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PAGE 1 ON GOOGLE. PAGE 0 ON AI

An explanation of how AI search works.

SEO VS AEO VS GEO

A breakdown of how discovery is shifting.

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CHATGPT IS SENDING LESS TRAFFIC TO WEBSITES, DOWN 52% IN A MONTH

Referral traffic from ChatGPT to websites has dropped steeply, with much of the citation share shifting towards Wikipedia and Reddit. Data from Profound shows that these answer-first platforms are now dominating ChatGPT citations, while branded websites that focus on conversions are losing visibility. The shift appears to be the result of OpenAI manually reweighting its retrieval system to prioritize direct, user-focused answers.

FROM ‘HI [NAME]' TO AI: HAS TARGETING CROSSED THE LINE?

Data remains the most valuable resource for platforms and advertisers, and AI is accelerating its application in more sophisticated ways. What began with basic personalization has now expanded into intelligence-grade analytics, where the line between consumer marketing and surveillance becomes increasingly blurred. Companies exploring these strategies must weigh competitive advantage against ethical responsibilities and consumer trust, as the long-term viability of data-driven marketing depends on finding the balance.

WIN REPORT: HOW TRUST SIGNALS TURNED SUSPICION INTO 16% MORE SIGNUPS

Party Hard Travel increased signups by 16% after addressing customer fears about scams and payment timing. Research showed that 11% of non-converting visitors cited scams as their top concern, while another 11% cited cost, which was more about coordinating group payments than affordability. To reduce these objections, the company added a benefits bar to its homepage that highlighted 40,000 annual bookings, a £30 deposit option, and a 4.8-star Trustpilot rating. The change reassured customers about legitimacy and flexibility, which led to more conversions.

5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BUILDING A REDDIT STRATEGY

Create or co-manage a brand subreddit to control your presence, and identify 3-5 relevant subreddits by researching priority keywords. Engage authentically for the first few weeks, following the 80/20 rule for brand mentions. Build relationships with active members and participate daily, aiming to comment early in new threads. This will help increase trust and visibility in search and AI results.

HOW OPENAI'S HEAD OF B2B MARKETING RESPONDS TO EMAILS

Dane Vahey uses ChatGPT with the Gmail Connector to streamline email responses. He prompts it to summarize the last 20 unopened emails and draft short, personalized replies. ChatGPT outputs a copy-paste-ready list labeled by subject line. The full prompt is included in the post.

LISTEN

Listen Labs is a customer research platform that automates the process of conducting and analyzing qualitative interviews. The platform recruits participants, conducts voice, video, or text-based interviews, and generates actionable insights within hours. It offers features such as automated report generation, persona creation, and theme identification.

CEO GPT

A CEO GPT can capture a CEO's voice, style, and key phrases to simplify communications. Teams can feed it transcripts from podcasts, YouTube videos, and social posts, along with internal briefing materials. It can quickly generate authentic quotes, press briefings, and other content without hours of manual work. The tool can be updated over time to reflect evolving messaging.

IS LINK BUILDING DEAD? (15 DATA STUDIES BEHIND THE CLICKBAIT)

Backlinks and referring domains still correlate strongly with higher Google rankings, with the top-ranking page having 3.8 times more backlinks than results in positions 2 to 10. Traditional link-building methods, such as guest posting and link insertions, have declined in value, as only 4.6% of sites offering such services were found to be high quality. Digital PR has become the most effective strategy, earning authoritative links and unlinked mentions that strengthen brand authority and visibility. AI Overviews cite top-ranking pages in over 90% of cases, but unlinked mentions are often more impactful than backlink volume for AI visibility. Link building is not dead, but it has shifted toward authority-focused digital PR and brand strategies rather than raw link quantity.

TOP QUESTION TO ASK IN A STARTUP MARKETING INTERVIEW

Ask a startup, “What must be true before spending on paid media?” to see if marketing fundamentals are truly in place.

THE 13 VIRAL MARKETING LAWS

These laws include the purple cow law, the 90-9-1 rules, and the golden hour law.

TIKTOK'S NEW AI MANDATE IS GETTING BACKLASH FROM BIG ADVERTISERS

While smaller sellers praise GMV Max for efficiency and ROI protections, larger brands are concerned about its black-box nature and limited reporting, which complicates broader marketing strategies.

Read the Delve case study.

BREAKING NEW GROUND ON YOUTUBE PODCAST MEASUREMENT

A study using passive panel data found that YouTube podcast simulcast ads drove a 7-8% lift in site visitation among exposed audiences compared to pre-campaign levels. Viewers skewed younger, more male, and less diverse than the broader podcast audience. This points to the need for tailored creative and media strategies depending on the mix of audio and video podcasts.

THE 2025 PINTEREST AUTUMN TREND REPORT

Gen Z, now more than half of Pinterest's user base, is reshaping autumn style with an emphasis on sustainability and individuality. Searches for thrifted fashion and decor have surged, and Pinterest is amplifying this with a new in-app Thrift Shop. Complementing the thrift wave are nostalgic aesthetics like 2000s prep, polka dots, 1960s glamour, and Art Deco interiors, alongside beauty looks rooted in grunge, sea-inspired skincare, and cozy layered scents. Seasonal interests also extend to travel escapes and playful mini bakes.

USER-GENERATED DISTRIBUTION: THE HIDDEN GROWTH ENGINE BEHIND TODAY'S FASTEST STARTUPS

User-generated distribution (UGD) drives growth by turning user actions into marketing, as seen with Notion, Duolingo, Canva, and Figma. Notion scaled from 1M to 100M users by making templates shareable, while Canva's 90% user-created templates led to over 13B designs shared. Duolingo leveraged volunteer-built courses and streak-sharing to attract learners, and Figma's collaborative files turned invites into new sign-ups. Successful UGD loops require seeding initial content, incentivizing quality contributions, making outputs easy to share, and continuously curating and iterating to sustain growth.

YOU DON'T NEED ADS EVERYWHERE; HERE'S HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT PLATFORMS

Not every platform is right for every audience since Gen Z spends time on TikTok and Snapchat, Millennials use Instagram, Gen X prefers Facebook, and B2B buyers engage on LinkedIn. Choosing the right platform means matching where your customers spend time with what you want to achieve, whether it is conversions, engagement, or awareness. When brands prioritize platform fit over hype or wanting to be everywhere, they are able to maximize return on investment and avoid wasting money.

CHATGPT VS GOOGLE TRAFFIC ANALYSIS

This report was vibe-coded by the Ahrefs team. It shows how traffic from Google compares to traffic from ChatGPT, including how both grow month-over-month. The data automatically updates every month.

HOW TO MAKE CHATGPT NOT SUCK AT KEYWORD RESEARCH

SOCIAL SEARCH IS CHANGING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

To capitalize on social search, advertisers need to move from individual channel optimization to ecosystem thinking, ensuring coordination across search, social, and content teams. Building authority through creator-driven communities and brand advocates is becoming a competitive edge, alongside a disciplined test-and-learn approach to evolving platform features. Success will depend on flexibility, structured experimentation, and readiness to adapt strategies as consumer behavior and ad tools continue to converge.

HAVE WE LOST THE ART OF FORMING OUR OWN OPINIONS?

Social media has fueled an epidemic of borrowed opinions. One viral video can instantly set the dominant view. TikTok's algorithm magnifies this by flooding feeds with repetitive takes until familiarity feels like truth. This makes it easy to adopt opinions without reflection. Instead of doing the harder work of reading, questioning, and debating, many outsource thinking to comments and trends, leaving beliefs fragile. Reclaiming independent thought means resisting this cycle by pausing, challenging biases, and seeking diverse views.

THE MARKETER'S GUIDE TO TAYLOR SWIFT'S LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL ERA

Panera capitalized on Taylor Swift's mention of sourdough by launching a themed meal and merchandise within 16 hours, generating 500 million impressions and selling out products in hours. Reese's leveraged its brand color and Swift's fan terminology to connect an Oreo collaboration to the cultural moment, securing premium ad placements and strong early engagement. These examples illustrate how speed, cross-channel execution, and cultural alignment can translate directly into consumer response and short-term growth.

ORGANIC CONTENT MATRIX

A quadrant that maps where formats like conferences, webinars, and data snacks land.

7 WAYS TO TEST YOUR MESSAGING

7 questions to ask to gauge how good or bad your messaging is.

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FROM SEARCH TO SOCIAL: INSIDE THE BILLIONS SHIFTING TO SOCIAL-FIRST MARKETING

Unilever's decision to shift half its media budget to social reflects a broader trend, with 80% of marketers reallocating funds from traditional channels. Social media has become the core of discovery, engagement, and purchasing, with ad spend projected to hit $406 billion globally by 2029. The 2025 Impact of Social Media Marketing Report found that 87% of leaders plan to increase paid social spending, and over 80% expect to increase influencer and organic social investment. Brands like Wild, Duolingo, Lowe's, and Marks & Spencer show how social-first strategies can drive measurable sales growth, especially with Gen Z and Millennial audiences.

MOST DEVS BELIEVE AI IS GOING TO KILL 'MOST OR ALL' OF THEIR COMPANY'S MARKETING DEPARTMENT

Developers overwhelmingly see AI as capable of replacing large parts of marketing, with nearly 75% saying it could do most or all of the work. In contrast, far fewer marketers believe they could replicate developers' jobs, highlighting a confidence gap between the two fields. The findings reflect developers' deep integration of AI in their daily work, where 90% already depend on it for efficiency and problem-solving.

SHOPPERS SEEK FEATURES, NOT OUTCOMES, ON LLM

LLMs are changing homepage writing by shifting focus to specific features over broad outcomes and reducing the influence of brand recognition for smaller buyers. Users search for precise functionality, so products must clearly list features for LLMs to recommend them. While large enterprises still favor well-known brands, smaller businesses and consumers increasingly choose products that match their exact needs, even from lesser-known companies.

HOW BRANDS CAN WIN BIG WITH INCLUSION STRATEGY

Inclusive branding is proving to be a commercial growth driver, with one study showing short-term sales gains of 3.5%, long-term growth of 16.5%, and loyalty increases of 15% when brands adopt inclusive advertising. Mattel's Barbie is a strong example, seeing a 63% revenue jump between 2015 and 2022 after shifting toward inclusivity, while Bud Light serves as a cautionary example for alienating a core base by misjudging identity tensions. To succeed, brands should conduct an identity audit of their customers and brand DNA, run incremental tests to refine messaging and stakeholder alignment, and fully integrate inclusivity into governance, partnerships, and company culture.

AI SEARCH RANK TRACKERS ARE LYING TO YOU

Most AI search visibility tools overpromise because they rely on synthetic prompts and lack access to real user data. Reliable tracking is difficult due to query variance, personalization, model differences, and changing outputs, making accurate measurement of AI-driven search visibility nearly impossible. AI is still in its early stages, so it's important to understand each tool's data sources and limitations before trusting their reports.

LINKEDIN ADDS MORE POST-LEVEL ANALYTICS UPDATES

LinkedIn users will now get notifications at key intervals, such as 3 and 7 days after posting, showing how their content drives impressions, profile views, and follower growth. The updates, delivered directly in notifications, build on LinkedIn's May analytics refresh and support its broader push to attract creators with better insights and monetization options. Users can manage notification frequency to avoid overload.

AMAZON'S EXIT FROM GOOGLE ADS TRIGGERED A TRAFFIC SURGE — BUT ROI DIDN'T FOLLOW

Amazon's sudden exit from Google Shopping ads in July caused immediate disruption across ad auctions, leading to more clicks and impressions but weaker returns for most advertisers. Overall clicks rose 7.8% and CPCs fell 8.3%, but conversion value declined 5.5% and ROAS dropped 4.4%, showing that extra traffic often failed to translate into profitable sales. Electronics was the only major category to see true gains, with conversions up 81.3% and ROAS up 7.1%, as brands like Best Buy and Apple could match Amazon's speed and pricing. Most other sectors, including Apparel & Accessories and Sporting Goods, fell into the “volume trap,” gaining traffic but losing efficiency as Amazon-seeking shoppers expected unmatched price and convenience. Advertisers must track value, not just volume, and focus on sustainable advantages rather than chasing displaced Amazon traffic.

SCALING CONTENT AT DROPBOX WITH AI AND TASTE

The Dropbox content team replaced the traditional waterfall method of large sequential campaigns with a more agile structure that allows faster pivots and continuous learning. The team was organized into four pods that focus on quick-turn experiments, explanatory content, customer stories, and thought leadership, all supported by real-time data and reporting. By connecting an automated content calendar to workflows and KPIs, the group tripled production for Dropbox Sign without increasing budget, while agency partners and AI tools provided overflow capacity to prevent burnout and maintain quality.

STUPIDEST MARKETING MOVE + HOW TO WIN ON SOCIAL WITH GARY VEE (34 MINUTE PODCAST)

Gary Vaynerchuk recommends identifying content that performs well organically, tweaking it slightly, and amplifying it to drive sales or registrations. He advises giving value first through the “jab, jab, jab, right hook” approach, where giving builds brand and credibility before asking. Interest should focus on niche passions over follower count, guided by the PAC framework of platforms, algorithms, and culture. Spotting micro-trends that can evolve into long-term cultural movements and avoiding last-touch attribution helps preserve brand impact.

WHY NIKE CAN GET AWAY WITH ‘JUST DO IT' AND YOUR B2B BRAND CAN'T

B2C messaging is often focused on giving intangible meaning to products, such as identity or inspiration, while B2B messaging needs to demonstrate tangible value with clarity.

DISTRIBUTION > CONTENT

Every campaign must start with how it reaches and moves the right audience, or it fails.

USE AI FOR YOUR MARKETING INTERVIEW “PROJECT”

Tips on saving 20-30 hours of unpaid labor for your next interview project.

DISCOVERABILITY IS THE GAMING INDUSTRY'S "ACHILLES' HEEL," MARKETING SURVEY FINDS

Bastion's G2M Video Games Marketing Survey shows that discoverability is the biggest challenge for publishers and developers. 94.4% of respondents expect it to remain their top issue this year. Despite 63.9% of companies having over a decade of publishing experience, most have marketing teams of only 1-5 people, and just 36.1% believe their current budget is adequate. Budgets are tightening, and companies are shifting strategies, with many finding organic influencer marketing as the most effective channel and paid media as the least effective.

AMAZON EXITS GOOGLE SHOPPING GLOBALLY CAUSING 30% CPC COLLAPSE

Amazon's exit from Google Shopping in July instantly reduced its presence from dominant market share to complete absence across the US, Europe, and Japan. This sudden change in auctions drove cost savings of about 25% to 30% for other advertisers and marked the company's boldest advertising strategy shift since its temporary withdrawal during the 2020 lockdowns.

5 SAAS GROWTH STRATEGIES THAT WORK

The Progressive Squeeze gradually increases upgrade prompts as users engage more, while the Feature Tease displays gated premium features to spark curiosity and FOMO. The Moment of Need tactic surfaces upgrade options when users are most invested, and the Transparent Countdown builds trust by clearly showing limits and resets. The Omnipresent Nudge integrates multiple contextual upgrade touchpoints across the interface.

HOW TO MARKET ON REDDIT: WHY BRANDS FAIL AND HOW TO SUCCEED

With over 110M daily users, Reddit rewards genuine contributions and punishes anything staged. It's a trust-based economy where recommendations carry real weight. Brands like 1Password have succeeded by building communities and engaging transparently, while others face backlash for inauthentic tactics. Successful brands are led by people who understand internet culture, value transparency over control, and engage in unscripted conversations.

GOOGLE ADS TO END MANUAL LANGUAGE TARGETING IN SEARCH CAMPAIGNS

Google Ads will remove manual language targeting for Search campaigns by year-end, shifting fully to AI-driven detection based on user signals. Non-Search campaigns like Display and YouTube remain unchanged. While this move simplifies setup and may improve targeting accuracy, it reduces advertiser control and risks misaligned placements.

VIBE MARKETING STATISTICS – GROWTH & USAGE TRENDS

Searches for “vibe marketing” rose 686% in the past year, and nearly 47% of Fortune 500 companies now use it. VIBE stands for Velocity, Identity, Boundaryless, and Emotions first. Velocity means moving at cultural speed, Identity aligns campaigns with who consumers want to be, Boundaryless blends brand and product into a seamless experience, and Emotions first focuses on triggering specific feelings before crafting messages.

IS YOUR FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA SITCOM ACTUALLY A MARKETING CAMPAIGN?

Bilt created the scripted series “Roomies” as a marketing campaign without featuring its brand in the first nine episodes. It has drawn 3.2M combined views on Instagram and TikTok without paid promotion. The company used a separate account for the show to align with social algorithms and avoid overtly promotional content. Bilt plans to eventually integrate its partners, such as Barry's gym, into the storyline. Other brands like Alexis Bittar, InStyle, and Sephora are also using episodic social content to connect with audiences, with some reporting strong community response and product sales tied to their series.