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What does a historian trained in medieval manuscripts know about SEO and generative engine optimization? More than you might think.
In this episode, host Jeff Dillon sits down with Matt Russell, Director of SEO and Content at Inspira Education Group, an edtech company helping students navigate the road to medical school and college. Matt took a less traditional route into search—he earned a BA in history at Queen Mary University of London, where he also worked as a student admissions ambassador, and a master's in modern British history at Cambridge. That researcher's discipline—evaluating sources, interrogating context, understanding what information matters—turned out to be exactly what SEO demands.
Matt shares how he scaled Inspira's organic reach from 20,000 to over 400,000 monthly active users and grew their email community from 1,000 to over 120,000 subscribers. He explains the concept of "sign-up intent" keywords—queries where users want something so badly they'll trade their email for it—and how building genuine, expert-crafted resources (like a full-length MCAT practice test) fed a virtuous cycle of rankings, recommendations, and brand trust.
He also offers a grounded take on GEO (generative engine optimization) and AI visibility. The clicks may be declining, but the traffic that remains is more qualified. The question for universities isn't just "how do we rank?"—it's "how do we become the source behind the answer?"
For any enrollment marketer, SEO professional, or content strategist trying to make sense of a post‑AI search landscape, this episode offers a practical, evidence‑based playbook.
Key Takeaways
- The Historian's Edge in SEO: Historical research trains you to interrogate sources—to ask why they were created, what they're saying, and what their intended purpose is. The same skill applies to reading Google's documentation, understanding algorithm updates, and identifying what AI search engines are actually looking for.
- "Sign‑Up Intent" Keywords Are the Key to Email Growth: There are queries where users want something so badly they'll give you their email to get it. For Inspira, that's MCAT practice tests, med school calculators, and "which med school is best for you" quizzes. Build those resources, rank well, and the conversions follow.
- Build Resources That Are Genuinely Excellent: The MCAT practice test is a few hundred pages with answer explanations, handmade with the help of expert consultants. When users find something that helpful, they recommend it on Reddit, which drives branded search, which drives rankings, which drives more email sign‑ups—a virtuous cycle.
- AI Search Is Giving Answers Without Clicks—But the Clicks Are More Qualified: Universities may see traffic going down, but the traffic that remains is more qualified because those students already have more information and are coming to the site to confirm and act. Make sure the highway on your site is clear and the conversion path is easy.
- Know Your Bot Traffic: A significant portion of website traffic is now bot traffic. Institutions need to understand how much of their traffic is human versus bot and adjust their metrics accordingly—focusing on qualified engagement, downstream inquiries, and application behaviors rather than raw pageviews.
- Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Is SEO with Extra Steps: Make content scannable with short, topically themed chunks. Ensure schema markup is consistent. Being recommended by an AI is a different game than ranking—it's about off‑page signals and brand trust as much as on‑page o...
Chapters
- (00:00:00) - Introduction and Guest Background
- (00:01:58) - From History Degree to SEO Career
- (00:05:56) - Lessons from Admissions Counseling
- (00:08:12) - Challenges Facing Medical and Law Applicants Today
- (00:12:47) - Scaling Organic Traffic at Inspira
- (00:15:25) - Growing Email Subscribers via Sign-Up Intent Keywords
- (00:18:06) - Generative Engine Optimization and AI Visibility
- (00:19:57) - Declining Traffic and Conversion Strategy in the AI Era
- (00:23:02) - How AI Shapes Student Decision-Making
- (00:25:45) - Where AI Belongs (and Doesn't) in Applications
- (00:28:12) - Future of Student Search and Closing Advice
- (00:29:27) - Outro and Show Credits
