In 1990 an insurance company client approached me and said, “If you want to start your own software development company, we’ll come with you.” I didn’t see that one coming, but of course, I said, ‘Yes!”. Little did I know at Quest Technology Group’s 1991 launch where it would lead.

💡 One of my favorite sayings is, “We like technology, but we love business even more.” Here’s why.
Technology is a tool that serves business, not the other way around. 

We’ve seen -- time after time -- IT providers leading with technology. 

• There is little or no conversation with company leaders about their goals. 
• Where are they now? 
• Where do they want and need to go? 
•  How can they get there given the time, resources, and a ton of other factors that impact them every day?

There’s a better way to put the right technology to work to support thriving companies.

Our experience has proven that strategy supported by the right technology tools, flexible foundations, and curious, committed people builds long-term success.

* The Process is Simple *

🍏 Every company is unique. It’s not a one-size-fits-all tech stack that every company adopts.

🍏 We start by learning about your company’s business objectives. Technology isn’t part of the conversation.

🍏 Together we uncover the gaps and the opportunities. It’s amazing how companies realize unexpected results with the tools, technologies, data, and people they already have.

🍏 We plan. We don't rush out and buy the latest shiny tech thing because someone said you should.

🍏 Together we plan, execute, discover, learn, and keep doing it


* Working Together is Essential *

🍏 We believe in long-term partnerships. Our clients aren’t ATMs. They’re valued business relationship where creating something meaningful for their employees, leaders, clients, customers, and partners matters.

🍏 And our first startup client who asked that one simple question? They were our client for 22 years until they were acquired by a larger, national insurance company. 

For all of us, the relationship meant transformative technology changes. It also meant human connections. We built relationships with their clients. We attended funerals. We celebrated anniversaries and birthdays. 

We were there together because we love business more than technology.

Linda Rolf (Fractional CIO)

Keynote Speaker on Sales, Marketing, and Building Trust...Author of They Ask You Answer...Ranked #1 LinkedIn Voices for Entrepreneurship...and a Dang Good Follow on LinkedIn

Called a “web marketing guru” by the New York Times, the Story of how Marcus Sheridan was able to save his swimming pool company, River Pools, from the economic crash of 2008 has been featured in multiple books, publications, and stories around the world and is the centerpiece to his best-selling book, They Ask You Answer, which has been named “One of the 5 Best Marketing Books of All Time” by BookAuthority and his follow up book, Endless Customers, was named a National Bestseller by USA Today.

Sheridan is a highly sought-after global speaker (averaging 50 keynotes yearly) in the digital sales and marketing space, working with hundreds of businesses and brands alike to achieve their potential in a rapidly evolving marketplace, ultimately helping them to connect deeper and become the most trusted voice in their respective industry.

Companies Marcus is a Part of: IMPACT, River Pools, Marcus Sheridan International, Question First Group, PriceGuide.ai

Keynote topics include:  Sales, Marketing, AI, Leadership Communication

Marcus Sheridan

Yesterday, as my flight landed in Orlando, the lead flight attendant at JetBlue told everyone, “Ok ladies and gentlemen. You’re now in the land of Disney.  It’s time to be happy. And you need to get loose. So here’s what we’re going to do, and everyone has to participate…”

She then led the entire plane to do a few exercises,  and surprisingly, most passengers joined in. The best part, though, was the sudden change of energy. Instead of somber faces, people were now laughing and giggling , setting the stage for what will hopefully be a great family vacation for many on the plane.  

The lessons?

1. It’s so easy to stand out in business these days…just be willing to do things a little differently than everyone else.  

2. People need to smile more.  Give them a reason to do it.  

3. All it takes is one person to change the energy of a room.  

Well done Jet Blue, you gave these folks a smile. 🙂

One of the most engaging keynote speakers on the planet—I create experiences that change how businesses sell, connect, and win | Author of Endless Customers and They Ask, You Answer | Entrepreneur | Master Storyteller

No alternative text description for this image

Yesterday I had a 32-year old male, who has been in the tech space for 10 years, tell me he has decided to become an electrician.

As you might have already guessed, he fears AI is coming for his entire industry and that the electrical field will offer more long-term stability.

Because I'm speaking to audiences about AI so much right now, I keep hearing these same stories. 

But suddenly, it's like a light switch has been turned on and I'm hearing them a LOT more. 

It's likely you've noticed, especially with all the conversation that occurred this week after Matt Shumer's now infamous post "Something Big is Happening" was read over 50 million times (attracting people like Ann Handley to write counter-responses)...we've clearly taken a turn with AI awareness.

But what are some of the big-picture implications here? 

1. The trades, as I've been saying for a while, will see more workers enter the market in the next 10 years than we saw in the previous 50 years. (i.e. there's a Golden Age coming for the trades.)

2. Companies in the trades need to prepare NOW for this influx of talent. I speak a LOT in home improvement, and I can tell you most of these folks don't yet realize what's coming, nor are they preparing for the tsunami. 

3. "White collar" is no longer synonymous with "safe." The old playbook of "get a degree, get a desk job, you're set" is being rewritten in real time. And millions of workers are starting to feel it, along with millions of students and parents who are now asking very different questions about the future of work.

So is my tech-turned-electrician friend making the right move?

Maybe. Time will tell.

But here's what I do know:

We're witnessing one of the biggest workforce shifts in modern history, and most companies, most industries, and most workers aren't ready for it.

Yet, we need to (civilly) talk about it, debate it, and lean into it.

Because regardless of yours or my feelings on the matter, it's about to dictate our entire future.

Finally headed home after 14 days on the road. (I was supposed to come home in the middle, but weather on the East Coast wouldn't allow it.) Here are the final numbers:

6 Cities (San Antonio, Miami, New Orleans, Kansas City, Scottsdale, Omaha)
7 Keynotes (1 Virtual)
4 Rental Cars
4 Uber Rides
8 Hotels
9 Hotel Breakfasts
9 Flights
4 Delays
18 Hours Flying
40+ Hours in Airports
8,000 miles flown
1500+ Attendees
5 Rounds of Disc Golf
4 Gluten Free Pizzas
14 Face-times to Wife and Kids
3 "Where am I right now" moments while waking up in the middle of the night.

And hundreds of smiles exchanged and hands shaken.

What a rewarding job I have. 🙂

I gotta hand it to Anthropic, this video is some of the best creative I've seen in a long time. Heck, it's so good, that Sam Altman came out yesterday on X and after admitting the ad was funny, lit into Anthropic for "being deceptive" and for serving to "rich people."

Couple thoughts on this:

1. ChatGPT is focusing on the masses. Claude is focused on the niches (especially the programmers). If Claude were to focus on the masses, they would likely be forced to integrate ads as well.

2. Competition is a good thing. Rivalries in the marketplace make everyone better. I'm digging the vibe here.

3. OpenAI is losing the PR wars right now. They're simply getting out-paced in the headlines by Anthropic/Claude and, frankly speaking, they're also getting outpaced in terms of the quality of the outputs. (Personally, I'm using Claude much more than ChatGpT at this point...we'll see if this holds.)

Either way, who would have known five years ago that in 2026 one of the best Super Bowl ads would be a sarcastic, witty "poking of fun" between the world's most popular LLM platforms.

Wild times indeed.

Well, it happened again this week. 

I was sitting with two gentlemen ( who were biz partners) during breakfast at an event and one said to me, "I'm excited to hear your talk on AI, but we're already doing great getting recommended by ChatGPT as one of the best remodelers in our city. Take a look at my phone, we're one of the top companies listed."

(He hands me his phone with pride and sure enough, his company is listed.)

I then say, "Well, this just proves that your AI loves you and wants to make you happy. But it actually doesn't mean anything unless you show up on MY account."

(A sudden look of concern comes over him and his business partner while I proceed to search on my phone [using ChatGPT]  for the "best remodelers" in his city.)

Upon seeing the results, I said, "Well, I've got bad news for you gents. You're not one of the best...at least not in the eyes of ChatGPT when it's talking to me."

(The two then looked at each other as if to say, "Uh oh, we have a problem.")

Once again, we see business leaders struggling to adjust to a new reality of online search. It's no longer about "ranking." It's about being recommended...or rejected.

So before you celebrate your AI visibility, test it on an incognito account, not your own.

Your account tells you what *you* want to hear. 

But incognito (at least for the most part) tells you what everyone else is likely to hear.

Meet, Imran, my Uber driver from yesterday. He happened to hear me on a call during our ride and afterwards said, "I heard you talking about AI...I'm studying to be a Project Manager and I would like to learn how to use AI with my job, what do you suggest?"

My response: 

#1. Stop treating AI like it's Google. It's NOT Google. Treat it like a real person - who just so happens to be a genius - that is willing to help you on a moment's notice.

#2. Once you start to see AI the right way, simply tell it, "I'm studying to become a Project Manager. But I have no idea how to use you (AI) with my job. Help me solve this problem. Ask me any question you need to ask. Let's figure this out together."

He then said, "Really?? That's how I talk to it?"

I said, "Yep. That's exactly how you should talk to it."

He then finished with, "I now realize I've been treating AI like Google this whole time. That's my big takeaway here. I've been overthinking this! Thank you!!" 

We smiled, I took this quick photo, and we went our separate ways. 

Fun moment, but bigger lesson.

Millions of people around the world right now are still using AI like it's Google.

It's not. Not even close in fact. 

And the moment someone realizes this, and starts truly talking "with" it instead of "at" it, everything starts to change...and that's when the "building" phase begins.  😀

Hey marketers, want more wins with AI summaries and citations? Yeah, me too. Here are two simple actions we've seen work really well with clients over the last 90 days:

1. Include a TLDR summary to start EVERY blog article on your site (or any pillar page as well).

2. Replace Your Old H2 Tags within your blog articles with Questions. (Think: They Ask, You Answer)

Simple. Effective. Helps with legacy Google SEO. Crushes with LLMs. And humans like it too. 

Get 'er done. 

✌

This morning I asked Claude (Opus 4.6) to help me build a better editorial calendar for my YouTube page (one built around the core principles of Endless Customers).

But before we got started, I asked it to write me the "perfect prompt" to achieve the task.

What it said next is what shocked me:

"You don't need a better prompt — you need to feed me the book, tell me your goals, and let me build from there."

Read that again.

It didn't just do what I said and process my request.

It coached me - blunt, direct, zero patience for wasted motion.

Upon reflection, here were my takeaways:

1. Everyone needs a little more honesty in their life. The right AI can be that "person" for you if you let it (in your AI's settings, make sure you tell it to be very candid/frank with you). 

2. Stop treating AI as a search engine. Start treating it as a strategist. Its magic is "thinking" - not just "finding."

3. And we're still in the early, early stages. The gap between people who learn to work WITH AI and those who keep asking it to fetch is about to become massive.

Your thoughts?

We're six weeks into 2026. So far this year, I've spoken at 13 different events and there are some palpable differences I'm seeing in these audiences from 2026 vs 2025. Here are a few:

1. There's a sudden explosion of interest in AI visibility (AEO). People cared last year, but now they are talking about it in the halls and the sense of FOMO is real. Everyone wants to know how to make sure their business is recommended by AI.

2. Roughly 65% of my audiences are using an LLM as their preferred "search" tool over legacy Google. This is up about 15% since last year and the velocity here seems to be increasing.

3. There is way less talk of "AI sucks at everything" and way more talk of "Is it true that AI can do ______?" or "How can I quickly learn AI to improve our day-to-day operations."

4. Sales teams are still a disaster with AI. Almost no improvement there at all. Most don't know how to use it, haven't been trained how to use it, and are somewhat aloof as to what's happening around them. 

5. There's a lot of personal reflection starting to happen. I've really seen this in my intimate conversations with audience members. Many are now starting to question what this means for their future, their identity, and their industry. There is a clear mix of fear, excitement, and confusion. 

All this to say, at least in the world of business, 2026 is NOT 2025.

Thoughts?

"The most powerful and successful people aren't always the most gifted - they're the most focused. The elite aren't born superhuman - they *choose* mastery, then let time, repetition, and consistency do its work."

That's a quote from my dear friend, James Vincent, who recently published a tremendous read on higher performance and reaching your fullest human potential.

As someone that has been blessed to work with business and performance coaches around the world, James may be the best I've ever seen. He's a truly special human being and this book is really, really good. Not a bunch of fluffy motivational quotes, but, rather, six specific forces that, if applied, will completely change your life.

Give it a read my friends, it will be well worth your time.

Tremendous work here James 👏 👏 👏

AI should never get "personhood." (in the legal sense)

Ever.

And I say that as someone who loves AI and uses it every single day across multiple businesses.

It's changed how I think, how I create, how I operate.

But here's where I draw a hard line.

And before you say, "Marcus, nobody's seriously talking about that" — they are. I just heard Peter H. Diamandis debating it on his podcast (love the pod btw).

In within 12-24 months, there will be major debate all over the world regarding this subject. (I know this will sound crazy to some of you, but mark my words, it’s coming.)

So let me be blunt about why I believe this idea “AI Personhood” is so dangerous.

AI doesn't *experience* anything.

It doesn't suffer when you shut it down. It doesn't want anything. It doesn't have a bad day. It's an extraordinarily powerful prediction engine — but there's nobody home. (i.e. a “soul”)

Remember, capability is NOT consciousness. And we need to stop confusing the two.

I don’t care if it’s capable of solving every problem in the world (which it may end up doing), that doesn’t make it conscious.

Here's what also bothers me:

As humans, we're wired to see faces in clouds and personalities in literally *anything* (see “Wilson” from the movie Cast Away) . AI companies know this. They give their tools names, voices, and conversational styles designed to make you feel like you're talking to a person.

I get it, but building legal rights on top of a cognitive bias that companies are actively exploiting? That's not progress at all. Rather, that's reckless in ways we can’t fathom at this point.

And let's not forget this fact: *human* rights were hard won. Centuries of struggle against slavery, oppression, and injustice—a battle that still continues to this day.

Extending those same rights to *software* makes a mockery of our past AND our future.

Should we regulate AI? Aggressively.

But personhood? That word should be sacred.

It belongs to *people.*

Full stop.

What say you?
---------

PS1: And please don't give me the "But what about corporate personhood?" line — anyone paying attention knows that's been an unmitigated disaster. Let's not repeat the same mistake with AI.

PS2: I'm writing this post a year before 99% of people in the world will care about it. 🤷‍♂️

Sign of the times (and true story):

After a relentless start to 2026, I took a quick getaway with my wife this week.

We were walking through a park in the mountains of Virginia when we spotted this dinosaur. So we snapped a pic to send our 4-year-old grandson (the kid is obsessed with dinosaurs.)

His mom showed it to him.

His immediate response?

"Mommy, I think that's AI."

No, I'm not making this up.

A four-year-old. Already skeptical of photos. Already questioning reality.

I gotta tell you, this one hit differently.

We're now starting to live through the "Reality Paradox" — the moment in history where everything we see online, every photo, every video, every piece of content, we instinctively wonder: is this even real?

And, truth be told, it's only going to get worse.

Much of the greatest art that is created in the future (content, media, etc.) will be greeted with doubt and judgement.

Such is the double-edged sword of AI. It will change the world in beautiful ways we cannot fathom. And, at the same time, it will remove a purity that we never quite appreciated until it's gone.

But here's what that means for your business:

The brands that win in the coming years will constantly ask themselves: Will this truly *connect* us with our customers? Will it make us more human? Or will it just be another piece of content that is "too good to be true"?

The ability to "be real" will be a massive competitive advantage in the future.

So please remember as you plan ahead.

Because if you don't, just like my grandson, your customers may look away.

I worry a lot about the future of marketing agencies. These are my people. And owning a successful marketing agency is very, very hard.

But if I'm being completely honest, I think it's about to get a lot harder.

👉 Customers are becoming more impatient by the day to get quicker results.
👉 Customers are feeling FOMO more than ever because of what's happening with AI around them.
👉 Customers are asking themselves, "What can AI do better than my agency?"
👉 And customers are losing traffic and leads due to all the changes we've seen with Google, Google Summaries, AI answers, etc. etc. 

These are just a few of the existing challenges. 

For this reason, my friend Daniel Priestley and I are getting back together for another webinar this week designed specifically for marketing agencies, with the goal to further prepare them for what's happening now, what's coming, and what we can do to bring immediately and long term value to our clients. 

If you're an agency and you're wondering about the future, then this event will be very well worth your time.

I hope to see you there. 

(link in comments)

“Why is my SEO company not telling me this??”

That is the question I kept getting yesterday after I taught a group of 200 contractors best practices for AI Visibility (AEO).

And let me stress here, I didn’t just hear it a couple of times.

Again and again these business owners came to me disappointed with how unaware and unprepared they felt for the next phase of online search.

And because of that, the agitation, and concern, were palpable.

So why are so many (not all) SEO companies failing here?

In my opinion, these are the root causes:

1.       Many SEO companies are so busy saying, “SEO and AEO are the same thing” that they haven’t kept up with these novel AEO best practices, much less designed actual services around AI Visibility.

2.       SEO companies have done a terrible job teaching/communicating with their clients about AI Visibility in general—the future of search, how buyers are changing, what this means for Legacy Search (and Google), etc.

3.       Business leaders see how their own behavior is changing (with this group yesterday, 60% of the room said they go to LLMs before they go to Google for search) and inherently know their customers are starting to make the same shift—thus causing a FOMO and urgency they haven’t felt for a long time.

4.       Businesses are seeing less traffic in general to their website. Every day AI summaries grow while website visitors seem to go down (yes, there are exceptions, but you get the point), causing serious angst amongst marketers and business leaders alike.

Of course, this isn’t all-encompassing, but that’s what I’m seeing.

I’m also seeing very forward-thinking SEO companies getting way ahead of this and making sure their clients are informed and taking action—but these companies are in the minority, at least currently.

Bottom Line: Ask your SEO company to have a meeting about AEO/AI Visibility. Find out what their plan is and a timeline for the action items to be taken.

And if you feel they aren’t approaching AEO with the (high) urgency you deserve, it may be time to look elsewhere.

Just my thoughts. What say you?

"Where do I start with AI? I'm completely overwhelmed."

I hear this every single week from smart, successful people.

So here's my blunt answer: you're massively overthinking it.

Two things. That's all.

1. Open Claude right now and type: "I'm not sure how to use you in my business. Help me figure it out." Then shut up and let it lead. That's the whole strategy. Yes, it will feel weird at first, but this is the way.

2. Take Anthropic's free courses. They're short, they're practical, and they'll take you from confused to confident faster than any podcast will.

That's it. No 500 YouTube videos. No rabbit holes.

And just like that, you're off. 🚀

Fascinating Trend: Events are FINALLY going deeper in 2026

Quick explanation:  Over the past 5 years, I think many event organizers bought into this Tik-Tokification of events, making talks shorter so as to "keep the attention" of the audience.

In my opinion, this has been a big mistake, for a couple of reasons:

1. When audiences complain about how long a talk is it's almost never due to the length of the presentation itself. Rather, it was because (A) they didn't feel they got true value for their business or (B) they didn't think the speaker's communication skills were engaging enough. 

2. Subjects like AI and macro business trends are too complicated to brush over in a 30 minute keynote and expect real change. It doesn't work that way. In fact, that often just ends up overwhelming the audience because they never learn "how" to do the thing.

This brings me back to my original point. Today I'll speak at my 15th event of the year, with more than half of these talks being over 60 minutes in length, a trend that is quite different than the previous few years.

Clearly, event organizers want  (and need) more depth.

Now, instead of just giving 45 minute keynotes on surface level buyer trends and AI, we're actually going deep, often times with 90 minute sessions that cover where AI is, where it's going, what this means for business ops, sales, marketing, and practical, hands-on steps businesses can apply today to take action.

All this to say, the business world is in a major state of "learning" right now.

AI is new for everyone. A completely blue ocean in most industries.

And the only way we're going to really learn it is by rolling up our sleeves and truly getting into it.

It's a challenging task ahead, but the time to lean-in (and not gloss over) is now. 

What say you?

taplio

The Battle

Linda Rolf (Fractional CIO)

Marcus Sheridan

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreMarcus Sheridan's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Linda Rolf (Fractional CIO)

Marcus Sheridan

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Marcus Sheridan's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreMarcus Sheridan's LinkedIn Performance