SEO+GEO=FTW

Ever sat in a business review and have your CEO Google your brand/product/category and ask why results come up blank? Speaking to peers, it seems to be a familiar story…often embarrassing but always a wake-up call on living the real customer journey, and not one that starts with that awe-inspiring whitepaper download or wonderfully-catered breakfast briefing.

Now AI-driven search - from ChatGPT to Google's AI Overviews - is reshaping the path to purchase. I thought TrustRadius' 2025 report, "Bridging the Trust Gap: B2B Tech Buying in the Age of AI” made interesting reading. Four things struck me:

1. AI is the new search front door. 72% of B2B buyers now encounter Google’s AI Overviews during research, with 90% clicking through to at least one cited source. >> Your content needs to be in the AI spotlight.

2. Buyers decide earlier, and with AI help. 60–70% of B2B decisions are made before vendor contact and 7% of buyers are now using tools like ChatGPT directly. >> Your first impression may come via an AI summary.

3. Trust in AI content is growing. 80% of buyers now trust AI-generated content at least some of the time. A 19% jump year-on-year. >> Quality content matters more than ever.

4. AI usage is rising fast. Occasional use of AI in B2B buying rose from 17% in 2024 to 30% in 2025. >> The laggards are shrinking.

I had the pleasure of catching up with AI expert Christopher Kelly PhD, whose work in natural language processing and decision science is helping shape the future of web content. What I took away from our conversation is that Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) actually builds on SEO. In fact AI often uses search engine results as its source (who knew?). Additionally, AI favours authoritative, well-structured, conversational and frequently updated content. But more importantly (and somewhat ironically) it also hates vanilla content (and bullet points!), so maintaining a strong, unique brand voice is equally essential. Christopher is pioneering some fascinating work, identifying 150+ features that help your content surface in AI-generated responses - without hurting traditional SEO performance.

💡 The takeaway? Optimising for AI isn’t optional - it’s foundational. Content must be AI-friendly. You need to think GEO and get ahead of the game. Make sure next time it’s not SEO, Uh-oh, but SEO, GEO, FTW!

Are you a Marketing Guru or a Marketing Gnu? 🧞‍♂️🫎

Back in my Oracle days, I ran a campaign targeting marketing directors with this very question - challenging their willingness to embrace analytics and tech to raise their game.

Fast forward a few decades, and it’s still the same question. But today, it’s less about dashboards and more about your personal relationship with technology and, more importantly, your mindset.

📈 Growth happens when you stay curious and open to change. Don’t chase every shiny new thing, but do embrace innovation when it adds real value.

Take AI. It’s enabling marketers to do more — from prompts to assistants to autonomous agents. But there are still two common fears I hear all the time:

🎨 "AI will kill creativity". Not true. Some creators are brilliant. Many are average. AI will outperform plenty of what we currently accept as "good enough." But great designers, photographers, writers, and editors? They’ll evolve, just like they did with Canva, Lightroom, and Photoshop. Let's not dismiss AI out of fear. We don’t shame people for using spellcheckers, do we? 😉

✍️ "AI will kill writing". Writing isn’t just about words. It’s about craft. I've worked with the best writers and editors in the business, and they are essential. In an AI-driven world, their skill in guiding, refining, and elevating content becomes even more important. Good writing stands out more than ever.

So, don’t be a Gnu.

Be curious. Be adaptable. Be a Guru. 🌱✨

#Marketing #AI #Creativity #Mindset #Innovation #GrowthMindset #Curiosity

AI, Vibes and Jessie J

Flying visit to Advertising Week Europe. One of those grassroots-feeling events where every session is packed and, just like Disneyland, you spend a lot of time queueing. 😡

Sessions were thankfully tariff-free 😀 and covered (of course) AI in marketing, search evolution, artist partnerships and collaborative marketing strategies.

Three Key Takeaways:

💎 AI as your creative partner
Lots of talk about AI empowering not replacing creativity (yep!). But nice to see some pragmatism (and tool tips) in Adobe's 3 step "AI-enabled creativity framework": deep audience research, creative exploration and AI-enabled human creativity.

💎 Authentic partnerships beat transactional relationships
Loads of speakers on the topic of trust (even musician Jessie J!) in the digital world, but partnerships seem even more critical than ever. Speakers emphasised the need for shared values and alignment (dare I say its all about the "vibe"?!) as the foundation for successful collaborations.

💎 B2B marketing in crisis
The "off stage" chat was all about the identity crisis of B2B marketing - where does it sit? All under a CRO? Or should we split growth & corporate marketing? Measurement? Do we need all these people? AI can do it all, right? Is brand really a thing? Lots of churn going on!

As always it was to a chance re-connect with friends and colleagues. Great to see you Claire Darley Helen Gillbe Hung Le Alastair Hussain Michael Bayler Linus Gregoriadis Justin Cooke John Horsley Simon Johnson Lindsay O'Gorman Simon Morris.

Finally, congrats in particular to John Horsley and team in a first outing for Path7. Great panel discussion that dove into partner marketing as purposeful collaboration requiring matched values. Speakers discussed how partnerships differ from paid media by being more authentic and trust-based, especially valuable in the post-GDPR landscape where we now have "richer data but less of it."

Right, I'm off to queue for a coffee in my kitchen 🚶🚶🚶🚶

#AdvertisingWeek #AIMarketing #PartnerMarketing #MarketingStrategy #DigitalMarketing

On AI and dotcom bubbles

I know what you're thinking. Aren't those the youthful faces of the dotcom boom? 👶 👶

And yes, you're right! Ferdi and I were both at Ariba during one of the biggest booms (and busts) in tech history.

My time at Ariba was like an MBA in a box. I got to see every facet of business from hyper-growth to rapid crash to recovery. We were valued at $40bn (on revenues of $100m and quarterly losses of $2bn 😱 ), grew our teams by 3x then had to let everyone go. I came out more resilient & tougher, taking the European business from almost zero to $100m in 3 years. What a roller coaster 😅

Every boom booms, the bubble bursts, but ultimately recovers:

✅ The internet has radically transformed our world
✅ Ariba went on to define a new SaaS category still used today (Spend Management), was acquired by SAP and is now SAP Ariba
✅ Ferdi has become a serial entrepreneur (kudos 🙌 ) and
✅ I've gone on to enjoy leadership roles at Microsoft, Adobe, VMware, LettsGroup and others.

Have I seen it all before? Maybe, maybe not. AI is disrupting our industries and our jobs, but the bubble will burst, new opportunities will be created and we'll rise like a phoenix, just as Ariba did. 🐦‍🔥

AI and Art: Like Oil & Water❓

It’s tough being an artist. A world notoriously difficult to get into and now being disrupted by AI bypassing human creativity. 😠

While DALL-E and Midjourney may grab the headlines, they're just one small part of how AI is transforming the art world. AI can also handle the business side of art, letting creators focus on what they do best – creating. And empowering artists to build a sustainable career. 💪

That's why I’m proud to work with the team at LettsArt to disrupt the business of art - providing FREE no-code Art Intelligence software for artists to have a better way to manage, share and sell their art. These tools aren't replacing artistic creativity – they're amplifying it by handling the admin and business tasks that many artists find challenging or time-consuming. 🙌

✅ Make More Money. Traditional galleries often take a significant cut from art sales, and don’t offer royalties on future resales. With LettsArt artists cut out the middleman (it’s DTC but Direct To Collector), take a bigger cut of every new sale and even receive royalties from resales of NFT artworks, maximising their potential earnings.

✅ Maintain Control. LettsArt uses AI and Blockchain to make it easy for artists to control the distribution and authenticity of their works.

✅ Spend More Time Creating. From sales and marketing to IT and finance, LettsArt uses AI to provide a whole range of assistants, leaving artists to focus on creating.

✨ Over 800 artists are now running their own gallery using LettsArt (some shared here). Their range of creativity and entrepreneurship is incredible - all using AI to boost their careers.

The reality is that AI and art aren't oil and water at all. They're more like paint and canvas. And the future of art isn't about AI versus human creativity – it's about how they can complement each other.

So, if you know any artists needing a leg up on their journey, have them check out LettsArt. It's completely 🆓. Share this link to sign up: https://www.lettsart.com/start/

🖼️ 🖼️ 🖼️ : Just some of the art from a selection of artists using LettsArt.

All roads lead to the ICP

Had some interesting conversations in the past few weeks with a few GTM leaders. Different companies, different conversations, different needs but all were struggling with setting up marketing for success, the role of marketing, how to structure the team, what OKRs to set and what talent is needed.

What I love about marketing is in amongst all the shiny new things (RIP Second Life, SlideShare, Sribd, Twitter, Clubhouse. Hello AI!), the basics never change. All roads always lead to the need to define the Ideal Customer Profile and, more importantly, agree this across all the GTM functions.

With the ICP in place and the business OKRs mapped out, only then can we start to think about the marketing strategies and tactics. Digital? Events? ABM? Field marketing? Partner Marketing? SDR/BDRs etc. (I know, if only life were that simple).

Always, always get the fundamentals right first!

On a separate, but related, note I did a little sketch in thinking this through to myself, took a photo and asked ChatGPT to provide a clearer, more professional graphic. I think we’ll all agree AI hashtag#NailedIt 🤣

AI: 10x the content, 1/10 the meaning (Source : Jeff Allen)

"How to seize the AI opportunity?"

Enjoyed attending the CogX Festival in London, "How to seize the AI opportunity?" 🤖🌍

AI is truly at the heart of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It’s reshaping everything from operational efficiency to customer experience. But more meaningful use cases outside of "Shrimp Jesus" need to be shared to understand the positive impact of AI. For example, the life sciences industry benefiting in areas like drug discovery and the development of new proteins and compounds. 🧬💡

Here are my 4 key takeaways from the discussions. And of course, it was great to catch up with peers - both old & new!

1. AI is rewriting the rulebook for work: New roles are emerging, but businesses must focus on upskilling employees and setting guardrails to manage AI’s rapid evolution. 🚀 Trust and security are top concerns—especially when it comes to IP, copyright, and privacy. 🔒🧑‍⚖️

2. We need a human-centric approach: To harness AI’s power responsibly, we need clear guidelines, technical documentation, and governance. 📜 Engaging with policy-makers early and considering public priorities alongside private interests are crucial steps for ensuring AI supports democracy and civil liberties. 🏛️🤝

3. Sustainability and infrastructure challenges: AI’s energy consumption is a growing concern. 🌱⚡ Generating just two AI images would drain an iPhone battery, so how are we tackling the environmental impact of AI.

4. From "wow" to "how": Beyond “wow” moments, companies must focus on the “how”—creating roadmaps that make AI integration feasible while addressing environmental impacts and public service delivery. 📊💻

As AI continues to advance, we need to strike a balance between innovation and responsibility. Let’s build a future where technology works for everyone, not just a few. 🌍💪

#AI #FutureOfWork #Sustainability #Innovation #Governance