Search Ranking in a Post-Google World: AI Optimization with Michael Buckbee Artwork

Human-First AI Marketing Podcast by Avenue9

Turn your expertise into content, conversations, and clients with Human-First AI Marketing. Learn how and where to leverage AI without burning bridges, burning cash, or burning out your team.

For founders and marketing leaders at expert-led B2B firms, Mike Montague, founder of Avenue9, hosts weekly conversations with AI and marketing experts and other founders to learn how they use AI in marketing.

You'll hear practical ways to build thought leadership, leverage AI systems, tell scalable sales stories that travel, show up in AI answers with Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), and build workflows that amplify your team. Practical, candid, and a little funny.

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Human-First AI Marketing Podcast by Avenue9

Search Ranking in a Post-Google World: AI Optimization with Michael Buckbee

April 14, 2025 • Mike Montague • Season 1 • Episode 16

0:00 | 34:45

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In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, Mike Montague sits down with Michael Buckbee, founder of Knowatoa, to explore how the rise of AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity is reshaping the rules of discoverability. Michael challenges the idea that SEO is dead and instead reframes it as evolving—fast. The two dig into the shift from keyword rankings to AI-generated answers, the new role of content in driving buying decisions, and how companies can start showing up in AI tools that are replacing traditional search behavior.

Whether you're a CMO looking for the next lead gen edge or a marketer trying to future-proof your content strategy, this episode offers a clear, human-first roadmap. You'll learn why the most important answers about your brand shouldn't be hidden behind forms, how to publish content AI can actually read and recommend, and why challenger brands have more opportunity than ever to outsmart big players. If your search strategy still begins and ends with Google, it’s time for an upgrade.

Chapter

01:15 – What Knowatoa Does and the AI Search Landscape
02:45 – Is SEO Dead or Just Changing?
05:30 – How Google’s AI Overviews Are Reshaping Search
07:20 – Why Traditional Content No Longer Wins in AI
09:00 – The Buyer Journey Is Still Happening—Just in AI
11:30 – How Challenger Brands Can Beat Big Companies in AI
13:15 – What to Publish: Comparison Guides, FAQs, & More
15:00 – SEO for ChatGPT: What the LLMs Are Looking For
17:00 – Why Blocking Bots Could Be Costing You Visibility
18:45 – The Biscuits Framework & Ranking in AI Search
21:30 – This Is the Cheapest AI Will Ever Be
24:00 – Action Steps for B2B Marketers
26:00 – Outro & Where to Learn More

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