Description:
Stephen Wilson Downey returns to The Builders to share what changed since his last visit and why he pivoted from building an AI WordPress maintenance plugin to doubling down on services at Speire. We talk through the hard lessons behind that shift—protecting the “core” business, the realities of cost/scale, and how clear communication and measurable ROI became the bedrock of growth and client retention.
From there, we unpack GEO—Generative Engine Optimization—and why builders must evolve from “ranking pages” to “being the answer” as behavior shifts to AI Overviews, LLM search, and voice assistants. Stephen contrasts GEO with classic SEO, emphasizing research around real questions (not just keywords) and the need to show up where assistants actually pull answers.
The episode gets tactical: orchestrate credible multi‑channel signals (site, YouTube with transcripts, Reddit/communities, maps/listings, and third‑party reviews), apply E‑E‑A‑T across everything, and keep content fresh so you’re consistently cited. We also hit PR/trade journals for authority, and Stephen’s simple playbook: map ICPs, cluster their questions, publish answer‑first content across channels, and maintain cadence.
Key Takeaways:
- Be the answer, not just a result: Shift from chasing blue links to being the concise, credible answer assistants surface.
- Signals > single channel: Build consistent signals across website, YouTube (with transcripts), Reddit/communities, maps, listings, and reviews.
- E‑E‑A‑T everywhere: Show Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness in every artifact—owned content, PR, and third‑party sources.
- Freshness & cadence matter: Update often; assistants vary citations and reward up‑to‑date, active sources.
- Protect the core while experimenting: Keep your main value engine healthy; retention follows relationships + ROI.
- Simple GEO playbook: ICPs → question clusters → multi‑format, answer‑first content → broad distribution → iterate.
Stephen Wilson Downey
Stephen Wilson Downey is the CEO Spéire a digital services company originating from Cork in the South of Ireland. Stephen built and scaled the company organically typically offering services around digital growth, website maintenance, digital transformation and AI.
Entrepreneurship has been at the very core of Stephen’s being stemming from his great grandmother who was the first female pharmacist in Ireland. Stephen believes that change is a constant and it is important to keep the service you are delivering up to date. This means being brave enough to transform service delivery completely or decommissioning services that are saturating or moving to a point of redundancy.
Right now, Stephen has spent the past 6 months completely transforming what his company is delivering and going to deliver. Generative Engine Optimisation is not the future it is the now and this is where Spéire is best positioned to deliver value.
THE MEAT OF IT!
- Opening + Catch-up
- Stephen’s return since episode #30; what’s changed
- A quick detour: Formula 1, performance, and business parallels
- From Plugin to Agency: The Pivot
- The WordPress AI maintenance plugin: early adopters, scaling headaches
- Why Spara/Speire doubled down on services; protecting the core business
- Hard-Won Lessons
- Stress, resilience, and learning loops after “failed” experiments
- Relationships and ROI as the bedrock of retainers
- GEO 101: Generative Engine Optimization
- GEO vs. SEO/AIO—your business must “be the answer”
- Why traffic is shifting: AI Overviews, LLM search, voice assistants
- Signals, Not Just Pages
- Multi-channel signals: website, YouTube (transcripts!), Reddit, reviews, maps
- Consistency and freshness across channels; community curation dynamics
- E-E-A-T Applied
- Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness in practice
- Why PR, trade journals, and third-party ratings matter now
- Research & Tools
- Question mining, citation patterns, and GEO tooling mentioned
- What current studies suggest about AI Overview volatility
- Playbook to Execute
- ICPs → topic clusters → channel plan → cadence & updates
- Measure mentions, not just clicks; ship credible answers regularly
- Wrap-up & Where to Find Stephen
- LinkedIn daily; new site: Speire — https://speire.ie
Check out these related Episodes:
- Episode 234: Matthew White – They Built an AI Browser… Moving Toward AI Becoming the Operating System
- Episode 228: Eli Tanzman – Cutting Edge Security: Catch AI, Cloud & App Risks Before They Go Live
- Episode 30: Meet Stephen Wilson Downey: His Journey & Developing an AI-based WordPress Plugin
