Always Be Testing: Real SEO/SEM Plays for 2026 | Ep. 43 w/ Peter Kalanda (3 Horizons Interactive)

“SEO isn’t dead...LLM search just rewards brands that ship the fundamentals and answer real questions.”

If you feel like your ad dollars buy less every month, you’re not imagining it. Peter Kalanda (Co-Founder, 3 Horizons Interactive) and I unpack what’s still real in SEO/SEM...and where to double down as LLM search starts stealing clicks.

Highlights

• Paid as visibility tax vs. conversion: how to target so small budgets don’t vaporize.
• Run SEO and SEM as one system (structure, titles, keywords, quality score).
• Local/service landing pages that rank...and don’t clutter your nav.
• ABT: Always Be Testing from forms to fulfillment.
• LLM search is already in analytics; teach users branded prompts to find you.

Chapters

0:00 Cold open

1:00 Peter’s path, hospitality → EY → SEO/SEM

5:00 Paid that actually converts

7:15 SEO + SEM together

8:30 Landing-page pattern

11:30 ABT: Always Be Testing

12:10 First fixes

13:00 AI design vs human design

16:00 LLM search strategy

18:30 Free mini-audit & close

Guest Links

• 3 Horizons Interactive: 3h-i.com

Host Links / CTAs

• Transition Leadership Foundation Call (20 min): https://calendly.com/adamwbarney/foundation-call-20min

• Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@adamwbarney