So we're calling it 'DISCO' now are we? [ Discovery Optimisation ]

RohanM · January 26, 2026, 10:08pm

Alright gang - I just watched this YouTube chat from the ‘AI SEO Show’ with Mark Williams-Cook (AlsoAsked / Candour / Core Updates) and it felt like someone finally said the quiet part out loud … links + authority are still ruling the roost, and a lot of what he’s describing maps perfectly to how parasite SEO works in the real world.

Here’s my “reporting back” version, with the bits that made my ears perk up.

What really hit home: “SEO hasn’t changed much in 20 years”… until now

Mark’s take is basically:

For years we’ve all said “SEO is changing”
But it’s mostly been the same recipe: website + content + links
The actual paradigm shift now is user behaviour moving across channels (Google, YouTube, ChatGPT, Perplexity etc.)

Guess what? … That’s exactly what most parasite SEO methods have been quietly doing all along, even if they didn’t realise it!

You’re not “ranking a website” anymore, you’re positioning yourself inside the properties that get cited / surfaced.

“DISCO baby!”

The parasite SEO alignment (this is the spicy bit)

Mark talks about looking at iGaming SERPs because that’s where you see the algorithm’s “cracks”.

He mentions results packed with parasite-hosted pages beating legit brands, and he gives a proper grim example:

an old school website with loads of trusted links (even .gov style authority signals)
homepage repurposed into gambling content
still had the rest of the site indexed as the old topic
and it ranked for a huge amount of casino keywords until it got clocked

Now… I’m not saying anyone should go replicating dodgy hacks on hijacked domains (don’t be that guy; think ‘expired domains’ instead ).

But the principle is the same one we use in parasite SEO, just without the criminal energy:

Authority of host domain matters massively
Google still leans on site trust as a shortcut
That shortcut can be exploited (white/grey/black hat depending how you do it)

If you’ve ever watched a mediocre page rank purely because it lives on a monster domain… you’ll recognise the pattern immediately.

The Helpful Content Update test that made me laugh/cry

This was one of the most useful “proof” moments:

One of his hobby sites got absolutely nuked (like 99% traffic loss)
He copy/pasted the same content onto LinkedIn Pulse
48 hours later it ranked top / featured snippet / AI surfaces

(I’d like to know what happened to his conversions though!)

So the takeaway wasn’t “the content was bad” - it was basically:

Google was suppressing the site, not the words.

That is… painfully consistent with what we see when we publish similar content on high-authority platforms and it suddenly behaves like it’s been blessed by the SEO gods.

Parasite SEO is literally a workaround for this reality.

Brand + LLMs: “Your brand becomes what the model believes”

He goes a step further and says we’re heading into:

Brand used to be what you told people (old school ads)
Then it became what people say online (reviews, Reddit, forums)
Next it becomes what LLMs think your brand is

Which again … makes parasite logic even more relevant.

Because if the LLM is pulling sources from top results, then the game is:

show up on your site
but also show up across other sites that rank for the same topic

That’s parasite SEO in a suit and tie.

I know … I know, I’m obsessed with parasite SEO!

My two pence …

I’ve been banging on in here for ages that parasite SEO isn’t some “cute hack”… it’s a response to Google’s trust bias and it always has. Ever since Google created ‘Page Rank’.

Mark basically confirms:

links still matter
host authority still matters
algorithm is still patchy in competitive verticals
and AI hasn’t removed the need for information retrieval… it’s just changed how people consume the output

So yeah, I’m more convinced than ever that parasite is still one of the cleanest ways to get wins without waiting 12 months for a new domain to earn trust.

If you want to actually do something with this

If you’ve been lurking and thinking “I should probably try parasite SEO properly”… now’s the moment.

I posted about my free parasite SEO guide the other day:

using the Coda platform to build parasite topical clusters
- (think PAA)
how I structure pages to actually rank (and not just exist)
how I think about authority + internal linking on parasite hosts
how to avoid the common rookie mistakes that get you nowhere

You can grab it here, courtesy of the DMC crew.

And for discussion: what’s the most blatant example you’ve seen of “authority beating quality” in the SERPs lately? (bonus points if you say what I’m thinking … lol)

Andy · January 28, 2026, 1:01am

I think I’ve tried to ask this before, but never got a good response - how do I/you use PSEO to grow a legit brand though? For example, what can I do to grow my Pinterest management agency quickly using PSEO? concrete examples? And what would you charge if I just hired you out to do this?

It’s actually happening on Pinterest too - some accounts are cloaking their links through tumbler or site(dot)Google since Pinterest seems to be ranking those sites better over others. More domain age hacking than parasite, but pretty much the same thing at the end of the day, haha.

RohanM · January 31, 2026, 1:36pm

Alright Andy, fair push. Let me make this less hand-wavy and a bit more real-world, without turning it into a step-by-step playbook.

First thing I’d separate is parasite SEO as a distribution layer, not the brand itself.

I know you already know this so making the distinction is more for others reading this. You don’t use PSEO instead of a legit site, it’s used while the legit site is still paying off trust debt … and for as long into the future as you wish to take it.

The brand still lives on owned assets. Parasite pages just get you attention before Google decides you’re worthy.

Concrete example 1: problem-aware parasite for a Pinterest agency

If I was growing a Pinterest management agency today, I wouldn’t start by pushing the agency site at all.

On Medium or LinkedIn, I’d publish something like “Why Pinterest traffic flatlines after 60–90 days” . Not a sales piece but more a diagnosis. That topic matches real user anxiety, landing comfortably on platforms Pinterest and Google already trust.

The brand shows up quietly in the background. A line like “we see this a lot managing accounts” is enough. No hard CTA. The page does the credibility work before the site ever has to.

Concrete example 2: comparison style parasite for legitimacy

Another angle would be a neutral comparison piece, something like “Best Pinterest managers for ecommerce brands in 2026”, hosted on an established platform.

Your agency is one option, not the hero. Comparison pages get visibility, AI systems love roundups, and you inherit trust from both the host and the format. That’s brand building without shouting about it.

Concrete example 3: parasite logic inside Pinterest itself

You’re already seeing this play out.

Pinterest clearly gives older accounts and trusted outbound domains more freedom. So I’d publish educational pins around things like Pinterest SEO mistakes or reach drop-offs, and initially link out to trusted third-party explainers.

Over time, you introduce owned content once the account has history. Same principle as Tumblr or Google Sites ranking better. It’s not clever cloaking, it’s authority laundering. Slightly cheeky, but very on point for how these platforms behave.

How this actually grows a legit brand

Parasite pages rank or surface early. People then search your brand name after seeing you in those contexts. Branded searches go up. Links and mentions follow. Eventually the main site carries its own weight and you rely less on parasites.

That’s why I don’t see this as anti brand. It’s usually pro brand, just indirect.

“Backlink sculpting“ also works well for AI search and brand-building but we’re getting more into the gray-hat stuff there so maybe for a different post

On pricing, that really depends what someone wants. Traffic-only parasite pages are cheap and fragile. Authority-building placements take more thinking and time. Different goals, different investment. There’s not really a one price fits all.

And honestly, the Tumblr example you mentioned kind of proves the point. Quality isn’t winning there either … but authority and trust is. Different platform, same rulebook.

None of this is clever. It’s just working with the trust rules that already exist.

RohanM · February 9, 2026, 5:32pm

A very interesting case study here from Diggity on how Reddit is dominating ‘DISCO’ … I know you’ve previously mentioned possibly using Reddit to grow a brand.

The platform doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon as the ‘Prime Parasite’ out there