Episode #5
The Return of Traditional Marketing Tactics with Billy Wright
A white-text-on-white-background site about a fake brand ranked in three days — and got pulled into AI. Old-school SEO is back (for now). Billy Wright, head of AI and marketing innovation at Direct Online Marketing, joins Vince to take a macro look at where marketing is headed — and why marketing in 2027 might look a lot like the early 2000s. They get into Billy's old-school SEO experiments, why reputation management now goes way beyond your website, where small businesses should spend limited time and money on GEO, and what agentic AI (think Gemini Spark reading your inbox) is about to mean for marketers. Key Takeaways: - SEO isn't going anywhere — but SEOs who aren't adapting to AI are in trouble. - Old-school spam tactics are working again for now; tactics from even three months ago have already stopped working. - There's no excuse not to own your brand's message — Billy has seen a press release about an unknown brand indexed in ChatGPT in about 20 minutes. Back claims up with reviews, UGC, case studies, and unique data. - Reputation management goes beyond your website: AI pulls in customer complaints, and agents will read your sales emails, invoices, and customer service replies. - Build your footprint now — Billy expects it to get much harder for small brands with no data built up to get recommended once agentic AI arrives. ⏰ Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 01:56 – GEO or AEO — what do you call it? 02:21 – Are SEOs who aren't adapting to AI finished? 03:45 – Are old-school SEO tactics working again? 06:55 – What have those tests taught you about how AI models work? 08:47 – Which platforms and channels will carry more weight in the coming years? 11:55 – If the game is providing value AI can't, how does reputation management fit in? 16:13 – How do you get siloed teams like SEO, PR, social, and email on the same page? 18:26 – Where should small businesses with limited time and money start with GEO? 21:04 – Can you fake it if your messaging doesn't match what everyone else says about you? 23:23 – What is agentic engine optimization, and what does it mean for marketing? 28:17 – What haven't we covered that people should know? 29:14 – Where can people learn more about you and Direct Online Marketing? Our Guest: Billy Wright, Head of AI and Marketing Innovation, Direct Online Marketing https://www.directom.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/pittsburghseoservices/ Check out ListIQ, our AI-powered media list building tool: https://www.buzzstream.com/listIQ See the full transcript: https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/billy-wright-podcast/ If you got something out of this one, like, subscribe, and leave a review — it helps a lot.
