I’m JY Scauri, an independent search advisor in Sydney.
Jean-Yves is the full version. Most people call me JY, apart from my mum. Use it and I’ll assume I’m in trouble.
I help marketing leaders get a clear read on what’s happening in search, then decide where to invest.
Why I went independent
I spent eight years at iProspect Australia. Towards the end, I found myself getting more interested in the harder questions around where search was heading, especially what AI was changing, but I was only scratching the surface alongside a broader leadership role.
I also wanted more choice over the problems I worked on, a bit more flexibility, and to find out whether independent consulting would suit me.
I left in August 2025 to find out.
How I got here
I’m French, from Nice. I started in search in 2013 at Search Laboratory in Leeds, around the time Google’s Penguin updates were forcing the industry to rethink a lot of what had worked before. It was a useful time to learn because the old playbook was breaking.
Before that I did an MSc in International Marketing at Coventry University. That broader marketing background still shapes how I think about search. The technical detail matters, but so do customers, demand, brand and how the business actually makes money.
I moved to Sydney in early 2017 and joined iProspect that February, working across local and global brands and eventually becoming National Head of SEO.
What I’m like to work with
Research before hype
I spend a lot of time checking what holds up. That means looking at the methodology, the sample and the limitations, and separating useful evidence from whatever happens to be getting attention that week.
Diagnose before prescribing
I don’t arrive with a favourite tactic or a pre-baked answer. I want to understand what’s holding things back before deciding what deserves attention.
Sometimes the answer is SEO. Sometimes it isn’t.
Make it matter to the business
Recommendations should fit your market, your customers and the way your business makes money. I care much more about commercial impact than traffic, rankings or citation counts that look good in a report.
Share the thinking
I’d rather explain the thinking than hand over an answer. The goal is for your team to understand why we’re doing something and keep making good calls once the engagement ends.
Who usually calls me
Marketing leaders
I work with marketing leaders on SEO and AI search, usually when the problem is messy, the stakes are high or they want an experienced view from outside the team.
- Performance has stalled and nobody quite agrees why
- A replatform, market move or major change could affect search
- AI has raised questions the current roadmap doesn’t really answer
You’d work with me directly.
Teams that need extra search expertise
Agencies usually bring me in when they need another experienced perspective on a client problem, want help outside their current capability, or are building that capability themselves.
- Pressure-testing a strategy or pitch
- Helping answer difficult client questions
- Training, workshops and getting teams current on search and AI
That can be behind the scenes or client-facing, depending on what helps.
Beyond client work
I write regularly about how search is changing, particularly where SEO, AI and marketing overlap.
I’ve also contributed to industry initiatives through IAB Australia and the MFA, alongside research, training and panels.
- Microsoft Advertising
- SmartCompany
- Mumbrella
- B&T
- MFA
- IAB Australia
- Surfaced
The view from inside the team
Jean-Yves led our SEO practice with a level of care and ambition that genuinely raised the bar. He is a strategic thinker, volunteered for the hard things, brought people together around a shared direction and approached everything with curiosity, passion and a quiet drive to excel.
Working closely together at iProspect across strategy, product and education, I saw how JY consistently elevated the conversation, brought genuine depth to complex topics and left everyone with a clearer sense of direction. Thoughtful, generous with his thinking and always a few steps ahead.
Jean-Yves had a rare ability to cut through complexity. Whether in a boardroom or a team meeting, he could take a tangled problem and frame it in a way that made the path forward clear. But what set him apart was that this clarity never came at the cost of people.
The rest of it
Sydney is home, and it still feels like the right base, even if I like getting away now and then.
Outside work, it’s mostly tennis, music and travel. I’ve played tennis on and off since I was 12, and I’m entirely capable of planning a weekend around a DJ I want to see.
JY at a glance
- Full name
- Jean-Yves Scauri, known as JY Scauri
- Role
- Independent Search Advisor
- Based in
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, since 2017
- Working in search since
- 2013
- Previously
- iProspect Australia, February 2017 to August 2025. National Head of SEO in final role.
- First search role
- Search Laboratory, Leeds, United Kingdom
- Education
- MSc International Marketing, Coventry University
- Writes
- Surfaced, longer pieces and research syntheses on search and AI
- Speaking and industry
- Helped launch IAB Australia’s AI Working Group (2025), MFA Lecture the Lecturers and MFA Digital Foundations
- Areas of work
- SEO, organic search strategy, AI search and discovery, search measurement, technical SEO, content and authority strategy
- Does not do
- Paid search, paid social or day-to-day implementation
Think I could help? Get in touch.
Tell me what you’re working through and I’ll tell you how I’d approach it.
hello@jyscauri.com