G2 is the world’s largest software marketplace, helping millions of buyers research, compare, and select business software based on real-user reviews and market insights.

Advisor

Semify

Semify is a white-label digital marketing partner trusted by thousands of agencies and platforms over the past 16 years. With a team of 200+ experts, Semify delivers scalable SEO, PPC, and Paid Social Ads solutions that help partners reduce cost, increase revenue, and prevent client churn. Their proprietary software and API integrations allow seamless fulfillment within client ecosystems, eliminating the need for an in-house team while expanding service offerings. Semify enables agencies to grow faster, operate more efficiently, and retain more clients with best-in-class marketing execution.

Product Hunt

Product Hunt is the leading platform for discovering and launching new tech products, connecting makers with early adopters and a passionate community of product enthusiasts. With millions of monthly visitors and a global network of founders, investors, and creators, Product Hunt plays a key role in shaping the future of innovation. From daily product launches to curated discussions and events, it empowers entrepreneurs to validate, grow, and celebrate their ideas.

Glean

Glean is a workplace search and knowledge discovery platform that helps teams find the information they need across all their company tools instantly. Backed by Sequoia and launched by former Google Search engineers, Glean is trusted by high-performing companies like Canva, Duolingo, and Databricks to power internal productivity, reduce duplication, and streamline access to institutional knowledge.

Houzz

Houzz is a leading platform for home remodeling and design, offering a curated marketplace and collaboration tools for homeowners and professionals. With over 65 million users globally and a community of over 3 million active home professionals, Houzz bridges inspiration and execution, transforming how people imagine, plan, and create spaces. The company’s Pro suite empowers designers, architects, and contractors with project management, marketing, and CRM solutions.

Ironclad

​Ironclad is a contract lifecycle management (CLM) platform that enables business and legal teams to manage all aspects of the contracting process. Founded in 2014 by Jason Boehmig and Cai GoGwilt, Ironclad serves companies like L'Oréal, Salesforce, and OpenAI, facilitating collaboration and negotiation on contracts while ensuring compliance.

AirOps

AirOps is an AI workflow platform that helps marketers build scalable, AI-driven strategies. Founded in 2022, it enables companies to combine data, AI models, and human input to execute high-impact growth initiatives. In 2024, AirOps secured $15.5M in Series A funding to enhance its AI-powered content and go-to-market solutions. Trusted by brands like Anne Klein, Harvard Business Publishing, and dbt Labs, AirOps is redefining how marketers leverage AI for scale and efficiency.

hims & hers

Advisor to the Senior direct of Organic Growth

HyperGrowth Partners

Partner

Xero

Xero is a global small business platform that helps companies manage their finances more efficiently. Trusted by over 3.95 million subscribers worldwide, Xero provides cloud-based accounting software that streamlines bookkeeping, invoicing, payroll, and financial reporting.

Growth Advisor to Growth /Marketing executives at fast-growing startups | ex-Shopify, G2, Atlassian

I started my career in agencies helping global market leaders scale organic growth - when SEO was considered a "dark art." Agency life taught me how to work fast and juggle big clients, but I wanted to go deeper, own outcomes, and see strategy through to execution.

So I went inhouse, quickly growing in responsibility at top tech companies like Atlassian, G2, and Shopify. Over that decade, I learned how to build effective teams, define winning strategies, and create operating systems that last. I also refined the hiring, operating, and strategy playbooks I still use today.

But I learned something important about myself: managing large organizations doesn’t energize me. As a result, I leaned into consulting, where I could focus exclusively on what I'm great at.

Today, I advise leaders at Meta, Ramp, hims, Upwork, and others on Organic Growth. I also write Growth Memo, a weekly newsletter read by 22,000+ leaders at Amazon, Google, Meta, and the New York Times. And I've shared insights on stages from Sydney to New York to London.

What really energizes me isn't just chasing metrics - it's asking interesting questions, digging through data, and uncovering the stories hidden inside it.

If you're interested in working with me on advisory or sponsorships, please reach out.

Kevin Indig

I just saw a live test of Google's new Web Guide experience (in Germany!).
Much better mix of AI mode and AI Overviews, imho.

I could see Google rolling this out further before AI Mode. Also, more space for ads.

Don't love that it's harder to find the source for each stat.

My 2026 predictions just went out to +23k subscribers in the latest Memo:
1. AI visibility tools face a reckoning
2. ChatGPT launches first quality update
3. Continued click-drops lead to a “Dark Web” defense
4. AI forces UGC platforms to separate feeds
5. ChatGPT’s ad platform provides “demand data”
6. Perplexity sells to xAI or Salesforce
7. Competition tanks Nvidia’s stock by -20%

Premium subscribers get 3 more :).

Agentic SEO is advancing rapidly and adding significant value to the insights layer.

Congratulations to AirOps for raising a meaty $40m round!

I've had the pleasure of working with the team can attest to their excellence.

Here's to the series B, Matt Hammel, Alex Halliday, Eoin Clancy, Josh Spilker, Steven Male, Oshen Davidson, Nicole Guercia, Nicole Nearhood, Amr Shafik, Mike Kenler🥂!

AI shifts search from generic intent to personal identity.

Personas are critical for AI search

The real shift is how people search, click, and buy.

ChatGPT vs Google at Every Stage of the User Journey

AI search changed everything this year.
- Zero-click grew heavily.
- Classic authority signals shifted.
- Freshness and offsite mentions started determining who wins.

To help teams recalibrate, I’m joining AirOps for a practical breakdown of what worked in 2025 and the bold moves you’ll need to make for 2026.

You’ll learn:
 • The most impactful search stats of the year
 • How to build a visibility-first AEO strategy
 • Why recency bias reshapes content refresh cycles
 • How community + video mentions now rival backlinks
 • What was hype vs. what truly mattered

This session is for SEO and content leaders, growth teams, agencies, and brand managers who need to stay ahead.

If you want to solidify your organic traff for 2026, don’t miss it.

We looked at 80 companies and their collective $1.5 billion in venture funding. A distinct pattern emerged between where capital flowed and where value lives.

LLM Monitoring tools (average age: 1.3 years) raised $227 million. Agentic SEO platforms (average age: 5.5 years) raised just $86 million.

Why fund the newcomers over the veterans?
Because investors often conflate "frictionless" with "scalable." Monitoring tools offer instant onboarding and clean financials. They look like perfect SaaS.

But money optimized for ease of adoption often misses ease of cancellation. 

- Low pain: If a brand turns off a monitoring dashboard, they lose some historical charts.
- High pain: If a brand turns off an Agentic platform, their marketing operation stops.

That "messy" operational friction isn't a bug. It’s the moat.

My Slack community is a private space where I share early findings, data, experiments, and tools on AI Search, SEO, and growth before they make it into Growth Memo.

It’s also where I post breaking updates and real-time notes from the conferences I attend.

This interactive space is for operators, marketers, and founders to discuss what’s working, share new data, and connect directly.

Link in comments if you want to join.

A screenshot of a Slack workspace showing a discussion channel named ‘research.’ The screen displays several messages sharing links to articles, data, and insights about AI search, SEO, and industry trends. The left sidebar shows channels and navigation, while the main feed highlights posts with links, images, and reactions from community members.

Digital marketing budgets are growing 7.25% in 2026.

Most of that growth will be wasted chasing a metric that's on the decline: clicks.

Here's the problem: SEO teams are still budgeting like it's PPC. Spend more, get more traffic. But with AI cutting organic clicks in half (or more), traffic has decoupled from visibility.

Your SEO budget doesn't buy results. It buys capacity.

The ability to earn authority, build brand presence, and surface where people actually discover answers. In 2026, that's inside AI outputs, not just search results.

Stop budgeting for traffic forecasts. Start budgeting for capabilities: digital PR, technical excellence, content strength, foundational research, engagement.

Budgets are set to grow. The question is whether you'll redirect it toward influence or waste it optimizing for a world that's already gone.

More on how to do that in today's Growth Memo.

Although AI answers quickly, users validate slowly.

Trust Still Lives in Blue Links

It’s not a "lack of budget" that is killing your AI strategy. It’s a fear of risk.

We assume executives say "no" to AI initiatives because they don't want to spend the money. But recent data suggests we are solving the wrong problem.

According to a Deloitte survey of over 2,700 leaders, the biggest bottlenecks to deploying Generative AI right now aren't technical skills or funding. They are "difficulty managing risks" and "worries about regulations".

The problem? Most teams are still pitching AI strategies using the old playbook: Rankings → Traffic → Revenue.

But that event chain doesn't exist in AI systems. LLMs are probabilistic, not deterministic. You cannot promise a specific ranking or traffic volume from ChatGPT or Gemini.

When you walk into a boardroom promising "certainty" in a random environment, executives see a massive risk. They say no - not because the idea is bad, but because the pitch asks them to fund an outcome nobody can guarantee.

To get buy-in for 2025, you have to stop selling performance and start selling risk mitigation.

Don't try to convince leadership that "it will work." Convince them that "the cost of not knowing is higher than the cost of finding out".

The winning argument sounds like this: "Competitors are already locking in advantages in AI search. If we wait for certainty, we lose the ability to shape our brand's entity authority. We aren't asking for a blind bet; we are asking for a controlled experiment to mitigate the risk of being left out of the next discovery channel".

Takeaway: Executives don’t need certainty about the impact yet. They need certainty that you are running a disciplined process to find the truth before the market decides for you.

Here’s how to make search personas drive revenue.

Making SEO Personas Actionable Across Teams

LynxPulse

COO doing whatever needs doing as we grow our startup in the ai/video intelligence space. If you need sub-second data capture and understanding, we’re your best choice. Video and audio - we can listen, identify, parse and share - via upload or even in real time. Scalable and much less expensive than typical services built in the cloud. Logos, person, object, action detection, brand protection, security enhancements and more, at sub-second speeds. JSON feeds or CSV as outputs, your choice. Big files, small files, our custom (proprietary) SLMs tackle it all.

Chief Operations Officer

UnboundAnswers.com

I am a fractional CMO/SME with deep experience in digital marketing and search engine optimization. I have a proven track record of problem-solving for global domains and specialize in areas such as Search & AI, Team Growth & Hiring, and Consumer Behavior understanding. As the Founder and CEO of UnboundAnswers.com, I have successfully guided companies in developing effective marketing strategies that drive growth and revenue.

Founder and CEO

Drone Pilot

INDEXR.ai

Leading Search Product development, thought leadership and platform expansion. Enabling businesses of all sizes to create refined search experiences custom tuned for their niche. Growing the new generation of deep, authoritative, accessible global search indexes and business tools.

SVP, Search

Yext

Thought leadership, AI strategy, SEO, speaker, ideation and general supporter of those in need.

Yext lets companies manage their digital knowledge in the cloud and sync it to over 100 services, including Apple Maps, Microsoft Bing, Facebook, Google Maps, Instagram, Siri and Yelp. Yext Listings, Pages, and Reviews help businesses around the globe facilitate face-to-face and digital interactions that boost brand awareness, drive foot traffic, and increase sales. 

Based in the heart of New York City with a growing team worldwide, Yext has been recognized as one of America’s fastest growing companies by the Inc. 5000 (2015 & 2016), one of Forbes’ Most Promising Companies (2014 & 2015) and one of Fortune's Best Places to Work (2014-2016).

VP, Industry Insights

Bruce Clay, Inc.

Oversees content, search optimization, social and design, managing 18 people. Global traveler to conferences and to help partners. Makes the coffee if in the office first.

Vice President, Organic Search Operations

Bing

Responsible for building, maintaining and managing the webmaster, developer and publisher public outreach facilities for Bing.com.  Represents Bing at conferences and at partner events.

Ran the Bing Webmaster Program - Sr. Product Manager

Microsoft

In-House SEO position advising management on seo best practices and how to run their program.  Managed SEO program across US and Americas MSN properties.

Senior Program Manager of SEO

Search Engine Land

Writes a monthly column on In-House search marketing topics.

Writer

SEMPO

Board Member with SEMPO.org (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization)

Past Board of Directors member

Founding co-chair for the in-house SEM committee

Co-Chair - In-House SEM Commitee

Direct AI/Machine Learning, search and digital marketing experience, including content development, planning ad campaigns, managing ad buys, running e-mail and social media programs and more.  Extensive content planning and creation experience. Author of two business books about digital marketing and conversion optimization, published by McGraw-Hill.

As part of Satya Nadella’s team at Bing, I launched Webmaster Tools and helped launch Schema.org.

Specialties: AI-impacts on business, digital marketing, content planning, creation and marketing, search optimization (SEO), dedicated platform pay-per-click bid management knowledge, budget planning, psychographics, conversion optimization, usability/design/UX,  trend spotting, GTM, Product development, SEO training, content development and creation

During my career, I have gained experience in all facets of digital marketing, domain development, business development, audience development and public relations. Both personally and professionally, I have worked closely with early stage startups, spent a great deal of time understanding the growing trends that impact consumers and businesses, spent time expanding my storytelling skills and, from time to time, advised others on book writing. 

My marketing and management background spans from Caesar's Palace to Microsoft, from startups to my own businesses. I've written for numerous publications such as Duct Tape Marketing, Forbes, WeWork, Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal and Entrepreneur, and have been featured in publications such the New York Times and The Verge. Multiple keynotes each year at digital marketing conferences keep my storytelling skills sharp.

Participated in a successful Kickstarter that went 400+% over goal prior to launch and was featured on Fox News, HuffPo, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, ZDNet, Geekwire and more.

Early in my career I founded the search industry's leading salary survey, referenced by many businesses today as they build teams and develop compensation packages.

Duane Forrester

68,486 words. 324 pages. 14 chapters.

After years working inside global scale search infrastructure and helping organizations navigate the shift to AI-powered discovery, I've distilled everything into one comprehensive guide.

"The Machine Layer: How to Stay Visible and Trusted in the Age of AI Search"

This isn't another hype piece about AI. It's a practical guide to building visibility and authority in a landscape increasingly shaped by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, CoPilot and other AI systems.

The book covers:
• How AI systems actually process and retrieve content
• Why traditional SEO isn't dead, but isn't enough anymore
• New metrics that matter (because traditional SEO metrics just don’t track everything now)
• Emerging job roles (and changes to current ones)
• The two gates of AI trust every brand must pass through
• The coming Universal Verifier layer and how to prepare

Coming soon to Amazon. Can't wait to share this with you all!

Confidential Advisor to CMOs & Growth Leaders | Guiding Marketing Through AI-Driven Search & Discovery | Ex-Microsoft / Yext

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Your brand can rank well and still be invisible in AI answers. Trust is becoming the filter between what gets cited and what gets ignored, and most teams are not ready for that shift.

Here is what E E A T means in the age of AI search, and why verification and authority matter more than ever. Full article linked in first comment below.

llms.txt is a clever idea, but ideas alone don’t earn platform trust.

The llms.txt proposal aims to help AI systems understand websites by giving them a clear, structured view of important pages. It’s elegant in theory and fits neatly alongside standards like robots.txt and sitemap.xml.

But adoption isn’t about technical feasibility, it’s about trust, governance, and priority.

Platforms already have the teams and infrastructure to support something like this. What they don’t have is the incentive to divert attention from higher-impact work until llms.txt proves it can deliver measurable benefits and avoid new abuse surfaces.

This isn’t a judgment of the protocol. It’s a look at the practical hurdles any new web standard faces when it asks engines and AI systems to believe what a site tells them.

My latest article explores both sides: the promise, the risk, and what has to happen before llms.txt becomes meaningful.

(Link in comments)

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