This week in AI + Marketing: Google fights back on traffic claims, SEO → GEO is official, and why your team still isn't using AI tools.
The biggest story? Google's pushback on AI Overviews killing website traffic (spoiler: I'm not entirely convinced). Meanwhile, New York Magazine declares "SEO is dead" and introduces more of the non-tech world to GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) - if that's not in your 2025 strategy deck yet, you're behind - NY Mag and I are sorry to say 😬!
Plus: Clay's $46M raise is reshaping B2B prospecting, Vogue's AI ad controversy shows us where NOT to use AI, and why most marketing teams abandon AI tools after the initial hype (hint: it's not the tech, it's the implementation).
As a reminder, here's what's covered each week:
- 🔵 Top AI + Marketing News
- 🟣 (LinkedIn) Posts I Love
- 🟡 AI + Marketing Tools
- 🟢 Events on My Radar
- ⚫️ Cool AI + Marketing Jobs
What's your take - is website traffic really "evolving" or just declining? And are you ready for the GEO era (was a "accidentally" on Cornelia Street this weekend...maybe)?
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🔵 Top AI + Marketing News
Google denies AI search features are killing website traffic
TechCrunch | ~4-minute read
Overview: Google pushes back on claims that AI features like AI Overviews have significantly reduced website traffic. Key Points:
- Reports click volume is “relatively stable” year-over-year with better “click quality.”
- Google acknowledges shifts in traffic patterns—some sites gain, some lose.
- Emphasizes AI Overviews may add links, offering more opportunities for visibility.
My Take: Google’s probably right, traffic isn’t dead. It’s evolving. But “same clicks” doesn’t mean same people coming over to your place and tbh, I don’t know how much I believe in this article 😬. (See below for a New York Mag take.)
The secret to getting your marketing team to use AI
MarTech | 6-minute read
Overview: MarTech outlines practical strategies for ensuring teams consistently adopt AI tools instead of abandoning them after initial hype.
Key Points:
- AI adoption struggles often stem from unclear “why” and lack of visible wins.
- Leaders should embed AI into existing workflows, not tack it on.
- Small, repeatable AI wins build long-term confidence and habit.
My Take: AI isn’t magic until it’s built in. Start with quick wins, like copy cleanup or audience insights, and you’ll have a team that uses AI without even thinking about it. This one’s a must-read for marketing ops leads.
Clay raises $46M to power AI-driven marketing workflows
The New York Times | 5-minute read
Overview: Clay, an AI-powered prospecting and personalization platform, secures $46M to expand automation capabilities for growth teams.
Key Points:
- Automates lead sourcing, enrichment, and personalized outreach.
- Investors see Clay as central to the future of outbound marketing.
- Plans to expand integrations with CRM and sales enablement tools.
My Take: Clay is becoming the “Zapier for outbound growth,” but smarter. B2B marketers, SDR teams, and growth leads should be watching closely; this is already reshaping how prospecting occurs. (Full disclosure, I made a verryyyyyy small investment in their community round. Obsessed with the product is an understatement.)
Yum Brands taps AI to aggregate social media and reviews
Customer Experience Dive | 4-minute read
Overview: Yum Brands launches AI-powered customer feedback aggregation, pulling in insights from social platforms and review sites.
Key Points:
- Aggregates brand mentions and sentiment across multiple sources.
- Surfaces menu and service improvement opportunities faster.
- Aims to boost customer loyalty through quicker action on feedback.
My Take: Fast food meets fast feedback (hehe). If AI can flag menu flops or breakout hits in real time, marketers can pivot promos almost instantly. Restaurant marketers and CX teams, this is a great case study for you.
SEO is dead. Say hello to GEO.
New York Magazine / Intelligencer | 7-minute read
Overview: The shift from search engine optimization (SEO) to generative engine optimization (GEO) is reshaping how content gets discovered.
Key Points:
- AI summaries in search are reducing traditional link clicks.
- GEO focuses on optimizing for AI-generated answers instead of page rankings.
- Early adopters are experimenting with structured data and “answer-first” content.
My Take: If GEO isn’t in your strategy deck yet, you’re behind. This is the future of content visibility, and it’s arriving faster than most marketers think (it’s here!).
The age of AI PR: Why it matters more than ever
The Drum | 4-minute read
Overview: PR’s role is expanding as AI-generated content fuels misinformation risks and brand trust challenges.
Key Points:
- AI deepfakes and misinformation make brand narrative control harder.
- PR teams must become faster at monitoring and correcting false narratives.
- Authenticity and transparency are becoming non-negotiable trust signals.
My Take: AI PR isn’t just about pumping out press releases…it’s about protecting your brand in real time. If you’re a comms lead, you need a rapid-response plan ready for when AI twists, trims, or totally rewrites your story.
The uproar over Vogue’s AI-generated ad isn’t just about fashion
TechCrunch | 5-minute read
Overview: Vogue’s AI-generated ad sparks debate over authenticity, creative credit, and brand positioning.
Key Points:
- Critics argue AI visuals erode human artistry in luxury branding.
- The ad prompts conversation about disclosure in AI-generated creative.
- Some see it as a bold, future-forward move—others, brand dilution.
My Take: I’m with the camp that says if you’re a magazine celebrating new designers and fashion as art, AI-driven ads miss the mark. Keep it human, keep it creative. AI can help us with efficiencies, but this isn’t it.
AI search SEO traffic study
Semrush | 9-minute read
Overview: Semrush research reveals how AI summaries are impacting site traffic across industries.
Key Points:
- Industries like travel and health see sharper click declines post-AI summaries.
- “Information-only” queries are most affected.
- Sites with structured, scannable answers fare better in AI-generated snippets.
My Take: It’s official: snackable, structured content wins in the AI search era. If your blog reads like a novel, you’re invisible, bb! (Thank you, Phyllis Fang , for surfacing this study!)
🟣 Posts I Love
Finn McKenty - “ChatGPT 5 doesn’t want to steal your job”
Finn notes that recent ChatGPT‑5 messaging has pivoted from “we’ll replace you” to “we’ll help you.” He argues that while the marketing angle might be damage control, it’s also true: AI will never turn non‑designers into designers or non‑engineers into engineers. Instead, it amplifies existing skills, if you try to “vibe code” a production app or make graphics without experience, you’ll quickly hit your limits.
My take: The reminder to stop fear‑mongering is welcome. Tools don’t replace talent; they leverage it. Congrats to the Open AI team PMM team on the messaging and positioning here, too! See Post →
Koen Stam - “If AI isn’t in your GTM strategy, you don’t have a GTM strategy”
Koen argues that go‑to‑market leaders who treat AI as a side project are already behind. He outlines why AI fluency builds credibility with customers, attracts top talent, and shortens sales cycles. He suggests starting small (test AI in a controlled context), collaborating with other AI‑forward leaders, and tying AI experiments back to revenue and pipeline outcomes. He also drops a list of top AI‑GTM voices to follow.
My take: This is the most pragmatic take I’ve seen on AI for sales/marketing leaders. It’s not hype…it’s a call to integrate AI meaningfully and prove its impact. See Post →
Sol Spier - “Want to master social media trendjacking?”
Sol lays out a simple curve for timing your trendjacking: the Ignition phase (too early, trend is just starting), the Early Peak (sweet spot to join), the Peak (borderline late but still salvageable), and Saturation & Fatigue (too late, everyone’s tired of it). She stresses that most brands jump in at the Peak and look like copycats.
To hit the sweet spot, she suggests keeping a calendar of cultural moments, defining your brand’s voice, monitoring trends daily, fully understanding a trend before reacting, only joining trends that fit your audience and brand, speeding up approvals, and studying where a trend is in its lifecycle. You don’t need to jump on every trend, just the right ones at the right time.
My take: I love how practical this is. Trendjacking isn’t just about being funny or fast; it’s about strategic timing and brand fit. Having a clear framework helps you avoid chasing every meme and lets you focus on what actually resonates. See Post →
Greg Isenberg - “There’s a quiet shift happening in how we design software (UX → AX)”
Greg says we’re moving from screen‑centric UX, where users fill out forms and every session starts at zero, to agentic experiences (AX), where AI agents remember your context, anticipate your needs, and nudge you forward. Success in this world isn’t about clicks and speed; it’s about earning trust through compounding value. He envisions apps that act more like partners than tools, your email learns your writing style, your design tool remembers brand guidelines, and your CRM predicts the next best move.
My take: The AX concept nails what’s coming. If AI becomes a co‑pilot with memory, brand‑experience design will look nothing like today’s static flows. See Post →
🟡 AI + Marketing Tools
All tools covered continue to be added to the 170+ AI + Marketing tool directory!
Watchman AI
Early-stage “watchers” that keep tabs on your target accounts - pricing pages, product changelogs, docs, careers, even competitor blogs - and push useful signals into Slack/CRM. Think intent pings (“new enterprise plan added,” “Security page updated,” “hiring 3 data engineers”) you can turn into timely outreach or creative angles. Best for: B2B Demand-Gen Lead • ABM Marketer • RevOps Manager
X-Design
An AI product-image studio for ecommerce: background generation/removal, scene templates, object cleanup, and even AI model shots, so you can ship polished PDP and ad visuals without a full shoot. Helps small teams refresh catalogs and test creative angles fast. Best for: Brand Marketer • Ecommerce Marketer • Performance Creative Lead.
HuHu AI Agent for Ecommerce
A storefront “agent” that chats with shoppers, answers product questions from your catalog, builds carts, and nudges conversion with bundles or promos right on your site. Positions itself as a 24/7 sales associate to lift AOV and recover abandons. Best for: Ecommerce Marketer • CRO/Growth Marketer • CX Lead.
involve.me
AI Agent Give it a brief and it drafts high-converting funnels - quizzes, calculators, forms - with logic, copy, and design, then publishes and tracks results. Handy for rapid lead-gen experiments and audience research without tapping dev/design. Best for: Growth Marketer • Performance Marketer • Marketing Ops.
ChatGPT-5 (rollout notes + early takes)
OpenAI’s GPT-5 arrive has been…bumpy. Sam Altman acknowledged a rocky debut, promised to bring 4o back for stability in some experiences. For marketers, the upside looks like bigger context windows, better tool-use, and more reliable data connectors - useful for research, briefs, and ad-variant generation - but treat the next few weeks as a shakedown period for accuracy, latency, and plugin/agent behavior. Best for: Content Lead • Brand Strategist • Marketing Ops • Research Analyst.
🟢 Events on My Radar
Below is one more interesting event added this week to the full AI + Marketing Events blog post!
The AI Summit New York
📍 December 10–11, 2025 - New York, NY (Javits)
Applied AI across functions; increasingly relevant brand + retail media content. Register →
⚫️ Cool AI + Marketing Jobs
Altana - VP of Brand Marketing
Scribe - Director of Product Marketing, GTM Launch Strategy & Campaigns
OpenAI - GTM Growth Labs
Together AI - Staff Brand and Content Marketing Manager
Thanks for reading!
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