Google is no longer the only place people look. So how do we show up in AI searches?

In this episode, Nick sits down with marketing strategist Ross Simmonds to break down what businesses, creators, and entrepreneurs need to understand as discovery shifts from traditional search to ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Reddit, YouTube, and beyond.

They get into query fan-out, why LLMs pull from multiple platforms at once, why YouTube may be one of the biggest opportunities in the AI era, how Reddit became a serious source of influence, why “create once, repurpose forever” matters more than ever, and how to think about attribution when AI is sending people your way in ways analytics often miss.

This is a practical conversation about how to stay visible when the internet is changing under your feet.

In this episode: Why traditional SEO is no longer enough How AI tools decide what brands to mention Why YouTube is massively undervalued How to use Reddit without getting banned Why great content should be repurposed relentlessly How to find real customer insight in an AI world What metrics still matter when attribution gets messy

Ross Simmonds is a marketing strategist and entrepreneur focused on content, distribution, and how brands grow in a changing digital landscape.

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Ask questions, Don't accept the status quo, And be curious.

Chapters

00:00 How do businesses get AI’s attention? 01:03 Google is no longer the only place people look 03:16 How LLM “query fan-out” actually works 06:38 Why YouTube may be the biggest opportunity in AI search 10:30 Why Ross thinks Google has a major AI advantage 13:16 How a school or nonprofit should reach the right audience 16:33 The 4 Es: educate, engage, entertain, empower 19:12 Create once, repurpose forever 21:11 How small businesses can do this without burning out 24:00 Which platforms matter most in each niche? 25:02 Is Facebook still worth it? 27:31 Zapier ad break 30:00 Why dumping money into Google and Meta ads may stop working 33:12 Old-school customer interviews still beat lazy AI marketing 37:22 The Claude Super Bowl ad and why human insight still wins 43:06 What distribution.ai actually does 45:39 Do you need to create content differently for repurposing? 49:33 Behind-the-scenes content, process, and parasocial trust 55:09 How to use Reddit as a brand without getting banned 58:35 What metrics matter now that attribution is messy 1:01:32 Where to find Ross online