# Deprecated SEO tactics 2026 — the do-not-encode blocklist

**Confidence: [H]** (each entry traces to a primary source)

1. **llms.txt as a ranking lever** — zero correlation, Google: "purely
   speculative" ([[llms-txt-dead]]).
2. **Special AI markup / chunking-for-Google / AI-phrased rewrites** —
   explicitly unnecessary per Google's official guide
   ([[google-official-ai-guide]]). Passage structure still helps _other_
   engines ([[chunk-shape]]) — keep the nuance.
3. **Backlink volume as the primary AI-visibility KPI** — mentions correlate
   ~3x stronger ([[mentions-beat-backlinks]]). Demoted, not dead.
4. **FAQ/HowTo rich-result chasing** — removed 2023; FAQ fully dead 2026-05.
   Claimed AI-citation lift is vendor folklore.
5. **Keyword density / meta keywords / LSI / exact-match variation pages** —
   keyword stuffing measured neutral-to-negative for citations (Princeton
   GEO); scaled variations hit the scaled-content-abuse policy.
6. **Pre-2024 CTR curves and rank-only KPIs** — position-1 CTR fell 39.8%
   (2022) → 27.6% (2026); deep rank tracking unreliable post-num=100
   ([[measurement-discontinuities]]).
7. **Featured-snippet ("position zero") programs** — absorbed by AI Overviews.
8. **Blanket-blocking all AI bots "to protect content"** — kills citations;
   distinguish bot classes ([[bot-taxonomy-three-classes]]).
9. **Reddit as a guaranteed citation hack** — mix is volatile; spam-seeding
   filtered ([[ugc-citation-channels]]).
10. **"AEO is a separate discipline with a separate stack"** — Google frames
    it as SEO; the delta is real (mentions, chunks, Bing, UGC) but the
    foundation is shared.

**How to apply:** any recommendation matching this list needs either a
primary-source rebuttal or removal. The stale-tactic-guard skill enforces
the regex-detectable subset at write time.
