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Digital Brand Building interviews the most successful sales & marketing leaders every week. Hosted by Mark Fidelman, he discusses the hottest new sales & marketing ideas from the experts. Fidelman keeps it real, and isn’t afraid to mix it up. Each episode features an engaging discussion with different business professionals to help you fuel your mind.

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  2. The Death of SEO and Rise of AI Search

The Death of SEO and Rise of AI Search

Apr 10, 2025

 

Mark Fidelman and Chris Andrew discuss the shift from traditional SEO to AI-driven search. Chris, co-founder and CEO of Scrunch AI, emphasizes that AI search is becoming more prevalent, offering personalized and less biased answers.

He highlights the importance of optimizing for AI models by focusing on text-based content and understanding customer personas. Chris notes that AI search is driving significant conversion rates, often outperforming traditional SEO.

Scrunch AI helps businesses monitor and improve their AI search presence, with an average 40% growth in AI referral traffic. They also discuss the potential for AI to introduce new ad formats and the need for marketers to adapt to these changes.

 

Introduction and Participant Backgrounds

  • Mark Fidelman introduces the topic of AI marketing and expresses his preference for AI search over traditional SEO.
  • Chris Andrew introduces himself as the co-founder and CEO of Scrunch AI, emphasizing the shift towards AI-first customer journeys.
  • Mark Fidelman shares his personal experience of using AI for searches, noting the custom and direct answers provided by AI.
  • Chris Andrew mentions his favorite AI tools for marketing and sales, including Google's LM product, Granola note-taking app, and various GPT models.

The Shift from Traditional Search to AI Search

  • Chris Andrew explains why he believes search will be replaced by AI, highlighting the simplicity and personalization AI offers.
  • He discusses the limitations of traditional browsing and the advantages of AI in providing direct answers and understanding user intent.
  • Chris Andrew shares his personal experience of relying on AI for research and how it has changed his customer journey.
  • He emphasizes that AI is better for humans as it provides less biased and more accurate information.

Impact of AI on SEO and Customer Journey

  • Chris Andrew clarifies that SEO is not dead but has evolved with AI, which now evaluates content based on human intent.
  • He explains the importance of text-based content like FAQs, knowledge bases, and glossaries for optimizing AI models.
  • Chris Andrew discusses the role of large language models in evaluating content and the need for organizations to bring new data sets online.
  • He highlights the importance of understanding customer personas and how AI can provide personalized results based on user background and sophistication.

Optimizing for AI Models and Privacy Considerations

  • Chris Andrew explains how AI models rely on traditional search indices to determine credibility and relevance.
  • He discusses the role of Google's index and the introduction of OpenAI's own index in the AI search landscape.
  • Chris Andrew emphasizes the need for organizations to bring up-to-date and relevant data sets online to improve their AI presence.
  • He addresses privacy concerns by focusing on non-confidential internal data sets that can enrich AI models' understanding of brands and products.

The Role of AI in Customer Journey Mapping

  • Chris Andrew discusses the importance of understanding customer personas and how AI can provide personalized results based on user background.
  • He shares examples of how AI models can cater to different user needs, such as high-end fashion shoppers versus budget-conscious consumers.
  • Chris Andrew highlights the potential for AI to create deeply personalized experiences and the need for organizations to map their customer journeys accordingly.
  • He mentions his participation in a panel on neurodiversity in AI, which explores how models can help people with different thinking styles.

Marketing Strategies for AI-First Customer Journeys

  • Chris Andrew advises marketers to monitor and understand AI search trends, including the frequency of AI agent visits to their websites.
  • He emphasizes the importance of tracking referral visits, conversion rates, and citations in AI search results.
  • Chris Andrew suggests that marketers should focus on providing content that aligns with AI models' language-based processing.
  • He highlights the need for organizations to adapt their content strategies to cater to AI models and improve their AI presence.

Introduction of Scrunch AI and Its Value Proposition

  • Chris Andrew introduces Scrunch AI, a platform that helps organizations optimize for AI-first customer journeys.
  • He explains how Scrunch AI provides deep monitoring, insights, and recommendations to improve AI presence.
  • Chris Andrew shares that Scrunch AI's average customer sees a 40% growth in AI referral traffic and a 3-4x improvement in overall AI presence.
  • He encourages marketers to book a meeting with Scrunch AI to understand their AI search performance and receive actionable recommendations.

Final Thoughts and Future Trends

  • Mark Fidelman and Chris Andrew discuss the potential for AI models to introduce ads and the importance of maintaining neutrality.
  • Chris Andrew shares his thoughts on the future of AI search, including the potential for micro-transactions for referral visits.
  • Mark Fidelman emphasizes the need for marketers to start thinking about AI optimization and the potential impact on customer journeys.
  • Chris Andrew concludes by expressing his excitement about the future of AI in marketing and the importance of understanding and adapting to AI search trends.