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AI Search Isn’t ‘Coming’ — It’s Already Rewriting the Way Buyers Find You
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This week on Revenue Rehab, Brandi Starr is joined by Michael Buckbee, founder of Knowatoa and AI-driven search marketing expert, who believes most marketers are missing out on revenue by ignoring how their brands appear in AI search tools—and he’s ready to prove it. In this episode, Buckbee challenges the industry’s Google-first mindset and argues that AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini are now the key gateways to buyers, demanding a radical rethink of content and SEO strategy. From shifting content budgets to exposing overlooked technical pitfalls, Buckbee makes the case that revenue leaders must adapt now to avoid losing visibility and pipeline in an AI-dominated landscape. Is your strategy keeping up, or is it time for a rehab?
Episode Type: Problem Solving - Industry analysts, consultants, and founders take a bold stance on critical revenue challenges, offering insights you won’t hear anywhere else. These episodes explore common industry challenges and potential solutions through expert insights and varied perspectives.
Bullet Points of Key Topics + Chapter Markers:
Topic #1: Google’s Grip on B2B Search Is Slipping [02:41]
Michael Buckbee argues that relying solely on Google for B2B brand discovery is now a critical mistake. He highlights how AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity are rapidly changing buyer behavior and asserts that “most marketers have no idea how they’re showing up in AI and it's costing them real revenue.” Brandi Starr questions whether AI is truly overtaking Google, leading Michael to explain that even Google is transforming its search experience in response to these new AI platforms.
Topic #2: Outdated SEO Strategies Are Killing Organic Growth [06:23]
Michael challenges the conventional top-of-funnel, high-traffic blog strategy that marketers have depended on for years. He points out that informational queries are increasingly answered directly by AI summaries, saying “those are going away as a traffic source,” and urges leaders to shift focus toward bottom-of-funnel content that addresses specific buyer objections and differentiators. Brandi Starr pushes for actionable advice, sparking a discussion on how marketing budgets and content plans need to be realigned for this new search landscape.
Topic #3: Winning Requires Siteless SEO and AI Indexing [15:56]
Michael pushes revenue leaders to rethink basic SEO, warning that many websites are inadvertently blocking AI crawlers and missing out on AI-driven buyer research. He explains the need to ensure that AI bots can index your content and introduces the concept of “siteless SEO,” recommending that brands publish content directly on platforms like LinkedIn and Reddit for broader visibility. The segment includes specific tactics as Michael calls this a foundational shift that “marketers need to act on now.”
The Wrong Approach vs. Smarter Alternative
The Wrong Approach: "A common trap is to stick with the existing content plans. You know, you had mentioned AI overviews and how it lists sources. You know, you can still fight for those terms, those like high level informational terms. But I do think you really need to consider, is this something where people are going to read this and then there's a list of 30 sites on the side? Is that a benefit to you that you're one of those 30 links that's buried in there? Are people actually going to find you? Is it actually going to move things forward or are your efforts better spent elsewhere?" – Michael Buckbee
Why It Fails: Traditional top-of-funnel content strategies focus on broad informational keywords, but AI search tools now summarize these queries and bury brands in a long list of sources. This leads to reduced visibility and engagement, as buyers are more likely to rely on AI summaries instead of clicking through to individual sites.
The Smarter Alternative: Companies should pivot their content strategy toward mid- and bottom-funnel topics that address buyer objections and showcase clear differentiation. Distributing this content across multiple platforms, not just your website, increases the likelihood that AI systems will pick up and accurately represent your brand, making it easier for buyers to discover and trust you during their research process.
The Most Damaging Myth
The Myth: “We kind of don't need to care about these new AI startups and all we need to do is care about Google and they just go back to doing things how they have been doing them.” – Michael Buckbee
Why It’s Wrong: Many marketers believe that focusing on traditional Google SEO is enough, but Google itself is evolving in response to AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Ignoring these changes means companies risk losing visibility where buyers are actually researching and making decisions, leading to missed revenue opportunities.
What Companies Should Do Instead: Companies should adapt by monitoring their brand visibility across AI search platforms, shifting content strategies away from solely top-of-funnel topics, and making sure their content is accessible to both Google and AI bots. This proactive approach ensures brands continue to show up where buyers are searching now and in the future.
The Rapid-Fire Round
What is the first sign that a company is facing the problem of being ready for AI search but hasn't yet named it?“In their Google search console, they're probably seeing a very steady amount of impressions coming through and a drop off in click throughs to their site. That's a pattern that's seen in lots of different places. And that's the first like real data point that a lot of SEOs have found like, something's going on here. We need to be prepared for.” - Michael Buckbee
What's one mindset shift that unlocks progress?“I think the biggest mindset shift should be the duplicate content penalty, which was something that SEOs have considered for a long time, which is like, put a blog post up on my site. I don't want another site to scrape it and put it up on their site because that pulls the Google juice from both of us. It dilutes it. But in the world of AI search, that's a huge benefit. Now you're twice as powerful because the messaging has been said twice.”
What's one common trap leaders fall into when trying to solve this?“I think a common trap is to stick with the existing content plans. You know, you had mentioned AI overviews and how it lists sources. You know, you can still fight for those terms, those like high level informational terms, but I do think you really need to consider, is this something where people are going to read this and then there's a list of 30 sites on the side? Is that a benefit to you? That you're one of those 30 links that's buried in there? Are people actually gonna find you? Is it actually gonna move things forward? Or are your efforts better spent elsewhere?”
What's the most underrated move that actually works to fix this fast?“I think the most underrated move is to just make sure that checkbox isn't hit in Cloudflare because I see that a lot. Many, many sites are inadvertently blocking these for lots of weird reasons. And you know, it's such an easy fix. Why wouldn't you do that?”
Links:
Website: https://knowatoa.com
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