Episode 594 Brand Visibility and AI in the Modern Digital Landscape With Jon Mest
Show Highlights
This episode of “The SDM Show” features an interview with Jon Mest discussing the critical role of brand visibility and artificial intelligence (AI) in modern marketing. Mest, who previously worked in M&A and various startups, shares his journey to developing Chatrank.ai, a tool designed to help businesses improve their presence in AI overviews and answer engines. He explains that traditional SEO methods are becoming less effective as AI models increasingly curate information, leading to the creation of Chatrank to analyze brand perception by AI, recommend content strategies, and optimize websites for better AI visibility. The conversation underscores the importance for businesses, regardless of size, to understand how AI models perceive them, adapt their content, and monitor competitor activity to effectively leverage AI for increased sales and customer acquisition.
Show Notes
- John’s Background and Story:
- Started with a math and engineering background.
- Worked in M&A on Wall Street to learn how companies operate.
- Joined several startups in various roles (coding, sales, customer success).
- Attended business school and became interested in marketing technology and AI.
- Started innovating in the public relations (PR) space with “Just Reach Out” to help brands that can’t afford PR agencies.
- Developed “Chatrank” out of a need to overcome losing website traffic to Google’s AI Overviews.
- The platform was built for their own business’s success and then productized for others.
- PR vs. Marketing:
- PR and marketing are often disconnected in large companies.
- PR is about getting the brand out there and influencing how others perceive it. This is a core part of marketing.
- Strong PR should lead to increased sales, not just vanity metrics.
- Being featured in a specific trade journal can be more valuable than a splashy article in a major publication like Forbes.
- The Shift from SEO to AI Visibility:
- John noticed a significant drop in Google ad spending and website traffic because Google’s AI Overviews were usurping their top-ranked search results and paid ads.
- This led to the realization that they needed to find a way to get “top of mind” in AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity.
- The old way of finding information via “10 blue links” is ending. The future is conversational, intent-based search.
- It’s a matter of when, not if, traditional search and AI answer engines will merge.
- For marketers, it’s crucial to get on board with AI now to avoid being left behind.
- Introducing Chatrank:
- How it works:
- Assess Brand Perception: The platform first analyzes how AI models perceive a business based on its domain and name. If the perception is wrong, it’s a major problem to fix.
- Identify Prompts and Topics: It identifies what people are searching for (prompts) and what topics the business should be more visible in. It also shows a brand’s ranking and its competitors’ rankings for those prompts.
- Content and Site Optimization: Chatrank provides recommendations on what kind of content (listicles, educational posts, case studies) works best for specific prompts and provides templates. It also offers site optimization suggestions, including traditional SEO metrics and things specific to LLMs (e.g., correct robot files).
- Business Focus: The goal of Chatrank is not just visibility for visibility’s sake, but to increase pipeline and sales.
- Customer-Centric Approach: The company is bootstrapped and focused on customer success. They offer month-to-month plans and are transparent with their pricing ($249/month for the core plan).
- How it works:
- Practical Advice for Small Businesses:
- Just Get Started: Spend an hour with a tool like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini.
- Explore Your Niche: Ask questions about your business and industry to see what the AI recommends. This helps you understand what others are seeing and what sources the AI uses.
- Take Action: Based on what you learn, create a piece of content (e.g., a blog post) that addresses a gap you found. Use the AI as an assistant to help with the outline and editing, but write the content yourself.
- Standardize and Log In: Stick to one or two AI products and use a logged-in account so the AI can learn your prompt style.
- Contact Information:
- Just Reach Out: justreachout.io
- Chatrank: chatrank.ai
- Direct contact: available through the websites.
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