There’s no shortage of noise in marketing right now—especially around AI. Every platform is “redefining” something, every tool is “revolutionary,” and most of it… isn’t.

The goal here is simple: filter signal from noise.

Each week, I’ll break down what actually matters across martech, highlight tools worth paying attention to (not just hyped), and bring in perspectives from marketing leaders who are doing the work.

If you’re responsible for growth, pipeline, or performance—this is for you.

AI Search Is Already Impacting Traffic (Not Just Coming)

AI-generated search results are already changing user behavior—and early data shows it’s not small. One study found AI summaries can reduce clicks to source sites by ~15%, especially for informational content.
→ Read more: https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.18455

AI Is Taking Over Paid Media—And Marketers Are Letting It

AI-driven ad platforms like Performance Max and Advantage+ are exploding, with spend expected to jump 63% in 2026. The tradeoff? Marketers are increasingly giving up control in exchange for performance.
→ Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ai-powered-ad-spend-set-113001609.html

Google Is Rewriting Search + Ads at the Same Time

Google is pushing deeper into AI-powered search experiences where ads can now appear inside or around AI-generated results. At the same time, tools like AI Max are shifting campaigns from keyword targeting to intent and signal-based matching.
→ Read more: https://almcorp.com/blog/google-ads-updates-2026/

Martech Bonanza - Rapid Fire Networking Session (Members Only)
May 21, 2026
12:00 PM CT
Virtual

Digital Summit Minneapolis
August 6–7, 2025
Minneapolis, MN
→ https://minneapolis.digitalsummit.com

INBOUND
September 3–5, 2026
Boston, MA
→ https://www.inbound.com

MAICON
October 14–16, 2026
Cleveland, OH
→ https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/maicon

Most marketers are still thinking about search the same way they have for the past decade: rankings, clicks, and traffic.

That model is starting to break.

Tools like Perplexity aren’t just surfacing links—they’re delivering direct answers, pulling from multiple sources, and citing only a handful of them in the process.

Which creates a very different dynamic.

You’re no longer competing to be #1 on Google.
You’re competing to be included in the answer itself.

And if you’re not cited, you’re invisible.

That shift has real implications.

It means a user can get what they need without ever visiting your site. It means authority is no longer just about backlinks—it’s about whether your content is structured, trusted, and usable by AI systems generating responses.

And it means most SEO strategies are quietly becoming outdated.

So what should marketers actually do with this?

Start by using Perplexity as a research tool, not just a curiosity.

Search your core topics. See which sources show up consistently. Pay attention to the types of content being referenced—are they guides, definitions, data-backed articles?

Then look for gaps.

Where are the answers weak? Outdated? Incomplete?

That’s your opportunity to create content that doesn’t just rank—but gets pulled into answers.

Because the content that wins in this environment tends to look different:

Less “blog post.”
More best answer on the internet.

Perplexity is still early—but it’s a preview of where search is heading.

And the marketers who figure this out now will have a massive advantage over the ones still chasing rankings alone.

→ Learn more: https://www.perplexity.ai

We’ll be featuring marketing leaders across B2B, B2C, and martech—focused on what’s actually working.

If you’re interested in being featured, reach out.