SEO & GEO Blog

Practical SEO and GEO guides from Dan Kern, founder of Kern Media®, with 20+ years of SEO experience. You'll find evergreen advice on technical SEO, eCommerce SEO, content strategy and traffic recovery, all updated for how people search today in Google and AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity.

Want help applying it to your site? See our SEO and GEO services or our original AI search citation study.

How to Audit an XML Sitemap to Uncover Lost Traffic & Revenue Opportunities

October 4, 2026 by Dan Kern

Updated October 2026. I first wrote this guide in 2016. The process still works. I’ve updated the tools (Screaming Frog, Google Search Console and GA4 all work differently now) and added what Google says about the lastmod date. On larger websites, auditing the XML sitemap often uncovers lost traffic and gives search engines a more […]

SEO & GEO Training for Editorial Teams: A Guide for Publishers

October 4, 2026 by Dan Kern

Updated October 2026. This guide combines three posts I wrote for publishers in 2016 (on SEO training for editors, keyword research and on-page optimization) into one, and updates them for how search works now, including Google’s AI Overviews and AI tools like ChatGPT. Search is still one of the largest traffic sources for most publishers, […]

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I’m Dan Kern, a veteran SEO & GEO consultant. I help established businesses scale revenue through "white hat" SEO, content marketing, and AI optimization. When you hire Kern Media, you work directly with me and my small team of experienced SEO professionals.

Proven Expertise: 20+ years in SEO, 500+ websites optimized
Search + AI Focus: Strategies built to rank on Google and get recommended by ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
Trusted Consultant: Highly reviewed and rated 5.0 stars on Google.

Need Help? Let's talk. I'm for hire.

“Dan Kern has the unique mix of analytical and technical skills blended with creativity that mark a successful SEO these days. His expertise goes beyond “just” SEO in all its facets. Dan is also a solid marketing strategist with direct experience in most online marketing channels. I highly recommend working with him.” – Everett Sizemore

“I’ve just finished reviewing your technical SEO audit – it’s awesome. Thank you for taking the time to be thorough, clear and providing your personal commentary on items in the document.” – Ed Caraballo (Seer Interactive)

“I had the privilege of working with Dan for five years where he helped transform the way the company thought about and utilized SEO and inbound marketing. Traffic skyrocketed, increasing 7x over the course of six months.” – Winter Thielen

“Kern Media has provided only positive results for Costa Rica Explorations & Escapes since beginning our working relationship in 2012. Dan Kern continues to exceed our expectations on a daily basis as he works tirelessly to keep up with industry trends and keep our site optimized. “ – John Rabenau

“Not only is Dan admirable at his profession, but he’s also an incredible leader and teacher. He knows how to talk to someone to convey information clearly, and is driven by the goal of getting everyone educated and “on board” for a particular project or strategy.” – Corey Hartford

“Dan is by far, the most passionate about SEO and strategic content development of anyone I know. He takes each project on with determination for success and positive results. Dan is innovative, strategic, and results-focused, and there isn’t a responsibility that he doesn’t put his full energy into.” – Jill Simonds

“Dan uncovered several problem areas of our site, resulting in us being penalized by Google’s Panda algorithm, and contributing to decreasing organic growth. With his guidance, we were able to fix our SEO-problem areas and have since seen tremendous growth in our organic traffic year over year! He transformed not only this business, but provided a proven model with best practices we continue to employ today.” – Amanda Ferm

“In short, Dan is fantastic — a true SEO guru, who is also a pleasure to work with. He is diligent, creative and his excitement for SEO & Online Marketing is both deep and genuine.” – Dan Sargent

      EXCELLENT  
   Based on 25 reviews 
    
 
 
 
   
 
 
       Posted on Google  
   
   Amanda Ferm 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. When Kern Media came in, they inherited nearly 30 years of accumulated SEO debt. Dan helped us untangle and clean up years of technical and content issues, build a much stronger SEO foundation, and ultimately allowed us to outrank our competitors for the most valuable keywords in our industry.

What I appreciated most was that they didn't treat SEO as a static checklist. Their strategic appoach helped us understand how search was evolving, what changes actually mattered, and where we needed to adapt. As AI began reshaping search and discovery, they were already helping us think beyond traditional SEO and understand what emerging AI-driven search meant for our visibility.

Kern Media brought both deep expertise and a practical, strategic approach to the work. They significantly improved our visibility while building a strong organic search foundation that positioned us to stay ahead of the curve as search continues to evolve—from traditional SEO to the rapidly changing world of AI-driven discovery.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Keith Nickoles 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I have partnered professionally with Dan and his team at Kern Media for over five years, and their SEO strategies consistently deliver impressive results. I've never seen a system so detail-oriented. It's impressive to witness and be a part of. I strongly recommend their services to any business seeking a reliable, long-term partner for digital growth.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Ashley Mo 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Dan and the Kern Media team so impressed me with their expertise that he was my first call when I changed jobs and needed to hire an SEO consultant. Our organic traffic continues to grow as we've followed the content and technical recommendations from the team. Dan is great at explaining complicated terms simply and extremely responsive. I highly recommend working with Kern Media.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Benjamin Smith 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Within minutes of talking to Dan he was able to help me troubleshoot a good deal why my search rankings were struggling. He has fantastic insight and truly is expert in the ever-changing world of SEO.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Mike W 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Working with Dan has been a pivotal part of our company. For the past 10 years, we've been selling furniture online and have achieved early success in ranking well on Google. However, our pages were not structured to rank effectively. After our traffic began steadily declining, we decided to engage with Kern Media to improve our ranking and hopefully bring more traffic to the site. Our organic traffic has since more than doubled in less than a year. As the holiday season approached, Dan had the idea to come out with a Black Friday page and created a content brief for us to follow. Within a week, the page was ranking 3rd on Google for "Black Friday cat trees," which helped lead to a record-breaking Black Friday Sale. Kern Media has been quick to respond to questions, always available to talk through issues, and has been a pleasure to work with.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Tim Hampton 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Dan & Kern Media have been awesome to work with for many years. We've seen incredible growth with our organic results and have grown our keyword footprint immensely. Dan's technical acumen and knowledge of the "SEO" space is impressive. If you ever get the chance to work with Dan and Team, DO IT!!!  Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do! We appreciate you, @Dan!
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Karen Johnson 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Dan and his team came in and really changed the game for us.  To date our organic results have grown 41%.  He helped us clean up our site, add quality content and provided excellent guidance so we could continue to make improvements on our own. I highly recommend!
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Karyssa Cox 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Kern Media has been an incredible partner in developing my team's overall SEO strategy and implementing new tactics. We've worked with Dan on a number of different complex projects as well as ongoing consultation. Dan is on top of the latest SEO trends and best practices and always has ideas on how to ensure we're making the moves we need to in order to stay ahead. Dan's expertise and attention to detail have been crucial in completing our projects successfully, and he's also been great to collaborate with on how we can use SEO as a tool to achieve our overall goals. We've been very pleased and impressed with the results and are so grateful for the opportunity to work with Kern Media.

Thanks, Dan and the Kern team!
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Sandra G 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Dan and his team at Kern Media are truly SEO experts and our trusted advisors to us.  Through their hard work our website, customer.com, is now of the first page of google search results for our area of expertise.

How to Audit an XML Sitemap to Uncover Lost Traffic & Revenue Opportunities

SEO & GEO Training for Editorial Teams: A Guide for Publishers

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