a huge advantage. Search behaviour, regulations, and expectations differ across markets, especially in sectors like finance and healthcare marketing. By bringing together specialists from different regions, we can tailor strategies that resonate locally while still delivering global impact and outcomes.
SEO has changed dramatically in recent years. What milestones stand out in Woya Digital’s journey to staying ahead?
A few really define our evolution. We adopted Digital PR early, when many agencies still focused only on technical SEO. We then developed as the sector changed, before it was mainstream. Most recently, we have been driving work in AEO or GEO (just SEO 2.0 really) ensuring our clients are referenced by AI driven search and generative platforms. Each step has been about anticipating change rather than reacting to it.
AI Mode, AEO and GEO
Can you explain AI Mode, and how it benefits your clients?
Google’s shift into AI Mode is one of the biggest changes to online search we’ve seen in years. It has only just launched here in the UK, but we have been analysing its rollout in the US since it first went live there. The way results are delivered is fundamentally different, moving beyond lists of links to AI summaries and contextual answers. For businesses, that means the rules of visibility have shifted dramatically. At Woya Digital we have already been preparing our clients by aligning strategies with these changes, strengthening authority signals, embracing Digital PR, and building structured content that ensures they are recognised and referenced within Google’s AI outputs. The benefit is simple: clients remain highly visible and trusted, even as search becomes more conversational and AI driven.
How do AEO and GEO fit into this picture?
AEO and GEO are just different terms (amongst others) being bandied around as natural extensions of SEO in the ‘AI Mode’ landscape. AEO ensures a brand is the chosen answer when someone queries an AI powered search engine. GEO ensures that when generative platforms like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, or Perplexity produce content, your brand is cited and referenced. Traditional SEO was about keywords and rankings, but now it is being summarised as just “search and affect”, as it impacts many areas, not just old fashioned Google anymore, watch this space…
The Power of Digital PR
Digital PR has always been central to Woya. How is it changing in the age of AI referencing, AEO, and GEO?
Digital PR is more important than ever. AI needs trusted sources, and PR coverage provides exactly that. In sectors like finance and healthcare, where credibility is everything, being mentioned in respected outlets makes a huge difference. We are not chasing links for the sake of it. We are creating credible brand stories that AI and people trust.
AI Referencing and the Future of Search
AI referencing is becoming a big topic. What does it mean, and why should brands care?
AI referencing is about being the source AI engines choose when generating answers to users queries. If you are not referenced, you risk becoming invisible. For brands, this is as important now as ranking on page one of Google is, and it is only just beginning. That is why we focus on authority, credibility, and consistency in everything we do.
With AI engines shaping search, what role does human creativity still play?
Creativity is the ultimate differentiator. AI can process information and spot patterns, but it cannot build emotional connections. That is where people shine. At Woya Digital, our winning culture ensures our team brings creativity and passion to every campaign. AI enhances and can make us more efficient, but it does not replace the ingenuity of our people.
Final Word: Building Trust in 2025 and Beyond
Finally, what advice would you give to a business looking to secure digital dominance in 2025 and beyond?
Do not focus on short term tricks. Invest in authority and trust. Whether you are in finance, healthcare, or any other sector, the brands that succeed will be the ones that AI trusts to reference, and people trust to believe. That is the essence of digital dominance, and it is what we deliver at Woya Digital.
Short Bio: Steve O’Brien
Steve O’Brien is a Founder and Director of SEO at Woya Digital, a UK based digital marketing agency dedicated to helping brands achieve digital dominance through technical SEO, Digital PR, and AI driven optimisation. He leads a global team that serves clients across the UK, EU, USA, and South Africa, with particular strength in highly regulated sectors such as finance and healthcare.
