Hi all,

No fear, we are here with digital marketing news and mindful ponderings for your marketing minds!

• AI Overviews help filter out low-value clicks while driving more total searches, according to Google’s Liz Reid reports in a Bloomberg podcast interview. Search queries are getting longer, more natural as people write out their whole need instead of a simplified search term. It rings up the same old marketing question, how can your brand best solve your target market’s problems?

• Open AI is now rolling out a Cost-Per-Click ad model for ChatGPT vs. the Impressions model it has been testing since February. This puts the ChatGPT ads in line with the traditional Google and Bing paid search models. The big issue for advertisers will be in determining whether the intent of people using ChatGPT is similar enough to traditional search intent to drive conversions. That said, some advertisers may just be happy with the free impressions on ChatGPT regardless of clicks.

• What do viral YouTube Shorts have in common? Modern Millie and team analyzed viral YouTube shorts and here’s what we found interesting:
  • Most have 3 or more hooks (like moving an object into frame, loud music, & zooming in).
  • While established creators did not need to use SEO techniques, SEO helped the lesser known creators gain more engagement.
  • Of the types of value videos could provide, 71% were entertaining, 12% were relatable, 11% were educational, & 6% were inspirational. Yes, entertaining videos are on top, but other value styles have a chance too.

• Meta has plans to track employee productivity to train its AI agents. Mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes, screenshots — it will all be tracked. Management says the data collected will not be used for performance reviews. That may be true but we wonder if training better AI agents may end up in reducing workforce counts.

• TMI, TL;DR — you’re familiar with these acronyms. How about TMD; NEI? Probably not because we made it up just now, inspired by this MarTech article “Too Much Data; Not Enough Insight.” Written from a B2B perspective (but easily applicable to any industry), it teaches us to leverage different layers of data to better target audiences and drive results.

Transforming the lives of foster youth is their mission. Foster Love started with one event to help one child and eventually grew into an initiative helping millions of children. From business events to donations, find ways you can help their cause: Foster Love.

My dogs are Obsessed (capital “o” for amplified emphasis) with one blue ball. 🔵

Soccer-ball-sized and crafted of hard plastic, they roll the treasured toy around the yard in a flurry of sandy noses and paws. The game has no rules, no time limit, and defensive and offensive roles are interchanged seemingly without sense.

When was the last time you were so invested that time lost its meaning? The world spun, and you were blissfully unaware, enraptured in your moment so fully.

I ask you: what brings timelessness back to your life? What is your metaphorical “blue ball”?

May you find your blue ball and the timelessness that goes with it. 

Happy Wednesday!

Natalie

Our one-and-only pun master/Flyers superfan/VP Marc Englesman’s birthday is tomorrow! 🥳

We are so lucky to have such a remarkably intelligent and wonderfully fun VP on our team — let’s give a hip hip hooray for the best VP around!

Heyo,

Let’s get down to the digital marketing business. 💼

Are your social posts working *for you*?

Social SEO is becoming increasingly important as AI platforms leverage social signals in citations and social algorithm resets are on the rise. Your content needs to be clearly labeled, so it can be found by both algorithms and people.

Dive in with social media SEO tips to uplevel your social account’s findability: Social SEO in 2026.

• Google’s got a new ROAS-based tool that suggests conversion values to help advertisers bid smarter for new customers. (You may have heard it first from our VP Marc Engelsman.) We love it because it is a reminder of an oft-overlooked metric that every marketer should be using when making budget allocations and assessing results: Life Time Value (LTV). We know it’s not always easy to get alignment on LTV data especially in today’s multi-channel universe. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least try to come up with some framework or assessment that will help guide decision-making.

• Reminder: forced indexing through Google Search Console is discouraged, according to John Mueller. Here’s why:
  • Forced indexing is not feasible for large sites with many pages.
  • Again, create good, useful content by following Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust) or DBE’s one-step-up H-E-E-A-R-T (Human, Experience, Expertise, Authority, Relevance, Trust) acronym. This will keep your content result-worthy.

• Let’s compare organic, top 10 Search Engine Result Page (SERP) URLs vs AI-powered citations overlap rates for the same queries/prompts:
  • There’s an 88% overlap between AI Overviews and top 10 organic SERP URLs beneath.
  • In AI Mode, there’s only a 12% overlap with the top 10 SERP result URLs. (This makes sense as AI Mode searches broader keywords/topics outside just the one typed by the user.)
  • What does this mean? You may be picked up by just AI Mode, AI Overviews, or just the SERP. Our best advice is to use the most popular terminology on your site and add in variations when relevant.

• What’s a T-shaped team? A team that has deep functional expertise (as represented by a T’s vertical bar) and the broad contextual understanding that allows the team to connect the dots across business functions (represented by the T’s horizontal bar). Put it together, and you get the idea behind this article “The AI era needs strategists grounded in expertise and guided by context.” Full disclosure: the author is using this foundation to make a case for agencies that are more likely to be T-shaped than in-house teams. We don’t subscribe to this notion. We do believe that the best teams — internal or external — need strategic thinking to best leverage AI to solve problems and drive success quickly.

• X is open source now, opening up its code every 4 weeks for 7 days. If you know coding and are passionate about X, you could make your mark!

• Big brands who are reacting to cultural moments the right way. My favorite from the list from Sprout Social is Dr. Pepper’s new theme song (partly because I can’t get it out of my head).

The Access Fund is working for sustainable access to climbing areas across the nation while educating others how to advocate. If you’re all about natural-area preservation and vertical adventure, check them out: Access Fund.

My heart was recently widened with a listen to the uplifting musical based on the people of Newfoundland who played host to 7,000 stranded travelers – Come From Away. Based on a true story, the show is a glittering reminder that love and kindness can be found anywhere… even on the edge of the world. It’s also a reminder that kindness starts with us, no matter how big or small.

Warning: If you take a gander and see the show or listen to the soundtrack, have your tissues ready.

Have a wonderful rest of your day,

Natalie

Looking for a way to make a difference with small acts of kindness, here’s a list to get you started. 🙂

Miss me?

Worry no longer — Perceptive Marketer is back with updates to keep you sharp!

• We don’t often get opportunities to talk about SEO Technical Audits, so we’re offering this: Google Warns Against Relying On SEO Audit Score Tools. We only wish they added “solely” to the headline. Our SEO Tech audits use a variety of tools to gather data. We then evaluate in context of our client’s website in comparison with competitive websites and our own expert scoring analyses. So, yes, we agree context is an element in SEO Tech audits.

• This article on the impact of Google AI Overviews leads with headline data showing significant drops in Organic Click-Thru Rate (CTR) and Paid Ads CTR when AI Optimization (AIO) is present on the Google Search results page. Somewhat buried in the story is this interesting tidbit: “Organic CTRs for queries without AI Overviews perform better (1.62%), but that’s still down 41% year-over-year.” (We want to add the emphasis on “without AI Overviews.”) So why aren’t as many people clicking on Google Organic results? Could it be that they are reviewing the results and then moving on to AI search options like ChatGPT or Perplexity? Or are they doing searches on AI first and just Googling the results for validation? Either way, our previous notes on the complementary use of AI and traditional search may be playing out in these results.

• The Dead Internet Theory 💀, as defined by Cindy Krum in SEL, is when “real human content, conversations, and interactions get de-prioritized or drowned out in favor of the more engaged and productive bots.” We can’t assume everyone is playing fairly in the game of AI in SEO and content creation. All we can do is keep providing helpful content for our audiences and obeying Google’s policies that crack down on unhelpful content.

• Reddit is suing Perplexity (and 3 other platforms) for scraping info for AI use. Nothing new there, but it’s a reminder to use AI carefully when developing apps, especially in consumer interfaces. Test and test and test again!

• How can your brand stand out in the AI age? Domain authority is one way. It’s your first impression — your key differentiator in the AI search citations.

• Social media in 2025 — what has evolved according to the professionals that run the social show? Here are my highlights:
  • Social media impacts business outcomes more than ever. People get turned off from stale content faster than these monkeys can steal your phone. (Thank you to Niki for sharing in Niki’s Notes.)
  • You should be automating some tasks. Remember that AI is not a cultural pro; it’s a probability machine. Use humans to interpret trends and write sensitive content. Don’t you dare automate audience engagement. That can be a recipe for disaster.
  • REPURPOSE YOUR CONTENT. Not everyone saw it the first time a year ago. I promise. Do it.

Our CEO & President and I learned about Three Wishes for Ruby’s Residents during a presentation called Living a Legacy of Kindness by Jenny Haase and Brad Aronson. It was started 7 years ago by a young girl named Ruby Kate Chitsey. Saddened by the lack of resources for residents of a nursing home, she purchased simple personal items they needed. Ruby has gone on to grow an amazing not-for-profit, and she is still a teen. Need to be reminded there’s a tremendous amount of good in the world? Here you go, read about Ruby and her phenomenal successes on behalf of others.

As the words flurry onto this document, a gentle breeze hits my face and reminds me of the idyllic view from my hotel balcony in the Caribbean. This view makes me grateful for the people and forces working with me in my life.

It’s also times like these that remind you of the blessings in your daily routine — the people, places, and moments you miss when they aren’t there. Notice the tiny miracles: your dog running to greet you, the vibrant fall leaves lining the streets, sunlight streaming through your bedroom window.

Join me in thanking the universe for the magical forces that brighten our lives. ☀️

Don’t forget to thank the universe!

Enjoy the week, mis amigos. ✌️

Natalie

My familiarity with the Spanish language is elementary-level at best. (A tentative conglomeration of random vocab words and a hazy memory of verb conjugations.) 

My fiancé and I used ChatGPT to translate and learn more during our trip. Telling you this as a travel tool for your back pocket. AI is super helpful when your familiarity with a foreign language extends to your name and “Where’s the bathroom?” (¿Dónde está el baño?).

Howdy,

Ready for this rodeo of digital marketing shenanigans?

• The big headline for us this week: “ChatGPT is using Google Search…” as a source in its responses. Various tests have shown strong alignment between ChatGPT responses and Google snippet data and occasions where up to 90% of ChatGPT’s cited URLs matched Google’s top results. As we have been saying all along, SEO and SAIO (aka AIO or GEO) are complementary marketing strategies.

• “Google says AI Overviews are generating more queries and higher quality clicks than search has ever before.” Do you believe that? Or are you more leery due to the lack of AI Overviews data transparency? Even the suggestions for gaining insights in this article have weaknesses. E.g., leveraging Click Through Rate (CTR) data from Google Search Console can be misleading given the “double whammy” effect.

• Is Perplexity (nicknamed “Lexi” by our CEO & President) your favorite of the AI chatbots? Keyword optimization isn’t enough, here’s what else Lexi is taking into consideration when ranking sites:
  • The authority of your domain
  • YouTube titles that match Perplexity trending queries
  • Core ranking factors like new post performance, topic classification, and semantic relevance.
  • Hmm… these tactics sound awfully familiar….

• “53% of marketers in North America cite data analysis and insights as the top bottleneck slowing down marketing cycles,” According to a survey conducted by GrowthLoop and Ascend2 and reported by EMARKETER. AI may be helping speed things up as 40% of US marketers now use AI for analyzing data and/or creating reports.

• Bottom-of-funnel (BoFu) content doesn’t have to sit within the boundaries of product comparisons, roundups, and alternatives articles. There’s so much more to explore… check out 5 different ideas from Moz.

• We love social humor tastefully done. 💯 Our long-time client Miele’s Rumored for a Reason campaign is delightfully unhinged…. Check ‘em out!
  • You know what the “M” stands for, right?
  • “It’s actually pronounced Miel-Uh.”
  • Here at Miele, we’re Rumored for a Reason.

Building supportive, stable communities by helping families build and improve their homes is what Habitat for Humanity is all about. Learn more, and consider a team project for your company that can help your community too!

When was the last time you doled out an honest compliment?

This morning? Yesterday? Never underestimate their power. Sometimes, they stick with the complimentee longer than you could ever remember. ❤️

Stay cool, 😎

Natalie

Get this. Bananas are berries, but strawberries aren’t.

Whatcha doin’?

Oh, you want to read the latest digital marketing news. Well, don’t let me stand in your way!

• The June 2025 Google Core Update led to traffic recoveries for some sites. Check out the chatter here.

• Got relevant, helpful content but looking for ways to improve your visibility? Take a gander at our Core Web Vitals infographic to find ways to improve your site!

• Conductor published their July AI Overview Analysis based on a review of 118M searches. In case you suffer for TL:DR overload, here are some findings that probably won’t be a surprise if you’ve been joining us each week: 1) only 18% of those searches generated an AI Overview 2) 61% of AI Overviews occur on desktop devices 3) Industries driving the highest percentage of AI Overviews include IT Services (38%), Healthcare Equipment & Supplies (36%), Life Sciences Tools & Services (36%), Education Services (35%), and Biotechnology (34%).

• Ten years ago, for every 2 pages Google scraped of a publisher’s site, it sent about 1 visitor. Now, the numbers have switched. For every 18 pages crawled, a site receives 1 visitor, as Cloudflare’s CEO Matthew Price states. If you’re a publisher, this could set off little alarms in your head. Cloudflare’s pay per click for AI bots seems to be an interesting solution. We’ll keep an eye to see how other software companies build walls for AI bots to scale.

• How long does it take SEO to work? According to Google’s John Mueller, “it depends.” Sounds a little wonky right? But it’s true. Simple on-page edits may see quicker improvements while larger strategic SEO efforts can take more time. That’s why we always counsel 3-6 months for SEO to take hold and monitor ranking progress closely from Baseline forward, though we often see results within 2 months.

• Is Grok the smartest AI bot on the block? That’s at least what X is saying with the bot being able to “solve difficult, real-world engineering questions where the answers cannot be found anywhere on the Internet or in books.” Personally, I think it is far too early to declare who is the smartest. I think human error permeates our creations more than we could ever deem possible.

• CTAs are leading the charge for email engagement. (Not surprising, right?) Well, keep prioritizing those clean CTA buttons to drive the most actions on your campaigns.

• It’s always interesting to see where CMO’s are allocating their budget, staff, and time resources. This chart shows more spending on “Brand” in 2025 than in 2024. And conversely, spending is lower on “Product & Demand” (although P&D is still the primary bucket).

Central Texas is experiencing major flooding right now. Instead of suggesting a specific charity, you can pick from this Charity Navigator list of organizations supporting those impacted by the disaster.

Thoughts to Take With You… 💞

Have you heard of Non-Sleep Deep Rest (also known as Yoga Nidra)?

It’s a guided mindfulness practice that helps you relax deeply without falling asleep. If you’re looking for a way to settle down before bed or start the day refreshed, you can find free guided narrations on YouTube.

Best Wishes,

Natalie

As the days get shorter, let’s learn more about our only natural satellite, the Moon. Here’s some facts confirmed by NASA…

• Yes, the Moon is getting about an inch farther from us each year.
• Yes, the moon does have water
• No, the moon’s atmosphere is not strong enough to defend against asteroids or the Sun’s radiation.
• Check out more facts here.

Hiya!

📢 Who’s ready for some digital marketing?

Alright, alright, hold the applause everyone. I know — it’s exciting, but we need quiet to read!

• “One of the biggest misconceptions in marketing is the belief that organic visibility will remain steady without ongoing SEO investment. In reality, the opposite is true. Neglecting SEO leads to declining organic visibility, a trend that has only accelerated with recent developments” in AI Search Platform usage. This Search Engine Land article says SEO is as much a defensive tactic as it is a growth tactic. At DBE, we see SEO as a growth strategy first while ongoing services both protect gains and expand visibility to drive exponential growth. 

• Domain Authority is considered an influencing factor for citations in GenAI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, according to SEJ and XFunnel. What drives increased Domain Authority and visibility? 🤔 Ding, ding, ding — it’s SEO!
  
  The article and report support the complementary mix of SEO and SAIO strategies we’ve discussed before. Namely, user-generated content citations in AI often come from platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn. We found this link early in our AI platform research and have been recommending leveraging these channels for SAIO ever since.

• Are Google Search results getting worse? We see 42% of people say Google Search is becoming less useful. This seems to be, in part, a by-product of the distrust of large tech companies in general. Some people seem to be flocking GenAI chatbots to avoid cluttered Google results, but we know that each engine offers their own perks. I think we are going to get better at finding the best search engine for our queries.

• ⚠️ Lawsuit Alert: Chegg vs. Google AI Overviews. Chegg, the online education company, is the first known company to file against Google AI Overviews for stealing content and posting unverified answers. The questions are: how will students creatively use AI to help them with their studies and how may it hurt their learning?

• Will Instagram and Reels break up? 💔 Insta has been flirting with the idea of launching its own TikTok-inspired Reels app, separate of Instagram. Social Media Today thinks this may be too big a risk for Meta to take… and I agree with them. They shifted to a Reel-dominant platform, despite negative feedback. Now, the app’s audience is accustomed to the short videos flooding their feeds. Changing it again will definitely draw a negative clapback.

• More Meta news… Meta fired about 20 employees for leaking information about unannounced product plans and internal meetings. There are a wide range of perspectives on this situation, including whether this was considered whistleblowing. Learn more from LinkedIn.

• The Marketoonist created this “AI Low Hanging Fruit” cartoon influenced by Gartner’s 2024 Hype Cycle finding that GenAI has passed the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” phase and is now entering the “Trough of Disillusionment.” Be sure to read or scroll through the story behind the cartoon to see other AI cartoons that may provide a moment of relief from hype.

• What is connected commerce? Think of it as integrating technology for a seamless online and offline shopping experience. It requires stealthy creativity. How can you push the boundaries of traditional retail without being extraordinarily invasive? It’s a great question that every retail brand should be asking.

• 🏈 Superbowl ads with characters performed better than celebrities for customer appeal, brand recognition, and commercial impact. Isn’t that a fine kettle of fish? I don’t know about you, but a character provides so many possibilities. They are whatever you make them. Sappy. Sassy. Scintillating. Check out this cast of characters that are rockin’ brand trust and building brand engagement.

Thoughts to Take With You… 💞

Is there something boring plaguing your life?

Perhaps it’s a part of your job or chores at home. Whatever it is… think about what makes it boring. Then flip it… what could make it better? 

Can you put a reward in place? Gamify the task? Do the work in chunks and take mental breaks between? Experiment, because there might be something fun hidden in the task that you may not see yet.

Have a nice week, y’all!

Natalie

Singing doesn’t have to be conscripted to musicians and Will Ferrell in an elf costume…. It can be for anyone who wants stress relief.

No, you don’t have to sing for an audience. Your venue can be your car or your room by yourself. Doesn’t matter if you think you’re good. In fact, it’s more fun when you let go of what you think is supposed to sound like!

Read the benefits of singing in Healthline. 🎶