How to Rank Better, Straight From a Google Search Advocate
We tend to think ranking problems are technical.
Maybe the sitemap is wrong.
Maybe Google Search Console is not set up properly.
Maybe indexing takes longer than we thought.
Sometimes that is true.
But recently, a business owner asked why their website was not showing up when they searched for its own name. They had submitted the sitemap. They had published content. They had done what most SEO checklists recommend.
The reply from John Mueller, Search Advocate at Google, pointed to something much more fundamental.
The issue was not indexing.
It was intent.
And in today’s AI search environment, that distinction matters more than ever.
Indexed vs. Relevant
There is a difference between being indexed and being relevant for a query.
Indexing means Google has stored your page in its system. That does not mean it believes your page is the best answer for a specific search.
If someone searches a clearly unique brand name, Google can reasonably assume the user is trying to navigate to that specific site.
If someone searches a phrase made up of broad, competitive keywords, Google may interpret that as informational. In that case, it will show the strongest informational resources, not necessarily your homepage.
This is not about whether your site exists.
It is about what Google believes the searcher wants.
When Your Brand Looks Like a Topic
Many founders make this mistake early on.
They choose a domain name that is entirely keyword driven. It feels strategic. It feels optimized.
But if your brand name looks like a general topic, search engines may not treat it as a brand at all.
They treat it as a subject.
That means you are not competing as a company.
You are competing as content.
And content is everywhere.
Search engines classify queries in different ways. Some are navigational. Some are informational. Some are transactional.
If your “brand name” looks informational, Google may never assume the searcher is looking specifically for you.
That was the core of the response from Google’s own Search Advocate. And it is a lesson many businesses overlook.
Why This Matters Even More in AI Search
Now let’s take this one step further.
Traditional search engines rank pages.
AI systems evaluate entities.
Tools like OpenAI through ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, and Google’s AI-driven results do not simply match words on a page.
They look for the most authoritative entity to answer a question.
If your brand name blends in with hundreds of similar keyword combinations, you become interchangeable.
AI does not prioritize interchangeable.
It prioritizes clarity.
If the system cannot clearly distinguish your organization from the broader topic, you may see your content referenced without your brand being reinforced. Or worse, your competitors may be cited as the authority instead.
This is where SEO is evolving.
It is no longer just about ranking a page.
It is about being recognized as an entity.
Shifting From Keywords to Identity
Businesses have always been told to build domain names around keywords. That advice made sense in a simpler search environment.
Today, clarity of identity carries more weight.
Your brand should do three things:
Be distinct enough to trigger navigational intent.
Be structured clearly as an organization through schema and consistent naming.
Be reinforced across platforms so search engines and AI systems connect expertise to your company.
If you skip those steps, you may rank for articles but fail to build recognition.
And recognition is what drives long term visibility.
What This Means for Small Businesses
I work with growing companies as a fractional marketing partner. One of the most common issues I see is this:
The business has content.
The business has a website.
The business even has traffic.
But the business does not have entity clarity.
Their name is too generic.
Their structure is inconsistent.
Their authority signals are scattered.
They are present online, but they are not defined.
Search engines can crawl undefined.
AI systems struggle to trust undefined.
A Simple Test
Search your brand name.
Ask yourself:
Is it clearly unique?
Does Google immediately associate it with your organization?
Would someone unfamiliar with your company confuse it with a general topic?
Does AI consistently recognize you as a defined entity?
If the answer is no, the issue may not be technical SEO at all.
It may be positioning.
The Bigger Lesson
The Reddit question started as an indexing concern.
The deeper takeaway is about how search engines interpret identity.
Search visibility is not just about being found.
It is about being understood.
As search shifts toward AI, that understanding becomes even more important.
Businesses that build clear, consistent entity signals will have an advantage.
Businesses that rely solely on keyword positioning may struggle to stand out.
Ranking better is not always about doing more.
Sometimes it is about defining who you are in a way that search engines and AI systems can clearly recognize.
That is where modern SEO is heading.
And that is where smart businesses should focus next.
David Griffin is a fractional marketing director and SEO strategist with 15+ years of experience in full-stack digital marketing, specializing in modern SEO strategy and AI search visibility.
