As AI changes how people search, marketers face a new challenge: getting their brand seen in AI-generated results. Learn how SEO expert Jason Khoo says you can appear in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google’s AI Overviews, and more.

In this episode Wendy Covey and Jason Koo, founder and CEO of SEO agency Zupo, discuss the evolving landscape of SEO in the age of AI especially as more searchers turn to AI platforms for their answers, how can marketers ensure their brands appear across AI Overviews, ChatGPT results, Perplexity results, and beyond?

Wendy and Jason emphasize that the fundamentals of PR and traditional SEO remain the foundation for success in AI visibility. Getting featured in trusted publications and earning backlinks from those sources continue to be essential strategies.

They also discuss users and their changing search behaviors. Are more users going straight to ChatGPT for their searches? Are they starting with Perplexity and then completing a secondary search on Google? As these habits evolve, marketing attribution becomes more complex. How do these changes affect referral, organic, and direct traffic attribution?

Currently, there’s no perfect way to measure AI-driven traffic and visibility. Jason shared that his team uses PEECAI to track AI visibility, while platforms like HubSpot are developing their own AI measurement tools. Even without a universal metric, understanding how your content performs in AI results is becoming a crucial part of marketing analytics.

But one of the most important questions on marketers' minds is how to rank on AI. Jason walked us through his top three strategies:

1. Appear on the first page of Google's Search Engine Results Page
   Research shows a strong correlation between ranking on Google’s first page and appearing in AI-generated answers. Jason cited several studies, including a ChatOptic report that found a 67% overlap between top-ranking pages and AI answers. A Seer Interactive study found that Google organic keywords were the top correlating factor for appearing in AI answers. In other words, if you rank well for specific keywords, you have a better chance of appearing in AI answers for those topics.
2. Appear in listicles
   Jason also highlighted that brands featured in listicles like “Top 10” articles on review or ranking sites are more likely to appear in AI results. However, he cautioned that only high-quality listicles (those ranking on the first page of Google) are effective. Creating your own “Top 10” list and ranking yourself at the top can appear disingenuous, so aim to earn placement organically.
3. Answer topics from AI's "Query Fan Out"
   Jason explains that when LLMs try to answer questions, they will often seek answers to related questions simultaneously in order to be able to serve a more in depth answer. If your brand has the best answers for the primary question of an AI user AND the answers to the related questions, you're more likely to appear in the AI answer. How do you know this list of questions in an AI's "query fan out"? Most AI tools will not tell you even if you ask, but Perplexity does! Run through some questions with Perplexity and ask it what it's related questions are - now you have a roadmap to all the related topics that align with AI’s logic. The "Query Fan Out" strategy is likely to evolve over time but this is great tactic to know.

So, where should you begin? The first step is to measure. Get familiar with how AI traffic is being tracked in your analytics tools, whether that’s Google Analytics, HubSpot, or another platform. From there, examine how much traffic is coming from AI-driven so

Is your distributor program truly working for you? Emily Ting of CCS America unpacks how her team analyzed and revamped their program to create stronger partnerships and measurable sales growth.

In this episode, Wendy Covey interviews Emily Ting, a Marketing Specialist at CCS America, about the importance of revisiting and revamping an outdated distributor program. Distributor relationships can be critical to sales success for many industrial companies and together, Wendy and Emily discuss the challenges faced by outdated distributor programs, the need for collaboration, and the strategies implemented to revamp these programs.

Emily shares valuable lessons learned from the distributor feedback process and emphasizes the significance of cross-departmental collaboration.

Takeaways

• Distributor relationships can be critical to sales success.
• There are many challenges with maintaining effective distributor programs.
• It's important to reevaluate distributor performance and relationships.
• Take advantage of collaborative marketing efforts with distributors.
• Measure success through feedback and sales trends.
• Networking and sharing experiences with other industrial marketers is essential.

Resources

• Connect with Emily on LinkedIn
• Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn
• Learn more about CCS America
• Register for the Industrial Marketing Summit

Many marketing leaders in industrial companies have their hand in sales as well. That's certainly the case for Eric Seiberling, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at MXD Process. This episode is all about how Eric has successfully used AI to streamline critical (yet routine) sales and marketing processes and better yet, get the whole team on board as well.

In this episode, Eric Seiberling, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at MXD Process, shares his diverse career journey and insights into the adoption of AI in sales and marketing processes. He shares how his team uses AI to cut the sales quoting process down by 80%, personalize sales personas and messaging, and how to make it easiest for the team to trust and adopt AI into their everyday tasks.

He also emphasizes the importance of cross-team collaboration and offers practical advice on fostering strong human connections across departments and office locations.

Takeaways

• Custom GPTs were developed to cater specifically to their industry needs
• Fostering collaboration among teams is essential for success.
• Celebrating team achievements helps build a strong company culture.
• Leadership alignment is necessary for successful AI experimentation.
• Lowering the stakes can encourage teams to adopt new technologies.
• Continuous learning and iteration are key in AI development.
• Consulting for nonprofits combines corporate techniques with theological insights.

Resources

• Connect with Eric on LinkedIn
• Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn
• Learn more about MXDProcess
• Related Episode: Taking AI Up a Notch: Training Brand Voice, AI Assistants, and Custom GPTs
• Related Episode: AI Strategies and Tools for Industrial Marketers
• Related Episode: The State of AI: Chatbots, Reasoning Models, and Agents
• AI Resource: Marketing AI Institute
• AI Resource: AI First Academy with Allie K. Miller
• AI Resource: OpenAI Training Courses
• Register for the Industrial Marketing Summit