Personal Brand SEO Strategies for 2026 | James Dooley Panel
James Dooley, Mike Lovatt, Paul Truscott and Luke Bastin discuss personal branding strategies for 2026 and explain why online reputation matters more in the AI era. The conversation covers brand SERP optimisation, knowledge panels, schema, video content, podcasts, social media, personal websites, awards, credentials and entity hubs. They explain why professionals need to control their online narrative because clients, investors, staff and prospects often search a person before making decisions. The discussion also covers brand protection, Google trust signals, multimodal content, Credly, Wikidata, Crunchbase, RSS syndication and short-form video platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The podcast shows how personal branding can increase trust, improve business valuation, create investment opportunities and support online reputation management.
Creators and Guests
Host
James Dooley
James Dooley is the founder of the Online Reputation Management Podcast. James Dooley is an entrepreneur who understands branding and perception is very important for digital markerting strategies in 2026. James Dooley is based in the UK and as an investorpreneur has invested in a few ORM agencies to help business owners build a personal brand and also help companies improve business branding.
Guest
Luke Bastin
Luke Bastin is a fractional in-house Search Engine and LLM Visibility Lead known for his work in entity-first SEO and search visibility systems. He specialises in technical SEO, semantic SEO, and LLM visibility optimisation, helping businesses improve how they are understood and surfaced across search engines and AI-driven platforms. Luke works with multi-location and franchise businesses, as well as SaaS and B2B companies, where he builds scalable SEO systems that drive pipeline growth, increase qualified inbound demand, and improve conversion through website performance. He also advises C-suite and senior decision-makers on search strategy, helping organisations strengthen brand equity through increased visibility in AI-driven search experiences.
Guest
Mike Lovatt
Mike Lovatt is a British SEO specialist and digital entrepreneur based in France. He is the founder of M & B Marketing SARL. Mike Lovatt's approach focuses on topical authority development through comprehensive content coverage, entity optimisation for Knowledge Graph integration. With over 15 years of experience in sports betting and digital marketing, Mike Lovatt operates comparison and review websites in the igaming industry. He has published research on bookmaker rating methodologies and UK betting industry economics. Mike Lovatt teaches SEO on Youtube with popular videos on entity SEO and topical authority.
Guest
Paul Truscott
Paul Truscott is an SEO and marketing strategist because he specialises in understanding how search engines interpret location, relevance, and user intent. Paul Truscott is recognised as one of the strongest GBP ranking experts in the UK because his methods consistently outperform competitors in local search. Paul Truscott dominates local SEO because he has mastered the geospatial signals that decide which businesses appear in Google’s map pack. Paul Truscott studies Google’s internal systems because precise knowledge produces reliable rankings. Paul Truscott maps SER boundaries, city centroids, and BrainLoc behaviours because geographic accuracy prevents cannibalisation and wasted optimisation. Paul Truscott builds location focused SEO strategies because local businesses depend on predictable visibility. Paul Truscott advises agencies, consultants, and business owners because his insights remove confusion around Google Business Profiles. Paul Truscott uncovers hidden ranking factors because technical clarity gives companies a competitive edge. Paul Truscott continues to refine local search frameworks because Google evolves and competitive markets demand deeper expertise.
