john mingam.
FREN
← Summary

p.10 · The Author · Portrait

Section 05 · Portrait

John Mingam

SEO expert · Entity SEO · Semantic strategist · Author

Portrait of John Mingam, Entity SEO consultant in Montreal

John Mingam, Montreal, 2026

Ten years across SEO, digital marketing and strategy leadership. Born in Marseille, based in Montreal since June 2026. Marketing director, entrepreneur, business school instructor, creator of the SFT method. I see patterns where others see chaos.

Journey

2014

Reading Hummingbird.

First shift: understanding that Google was no longer reading only keywords.

2015

Reading RankBrain.

First draft of an entity-based method.

2021

Reading MUM.

SEO becomes multimodal, relational and understanding-oriented.

2022

Generative AI arrives.

Modernization of the method and algorithm.

2023

SFT launch.

Start of independent Entity SEO consulting.

2023-2024

First concrete SFT results.

Field validation on real cases.

2025

Entity Confidence.

Launch of Entity Confidence and first draft of Universal Confidence.

2026

Durable validated results.

Working across several markets. Astronaut beta launch.

June 2026

Arrival in Montreal.

New market, same obsession: make entities verifiable.

Neurodivergence

Neurodivergent (Asperger, ADHD, dyslexia), I make it a strength: inclusive pedagogy and a reading of algorithms no one else has. A brain that structures everything, constantly, without effort.

Proof

Three published books, a fourth in progress. A Google Knowledge Panel without Wikipedia, intentionally built as proof. A verified Wikidata entity: Q127330925.

Research log

The SEO Odyssey.

Twelve years of field work on the web, search engines, entities and algorithmic trust, presented as an interactive experience. English version in progress.

Explore the Odyssey ↗

Books

In progress

Dominate the Graph.

John Mingam · 2026

Entity SEO: making Google understand who you really are.

Entity SEO, Knowledge Graph, Wikidata, Schema.org, JSON-LD, E-E-A-T, SFT method.

Published

Outsmart Fake News

John Mingam

Understand, detect, decode and respond to disinformation crises.

Fake news, Disinformation, E-reputation, Fact-checking, Crisis communication.

Published

Dominate Digital

John Mingam

Strategies to navigate digital transformation and reinvent the sector.

Digital transformation, Digital strategy, Marketing, Innovation.

Published

Dominate the Portfolio

John Mingam

Strategic guide to product portfolio management, matrices and KPIs.

Product management, Product strategy, Portfolio management, KPI.

I do not sell a promise. I show a score.

Available in Montreal, remote, or both.

Let's work together ↗

Absorption (GEO)

The process by which a generative engine uses a source inside its answer, with or without a visible citation.

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)

Optimization for direct answers, featured snippets and answer engines, where the goal is extraction rather than only ranking.

AI Mode

Google Search experience that provides AI-generated answers and follow-up interactions inside the search journey.

AI Overviews

Google Search feature that summarizes answers with generative AI and may cite supporting sources.

noindex tag

HTML meta tag or HTTP header telling search engines not to index a page.

Canonical (rel=canonical)

HTML link element indicating the preferred URL when similar or duplicate pages exist.

Citation (GEO)

The act of being named or referenced as a source inside a generative engine answer.

CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)

Core Web Vitals metric measuring unexpected layout movement during page loading.

Topic cluster

A set of related pages organized around a central topic or pillar page.

Content pruning

The process of removing, merging or improving weak content to protect overall site quality.

Core Web Vitals

Google performance metrics measuring loading speed, visual stability and interaction responsiveness.

Crawl budget

The amount of crawling search engines can allocate to a website during a given period.

Disavow links

Google tool used to ask the search engine to ignore specific backlinks in exceptional cases.

E-E-A-T

Google quality concept covering Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.

Entity SEO

SEO approach that optimizes people, brands, concepts and organizations as identifiable entities rather than isolated keywords.

FAQPage (schema)

Schema.org type used to describe visible question and answer content on a page.

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)

Discipline focused on structuring content so it can be extracted and cited by generative answer engines. Formalized in 2023 by Princeton and IIT Delhi research.

GPTBot / ClaudeBot / Google-Extended

Crawler or control identifiers used by AI companies and search engines to access or govern content usage.

Helpful Content Update

Google system targeting content created mainly for search engines instead of real users, integrated into core systems.

hreflang

HTML attribute indicating language or regional page variants to search engines.

INP (Interaction to Next Paint)

Core Web Vitals metric measuring page responsiveness to user interactions.

Knowledge Graph

A database of entities and relationships used by search engines to understand people, organizations, places and concepts.

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)

Core Web Vitals metric measuring when the largest visible content element finishes loading.

llms.txt

Proposed file format intended to summarize a site for language models. It is not an official ranking requirement.

Law 96

Quebec law requiring French to receive equivalent or stronger treatment in many commercial contexts.

Mention (GEO)

A brand or entity mention inside an AI answer without necessarily providing a clickable link.

Mobile-first indexing

Google indexing approach where the mobile version is the primary version used for indexing and ranking.

Panda (update)

Google algorithm update targeting thin, duplicate and low-quality content.

PBN (Private Blog Network)

Network of websites built primarily to manipulate link authority.

Penguin (update)

Google algorithm update targeting manipulative links and keyword stuffing.

Programmatic SEO

Large-scale page generation from data and templates to cover many query combinations.

Retrieval / grounding

Process where an AI system retrieves external sources to ground or support its generated answer.

Robots.txt

Root file giving crawlers instructions about which areas of a site they may access.

sameAs

Schema.org property linking an entity to its official external profiles and identifiers.

Schema.org / JSON-LD

Shared vocabulary and JSON-LD format used to describe entities, relationships and content for machines.

Sitemap XML

XML file listing URLs to help search engines discover and crawl a website.

Soft 404

Page that returns HTTP 200 while behaving like a not-found page.

SXO (Search Experience Optimization)

Approach combining search optimization and user experience quality.

Topical authority

Perceived authority of a site or entity on a subject, built through depth, consistency and reliability.

TTFB (Time To First Byte)

Server response metric measuring the delay before the first byte is received.

UCP (Universal Commerce Protocol)

Emerging protocol concept for AI agents to interact with structured commerce data and trusted merchant identity.

YMYL (Your Money Your Life)

Google category for high-stakes topics such as health, finance, safety and law.

Zero-click search

Search result where the user gets the answer without clicking through to a website.

Accessibility

Customize the site display and assistance features.

Text size
Text spacing

Voice reading

Reads selected text, or the main content if nothing is selected.