ABOUT THIS EPISODE
AI search is transforming B2B marketing—and most companies are already behind. Shaun Davidson, VP at Sembit and co-founder of Zero Channel, shares how he reverse-engineered ChatGPT to generate real leads after failing with paid ads and traditional SEO.
Shaun shares the real story behind spending $15K on paid ads with zero leads… and how that failure pushed him to reverse-engineer what makes large language models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Mode recommend certain companies over others.In this episode, we explore:
- Why 37% of searches now start in AI chat interfaces, not Google
- How to get your company recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude
- The practical steps B2B marketers can take today to optimize for AI search
- Real results: How Sembit grew while competitors closed their doors
- The difference between traditional SEO and AI engine optimization
- Building a playbook that works across digital PR, content, and earned media
Whether you're a CMO getting pressure from the board about AI search visibility or a marketing ops professional trying to understand this shift, Shawn breaks down exactly what's working right now—and what's coming next.
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0:00 — $15K on Paid Ads… Zero Leads
1:01 — Welcome + What Is AI Search Optimization?
2:53 — Shaun’s Path From SEO Failure to Zero Channel
4:47 — The Shift From Google Search to Chat Interfaces
5:35 — How Many People Are Starting Searches in ChatGPT Now?
6:33 — Why Boards Are Panicking About AI Search Results
7:16 — The Biggest Problems: Prompts, Data, and Attribution
11:17 — Citations, Earned Media, and Where AI Gets Its Answers
15:28 — Predictive Modeling and Building an AEO Playbook
19:45 — Who Owns This Inside a Marketing Organization?
22:39 — What Separates the Winners in AI Search
#b2bmarketing #b2b
