How Marketing Leaders are Thinking About AEO

About this episode

#324 | Dave is joined by three marketing leaders from different industries to talk on a live session about AI and SEO and what they've learned over the last year. Dave Steer (CMO at Webflow), Marcy Comer (CMO at EagleView) and Clare Schmitt (VP, Marketing & Communications at Piedmont Global) break down how buyers are learning about products through ChatGPT and why traditional SEO fundamentals still matter. The group shares real examples of how they’re approaching content, prompt tracking, PR, and brand authority, plus advice for marketers on where to focus, what to ignore, and how to guide their teams through this search shift.

Timestamps

• (01:06) - Why AI + SEO is the hottest (and most confusing) topic in B2B marketing right now
• (05:37) - Meet the panel: marketing leaders from Webflow, EagleView, and Piedmont Global
• (09:15) - How AI search is changing buyer behavior vs traditional Google search
• (12:58) - EagleView’s real approach to AI search, greenfield opportunities, and prompt tracking
• (16:05) - What “black hat” vs “white hat” tactics look like in AI-driven search
• (20:12) - Webflow’s take: integrated marketing, generosity, and building useful tools
• (29:33) - Getting past high-level advice and into real execution
• (34:33) - “Circle the buyer”: how content builds demand before buyers are in-market
• (38:16) - Why PR is back: long-form press, citations, and brand credibility in AI search
• (45:16) - What to do if you’re a startup with no budget: focus on positioning first

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Brought to you by:

Optimizely - A no-code AI platform where autonomous agents execute marketing work across webpages, email, SEO, and campaigns. Get a free, personalized 45-minute AI workshop to help you identify the best AI use cases for your marketing team and map out where agents can save you time at optimizely.com/exitfive.

AirOps - The content engineering platform that helps marketers create and maintain high-quality, on-brand content that wins AI search. Go to airops.com/exitfive to start creating content that reflects your expertise, stays true to your brand, and is engineered for performance across human and AI discovery.

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