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!

Hey y’all,

Here’s your digital marketing roundup with a little mindfulness sprinkled on top!

• 49% of US AI users say they’re likely/very likely to try a different brand if an AI assistant suggests an alternative. This in spite of lingering issues with AI as only 46% of shoppers fully trust AI recommendations and 86% still check AI information before buying.

• Our VP Marc Engelsman had a chat with Perplexity on Marketing and AI use. Catch some blatant contradictions and interesting insights on creating duplicative content, brand differentiation, and departmental silo mentality.

• Sharing is caring (is not what Google is saying right now). The EU may require Google to share search data with rival search engines, including AI chatbots, to “contest Google Search’s position.”

• ❓Did you know? Google gives users the option to select Preferred News Sources for Google to include in results. What’s even cooler is that news publishers can add those links to their website to make it easier for users to see their articles in results.

• As someone who is responsible for proving the value of marketing, what actions do you take to show success?
  • Develop stronger marketing performance tracking
  • Demonstrate the financial impact of marketing
  • Demonstrate the value of brand and customer relationships
  • Collect competitive data
  • Run experiments
  • Collect customer data
  • Offer novel customer insights
  • Would it surprise you that the above list is ranked in order as captured from the latest CMO Survey? Jaw-droppingly, demonstrating the financial impact of marketing is actually ranked second!

• A different approach to demonstrating the value of brand marketing: leverage growth in branded Google Search data. Think with Google shared a case study on how this could work.

• Control of your Insta algorithm has now expanded to your Explore and Reels feed. The question is: will people actually use it?

• Google Looker Studio changed names… again. It’s now called Google Data Studio… again.

• Dynamic Search Ads will retire in September and transition to AI Max campaigns. If you want more control over targeting, creative, and landing page settings, it’s best to switch over now.

• Ready for something crazy? Meta is on track to overtake Google in global revenue.

There are too many wonderful causes to choose from, so we are supporting them all! Here are our favorite Earth Day charities!

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”

― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation

The fact that we can type onto metal and plastic and those exact symbols can be read instantaneously across the globe… That children grow from microscopic particles into fiercely individual collections of 30 trillion cells by adulthood… That we mash, spin, and recycle ideas to create infinitely new possibilities.

Every breath, every heartbeat is miraculous.

Let’s give a moment (or many) to reflect on this.

Happy Earth Day! 🌎

Natalie

Did ya know the Great Barrier Reef is the only structure that can be seen from space?

How about that there are 400 trees for every person on Earth? (And can we make that number of trees grow?)

Today has some more fun facts for your perusal.

Howdy,

It’s high time we discuss what’s going on in digital marketing.

• Do you think a 90% accuracy rate for Google AI Overviews is good enough? Or do you worry that on any given search you perform that response will be among the 10% that have errors? How often do you do additional searches to double-check the results? This recent NYTimes article explores AI Overviews accuracy and its implications. (Also, check out Marc’s witty post on this.)

• Quick SEJ Updates: 
  • The March 2026 Google Core Update is complete (looks like YouTube got some added visibility with this rollout). 
  • The Google Search Console bug inflating impressions has been fixed. 
  • John Mueller also reminds us that calling oneself an “SEO guru” is problematic (in a multitude of ways). We all need to remember that SEO is evolving, and we have to continue learning!

• We don’t fully subscribe to the dire tone presented in this article on the Reddit effect. While we’re not oblivious to Reddit’s growing citation visibility, how much that visibility is actually stealing clicks from the other citations in AI results and SERPs? Still, the suggestion for brands to leverage their subject matter experts to provide authoritative, human content in website and community content is one we fiercely advocate.

• For my techies 🖥️: Have you thought about MCP for your website? Market Context Protocol (MCP) acts as a standardized bridge for LLMs to communicate with external data, applications, and services. Basically, it helps AI chatbots get accurate information from your site through clean, semantic access. Here’s a cool video on implementing MCP across apps! Thanks to Corinna Zennig for bringing this up with us!

• While written for B2B marketers, this Martech article’s ideas of connecting messaging, user experience, and CTAs apply to all marketers including search marketers. The big difference is that searchers are a self-selecting audience with implicit or explicit intentions, so the alignment of messaging relevant to their search is critical to get the click. Then, user experience and calls-to-action alignment are needed to complete conversions.

• Claude AI now works in Microsoft Word. Check it out!

• HubSpot’s Loop Marketing strategy aims to adapt modern marketing strategy to the AI era. Their prompt library can help integrate AI into your planning.

673 million people go to bed hungry. 

30% of people worldwide are food insecure. 

32% of the world’s population doesn’t have access to a healthy diet. 

Action Against Hunger’s mission is to save the lives of children and their families. Learn about them and how you can help: Action Against Hunger.

Hey, you’re doing a good job. No ifs or buts. Accept you’re trying your best.

That’s all.

Best Wishes,

Natalie

You know when you’re listening to a randomized playlist and a song hits the exact moment perfectly. 

This piano cover by Jon Michael Ogletree is magical. 🎹🪄

Hey y’all!

Come sit… we’ve got some digital marketing news to talk about.

• Google Search Console (GSC) has been reporting inflated impression data since May 13, 2025. Clicks and other metrics weren’t impacted, but you should watch your click-thru rate in addition to impressions in the coming weeks as they fix it.

• SEO platforms were the most replaced marketing tool in 2025. AI capabilities, cost pressures, and the changing needs in a shifting search landscape were the main drivers. The AI capabilities being integrated into SEO platforms include content generation and optimization, SERP analysis and intent modeling, and workflow automation. Two thoughts:
  • These AI capabilities are tactical and can not replace the need for a strategic approach to optimizing for traditional search and AI search engines; and 
  • Relying on solely AI to create content can actually be counter-productive to search visibility.

For my technical SEOs: Llms.txt, a Markdown file to help large language models (LLMs) understand and use website content, has limitations including the manual maintenance updates and the lack of relationship model. Duane Forrester in SEJ suggests having four layers of a machine-readable content stack on top of llms.txt.

• Improve AI content generation prompts by including more strategic directives with clearer direction on the desired output. One of the checkpoints offered for managing content is a “Human-in-the-loop (HITL)” protocol that is required at the strategic start and the editorial finish. Full guidance in this Martech article.

• Speaking of HITL, Tom Fishburne takes an ironic look at the concept. Some thought-provoking data included: “only 17% of workers believe AI is reliable without human oversight, 64% expect the need for human review to increase, and 20% said AI made customer situations worse.”

• The use of AI in marketing is “quickly becoming another test of brand values” that requires addressing, according to Quick Study’s recent survey of US customers. The use of AI needs to be justified and used in a way that morally aligns with your customers.

Protecting and preserving our nation’s national parks is their goal. With over 1.9 million members outside the organization, they advocate for conservation on the ground, in the courtroom and on Capitol Hill. Learn more about what they do: National Parks Conservation Association.

You finally made it. 

Stress that’s been perched on your shoulders like a spikey-toed hawk makes its long-awaited departure. While that stressful situation flaps away, something in you lets go….

A little cold snowballs into an achy, energy-draining ailment. 

Or a pain arises in a part of your body, as random as a bingo drawing.

This is called the “Let-Down” effect, and it happens right after something stressful unwinds. Your body tells you, “That was tough — I need a rest so urgently that I’m making you stay still for a while.”

While we may not fully prevent a let-down, taking care of ourselves amidst the inclement time may be key to preventing major bodily upheaval.

You got this 😎

Natalie

Did you catch the title reference?

Here are some of the show’s greatest moments!

Hi all!

We got your feedback on our LinkedIn poll, so here’s our take on tracking AI Visibility:

Tracking your visibility on AI platforms takes some sleuthing and, unfortunately, there is not yet a single source of truth. Here is a list of tracking tools and their limitations… all in one convenient place (you’re welcome:).

Free for all:

• Google Analytics
  Positives: GA4 tracks AI-driven traffic from Perplexity, Copilot, Gemini, ChatGPT and other AI chatbots.
  Negatives: AI Overviews or AI Mode cannot be tracked separately from all Organic Google Search traffic. Also, while you can track sessions and key events like any other session source, you’re not going to see the original prompts the users clicked to get there.

• Bing Webmaster Tools
  Positives: The AI Performance tracker that shows you CoPilot grounding queries used in prompts people used to click to your website and the number of citations gained for pages on your site.
  Negatives: Grounding queries are the shortened phrases the AI used to do its backend search and not the actual prompts entered, so they are directional at best. Bing Webmaster Tools does not show actual clicks on citations so you only have a sense of citations “impressions”.

• Temporary Chat Prompting
  Positives: Certain AI chatbots can give you a snapshot of example responses, without the bias of previous conversations. See rules on Perplexity Incognito Mode, ChatGPT Temporary Chat, and Claude Incognito Chats. (Note that there are data retention periods for safety purposes, but they shouldn’t influence future chats.)
  Negatives: It is unconfirmed whether Copilot and Gemini use previous chats to influence temporary chat options. There is no data on the number of times these prompts were used (like we can see with Google’s Keyword Planner for average keyword search volume).

• HubSpot AEO Grader:
  Positives: Analyze your presence on ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini while seeing competitive and perceptive “topical” data.
  Negatives: AI Overviews, AI Mode, Claude, and other AI chatbots are not included in the analysis.

Paid Options:

• Answer the Public
  Positives: Known for long-tail traditional search query research, ATP has a newer AI Model research feature to show you how people are prompting AI bots around specific topics.
  Negatives: The charts are pretty, but this is another directional tool as there is no way to gauge the volume of usage for the suggested prompts.

• Moz
  Positives: The new AI Visibility feature (requires a medium subscription plan) may be interesting as it advances out of Beta. Their Prompt Suggestion and True Competing Content features are great places to research topics for content and how your content is faring from search and AI chatbot perspective, respectively.
  Negatives: We won’t know until the Beta rolls out.

How We Use Them:

Our team integrates the Google Analytics AI-Source traffic data into our dashboards. Then, once a month, the Bing Webmaster Tools AI Performance feature provides insight on which pages are being cited in Copilot and the grounding query topics that are driving clicks. Temporary chat prompting shows how a brand performs in specific, high-value prompts. To get a zoomed out perspective of how a brand is viewed by AI chatbots, HubSpot AEO Grader offers generalized insights. Answer the Public gives great ideas on prompts that can be helpful for fueling future content creation and refreshing previously published content. Moz features are also great directional tools to further enhance your content creation strategy against competitors.

Follow to stay tuned for the next LinkedIn poll, so we can answer your burning SEO/SAIO/digital marketing queries!

• We got a Google Spam update — the first of 2026! It’s relatively new, and you can peek at your rankings to see if you’ve been affected. If you’re following white-hat SEO best practices and releasing relevant content, you should be good, fam. ✌🏼
  • Also, we’ll keep you posted on the March 2026 Core Update that’s going live during the next 2 weeks.

• 🎥 OpenAI is shutting down ChatGPT’s video generator, Sora, and thus its $1b content partnership with Disney. As OpenAI has still yet to make a profit, Sora’s struggle with copyright violations, the public distaste of AI deep fakes, and vast competition influenced the decision.

• Fan-out queries tell us how people and Google/AI chatbots may be looking for your brand. Moz labels 10 fan-out query types to help with prompt research.

• Is AI ruining the job market? We need to flip that: how can AI enhance the job market? Catch this enlightening conversation between Erin McGoff, career advice creator, and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Rolansky.

• Speaking of using AI to enhance, let’s discuss using GenAI in high-trust industries (think healthcare, legal, etc.). Alexander Amatus in Marketing Profs lays the steps for use without jeopardizing trust:
  • Clearly deciding AI’s uses
  • Defining non-negotiables to AI
  • Creating content workflows with AI to upskill marketers
  • Setting boundaries with what AI can and can’t do/access

• It’s a 🎶”tale as old as time” (if you only go back to the 80s), but it is still lingering and languishing. What is it? The Sales vs. Marketing silo mentality. Only 56% of companies say they feel highly aligned across functions. Understand the challenges and solutions for those yearning for alignment via this Unbounce survey, MarketCharts visual, and Marc’s LinkedIn Musing.

• It’s not just Sales and Marketing either. Here’s a story about “Why CMOs struggle and how aligning with CFOs changes everything.” Bottom line: success lies in getting agreement on measurement values and the analytics attribution to prove it. It’s not the easiest of tasks, but improving the lines of communication is a good start.

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!

“Perfectionism kills curiosity by telling us that we have to know everything or we risk looking “less than.” Perfectionism tells us that our mistakes and failures are personal defects, so we either avoid trying new things or we barely recover every time we inevitably fall short.”

~ Brené Brown Atlas of the Heart

You are more than your knowledge, your mistakes, your failures; you are the phoenix that rises from them to be the human you are.

Keep sparkling ✨

Natalie

Because we all deserve to laugh, here’s one of my favorite memes for ya.

We all know an adult like this in our lives — this kid’s performance 10/10.

Heyo,

I am still in the boat that we can trust AI… with a human babysitter. 

And the news is constantly reiterating this point. Catch the specifics below. ⬇️

• Prompt research: the next layer of SEO and GEO. SEL shares some insights on how prompt research can identify opportunities for new content with intent-based clustering to help map your current content strategy.

• Most consumers use AI, but few fully trust it — only 13% according to a MarTech study. Sorted into four AI personas: Enthusiasts, Evaluators, Skeptics, and Holdouts. Knowing the general buckets in which your audience falls can determine SAIO strategy.

• If you’re thinking about jumping on the mass-produced, AI content bandwagon, please read this article first: “You’re Not Scaling Content. You’re Scaling Disappointment.” It includes a historical timeline of how volume-content plays have consistently failed for one basic reason: the “qualitative wall.” Quality always matters over quantity. A-L-W-A-Y-S.

• Google is testing regenerating page titles through AI in traditional search results. This could be a real eeeek if the new title doesn’t accurately represent what the article is about. If that’s the case, Google could be causing clickbait, something it has been actively fighting against with each Google Core Update.

• Meta’s content moderators are being replaced by AI. As there weren’t enough human moderators to the amount of flagged content, this makes sense in a way. This does not come without risks, as a rogue AI agent exposed sensitive Meta employee data. I’m curious to see how human oversight will be implemented, because it seems we still need that. 

• Meta’s Horizon Worlds, their virtual reality social network, is shutting down on VR to be just a standalone mobile app. It seems Meta is shifting focus from the metaverse to AI. Honestly, it may have been too early to introduce Ready Player One, sci-fi concepts and may stay a dream for when VR is more readily used and available.

Habitat loss is the single largest threat to birds. For 30 years, the American Bird Conservancy has been championing the bird conservation movement throughout the Americas. They innovate and build on rapid advancements in science to halt extinctions, protect habitats, eliminate threats, and build capacity for bird conservation. Check them out: American Bird Conservatory.

Flow state – complete immersion in the moment.

If I could sum up total presentness, it would be in the band Jungle’s music videos.

From each coordinated dancer to the camera person running around to get it all in one take — they are all completely engrossed in their art.

What things in your life cause you to forget time and live mindfully? And can you do more of them?

For your viewing and listening pleasure: Busy Earnin’, Keep Moving, & Heavy California.

Sending good vibes your way, ✌🏼

Natalie

In case you’re a new Jungle fan, find more funky fun music here!

Hi all –

Ready yourself for Perceptive Marketer: Friday Edition. 😎 

*Commence playing “Oh Yeah” by Yello.*

• Remember when you could look at the queries that ChatGPT used to generate its response? Well, it looks like ChatGPT queries are no longer visible. 😢 While sad, at least you can still see grounding queries in Bing Webmaster Tools through the AI Performance tab.

• ChatGPT Ads 📢: You can sign up online to stay informed as they expand their advertising capabilities.

• YouTube is the 2nd biggest Social Media source used by AI (next to Reddit) according to Otterly AI. What videos are getting cited? Long-form videos with timestamps!

• Curious how Google Search & Discover pick images for thumbnails? Be clear in schema markup and use meta tag best practices to make sure the best images are selected! More here.

• What could you do with ✌🏾 SEO Vibe Coding ✌️? Hreflang matching, content decay, find related pages to link. Moz gives a top-level, and here’s a step-by-step example.

• Best article title I’ve seen in a while: “The Oz Paradigm: Why AI Still Needs a Human Behind the Curtain”. Y’all know I’ve been on Team Human for a while. Steve Bevilacqua’s article reminds us that AI still makes mistakes and doesn’t produce new ideas as it only predicts the best response to your prompt.

• Now, seemingly contradictory to the previous article… here are over 70 AI prompts for social media. Why? Because yes, you can still USE AI but just be wary about letting it do it all without human review.

• Three strikes —  your site is out! ⚾ Nothing makes a Google Ads marketer’s heart race like a warning or *gulps* a suspension. Here’s a case study from SEL on appealing a strike if you are not violating policies.

• Captions in Instagram posts??? *jaw drop 😲* Yes, it’s a test for paying subscribers. Will it increase the chance you’ll subscribe to Meta Verified?

Conserve Land. Combat climate change. Build vibrant communities. The Conservation Fund is working on all these through its comprehensive programs. They’ve protected over 9 million acres of land and water nationwide since 1985. Check out their mission, their success, and how you can help.

Let’s put on our spectacles for this quote examination: 🧐

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

It’s okay to look up from your desk. It’s okay to take a walk on an early spring day. It’s okay to leave the phone in the car when you’re out with friends. In fact, these things should be encouraged.

Life is worth the pause to acknowledge it.

Happy Spring! 🌷

Natalie

Pssh, I am sure you got the references, but here’s a few hints:

Hint.

The dead giveaway.