Today's AI Moment Pod Answers: Is SEO Dying or Just Evolving In The AI World?

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In this episode of AI Moment, hosts Jonathan Wagstaffe and Danny Denhard tackle the burning question for marketers everywhere: Is AI killing SEO? 🧐

Our consensus is clear:

SEO isn't dead, but it is undergoing a radical transformation. The game has changed from optimising for "search engines" to strategizing for "answer engines."

The core user need to find information remains, but AI has fundamentally altered the journey. Jonathan highlights a critical shift, citing SparkToro data that shows nearly 60% of searches are now "zero-click," with users getting answers directly from AI summaries on the results page.

Jonathan warns, "The days when you could decide on a keyword, write a blog post around that keyword, SEO the life out of it, and then drive a load of traffic to your website have also gone."

Danny introduces a new way to think about this landscape, differentiating between traditional search engines that provide options and new "answer engines" that deliver direct outputs. "You've now got what, a new breed of engine, which is an answer engine, which is like perplexity, which gives you very succinct answers very quickly," he notes.

Understanding user intent is now paramount.

Danny (Denhard) break down the customer journey into four states: Educate, Want, Need, and Action.

While traditional SEO focused on the first three, AI accelerates the entire process. "With AI, you can be very quickly escalated from the education all the way through to purchase really quickly," Danny explains.

Despite the hype, AI search adoption is still only 1-2%, offering a crucial window for businesses to adapt. The episode concludes by looking ahead to the next big shift: the rise of "Agentic AI" within the next 18 months. Now is the time to reassess your strategy for the next evolution of search. 🚀

Tools Mentioned:

Google, SparkToro, Perplexity, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT, Co-pilot, and Llama.

🎙️ The AI Moment Podcast - Is AI Going to Take Your Job? - Show Notes

Exec Summary:

Jonathan and I dove into the pervasive question: "Is AI going to take your job?" We explored the common, yet simplistic, phrase, "AI won't take your job, but somebody using AI will take your job," and why we both believe it misses the larger picture.

Historically, technological shifts have always led to job displacement and creation, and AI is no different.

While there will be some short-term turbulence as companies adjust, we firmly believe that AI will create significantly more jobs than it destroys in the long run.

My (Danny's) perspective is that we'll experience a "rollercoaster" in the short to mid-term as businesses figure out the ROI of AI and some might use it to cut headcount. However, the long-term outlook is overwhelmingly positive, with increased investment in AI leading to a greater demand for skilled individuals. We're still in the "crawl" phase of AI, and the opportunities for those who upskill are immense.

The Tools & Resources Mentioned:

• AI skills: The general concept of acquiring skills related to artificial intelligence.
• World Economic Forum Jobs report: A specific report providing data on global job market trends influenced by AI. Jonathan mentioned it's free to download from their website, and we'll link it in the show notes.
• Spotify, Shopify, Zapier, Coinbase: Companies mentioned as adopting AI-first strategies and requiring employees to engage with AI.

The Key Takeaway:

The overarching message from this episode is clear: AI is an evolutionary force that will ultimately create more jobs than it displaces. While we might see a "rollercoaster" in the short term as industries adapt and some roles shift, the long-term outlook for the global job market due to AI is positive. The most crucial action individuals can take is to proactively acquire AI skills. As Jonathan put it, the opportunities are "huge," and those who embrace learning will secure and enhance their career prospects. As I emphasized, 2026 might be the year where AI's ROI truly solidifies, leading smart firms to accelerate investment and hiring, further driving job growth.

Connect with Us:
Have more questions about AI and leadership? Reach out to us directly by emailing ai@dannydenhard.com or hit message below

On LinkedIn

• Danny on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannydenhard/
• Jonathan on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wagstaffe/
  

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Danny Denhard & Jonathan Wagstaffe

The 3 things to consider as leaders in the AI world Podcast

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AI Moment Podcast Show Notes 🎙️

Exec Summary

In this episode, hosts Jonathan Wagstaffe and Danny Denhard discuss the three crucial considerations for leaders in the age of AI. They emphasise that AI is not just a technological upgrade, but a "sea change" in how the world operates, comparable to the advent of the wheel or electricity. Leaders must educate themselves on AI to navigate this shift. The hosts outline three key questions every business leader should ask themselves to prepare for the future of AI.

Tools Mentioned 🛠️

• AI-driven automation tools: Implied throughout the discussion for saving time and costs.
  
• Run A Professional SWOT analysis: Recommended for assessing how AI could disrupt a business and for developing a defensive strategy.
  

The Key Takeaway 🔑

The three essential questions for leaders to consider are:

1. How can AI help us automate what we do now to save time and cost? Leaders should identify "low-hanging fruit" and establish a process for testing and evaluating AI automations.
2. How might an AI-savvy competitor disrupt our space? This involves a defensive mindset, mapping the organization's value chain to identify vulnerabilities, and developing a strategy to respond to disruption.
3. How can we use AI to evolve our business and disrupt the space ourselves? This is the flip side of the previous question, encouraging leaders to become the "AI-savvy competitor" who provides more value and changes the game for the competition. This is a multidisciplinary question that requires input from leaders across all departments, not just a small part of the business.

Connect with Us:
Have more questions about AI and leadership? Reach out to us directly by emailing ai@dannydenhard.com or hit message below

On LinkedIn

• Danny on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannydenhard/
• Jonathan on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wagstaffe/
  

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Danny Denhard & Jonathan Wagstaffe

Elevating Leadership Skills with AI: Practical Insights and Tools

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Exec Summary

In a world where artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming an invaluable tool, many leaders are exploring ways to harness this technology to enhance their leadership skills.

In this episode of "The AI Moment," hosts Jonathan Wagstaffe and Danny Denhard engage in a deep dive into how AI can assist leaders in improving their skills, drawing from personal experiences and practical applications.

Danny's Recommendations

• Organisation - Recommend using note taking in their tool of choice (Gemini or Notion as previously mentioned)
• Collaboration - Great for leaders to brainstorm and testing hypothesis with AI first then team members
• Communication - AI tools are great at helping people to become more concise or precise, it can rework certain language and soften some messages while helping to simplify long messages into something punchy. I recommend using Google’s NotebookLM to create a briefing guide and a video overview that you can then share
• Insights - many leaders struggle with insights or being able to dedicate time to understand long docs or big datasets, CoPilot, Gemini, Claude & ChatGPT are great at slicing and dicing and creating digests & insights
• Education - use AI to improve your knowledge and improve on core topics. I often recommend creating a list of 5 to 6 items you are struggling with and want to learn more and dive into AI to learn more from deep research (Google Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude all great at this)
• Coaching - if you are struggling with core areas it can be great to help you evolve or talk through issues. As a coach I know many people tell me they use it for micro coaching without the personalise side and for many it helps

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Is There an AI Bubble? Insights and Predictions

Thanks for listening to the AI Moment podcast today.

Jonathan Wagstaffe and Danny Denhard on the AI Moment podcast delved into the speculated AI bubble impacting industry valuations and investment strategies.

Recorded on August 21st, the hosts discuss the remarks made by Sam Altman during a recent dinner that suggested some VCs and private equity firms may face disappointing returns due to this AI bubble.

The conversation explores whether the hype around AGI and other AI technologies is leading to unsustainable Big Bang releases rather than incremental product improvements. Danny predicts that real AI ROI might be seen around 2026, with an increase in company closures, consolidation rounds, and mergers and acquisitions.

He points out that only big tech companies like Apple, Amazon, and Meta can invest significantly in AI due to their robust advertising engines. Meanwhile, companies like OpenAI, despite significant revenue achievements, still face high costs related to infrastructure and chips.

Jonathan reflects on the history of technological hype cycles, mentioning a LinkedIn post (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7348386915219349504/) about Thinking Machines, a new company valued at $10 billion despite being only a few months old.

He agrees with Danny that the AI industry is experiencing a massive bubble similar to past technology trends where initial overestimations lead to a bubble before the true value of the technology is realized over time.

The hosts emphasize the importance of experimenting with different AI tools to find the best fit for individual business needs.

As tools like chatGPT5, Gemini, and Claude continue to improve, they believe the current situation is more akin to a lull than a bubble. They advise caution in AI investments but encourage continued engagement and exploration of AI technologies, noting that despite the hype cycle, AI continues to evolve and improve.

The key sections

00:07 The AI Bubble: Current Industry Sentiments

00:39 Sam Altman's Insights and Predictions

01:04 The Shift in AI Narrative and Product Development

02:23 Investment Trends and Market Predictions

03:51 Case Study: Thinking Machines' Valuation

05:43 Navigating the AI Tool Landscape

07:47 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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The Executive Summary

The AI Moment podcast series by Danny Denhard and Jonathan Wagstaffe continues with episode 8 focused the critical and often overlooked issue of truth in the age of artificial intelligence.

They express concern over the increasing influence of governments and corporations in defining what AI platforms present as factual information.

Highlighting recent examples from both China and the US, they argue that this trend threatens to undermine the reliability of AI as a tool for business and society.

The Full Rundown

The hosts warn that as AI becomes more integrated into our daily lives, the manipulation of information could have profound consequences, from influencing consumer decisions to shaping political discourse.

They conclude by urging listeners to remain vigilant, critically evaluate the information they receive from AI, and stay informed about the evolving landscape of AI governance.

Jonathan and Danny kick off their discussion by identifying a crucial, yet under-discussed, topic: the concept of "truth" within AI and who gets to define it.

Jonathan emphasises that for AI to be a truly valuable tool, particularly in the business world, its outputs must be trustworthy and accurate.

He points to concerning developments, such as a Chinese AI model DeepSeek, providing neutral or evasive answers to questions about government policy, suggesting state influence. More alarmingly, he notes recent US legislation aiming to give the government a say in what AI platforms deem true, as well as corporate influence, citing an instance where Elon Musk's Grok was reportedly programmed to reflect his opinions.

Danny echoes these concerns, observing the growing trend of AI platforms being used to determine the truthfulness of information on social media. He highlights the danger of relying on systems like Grok or Perplexity, as their algorithms are not transparent.

The hosts discuss the possibility of different AI models from OpenAI, Claude, and Grok presenting conflicting versions of the truth, a phenomenon already beginning to emerge.

This issue is compounded by the fact that a significant portion of users already trust AI models more than traditional search engines.

The conversation then shifts to the potential real-world consequences of this battle for "truth." Danny raises the scenario of a business being unfairly labelled as "bad" by an AI, leading to significant financial repercussions. For consumers, relying on AI agents for recommendations could mean missing out on the best products or services if the AI's information is biased.

Jonathan frames the current situation as the "wild west" of AI, similar to the early days of social media. He predicts that just as bad actors exploited social media for political manipulation, they will do the same with AI. The hosts conclude with a call to action for their listeners: be critical of the information provided by AI, especially when it pertains to commercial or political matters.

They stress the importance of staying informed about the power dynamics at play between governments, tech giants, and the public in shaping the future of AI and truth.