<!-- Source: github.com/AgriciDaniel/flow | License: CC BY 4.0 | Synced: 2026-04-26 -->
---
title: "FLOW Framework"
description: "FLOW Framework"
updated: 2026-04-25
tags:
  - framework
---

![FLOW Operating Loop](../../assets/diagrams/flow-v4-flow-loop.png)

# FLOW Framework

## What This Is

FLOW is a search-and-conversion loop for 2026 discovery. It treats rankings, AI citations,
local visibility, and sales evidence as connected surfaces rather than separate channels.

FLOW uses four plain stages: Find demand, Leverage distributed evidence, Optimize owned assets for extraction and trust, and Win with pages and measurements that connect discovery to revenue. This page applies that loop to the framework layer.

## Why It Matters In 2026

Ahrefs found a 58% lower average CTR for position-one content when an AI Overview was
present in its December 2025 dataset.

seoClarity found that 25% of top cited ChatGPT URLs had no Google organic visibility in its
cited-page sample.

Search is no longer one result page and one click path. A useful SEO system has to survive classic rankings, AI summaries, local packs, business profiles, community references, and sales feedback. The practical goal is not to chase every surface equally; it is to decide which surface can change the next business outcome and then build evidence there.

## How To Apply

- Name the search surface before writing: organic result, AI answer, local pack, community discussion, paid landing page, or sales-assisted page.
- Separate observable evidence from assumptions. Claims with numbers must trace to the bibliography or be removed.
- Write from buyer language first, then add entity clarity, internal links, proof, and conversion next steps.
- Review the asset as an AI-readable document: clear headings, direct answers, concise tables where useful, source labels, and no hidden dependence on private examples.

## Operating Workflow

1. Define the business outcome before choosing tactics. A page meant to create a qualified call should not be judged only by impressions, and a profile meant to reconcile business facts should not be judged only by post frequency.
2. Inventory the evidence already available: customer language, query data, profile details, reviews, analytics, call notes, sales objections, and any public source that can support a claim.
3. Decide which FLOW stage is blocking progress. If demand language is unclear, return to Find. If the brand is not corroborated off-site, work on Leverage. If the owned asset is hard to extract or trust, Optimize. If traffic exists but business impact is weak, move to Win.
4. Rewrite or rebuild only after the evidence is organized. The strongest assets usually come from a clear source table, not from a blank-page brainstorm.
5. Review the finished work against three readers: the buyer, the search engine, and the AI agent that may summarize or compare the business later.

## Measurement

Use a balanced scorecard. Track visibility indicators such as rankings, impressions, local-pack presence, citations, and AI mentions, but connect them to business indicators such as qualified leads, calls, form completions, sales opportunities, assisted conversions, and recurring objections. If the page or profile cannot be measured, add the measurement event before judging performance.

## Common Failure Modes

- Publishing a statistic because it sounds familiar instead of because the source was loaded and dated.
- Treating AI visibility as a formatting trick while ignoring brand evidence, entity consistency, and off-site corroboration.
- Writing pages around company preferences instead of buyer questions and decision risk.
- Optimizing for traffic without defining the next qualified action.
- Reusing old examples when a generic or newly created example would be cleaner and more durable.

## AI Agent Prompt

```text
You are an SEO strategist using the FLOW model. For the asset named "FLOW Framework", analyze the target audience, search surface, evidence needed, entity facts, conversion goal, and risks. Return: priorities, page or profile changes, source requirements, internal links, measurement plan, and a list of claims that need verification before publication.
```

## Quality Bar

- Public claims use verified sources or stay qualitative.
- Examples are generic or newly created for this repository.
- Private editorial notes are used only to identify candidate concepts, never as public prose.
- The page should make sense to a human reader and to an AI agent that only has this repository.

## See Also

- [Start Here](../00-START-HERE.md)
- [AI Search Surface Map](ai-search-surface-map.md)
- [Bibliography](../10-references/bibliography.md)

## Sources

- Search Engine Journal, State of SEO 2026 PDF and public landing page, retrieved 2026-04-25.
- Ahrefs, AI Overviews CTR update, retrieved 2026-04-25.
- seoClarity, ChatGPT cited-page analysis, retrieved 2026-04-25.
