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Is SEO actually dying, or are you just listening to the wrong people? While the media claims that AI is causing a 25% traffic collapse, data from 40,000 of the largest websites in the U.S. tells a completely different story. In this episode, Ethan Smith (CEO of Graphite) joins Tim Soulo to perform SEO Necromancy — resurrecting search from the dead by debunking the biggest myths in the industry. Ethan is widely regarded as the leading expert on Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), having built growth engines for brands like Instagram, Robinhood, and BetterUp. He doesn’t just share opinions; he shares data-backed insights from his recent study on how search behavior is actually shifting. You’ll hear why the rise of ChatGPT isn’t the Google killer everyone predicted, how small websites are actually gaining traffic in the AI era, and the exact strategy you need to ensure your brand is cited by LLMs. Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode: 00:00 - Intro 01:00 - Why AI isn’t actually killing the web 04:49 - Measuring the real traffic drop 07:31 - The winners and losers of the AI traffic shift 13:24 - How AI behaviors are expanding the search pie 18:18 - Cleaning up outdated and inaccurate citations 23:28 - Why SEO and AEO are the same thing 27:09 - Why your AI tracking is biased 38:33 - Mining sales calls and Reddit for high-intent prompts 41:29 - How to win the RAG citation game 47:29 - Why being #15 in citations is better than #15 in Google 51:04 - ChatGPT vs Gemini vs Perplexity: where to focus first? Where to find Ethan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanls/ Website: https://graphite.io/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

Early-stage marketing is often a race for reach, but Jay Acunzo argues that resonance is the only metric that actually moves the needle in 2026. Jay is the former Head of Content at HubSpot and Google, a world-renowned keynote speaker, and an expert in storytelling. He has helped countless brands find their "Premise"—the distinct point of view that makes them irreplaceable in a sea of commodities. In this episode, Jay breaks down why "being the best" is a losing game and why "being their favorite" is the ultimate competitive advantage. Here's what you'll learn: (00:00) Intro(01:24) Why "Marketing More" is a trap in the AI era(04:16) Why 100 fans beat 100,000 followers(07:36) The Disney Strategy: Why you should stop trying to be "The Best"(09:52) Using Unsolicited Response Rate (URR) to measure resonance(13:50) How to close deals faster by making people care(16:21) Why generic content is dead (and how to find your "Premise")(24:13) Why brands need personalities to survive(28:55) 5 steps to differentiate your brand(34:38) The Wistia Example: Why your homepage copy isn't your message(41:55) Future-proofing your content for 2026(51:09) The right way to use LLMs in creative work(59:40) Why you can't automate thought leadership We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! Where to find Jay:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayacunzo/Website: https://jayacunzo.com/ Where to find Tim:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/X: @timsoulo Referenced:HubSpot, Wistia, Google, SparkToro, TopRank Marketing, Anthony Bourdain, Andrew Davis, Melanie Deziel.

AI is already better at writing than 90% of people. It’s faster, cheaper, and never gets writer’s block. Yet, most companies that try to fully automate their content end up with "AI slop" that tanks their engagement. Meet Neville Medhora, the founder of Copywriting Course and SwipeFile.com. As an "OG blogger" who started in 1999 and a mentor to many top marketers, Neville has a front-row seat to the massive disruption ripping through the copywriting industry. In other words, Neville isn't just watching the AI revolution. He's actively rewriting the playbook for how professional writers survive it. Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro(02:14) The 3 levels of copywriting (and who is safe)(03:27) Why companies are regretting "All-AI" content(07:19) The death of "How-To" blogs (and what replaces them)(11:46) Neville’s "Voice Ramble" workflow for rapid writing(17:39) Why "Prompt Engineering" is a waste of time(25:29) Generating custom GIFs with Grok(30:48) The new #1 skill: Developing "Taste"(39:03) Using AI to aggressively repurpose winning ads(46:24) Speed of ideation: Using AI as your "Junior Employee"(55:12) The future of the copywriting profession We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Neville:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neville-medhora-654749/X: @nevmedWebsite: https://copywritingcourse.com/Swipe File: https://swipefile.com/ Where to find Tim:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced:• Copywriting Course: https://copywritingcourse.com• SwipeFile: https://swipefile.com• Grok (xAI): https://grok.x.ai• Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com

Is Your Marketing Career Safe from AI? Ryan Law’s 6-Point Defense Plan Sam Altman predicts that 95% of what marketers do will eventually be handled by AI, and Microsoft claims that copywriters are at the top of the replacement list. So, is your marketing career in trouble? To answer this, we sat down with Ryan Law, our Director of Content Marketing. Ryan’s been experimenting with AI since the GPT-3 closed beta in 2020 and has developed a concrete plan for not just surviving—but thriving—in the age of AI. In this episode, Ryan breaks down his 6-point defense plan to future-proof your career. We argue about the death of skyscraper content, why taste is more valuable than technical skill, and why marketers need to be more like rockstars. What you’ll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro (00:48) Ryan Law’s AI “Origin Story” (04:56) Will AI take your marketing job? (15:10) The Right Way to Use AI in Your Workflow (22:24) Why “Taste” is Your Most Valuable Skill Now (32:00) The Death of Skyscraper Content (41:51) Using AI to Learn New Skills (Like Python) (49:25) Be a Rockstar, Not a Session Musician We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! Be sure to like, subscribe, and tell a friend. Where to find Ryan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkingslow/ X: @thinking_slow Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: OpenAI: https://openai.com/ Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/ Seer Interactive: https://www.seerinteractive.com/

Clay went from zero revenue to a 3.1 billion dollar valuation in just 2 years. Was it luck, skill, or are they just riding the AI hype bubble? Meet Bruno Estrella, the Head of Marketing at Clay. He joined when the company was just 20 people and helped build one of the most effective partner and community-led marketing engines in SaaS. In this episode, Bruno reveals Clay’s full growth playbook, from the influencer strategy that popularized the “GTM Engineer” role to the strategy behind their 7-figure campaigns. Here’s what you’ll learn: 00:00 Intro 00:53 The GTM Engineer: How Clay created a new role through influencers 07:13 The story behind Clay’s iconic “Play-Doh” branding 09:55 How to split marketing for self-serve vs. enterprise 16:26 Clay’s programmatic SEO play generating 60 percent of their traffic 21:27 Why Clay uses Substack instead of a traditional blog 25:33 The playbook for scaling to hundreds of global events 31:09 How to get the right people to attend your events 38:20 Why adding a service arm accelerates enterprise revenue 40:57 How Clay uses its own product to grow 45:00 Clay’s social media and executive content strategy 51:31 The strategy behind Clay’s 7-figure billboard campaigns 55:41 Your brand is your advertising budget 01:00:28 The secret to hiring A-players 01:05:15 Clay’s single most effective growth tactic Where to find Bruno: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brunoestrella/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: https://x.com/timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: Clay: https://www.clay.com/ OpenAI: https://openai.com/ HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/ Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/ Webflow: https://webflow.com/ Substack: https://substack.com/ Miro: https://miro.com/ Gong: https://www.gong.io/ ClickUp: https://clickup.com/ Crypto.com: https://crypto.com/

Influencer marketing might be the most hyped growth channel right now. But here’s the problem: most companies are burning money on it. How do you know which influencers are legit and which ones are just gaming the system before you waste your budget? Meet Jeremy Boissinot, founder of Favicon, an influencer marketing platform that has analyzed over 500,000 LinkedIn creators to understand the data signals behind real expertise vs algorithm hacks. In this episode, Jeremy breaks down the red flags that can save you from losing tens of thousands on a bad campaign. Here’s what you’ll learn: 00:00 Intro 01:17 The rise of fake influencers in B2B 03:18 How LinkedIn influencers fake follower counts 07:10 AI-generated comments and the Dead Internet Theory on LinkedIn 11:33 The real motivation behind spam commenting 17:27 How to measure an influencer’s true authenticity 23:58 Are influencer engagement pods still a thing? 31:16 Trust is the new currency: separating experts from algorithm hackers 36:22 Can you spot AI-generated content? 39:27 How to measure content originality 44:12 Why 95 percent of influencer campaigns fail (and why it’s usually the advertiser’s fault) 50:15 Why Reddit is the next big B2B marketing channel Where to find Jeremy: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyboissinot/ Website: https://www.favicon.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: https://x.com/timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: Justin Welsh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinwelsh/ Substack: https://substack.com/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/ Skool: https://www.skool.com/

If you want your brand to show up in ChatGPT, do you follow the same rules as ranking in Google—or is it a completely different game? To settle the debate, we brought in Patrick Stox, one of the most experienced SEO professionals in the industry. Patrick’s been tracking the rise of “Answer Engine Optimization” (AEO) and has strong opinions about the advice new experts are spreading. In this episode, we dive deep into how AI chatbots pull information, how to get your brand mentioned by them, and why AEO might not be as new as it sounds. Here’s what you’ll learn: (00:00) Intro (02:05) Do AI bots render JavaScript? The surprising answer (04:20) To get cited by AI, should your content be the same or different? (10:18) How Large Language Models (LLMs) actually work (15:10) The most important AEO tactic isn’t SEO—it’s this (20:00) Actionable tactics to control what AI says about you (26:20) Why a Korean search query might cite an English page (29:39) AEO is bringing desktop optimization back—here’s why (32:00) How to repurpose content for maximum AEO impact (36:20) Why YouTube is a bigger opportunity than ChatGPT today (41:20) Using communities, PR, and affiliates to shape your AI narrative (44:10) The big secret: Answer Engine Optimization is just good marketing Connect with Patrick: X: @patrickstox LinkedIn: patrickstox Connect with Tim: X: @timsoulo LinkedIn: timsoulo Website: timsoulo.com

AI search is exploding — and everyone wants to teach you how to show up in ChatGPT. But in this new “Wild West,” who can you actually trust? Meet Ryan Law, Ahrefs’ Director of Content Marketing. Ryan and his team have carried out some of the largest studies on AI search, backed by millions of data points, to understand what actually works when it comes to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). If you’ve been waiting for a credible, data-backed guide to getting your brand and content visible in AI search — this is it. What you’ll learn in this episode: 00:00 — Intro 01:06 — The Current State of AI Search 03:46 — 3 Ways to Influence Your AI Visibility 07:55 — The “Era of Off-Page SEO”: Why Mentions Are the New Backlinks 14:48 — Optimizing the Content Types AI Prefers to Cite 18:33 — How to Write for AI (and Humans) 25:51 — Finding and Fixing “Hallucinated URLs” from AI 27:18 — The Untapped Training Data Sources LLMs Love 28:37 — How to Perform a Content Gap Analysis for the AI Era 32:56 — The #1 Technical Mistake in Answer Engine Optimization 34:40 — Fan-Out Queries: How AI Actually Searches Google 39:50 — The Spam Strategy You Must Avoid 41:00 — A Simple 2-Category Framework for AEO 42:32 — AI Search vs. Google’s AI Overviews 44:50 — Outro Connect with Ryan: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkingslow/ X — @thinking_slow Connect with Tim: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X — @timsoulo Website — https://www.timsoulo.com/ If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow the Ahrefs Podcast and share it with a friend. Referenced: Ahrefs Brand Radar — https://ahrefs.com/brand-radar Ahrefs Site Explorer — https://ahrefs.com/site-explorer Ahrefs Web Analytics — https://ahrefs.com/webmaster-tools Clearscope — https://www.clearscope.io G2 — https://www.g2.com Reddit — https://www.reddit.com Quora — https://www.quora.com

Employee-generated content isn’t just a trend — it’s the future of marketing. In this episode of the Ahrefs Podcast, we dive deep into the world of Employee Generated Content (EGC) and short-form social video with Melissa Laurie, founder and CEO of Oysterly Media. Discover why authentic, employee-created video content published on brand channels is quickly becoming essential for companies that want to stand out. Melissa explains how to do EGC right — and why audiences are craving genuine interactions over polished ads. She breaks down the powerful “Triple A Effect” of EGC: Attracting top talent, Retaining engaged staff, And accelerating sales with real product showcases. You’ll hear why Gen Z doesn’t magically know how to make great social content, how to structure a video that hooks attention in seconds, and why even the Singapore Police Force is jumping on the trend. Melissa shares real-world frameworks, production tips, and success stories from companies like Hilton and Microsoft. In this episode: (00:00) Intro (01:57) What is Employee-Generated Content (EGC)? (03:32) Posting from employee accounts vs company accounts (09:27) Using EGC to help with employee disengagement and recruiting (15:35) Examples of successful Day in the Life videos (21:00) Frameworks for EGC videos (31:59) Does trend-jumping work for companies? (35:36) Misconceptions about EGC (41:26) Hacks for making solid short-form videos (48:00) Consulting vs outsourcing for social media content (50:13) The ROI of short-form video for businesses (55:42) Making the shift from sales to social media (58:15) Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Ahrefs Podcast! Be sure to like, subscribe — and tell a friend. Where to find Melissa: LinkedIn: Melissa Laurie Website: oysterlymedia.com Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: Tim Soulo X: @timsoulo Website: timsoulo.com

AI Overviews are changing search — but not in the way Google wants you to think. In this episode of the Ahrefs Podcast, Tim Soulo sits down with Kevin Indig to discuss the real impact of AI on search behavior, website traffic, and SEO strategy. Kevin analyzed over 5 billion search visits and found that while people are searching more often, they’re spending less time per session — and zero-click searches are on the rise. But this isn’t just about traffic. Kevin argues that SEO isn’t dying — it’s just entering a new investment cycle. The smartest companies are already shifting resources toward AI visibility, building tools, and rethinking how they show up in ChatGPT and beyond. In this episode: (00:00) Intro (02:39) How is search changing? (06:20) Revenue vs traffic (10:30) How AI Overviews are changing (13:46) Join Kevin at Ahrefs Evolve (14:23) How to show up in AI Overviews (and is it even useful?) (20:10) AI Overview volatility (26:02) Queries vs prompts (31:11) External validation: the key to ranking on AI Overviews (35:13) Is SEO dead? (42:50) Ranking in AI Overviews vs ChatGPT (49:18) What you should be optimizing with AI (01:05:42) Vibe coding in action (01:07:21) Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Ahrefs Podcast! Be sure to like, subscribe — and tell a friend. Where to find Kevin: LinkedIn: Kevin Indig X: @Kevin_Indig Website: mkt1.co Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: Tim Soulo X: @timsoulo Website: timsoulo.com Referenced in this episode 👤 People Dmitry Gerasimenko Ryan Law Rand Fishkin Eric Siu 🏢 Companies & Brands Ahrefs Google OpenAI Similarweb ChatGPT Ramp 🛠️ Tools / Platforms Claude Humata AI AirOps v0 by Vercel Cursor Relevance AI 📚 Frameworks & Concepts AI Overviews (Google SGE) Vibe Coding Zero-Click Searches First Mover Advantage Information Gain (SEO Strategy) #SEO #GoogleAI #AIOverviews #AhrefsPodcast #KevinIndig #SearchMarketing #DigitalMarketing #AIContent #LLMSearch #ZeroClickSearches #ContentStrategy #AIinMarketing #VibeCoding #MarketingAutomation #aiseo

Emily Kramer (Founder of MKT1 and the Dear Marketers podcast) has led marketing teams at Asana, Carta, and Astro (acquired by Slack). After working in-house, she became an advisor, consulting with B2B startup founders on marketing approaches across growth stages, audiences, and GTM motions. She’s seen it all. We chatted about positioning fundamentals, product vs. content marketing, the growing founder-influencer trend, and her personally coined Fuel and Engine Framework that identifies which part of a broken marketing machine needs fixing. In this episode: (00:00) Intro (01:38) How Will AI Change Startup Marketing and Advising? (07:53) The First Steps to Startup Marketing (14:56) Join Emily at Ahrefs Evolve (15:35) The 12 Marketing Advantages Framework (16:43) Getting Your Messaging and Positioning Right (22:40) The Fuel and Engine Framework (28:59) The 30% Juice Rule for Startups (DEBUNKED) (34:57) The Difference Between Product Marketing and Content Marketing (40:11) Examples of Ultra-Successful Campaigns & Measuring the ROI (49:13) Category Creation vs Roles (51:28) The Rise of Ecosystem Marketing (59:34) Is SEO Dying? (01:01:21) Founders as Influencers (01:07:57) The Shortcut to Building Brand Influence (01:14:10) Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like, subscribe, and tell a friend. — Where to find Emily: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilykramer/ Website: https://www.mkt1.co/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: https://x.com/timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ — Referenced in this episode: 👤 People: Dave Fallarme – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dfallarme/ April Dunford – https://aprildunford.com/ Dustin Moskovitz – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_Moskovitz Ryan Law – https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkingslow/ Dmitry Gerasimenko – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmytrogerasymenko/ 🏢 Companies & Brands: Owner – https://owner.com/ Carta – https://carta.com/ Airbnb – https://www.airbnb.com/ Clay – https://www.clay.com/ Asana – https://asana.com/ Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ Twitter – https://twitter.com/ Substack – https://substack.com/ 🛠️ Tools / Platforms: ChatGPT – https://chat.openai.com/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/ Reddit – https://www.reddit.com/ TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/ Google – https://www.google.com/ 📚 Frameworks & Concepts: Fuel & Engine Framework – https://mkt1.substack.com/p/fuel-engine Marketing Advantages – https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/find-and-accelerate-your-marketing Percent Juice Rule – https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/high-impact-content Category Creation vs Design – https://www.aprildunford.com/post/dont-let-customers-decide-what-your-product-is Ecosystem Marketing – https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/ecosystem-marketing Business Potential – https://blog.timsoulo.com/business-potential-the-most-important-metric-in-content-marketing/ 🌐 Other: Hashtag Angels – https://www.hashtagangels.com/ — #StartupMarketing #MarketingStrategy #EmilyKramer #Ahrefs #B2BMarketing #ContentMarketing #FuelAndEngine #EcosystemMarketing #PersonalBrand #MKT1

Tim Soulo posted on LinkedIn asking if anyone wanted the full breakdown of the publishing process behind Ahrefs’ AI-written articles that actually ranked. Over 400 people commented “do it.” This episode is the result. Ryan Law, Director of Content Marketing at Ahrefs, walks Tim through the entire AI content workflow he built — from crafting detailed briefs to editing hallucinated links. It’s not a “push-button” prompt. It’s a repeatable system that combines ChatGPT with real editorial oversight. And the results are nearly indistinguishable from human-written content. You’ll hear how Ryan builds outlines, adds expert-level insight, handles internal linking, and avoids the usual AI traps. If you’re serious about using AI in your content strategy — and not just experimenting — this is the episode to watch. LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/timsoulo_we-built-a-10-step-process-to-create-ai-generated-activity-7348327597769953283-mpQW In this episode: (00:00) Why We Made This Episode (01:03) How We Know This Workflow Works (02:05) The Basic Setup in ChatGPT (Foundational Instruction Files) (05:45) Setting up the Content Brief (14:19) Join Ryan at Ahrefs Evolve (16:03) Generating a Solid Outline (19:36) Improving AI Output (27:05) The Importance of Human Review (29:33) Polishing the Formatting (30:43) A Closer Look at the 7 Foundational Documents (44:01) Outro ––– Where to find Ryan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkingslow/ X: @thinking_slow Website: https://ryanlaw.me/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/) X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ ––– Referenced in this episode 👤 People Ryan Law https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkingslow/ Andrej Karpathy https://karpathy.ai/ Barbara Minto https://barbaraminto.com/ Gary Provost https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Provost Patrick Stox https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickstox/ ⸻ 🏢 Companies & Brands Ahrefs https://ahrefs.com/ Google https://www.google.com/ Tesla https://www.tesla.com/ McKinsey & Company https://www.mckinsey.com/ ⸻ 🛠️ Tools / Platforms ChatGPT https://chat.openai.com/ WordPress https://wordpress.org/ Claude https://www.anthropic.com/product/claude Replit https://replit.com/ Google Docs https://docs.google.com/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/ GitHub https://github.com/ ⸻ 📚 Frameworks & Concepts PAS Formula (Problem–Agitate–Solution) https://beomniscient.com/blog/pas-copywriting/ MECE Principle (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MECE_principle Pyramid Principle https://www.amazon.fr/Pyramid-Principle-Logic-Writing-Thinking/dp/0273710516 Information Gain (SEO & Content Strategy) https://www.clearscope.io/blog/information-gain-seo ––– #AIContent #ContentMarketing #SEOStrategy #ChatGPT #Ahrefs #AIWorkflow #ContentCreation #DigitalMarketing #AIforSEO #AhrefsPodcast

Is your marketing stuck in “competent” mode? In a world where AI can generate endless content, being good isn’t good enough anymore. In this episode, Tim Soulo sits down with best-selling author and marketing futurist Mark Schaefer to unpack why most marketing feels flat — and how to fix it. Drawing from his book Audacious, Mark makes the case for out-humaning the machines: creating content that’s emotional, unexpected, and deeply memorable. You’ll learn: Why the real threat to your brand isn’t AI — it’s being boring How concepts like the handicap principle and pratfall effect make content feel more real What a $1,500 pig can teach you about word-of-mouth marketing Why Liquid Death isn’t selling water — they’re selling marketing How to measure the ROI of audacity in a spreadsheet-driven world If your brand is playing it safe, this conversation will push you to think bigger, bolder, and more human. Chapters: (00:00) Intro (03:06) The Concept of Audacious Marketing (08:52) How to Out-Human the Machines (11:39) Join Ahrefs Evolve (12:18) Using AI in Marketing (21:12) How a $1500 Pig Became a Marketing Sensation (30:47) Breaking Bad Rules for Good Reasons (37:12) Creating Awe to Break the Pandemic of Dull (48:31) Using Controversy and Stunts to Create Awareness (55:28) How Liquid Death Disrupted a Boring Industry Through Marketing (01:05:15) Buying a Product vs Buying a Brand (01:13:27) Measuring the Impact of Audacious Marketing (01:21:01) Outro Where to find Mark: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisclickup/ Website: https://clickup.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: https://twitter.com/timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced in this episode: 👤 People Michael Krivica — https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkrivica/ Dacher Keltner — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dacherkeltner/ Peter Drucker — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Drucker Philip Kotler — https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipkotler/ Patrick Campbell — https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickccampbell/ Jonah Berger — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonahberger/ Bill Gates — https://www.linkedin.com/in/billgates/ Mike Cessario (Liquid Death Founder) — https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikecessario/ Stix Nielsen (ex-Liquid Death CMO) — https://www.linkedin.com/in/stixnielsen/ 🏢 Companies & Brands Ahrefs — https://ahrefs.com/ Coca-Cola — https://www.coca-colacompany.com/ Netflix — https://www.netflix.com/ Liquid Death — https://liquiddeath.com/ Pepsi — https://www.pepsico.com/ Powerade — https://www.powerade.com/ Gatorade — https://www.gatorade.com/ Elf Cosmetics — https://www.elfcosmetics.com/ Roblox — https://www.roblox.com/ monday.com — https://monday.com/ ClickUp — https://clickup.com/ Asana — https://asana.com/ BMW — https://www.bmw.com/ Audi — https://www.audi.com/ Mercedes — https://www.mercedes-benz.com/ ProfitWell — https://www.profitwell.com/ Mischief Agency — https://www.mischiefusa.com/ Taboo — https://www.taboo.com.au/ 📚 Books Audacious by Mark Schaefer — https://www.amazon.com/Audacious-Marketing-Humans-Machines-Dominate/dp/1119904791 Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger — https://www.amazon.com/Contagious-Things-Catch-Jonah-Berger/dp/1451686579 Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher Keltner — https://www.amazon.com/Awe-Science-Everyday-Wonder-Transform/dp/1982172820 📚 Concepts & Frameworks Handicap Principle — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicap_principle Pratfall Effect — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratfall_effect Social Objects — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_object Collective Effervescence — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_effervescence Four P’s of Marketing — https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/four-ps-of-marketing.asp 🎬 Events South by Southwest (SXSW) — https://www.sxsw.com/ Ahrefs Evolve Conference — https://ahrefs.com/evolve

Chris Cunningham, founding member of ClickUp, reveals the social media strategy that drives a staggering 150M monthly impressions. This is *the* exact strategy that's also attracted major clients like VaynerMedia (yes, GaryVee literally found them through social media). Grab your notes. 📝 Chris shares his contrarian take on hooks and pattern interrupts, explains why hiring LA actors is a no-brainer for your social content, and walks us through his secret Trial Reels technique that consistently multiplies video performance. In this episode: (00:00) The Power of Humor in B2B Marketing (00:57) Measuring ROI in Social Media Strategies (05:10) How Much Does It Cost to Create This Type of Content? (07:32) Finding and Hiring Talent for Content Creation (12:57) Integrating Humor with Project Management Software (17:25) The Creative Process: From Ideas to Execution (18:40) Using Trial Reels to Test Impact(21:08) Brainstorming Creative Ideas(24:02) Balancing Fun and Product Promotion (29:17) Breaking Marketing Norms (33:30) The ABCD Framework for Content Creation (38:33) Pattern Interrupt Techniques in Content (43:18) Psychological Hacks for Converting Followers (46:24) Building a Personal Brand Vs a Company Brand (50:39) Types of Content for Brand Accounts (53:44) Defining the ClickUp Brand (57:10) The $15K ClickUp Album (01:02:01) Influencer Marketing Strategies (01:04:50) The Super Bowl Ad Experience (01:07:35) AI in Marketing: A Critical Perspective (01:11:54) Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). ⸻ Where to find Chris: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisclickup/ X: @ChrisClickUp Website: https://clickup.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/) X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ ⸻ Referenced in this episode: 👤 People Gary Vaynerchuk (GaryVee): https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyvaynerchuk/ Kyle Coleman (ClickUp CMO): https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylecoleman/ Adam Robinson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamsrobinson/ Gaurav Agarwal (ClickUp COO): https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaurav-agarwal-8278271/ Zeb Evans (ClickUp Founder/CEO): https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeb-evans/ Seth Godin: https://www.sethgodin.com/ Mr. Beast:  ⁨@MrBeast⁩  Clever (Artist): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_(rapper) ⸻ 🏢 Companies & Brands VaynerMedia: https://vaynerx.com/ Adweek (Adworld): https://www.adweek.com/ Groundlings: https://www.groundlings.com/ Copy AI: https://www.copy.ai/ Clari: https://www.clari.com/ BuzzFeed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ Halligan Cinema: https://halligancinema.com/ HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/ Asana: https://asana.com/ Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira Wendy’s: https://www.wendys.com/ Apple: https://www.apple.com/ Windows (Microsoft): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows Morning Brew: https://www.morningbrew.com/ ⸻ 🛠️ Tools / Platforms TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/ Spotify: https://www.spotify.com/ Apple Music: https://www.apple.com/apple-music/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ Claude (Anthropic AI): https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-3-family ChatGPT (OpenAI): https://chat.openai.com/ Clay (Lead gen / enrichment): https://www.clay.com/

Is AI replacing marketers, or just helping bad marketers move faster? In this episode, we're joined by Eric Siu, founder of Single Grain, host of  ⁨@LevelingUpOfficial⁩ , and advisor to some of the biggest SaaS companies, to debate how AI is changing marketing right now. Eric breaks down the AI workflows his agency uses to cut content production time by 90%, including how they generated 21 blog posts in 30 minutes. But it’s not magic. We dive into where AI works, where it still fails, and why human editors are still a critical part of the process. We discuss: 00:00 Intro 00:57 Growing an Agency in an AI World 05:23 What Can AI Actually Be Used for Right Now? 09:30 21 Blog Posts in 30 Minutes: Real or Slop? 13:11 The Role of Human Editors in AI Content 15:52 AI Tools Reshaping Marketing 23:54 Agency Value in the Age of AI 30:25 AI for Scheduling, Note-Taking, and Automation 44:03 Gamifying SOPs with AI 46:57 One-Click Internal Linking 50:53 The Personal Brand Machine (And How AI Supercharges It) 58:50 AI-Powered LinkedIn Ads & ABM 01:08:07 Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). ⸻ Where to find Eric: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericosiu/ X: @ericosiuWebsites: https://www.singlegrain.com/ https://karrot.ai/ https://www.levelingup.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/)X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ 👥 People Mentioned • Neil Patel – Co-founder of NP Digital, marketing influencer, frequent collaborator with Eric LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilkpatel Website: https://neilpatel.com • Gael Breton – Co-founder of Authority Hacker, SEO educator LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gael-breton-762b1515 Website: https://www.authorityhacker.com • Nathan Barry – Founder of ConvertKit (now Kit), previous podcast guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry Website: https://nathanbarry.com • Dmitry Gerasimenko – Founder & CEO of Ahrefs LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerasimenko ⸻ 🏢 Companies & Tools Referenced • Single Grain – Digital marketing agency founded by Eric Siu Website: https://www.singlegrain.com • Ahrefs – SEO and marketing intelligence platform Website: https://ahrefs.com • NP Digital – Marketing agency co-founded by Neil Patel Website: https://npdigital.com • Authority Hacker – SEO and content marketing education Website: https://www.authorityhacker.com • Lindy.ai – AI agent tool for task automation, including recruiting Website: https://lindy.ai • Manos – AI-powered recruiting automation (referenced) Website: https://manos.so • Reclaim.ai – Smart calendar management for scheduling and productivity Website: https://reclaim.ai • Hawie.ai – AI meeting scheduling assistant Website: https://hawie.ai • Granola – AI note-taking tool Website: https://granola.so • Gong – Sales intelligence and meeting recording tool Website: https://www.gong.io • Overlap – AI video clipping for short-form content Website: https://www.overlap.so • Opus Clip – AI video clipping tool for podcasts and YouTube Website: https://www.opus.pro • Descript – AI-powered video editing tool Website: https://www.descript.com • Bannerbear – Automated image and video generation (used for OG images) Website: https://www.bannerbear.com ⸻ 📚 Books & Ideas Referenced • “Who’s Got the Monkey?” – Harvard Business Review article on delegation Read it: https://hbr.org/1974/11/management-time-whos-got-the-monkey