I’m introducing FactCheck as a new way for brands to understand how accurately AI engines describe them at scale.
AI engines can make claims about my brand that simply are not true. With FactCheck, I can measure what is accurate, identify what is wrong, and see which sources are driving those errors.
That visibility matters because AI-generated answers are increasingly shaping how people discover, evaluate, and trust brands. FactCheck helps me move from guessing about AI accuracy to actually analyzing it with clarity.
At our inaugural Zero Click NYC summit, I saw more than 300 leaders from Walmart, Amazon, Google, and beyond come together to confront what I believe is the biggest shift in search since the dawn of the internet.
I’m introducing the Profound Index as a new way to understand AI visibility. It is the first leaderboard built to rank brands by how often they appear in answers from leading AI models.
For me, this matters because visibility is shifting beyond traditional search results. As more people rely on AI-generated answers, I want a clearer way to see which brands are being mentioned, recommended, and surfaced across the AI platforms shaping discovery.
I am paying close attention to how Reddit conversations are shaping AI search, especially after Profound collaborated with Reddit to analyze how conversational data informs AI-generated answers.
What stands out to me is how much value AI systems can draw from real discussions, lived experiences, and community-driven context. Reddit’s conversational data helps reveal the kinds of answers people are looking for, the language they use, and the perspectives that can influence how AI-generated responses are formed.
Shopify has just launched Campaign Autopilot, an innovative tool powered by AI designed to streamline marketing efforts. By taking the reins of campaign creation, management, and optimization across various channels, it’s set to significantly ease my workload as a merchant.
Imagine having the power of Campaign Autopilot directly within the Shopify admin. This feature is in its early access stage but is already offering tremendous support in marketing automation.
What’s happening? With AI technology, Campaign Autopilot orchestrates marketing campaigns on my behalf across channels like Meta, Shop Campaigns, and email, enhancing my marketing strategy effortlessly.
Additional support is in the pipeline for platforms such as ChatGPT Ads, Microsoft Advertising, and Snapchat—making it a versatile tool for future needs.
What makes this system stand out is its ability to autonomously handle campaign setup, financial planning, and constant adjustments based on real-time performance, leaving me time to focus on other aspects of my business.
Why I care. By simplifying the complex world of multi-channel marketing, Campaign Autopilot provides me with a user-friendly platform that traditionally relied on the expertise of agencies or specialized teams. Now, I can set my budget and objectives while Shopify’s AI takes care of the intricate details.
How it works. I decide on a monthly budget, select channels to collaborate with, and set guidelines. From there, Campaign Autopilot executes:
Creating and launching campaigns.
Distributing my budget across channels.
Adjusting expenditures based on feedback.
Suggesting automated email initiatives.
Evaluating and refining campaign effectiveness on an ongoing basis.
I have full control—approving or tweaking campaigns, modifying budgets, or halting actions whenever necessary.
How it stands out. Campaign Autopilot redefines contemporary campaign management by sidestepping traditional, more labor-intensive methods.
Its unique approach taps into performance insights gleaned from millions of Shopify stores, offering data-driven enhancements and budget allocations.
Moreover, it functions separately from existing Meta or Shop ads, ensuring previously planned campaigns remain unaffected.
The bigger picture. Shopify is not just about ecommerce anymore. It’s now moving into the realm of growth and customer acquisition by embedding AI deeper within its merchants’ operations.
Industry trends show a shift towards autonomous marketing systems, which can run campaigns with minimal human intervention, constantly optimizing performance along the way.
What to keep an eye on. Shopify will be expanding its channel support further, potentially integrating with platforms like ChatGPT Ads, Microsoft Advertising, and Snapchat.
There’s also the AI assistant, Sidekick, which I can use for reviewing recommendations, triggering actions, and keeping a close watch on campaign outcomes.
First spotted. This update came to my attention courtesy of Digital Marketing Consultant Susan Richards-Benson via a LinkedIn post, where she recommended it as a game-changer for smaller eCommerce brands.
I recently discovered that Cloudflare and beehiiv have teamed up to enhance how I control AI crawlers on my content, particularly newsletters. This latest addition to beehiiv’s platform provides me with the ability to effortlessly monitor, permit, or restrict AI bots directly from my dashboard as AI search evolves as a critical content discovery method.
The partnership integrates Cloudflare’s Crawl Control technology into beehiiv, announced just this past Tuesday. With this integration, I can decide how AI search engines and agents interact with my content. Whether I want broader exposure by allowing crawlers or aim to safeguard my archives for future monetization, the choice is entirely mine.
AI Bot Insights Made Easy. As a beehiiv user, I now have access to an intuitive on-platform dashboard. It displays which AI crawlers attempted to access my content, those that got blocked, and the amount of referral traffic they generated back to me. I love how it provides a clear overview of crawler activities, my blocking decisions, and any referral traffic resulting from AI interactions.
Simpler Publisher Controls. The system empowers me to either permit or block specific AI models with simple, one-click permissions. Plus, Cloudflare is committed to updating the system as new AI crawlers emerge, meaning I don’t need to fiddle with robots.txt files, firewalls, or code adjustments on my own.
What Industry Leaders Are Saying. According to Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince, this partnership offers “transparency and control” for newsletter operators amid an ever-evolving internet landscape. Meanwhile, beehiiv CEO Tyler Denk emphasized the pressing need for publishers like me to have “real leverage” as AI transforms content discovery and consumption. Cloudflare’s announcement summarized:
“As AI models evolve to offer new forms of search and discovery, independent creators are looking for flexible ways to understand and manage how their content is accessed. This integration simplifies the process by letting beehiiv users manage their digital footprint through two clear choices: publishers can either opt-in to maximum discovery to allow AI search engines and agents to crawl their work freely for broader distribution, or choose content protection, blocking AI scraping to preserve their archives for future monetization and licensing opportunities.”
The Impact on Us. It remains to be seen if these controls will be widely adopted by publishers like myself once they are fully available. The rapid pace at which AI crawling is advancing has surpassed many content creators’ current management capabilities. The real test will be if these simplified controls are potent enough to alter my publishing strategies.
Rollout Begins. The rollout of these innovative controls begins through beehiiv’s standard dashboard settings. Every beehiiv user, myself included, will have beta access to AI Crawl Control, offering insights into AI crawler activity and traffic patterns. For beehiiv Max subscribers, the option to block AI crawlers will also be available.
Recently, I delved into Google’s updated AI Max reporting guidance, which sheds new light on the AI-driven future of Search campaigns.
Google has revitalized its AI Max for Search reporting documentation, offering advertisers fresh insights into performance reporting, optimization best practices, and significant timelines for Dynamic Search Ads (DSA).
What’s happening? Google has expanded its help documentation for AI Max for Search campaigns, enriching the guidance on reporting and offering more details on campaign performance evaluation.
Though it doesn’t introduce new products, it clarifies how Google intends for us, as advertisers, to manage and interpret AI Max campaigns in the future.
Why this matters. This update offers insight into Google’s long-term vision for AI Max and the impending phaseout of DSA. With automatic DSA upgrades set for early 2027, it’s crucial for us to anticipate the necessary evolutions in our Search strategies.
The headline change: Google has officially outlined the transition from Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max in the help documentation.
Per the updated guidance, DSA campaigns will undergo automatic upgrades to AI Max beginning in February 2027, as Google aims to broaden the adoption of AI-powered Search campaign formats.
What’s new in reporting: Google introduced new reporting views that let us evaluate performance across several dimensions:
Search terms.
Search terms and landing pages from AI Max.
Search terms from Dynamic Search Ads.
Search terms and landing pages from Dynamic Search Ads.
They’ve clarified that search term reports reflect user destinations post-ad click and introduced options for excluding underperforming search terms or landing pages with negative keywords and URLs.
New guidance for travel advertisers: Google also introduced a section specifically for Search Campaigns related to Travel.
This documentation helps us consolidate performance data into a unified view, crucial for evaluating search terms, inventory performance, and conversion outcomes. Travel advertisers can further dissect reports by ad format to compare performance across different types of ads like Travel Promotion Ads, Booking Links, and Travel Feed-based ads.
A shift in optimization philosophy: The latest best practices emphasize targeting based on intent rather than focusing strictly on keyword matches.
Google now advises us to:
Prioritize conversion goals over mere keyword relevance.
Regularly review search term and item group performance every one to two weeks.
Use negative keywords judiciously.
Avoid over-filtering traffic to exploit AI-driven intent matching benefits.
Bottom line:Google’s documentation update serves as more than just a guide for reporting; it lays out a strategic path for us to navigate an AI Max-centric future as DSAs near their fadeout.
Google has just unveiled some exciting AI-powered tools on YouTube. These tools are designed to reveal creator trends, enhance understanding of audience behaviors, and optimize marketing campaigns.
YouTube’s expansion of its toolset for creator marketing and campaign intelligence now includes features powered by Gemini. With these updates, I’m able to delve deep into identifying trends, understanding the creator audiences, and boosting the performance of my campaigns.
What’s happening: Google has introduced several insights and optimization tools across YouTube and Google Ads. As a marketer, these tools give me crucial visibility into trends, creator performance, and audience behavior.
The opportunity to make smarter creative and media planning decisions is more important than ever, especially in an AI-driven marketing world. That’s exactly what these new tools are designed to support.
Why I care: With deeper insights into YouTube trends, I can see which creators are resonating most with audiences and assess how my brand is performing in terms of both paid and organic content. This empowers me to make smarter choices about creator partnerships and campaign strategies.
What’s new:
More detailed trend insights: Google Ads’ Insights Finder now provides even more detailed trends in the U.S., giving advertisers like me a better view of what’s capturing attention on YouTube.
Brand Pulse data in Insights Finder: With the integration of select Brand Pulse metrics, I can now evaluate both my paid and organic efforts from a single location.
New creator insights API: The fresh Content & Creator Insights API offers agencies and partners more detailed information about YouTube creators and their audiences, enhancing my media planning and creator selection process.
Gemini-powered creative recommendations: Soon, Gemini will offer creative optimization suggestions for Demand Gen campaigns, including tips on visuals and creative elements that could boost performance.
The bigger picture: As content created by influencers plays a growing role in purchasing decisions and brand discovery, advertisers like me are keen to spot trends early and gauge creator impact effectively.
Google is banking on AI to help marketers like myself uncover insights quickly and plan more efficient campaigns.
Recently, I dove deep into a 2023 Google patent that outlines how AI systems could evolve to grasp a deeper understanding of businesses, brands, products, and other entities by drawing from websites and public data.
This patent details a method for AI to extract information, recognize relationships, and eventually create what Google refers to as a ‘deep, holistic characterization’ of an entity.
As AI systems hold more sway in search results, it seems our SEO strategies might need to pivot. We may need to ensure that Google comprehends not just what we say, but who we truly are.
Historically, Google has been helping users discover information published on webpages for more than two decades now. But with their search products becoming more conversational and driven by recommendations, just understanding individual documents doesn’t seem to cut it anymore.
For AI to efficiently suggest a business, compare products, or detail a brand, it first needs to understand the entity standing behind the content.
This is where Google’s intriguing ‘Data extraction using LLMs’ patent comes into the picture. On the surface, it might seem like your everyday content extraction tool, yet Google speaks of a larger ambition here.
The patent posits that AI should help build and enrich a comprehensive, nuanced profile of a specific entity. Google’s definition of an entity stretches across people, businesses, places, objects, and concepts.
Rather than merely skimming facts or indexing content, the system aims to interpret data, connect relationships, produce summaries, and ultimately grasp the entity those details represent.
To illustrate this, the patent includes diagrams showcasing how AI processes various information sources and forms an understanding of an entity’s identity, attributes, and relationships.
This AI-driven model of entity understanding transforms traditional SEO strategies by focusing not just on page content but on the holistic representation of a business or product across multiple platforms and data points.
The patent’s strategy involves capturing and interpreting information across diverse media and formats, underscoring the need for brand consistency across all public communications.
If you’re anything like me, tapping into this new perspective in SEO involves analyzing your own digital footprint, ensuring your brand’s story, values, and attributes are consistently communicated across all channels, including your website, social media, and third-party platforms.
Both local businesses and large enterprises could benefit substantially from this approach by presenting a coherent digital identity. When Google’s AI can accurately piece together who you are, you’re more likely to be the name that AI recommends.
Ultimately, this shift in SEO from focusing on isolated webpage optimization to fostering comprehensive entity understanding presents a new challenge—creating an intertwined digital narrative of who you are and what you offer.
I’ve always been fascinated by how social platforms can transform advertising, and Reddit has just taken a giant leap in that direction. They’ve unveiled cutting-edge AI-powered tools, crafted from the heartbeat of community discussions, to revolutionize how advertisers engage with audiences.
Reddit’s introduction of these tools is a bold move, leveraging insights from an astounding database of over 25 billion posts and comments. These tools aren’t just about targeting; they’re about understanding the pulse of their community to craft campaigns that truly resonate.
What excites me is how Reddit is helping brands create campaigns that not only capture attention but also quicken consumer purchase decisions. This is achieved by tapping into the genuine stories and sentiments shared on Reddit every day.
For those of us focused on authentic engagement, these new tools turn community conversations into compelling ad narratives and dynamic shopping experiences. Imagine your brand messaging reflecting real user sentiment, appealing directly to a high-intent audience.
The creative tools they’ve released are nothing short of groundbreaking. The free-form ad generator in beta brilliantly combines your website data with Reddit’s rich conversations, crafting ads that feel perfectly at home on the platform.
Moreover, the tailored creative assets—also in beta—use AI to identify specific communities, generating headlines and visuals that strike a chord with every view. It’s personalized advertising on a whole new level.
Now generally available, the Redditor Highlights feature lets brands include authentic Reddit discussions directly in their ads. Seeing community sentiment front-and-center adds a layer of trust and credibility that users crave.
In the arena of shopping ads, Reddit is testing a new ad format that showcases products in carousel style—matching them to ongoing user discussions and creating a seamless shopping experience.
On the technical side, Reddit is pushing boundaries with enhanced ad performance through innovative machine learning applications, highlighted by a 130% boost in view-through rates and a 71% increase in video completion rates during early tests.
For me, the power of merging machine learning with Community Intelligence seems to unlock endless possibilities for strategic ad targeting and execution.
The bottom line is clear: Reddit doesn’t just want to be a part of the consumer journey—they want to redefine it. By turning everyday conversations into valuable advertising content, they’re empowering brands like never before.
