{"id":3130,"date":"2025-11-06T10:27:38","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T10:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/what-you-missed-and-why-it-matters\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T10:27:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T10:27:38","slug":"what-you-missed-and-why-it-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/what-you-missed-and-why-it-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"What You Missed (and Why It Matters)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>Last year\u2019s Ahrefs Evolve was about surviving Google\u2019s updates.<\/p>\n<p>This year? We barely talked about algorithms. Instead, more than 500 marketers gathered and listened raptly as every conversation circled back to\u00a0AI.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"1280\" class=\"wp-image-192536\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cyrus-shepard-on-stage.jpeg\" alt=\"Cyrus Shepard on stage\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cyrus-shepard-on-stage.jpeg 960w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cyrus-shepard-on-stage-319x425.jpeg 319w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cyrus-shepard-on-stage-768x1024.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\"\/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" class=\"wp-image-192537\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ahrefs-evolve-audience.jpeg\" alt=\"Ahrefs Evolve audience\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ahrefs-evolve-audience.jpeg 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ahrefs-evolve-audience-680x383.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ahrefs-evolve-audience-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ahrefs-evolve-audience-1536x864.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192537\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ahrefs-evolve-audience.jpeg\" alt=\"Ahrefs Evolve audience\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ahrefs-evolve-audience.jpeg 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ahrefs-evolve-audience-680x383.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ahrefs-evolve-audience-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ahrefs-evolve-audience-1536x864.jpeg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Its meteoric impact on our industry cannot be overstated.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1792\" height=\"954\" class=\"wp-image-192538\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ais-meteoric-impact-on-our-industry.jpg\" alt=\"AI's meteoric impact on our industry\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ais-meteoric-impact-on-our-industry.jpg 1792w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ais-meteoric-impact-on-our-industry-680x362.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ais-meteoric-impact-on-our-industry-768x409.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ais-meteoric-impact-on-our-industry-1536x818.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1792px) 100vw, 1792px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1792\" height=\"954\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192538\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ais-meteoric-impact-on-our-industry.jpg\" alt=\"AI's meteoric impact on our industry\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ais-meteoric-impact-on-our-industry.jpg 1792w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ais-meteoric-impact-on-our-industry-680x362.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ais-meteoric-impact-on-our-industry-768x409.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ais-meteoric-impact-on-our-industry-1536x818.jpg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1792px) 100vw, 1792px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Here are the four themes that defined Ahrefs Evolve 2025 for\u00a0me.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation\">\n<p>Pro Tip<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p>Want to experience Ahrefs Evolve 2026? Be the first to know when the tickets drop. <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefsevolve.com\/\">Join the waitlist here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"1. SEO now means search everywhere optimization\" data-section=\"search-everywhere-optimization\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-192535-_mzmqftfr8o56\"\/>1. SEO now means search everywhere optimization<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>LLMs have become an alternative platform for search. Google themselves released <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-ai-overviews\/\">AI Overviews<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-ai-mode\/\">AI Mode<\/a>, decimating clicks to websites.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192539\" style=\"width: 1418px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192539\" class=\"wp-image-192539\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-are-on-19-of-queries.png\" alt=\"Slide showing AIOs are on 19% of queries\" width=\"1408\" height=\"798\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-are-on-19-of-queries.png 1408w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-are-on-19-of-queries-680x385.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-are-on-19-of-queries-768x435.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1408px) 100vw, 1408px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192539\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192539\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-are-on-19-of-queries.png\" alt=\"Slide showing AIOs are on 19% of queries\" width=\"1408\" height=\"798\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-are-on-19-of-queries.png 1408w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-are-on-19-of-queries-680x385.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-are-on-19-of-queries-768x435.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1408px) 100vw, 1408px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192539\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Patrick Stox<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192540\" style=\"width: 1484px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192540\" class=\"wp-image-192540\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-reduce-clicks-by-34-5.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing AIOs reduce clicks by 34.5%\" width=\"1474\" height=\"730\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-reduce-clicks-by-34-5.jpg 1474w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-reduce-clicks-by-34-5-680x337.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-reduce-clicks-by-34-5-768x380.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1474px) 100vw, 1474px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192540\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192540\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-reduce-clicks-by-34-5.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing AIOs reduce clicks by 34.5%\" width=\"1474\" height=\"730\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-reduce-clicks-by-34-5.jpg 1474w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-reduce-clicks-by-34-5-680x337.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-aios-reduce-clicks-by-34-5-768x380.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1474px) 100vw, 1474px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192540\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Patrick Stox<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Even before that, <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/tiktok-seo\/\">TikTok<\/a> was gradually becoming the go-to search engine for Gen Zs. Other searchers were turning directly to Reddit for authentic comments and reviews.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192541\" style=\"width: 1916px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192541\" class=\"wp-image-192541\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-google-is-under-threat.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing Google is under threat\" width=\"1906\" height=\"1016\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-google-is-under-threat.jpg 1906w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-google-is-under-threat-680x362.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-google-is-under-threat-768x409.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-google-is-under-threat-1536x819.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1906px) 100vw, 1906px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192541\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192541\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-google-is-under-threat.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing Google is under threat\" width=\"1906\" height=\"1016\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-google-is-under-threat.jpg 1906w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-google-is-under-threat-680x362.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-google-is-under-threat-768x409.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-google-is-under-threat-1536x819.jpg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1906px) 100vw, 1906px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192541\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Heather Physioc<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Search behavior has changed massively. We don\u2019t just search in that one Google box anymore. Users are discovering content, ideas, places, and buying from all sorts of places: YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Amazon, Instagram, Discord, and\u00a0more.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s time that SEOs recognized that. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/heatherphysioc\/\">Heather Physioc<\/a> mapped it out in her presentation, the modern search journey looks more like\u00a0this:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192542\" style=\"width: 2058px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192542\" class=\"wp-image-192542\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-search-journey-map.png\" alt=\"Slide showing the search journey map\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-search-journey-map.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-search-journey-map-680x403.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-search-journey-map-768x456.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-search-journey-map-1536x911.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192542\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192542\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-search-journey-map.png\" alt=\"Slide showing the search journey map\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-search-journey-map.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-search-journey-map-680x403.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-search-journey-map-768x456.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-search-journey-map-1536x911.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192542\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Heather Physioc<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Search isn\u2019t just Google anymore and SEO isn\u2019t just search engine optimization. It\u2019s now <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/search-everywhere-optimization\/\">search <strong>everywhere <\/strong>optimization<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You have to ask, \u201cWhere is our audience actually looking, and how do we show up\u00a0there?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192543\" style=\"width: 1546px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192543\" class=\"wp-image-192543\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-seo-is-now-search-everywhere-optimiz.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing SEO is now search everywhere optimization\" width=\"1536\" height=\"856\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-seo-is-now-search-everywhere-optimiz.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-seo-is-now-search-everywhere-optimiz-680x379.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-seo-is-now-search-everywhere-optimiz-768x428.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192543\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192543\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-seo-is-now-search-everywhere-optimiz.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing SEO is now search everywhere optimization\" width=\"1536\" height=\"856\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-seo-is-now-search-everywhere-optimiz.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-seo-is-now-search-everywhere-optimiz-680x379.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-seo-is-now-search-everywhere-optimiz-768x428.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192543\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Eric\u00a0Siu<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>To do this, SEOs can\u2019t work in silos anymore. The new SEO leaders have to work across different teams.<\/p>\n<p>I mean, just look at the strategies <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/patrickstox\/\">Patrick<\/a> suggested that works for\u00a0GEO:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192544\" style=\"width: 1712px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192544\" class=\"wp-image-192544\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-geo-tactics-map-to-existing-tactics.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing GEO tactics map to existing tactics\" width=\"1702\" height=\"1120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-geo-tactics-map-to-existing-tactics.jpg 1702w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-geo-tactics-map-to-existing-tactics-646x425.jpg 646w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-geo-tactics-map-to-existing-tactics-768x505.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-geo-tactics-map-to-existing-tactics-1536x1011.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1702px) 100vw, 1702px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192544\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192544\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-geo-tactics-map-to-existing-tactics.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing GEO tactics map to existing tactics\" width=\"1702\" height=\"1120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-geo-tactics-map-to-existing-tactics.jpg 1702w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-geo-tactics-map-to-existing-tactics-646x425.jpg 646w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-geo-tactics-map-to-existing-tactics-768x505.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-geo-tactics-map-to-existing-tactics-1536x1011.jpg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1702px) 100vw, 1702px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192544\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Patrick Stox<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>They\u2019re the job descriptions of different teams. SEOs can\u2019t do them all. The only way is to have more teams and collaborate more\u00a0often.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192545\" style=\"width: 1196px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192545\" class=\"wp-image-192545\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-more-teams-are-needed-for-the-new-er.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing more teams are needed for the new era of search\" width=\"1186\" height=\"592\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-more-teams-are-needed-for-the-new-er.jpg 1186w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-more-teams-are-needed-for-the-new-er-680x339.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-more-teams-are-needed-for-the-new-er-768x383.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-more-teams-are-needed-for-the-new-er-400x200.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1186px) 100vw, 1186px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192545\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192545\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-more-teams-are-needed-for-the-new-er.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing more teams are needed for the new era of search\" width=\"1186\" height=\"592\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-more-teams-are-needed-for-the-new-er.jpg 1186w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-more-teams-are-needed-for-the-new-er-680x339.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-more-teams-are-needed-for-the-new-er-768x383.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-more-teams-are-needed-for-the-new-er-400x200.jpg 400w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1186px) 100vw, 1186px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192545\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Patrick Stox<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Or as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bryan-f-casey\/\">Bryan Casey<\/a> puts it, you want to reframe your job description and mindset from SEO to \u201cGeneral Manager of Inbound\u201d:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192546\" style=\"width: 1332px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192546\" class=\"wp-image-192546\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-reframe-of-the-job-description-a.png\" alt=\"Slide showing the reframe of the job description and mindset from SEO to \u201cGeneral Manager of Inbound\u201d\" width=\"1322\" height=\"804\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-reframe-of-the-job-description-a.png 1322w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-reframe-of-the-job-description-a-680x414.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-reframe-of-the-job-description-a-768x467.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1322px) 100vw, 1322px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192546\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192546\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-reframe-of-the-job-description-a.png\" alt=\"Slide showing the reframe of the job description and mindset from SEO to \u201cGeneral Manager of Inbound\u201d\" width=\"1322\" height=\"804\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-reframe-of-the-job-description-a.png 1322w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-reframe-of-the-job-description-a-680x414.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-reframe-of-the-job-description-a-768x467.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1322px) 100vw, 1322px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192546\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Bryan\u00a0Casey<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"2. Forget your website (seriously)\" data-section=\"forget-your-website\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-192535-_31yer6400gjz\"\/>2. Forget your website (seriously)<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>If AI search is rewriting how people discover content, then the next question is: what and where exactly is AI pulling from?<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for all of us, the biggest ranking factor is probably not even our site anymore. According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airops.com\/report\/the-influence-of-offsite-signals-in-ai-search\">study by AirOps<\/a>, when it comes to AI search visibility, brands are 6.5x more likely to be cited through third-party sources than their own domains.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1108\" height=\"1410\" class=\"wp-image-192547\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chart-showing-85-of-brand-mentions-in-ai-search-c.png\" alt=\"Chart showing 85% of brand mentions in AI search come from third-party content\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chart-showing-85-of-brand-mentions-in-ai-search-c.png 1108w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chart-showing-85-of-brand-mentions-in-ai-search-c-334x425.png 334w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chart-showing-85-of-brand-mentions-in-ai-search-c-768x977.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1108px) 100vw, 1108px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1108\" height=\"1410\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192547\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chart-showing-85-of-brand-mentions-in-ai-search-c.png\" alt=\"Chart showing 85% of brand mentions in AI search come from third-party content\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chart-showing-85-of-brand-mentions-in-ai-search-c.png 1108w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chart-showing-85-of-brand-mentions-in-ai-search-c-334x425.png 334w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chart-showing-85-of-brand-mentions-in-ai-search-c-768x977.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1108px) 100vw, 1108px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Google and other LLMs are trained on what the Internet says and therefore increasingly rely on offsite brand and category signals.<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/carrieroseballoch\/\">Carrie Rose<\/a> puts it, \u201cbrand is the new\u00a0SEO.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192548\" style=\"width: 1870px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192548\" class=\"wp-image-192548\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-brand-is-the-new-seo.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing brand is the new SEO\" width=\"1860\" height=\"692\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-brand-is-the-new-seo.jpg 1860w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-brand-is-the-new-seo-680x253.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-brand-is-the-new-seo-768x286.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-brand-is-the-new-seo-1536x571.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1860px) 100vw, 1860px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192548\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192548\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-brand-is-the-new-seo.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing brand is the new SEO\" width=\"1860\" height=\"692\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-brand-is-the-new-seo.jpg 1860w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-brand-is-the-new-seo-680x253.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-brand-is-the-new-seo-768x286.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-brand-is-the-new-seo-1536x571.jpg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1860px) 100vw, 1860px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192548\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Carrie Rose<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Simply put: LLMs like popular brands.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192549\" style=\"width: 1568px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192549\" class=\"wp-image-192549\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-llms-like-popular-brands.png\" alt=\"Slide showing LLMs like popular brands\" width=\"1558\" height=\"1084\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-llms-like-popular-brands.png 1558w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-llms-like-popular-brands-611x425.png 611w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-llms-like-popular-brands-768x534.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-llms-like-popular-brands-1536x1069.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1558px) 100vw, 1558px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192549\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192549\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-llms-like-popular-brands.png\" alt=\"Slide showing LLMs like popular brands\" width=\"1558\" height=\"1084\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-llms-like-popular-brands.png 1558w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-llms-like-popular-brands-611x425.png 611w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-llms-like-popular-brands-768x534.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-llms-like-popular-brands-1536x1069.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1558px) 100vw, 1558px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192549\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Kevin\u00a0Indig<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Why? Because LLMs \u201ccite\u201d the brands they trust, and that trust is built the same way as human trust\u2014via reputation.<\/p>\n<p>So, if you want to appear in LLMs, you have to build trust, authority, and brand awareness. Fortunately, our speakers had some great ideas on how to do that exactly.<\/p>\n<p>Carrie Rose thinks that brand salience is the most important ranking factor: \u201cThe best marketers are training people and the Internet to associate their brand with the category term.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192550\" style=\"width: 1584px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192550\" class=\"wp-image-192550\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-best-marketers-are-training-peo.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing \u201cThe best marketers are training people and the Internet to associate their brand with the category term.\u201d\" width=\"1574\" height=\"656\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-best-marketers-are-training-peo.jpg 1574w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-best-marketers-are-training-peo-680x283.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-best-marketers-are-training-peo-768x320.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-best-marketers-are-training-peo-1536x640.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1574px) 100vw, 1574px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192550\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192550\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-best-marketers-are-training-peo.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing \u201cThe best marketers are training people and the Internet to associate their brand with the category term.\u201d\" width=\"1574\" height=\"656\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-best-marketers-are-training-peo.jpg 1574w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-best-marketers-are-training-peo-680x283.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-best-marketers-are-training-peo-768x320.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-best-marketers-are-training-peo-1536x640.jpg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1574px) 100vw, 1574px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192550\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Carrie Rose<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>How do you build a brand? From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/cyrusshepard\/\">Cyrus Shepard<\/a>\u2019s presentation, building a brand means appearing on podcasts, doing interviews, running digital PR, being on directories, and having strong author profiles:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192551\" style=\"width: 1474px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192551\" class=\"wp-image-192551\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-brand-building-works.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing how brand building works\" width=\"1464\" height=\"856\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-brand-building-works.jpg 1464w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-brand-building-works-680x398.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-brand-building-works-768x449.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1464px) 100vw, 1464px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192551\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192551\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-brand-building-works.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing how brand building works\" width=\"1464\" height=\"856\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-brand-building-works.jpg 1464w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-brand-building-works-680x398.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-brand-building-works-768x449.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1464px) 100vw, 1464px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192551\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Cyrus Shephard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/kevinindig\/\">Kevin Indig<\/a>\u2019s brilliant \u201cauthority stack\u201d diagram shows how your site and brand can start building trust via a flywheel:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192552\" style=\"width: 1976px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192552\" class=\"wp-image-192552\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-authority-stack.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing the authority stack\" width=\"1966\" height=\"1082\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-authority-stack.jpg 1966w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-authority-stack-680x374.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-authority-stack-768x423.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-authority-stack-1536x845.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1966px) 100vw, 1966px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192552\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192552\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-authority-stack.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing the authority stack\" width=\"1966\" height=\"1082\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-authority-stack.jpg 1966w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-authority-stack-680x374.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-authority-stack-768x423.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-authority-stack-1536x845.jpg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1966px) 100vw, 1966px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192552\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Kevin\u00a0Indig<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>And the most common theme I saw was to <strong>be the\u00a0only.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/peeplaja\/\">Peep Laja<\/a> says, \u201cyou need to figure out your onlyness.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192553\" style=\"width: 1236px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192553\" class=\"wp-image-192553\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-figure-out-your-onlyness.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing figure out your onlyness\" width=\"1226\" height=\"504\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-figure-out-your-onlyness.jpg 1226w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-figure-out-your-onlyness-680x280.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-figure-out-your-onlyness-768x316.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1226px) 100vw, 1226px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192553\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192553\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-figure-out-your-onlyness.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing figure out your onlyness\" width=\"1226\" height=\"504\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-figure-out-your-onlyness.jpg 1226w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-figure-out-your-onlyness-680x280.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-figure-out-your-onlyness-768x316.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1226px) 100vw, 1226px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192553\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Peep\u00a0Laja<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Not just for your positioning, but for everything you do. Especially your content. Cyrus says you should be <strong>the <\/strong>expert, not an expert. And Kevin says that you should be the only one with unique insights.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192554\" style=\"width: 1252px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192554\" class=\"wp-image-192554\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-be-the-only.png\" alt=\"Slide showing how to be the only\" width=\"1242\" height=\"976\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-be-the-only.png 1242w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-be-the-only-541x425.png 541w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-be-the-only-768x604.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1242px) 100vw, 1242px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192554\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192554\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-be-the-only.png\" alt=\"Slide showing how to be the only\" width=\"1242\" height=\"976\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-be-the-only.png 1242w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-be-the-only-541x425.png 541w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-be-the-only-768x604.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1242px) 100vw, 1242px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192554\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Kevin\u00a0Indig<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"3. If you\u2019re using AI like a human intern, you\u2019re doing it wrong\" data-section=\"ai-is-not-a-human-intern\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-192535-_3wagof7cow1w\"\/>3. If you\u2019re using AI like a human intern, you\u2019re doing it\u00a0wrong<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>AI is no longer a shiny new distraction. It\u2019s the minimum standard for staying competitive.<\/p>\n<p>What separates the winners now isn\u2019t whether they use AI, but how deeply they\u2019ve woven it into their systems, teams, and thinking.<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jhtscherck\/\">John-Henry Scherck<\/a> puts it, \u201cAI adoption = business transformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re running off to \u201cdo AI for AI\u2019s sake.\u201d LLMs are not a human intern replacement. They\u2019re AI and will work like\u00a0AI.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192555\" style=\"width: 1190px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192555\" class=\"wp-image-192555\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-ai-doesnt-work-like-a-human.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing how AI doesn't work like a human\" width=\"1180\" height=\"722\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-ai-doesnt-work-like-a-human.jpg 1180w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-ai-doesnt-work-like-a-human-680x416.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-ai-doesnt-work-like-a-human-768x470.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1180px) 100vw, 1180px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192555\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192555\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-ai-doesnt-work-like-a-human.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing how AI doesn't work like a human\" width=\"1180\" height=\"722\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-ai-doesnt-work-like-a-human.jpg 1180w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-ai-doesnt-work-like-a-human-680x416.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-ai-doesnt-work-like-a-human-768x470.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1180px) 100vw, 1180px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192555\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from JH Scherck<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/thinkingslow\/\">Ryan Law<\/a>, our Director of Content Marketing puts it, you want to use it to automate your checklist items and free yourself to do the important 20%: taste, judgement, and strategy.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192556\" style=\"width: 1460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192556\" class=\"wp-image-192556\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-wil-reynolds.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing a quote from Wil Reynolds\" width=\"1450\" height=\"626\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-wil-reynolds.jpg 1450w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-wil-reynolds-680x294.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-wil-reynolds-768x332.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1450px) 100vw, 1450px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192556\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192556\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-wil-reynolds.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing a quote from Wil Reynolds\" width=\"1450\" height=\"626\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-wil-reynolds.jpg 1450w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-wil-reynolds-680x294.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-wil-reynolds-768x332.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1450px) 100vw, 1450px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192556\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Ryan\u00a0Law<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192557\" style=\"width: 1918px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192557\" class=\"wp-image-192557\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-sophie-brannon.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing a quote from Sophie Brannon\" width=\"1908\" height=\"788\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-sophie-brannon.jpg 1908w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-sophie-brannon-680x281.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-sophie-brannon-768x317.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-sophie-brannon-1536x634.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1908px) 100vw, 1908px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192557\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192557\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-sophie-brannon.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing a quote from Sophie Brannon\" width=\"1908\" height=\"788\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-sophie-brannon.jpg 1908w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-sophie-brannon-680x281.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-sophie-brannon-768x317.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-a-quote-from-sophie-brannon-1536x634.jpg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1908px) 100vw, 1908px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192557\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Sophie Brannon<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>However, despite what you read on LinkedIn daily, you can\u2019t just sit down and automate every single part of your work with AI. Even if it\u2019s a checklist item.<\/p>\n<p>You still need humans to check and verify that you\u2019re not producing slop, publishing hallucinations, and that everything is working as intended. If you skip the unglamorous parts of AI adoption, i.e. not verifying what LLMs are creating, all you\u2019ll get are broken workflows, inflated compute bills, and entire campaigns derailed by a single typo replicated at\u00a0scale.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192558\" style=\"width: 1416px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192558\" class=\"wp-image-192558\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-money-was-wasted-scaling-ai.png\" alt=\"Slide showing how money was wasted scaling AI\" width=\"1406\" height=\"598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-money-was-wasted-scaling-ai.png 1406w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-money-was-wasted-scaling-ai-680x289.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-money-was-wasted-scaling-ai-768x327.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1406px) 100vw, 1406px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192558\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192558\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-money-was-wasted-scaling-ai.png\" alt=\"Slide showing how money was wasted scaling AI\" width=\"1406\" height=\"598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-money-was-wasted-scaling-ai.png 1406w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-money-was-wasted-scaling-ai-680x289.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-money-was-wasted-scaling-ai-768x327.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1406px) 100vw, 1406px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192558\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from JH Scherck<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>If you want to start integrating AI into your work and processes, here\u2019s what JH suggests:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Start small and do things that don\u2019t\u00a0scale<\/li>\n<li>Treat prompting as a critical skill for everyone<\/li>\n<li>Establish AI verification guidelines and refine standards across the\u00a0board<\/li>\n<li>Create internal AI learning hubs<\/li>\n<li>Run weekly AI show and tell sessions<\/li>\n<li>In every 1:1, ask \u201chow did you use AI this\u00a0week?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"4. You can\u2019t out-AI the machines. But you can out-human them\" data-section=\"out-human\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-192535-_bw3nbzc27243\"\/>4. You can\u2019t out-AI the machines. But you can out-human them<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In an era when AI can generate competent content on command, the only real advantage left for us is being unmistakably human.<\/p>\n<p>The world doesn\u2019t need another brand to play it safe, make AI-generated slop, and create ads that are indistinguishable from a cow eating grass.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192559\" style=\"width: 1492px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192559\" class=\"wp-image-192559\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-chewing-cows-is-as-good-as-86-of-al.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing chewing cows is as good as 86% of all ads\" width=\"1482\" height=\"1006\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-chewing-cows-is-as-good-as-86-of-al.jpg 1482w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-chewing-cows-is-as-good-as-86-of-al-626x425.jpg 626w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-chewing-cows-is-as-good-as-86-of-al-768x521.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1482px) 100vw, 1482px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192559\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192559\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-chewing-cows-is-as-good-as-86-of-al.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing chewing cows is as good as 86% of all ads\" width=\"1482\" height=\"1006\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-chewing-cows-is-as-good-as-86-of-al.jpg 1482w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-chewing-cows-is-as-good-as-86-of-al-626x425.jpg 626w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-chewing-cows-is-as-good-as-86-of-al-768x521.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1482px) 100vw, 1482px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192559\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Mark Schaefer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>To win in the age of machines is to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/why-great-marketing-is-risky\/\">take risks and be audacious<\/a>. To have the courage to make something unignorable.<\/p>\n<p>How do you do that? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/madhavbhandari\/\">Madhav Bhandari<\/a> has systematized this into a framework: PIPE.<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Pattern identification <\/strong>\u2014 Spot the sameness in each channel and find a pattern to interrupt<\/li>\n<li><strong>Interrupt guardrails<\/strong> \u2014 Set up boundaries so you don\u2019t pattern interrupt blindly. For example, is it on-brand or will it help build the pipeline?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Portfolio design <\/strong>\u2014 Balance the loud plays that grab attention and the thoughtful plays that drive credibility<\/li>\n<li><strong>Execution system<\/strong> \u2014 Make it repeatable. Test small, review monthly, scale up, and reward failures<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192560\" style=\"width: 1428px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192560\" class=\"wp-image-192560\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-pipe-framework.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing the PIPE framework\" width=\"1418\" height=\"902\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-pipe-framework.jpg 1418w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-pipe-framework-668x425.jpg 668w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-pipe-framework-260x166.jpg 260w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-pipe-framework-768x489.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1418px) 100vw, 1418px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192560\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192560\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-pipe-framework.jpg\" alt=\"Slide showing the PIPE framework\" width=\"1418\" height=\"902\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-pipe-framework.jpg 1418w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-pipe-framework-668x425.jpg 668w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-pipe-framework-260x166.jpg 260w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-pipe-framework-768x489.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1418px) 100vw, 1418px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192560\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Madhav Bhandari<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/markwschaefer\">Mark Schaefer<\/a>\u2019s framework is simpler. You can disrupt the story, story medium, storyteller, or all\u00a0three.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192561\" style=\"width: 1652px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192561\" class=\"wp-image-192561\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-path-to-audacity.png\" alt=\"Slide showing the path to audacity\" width=\"1642\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-path-to-audacity.png 1642w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-path-to-audacity-680x398.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-path-to-audacity-768x449.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-path-to-audacity-1536x898.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1642px) 100vw, 1642px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192561\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192561\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-path-to-audacity.png\" alt=\"Slide showing the path to audacity\" width=\"1642\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-path-to-audacity.png 1642w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-path-to-audacity-680x398.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-path-to-audacity-768x449.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-the-path-to-audacity-1536x898.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1642px) 100vw, 1642px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192561\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Mark Schaefer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Mark Schaefer insists that the storyteller should not be you. Which jives perfectly with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/chrisclickup\/\">Chris Cunningham<\/a>\u2019s sentiment that in the future, every company will need a creator.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll need someone who can tell stories, share opinions, and represent your brand publicly. If you\u2019re lucky enough, you can find someone internally. Empower them to publish content and participate in communities.<\/p>\n<p>As Adam Steele of Loganix told me at the Evolve after-party, Ahrefs is a company that does this well\u2014we have tons of known faces in the SEO community: our CMO Tim, our YouTube guru Sam Oh, our Director of Content Marketing Ryan Law, the SEO\u2019s SEO Patrick, and SEO god Glen Allsopp. The rest of us are nipping at their heels too: Louise, Despina, Mateusz, and hopefully, myself.<\/p>\n<p>If you can\u2019t find someone internally, then hire creators.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div id=\"attachment_192562\" style=\"width: 1686px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192562\" class=\"wp-image-192562\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-build-a-ugc-machine.png\" alt=\"Slide showing how to build a UGC machine\" width=\"1676\" height=\"594\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-build-a-ugc-machine.png 1676w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-build-a-ugc-machine-680x241.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-build-a-ugc-machine-768x272.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-build-a-ugc-machine-1536x544.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1676px) 100vw, 1676px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192562\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-192562\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-build-a-ugc-machine.png\" alt=\"Slide showing how to build a UGC machine\" width=\"1676\" height=\"594\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-build-a-ugc-machine.png 1676w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-build-a-ugc-machine-680x241.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-build-a-ugc-machine-768x272.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/slide-showing-how-to-build-a-ugc-machine-1536x544.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1676px) 100vw, 1676px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-192562\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slide from Chris Cunningham<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>As Chris says during his talk, you can play the moneyball game even in marketing. Find creators who are not big but have had some viral hits. Those are the people who understand the algorithm and know how to play the\u00a0game.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-192535-_i78phq8l43id\"\/>Final thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>SEO is evolving. (Pun intended.) And as SEO changes, so do our opportunities. It\u2019s not just about ranking first on Google anymore, but first in mind, first in conversation, and first in\u00a0trust.<\/p>\n<p>The speakers at Ahrefs Evolve showed us that this shift isn\u2019t something to fear. It\u2019s a chance to do more creative work, build stronger brands, and connect with audiences in ways that actually matter. When everyone else is churning out AI content, being genuinely human becomes your superpower. When search happens everywhere, you get to be everywhere too.<\/p>\n<p>The best part? This is just the beginning.<\/p>\n<p>Ready to be part of the evolution? Ahrefs Evolve 2026 is returning to the United States. <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefsevolve.com\/\">Join the waitlist<\/a> and be among the first to know when tickets drop.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\nif(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments);if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window,document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');fbq('init','1511271639109289');fbq('track','PageView');<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ahrefs-evolve-2025-recap\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last year\u2019s Ahrefs Evolve was about surviving Google\u2019s updates. This year? We barely talked about algorithms. Instead, more than 500 marketers gathered and listened raptly as every conversation circled back to\u00a0AI. Its meteoric impact on our industry cannot be overstated. Here are the four themes that defined Ahrefs Evolve 2025 for\u00a0me. Pro Tip Want to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}