May 21, 2026

522. Why Your Podcast Isn’t Showing Up in Search

Show Notes

Search traffic feels random until you realize your podcast isn't showing up. The morning show cast and crew dig into why vague titles, weak descriptions, missing keywords, and the names you give audio files can quietly bury your show while others keep surfacing everywhere. That episode you thought was solid somehow vanished after publishing. The conversation covers how search behavior is changing across Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and Google, and why podcasts that treat metadata as part of the actual content get found more often without chasing trends. Most creators think growth is only about making better episodes. They miss the part where discoverability starts long before someone hears the intro.

Episode Highlights:

[02:33] Community Spotlight and Listener Engagement

[06:16] How Podcast Listeners Actually Discover Shows

[14:41] Why Apps Are Becoming Search Engines

[16:23] The Podcast SEO Playbook That Works

[23:25] How LLMs Are Changing Keyword Research

[25:14] Distribution Matters More Than Discovery

[30:56] Multi-Platform Promotion Strategy

[33:36] The YouTube Growth Strategy Podcasters Ignore

[40:51] Apple and Spotify Metadata SEO Explained

[49:15] Why Fundamentals Beat Viral Tactics Every Time

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