I’ve been in business for almost 30 years, so I completely understand the hesitation that comes with trying something new—especially when the old ways used to work just fine.
For a long time, traditional marketing like trade shows, cold calls, direct mail, and print ads were the bread and butter of customer acquisition. They were reliable. You could see where your money was going, and the results felt tangible. But the marketing landscape has changed—and not just a little. We’re living in a digital-first world now, and clinging too tightly to the old playbook is one of the biggest risks a business can take.
I get it—investing in something like SEO can feel like a leap of faith, particularly during uncertain economic times. When budgets are tight, most companies instinctively default to what feels familiar. But here’s the truth: the old methods don’t work the way they used to. Outbound marketing—constantly pushing your message out in hopes of catching someone’s attention—is becoming less effective by the day.
Why? Because today, customers aren’t waiting around to be pitched. They’re actively searching for solutions online. They’re comparing providers, reading reviews, asking questions, and vetting their options—before you even know they’re in the market. That’s the power shift. Marketing has moved from outbound to inbound. And the businesses that understand this—and act on it—are the ones that win.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is at the core of that inbound shift. When done right, SEO helps you get found by the people already looking for what you offer. It increases your visibility, drives qualified traffic to your website, and builds long-term authority for your brand. Simply put, it’s one of the smartest and most cost-effective investments you can make in your marketing strategy today.
Not doing SEO? That’s the real risk. It’s like having a storefront with the lights off and the door locked. No one can find you.
We’ve been doing SEO since the mid-90s—before most people even knew what it was. We’ve seen the evolution of search engines, algorithms, and user behavior firsthand. And we know exactly what it takes to turn a website into a magnet for the right audience.
This isn’t about jumping on a trend. It’s about meeting your customers where they are—and making sure they find you instead of your competitors.
Let me tell you a story that might sound familiar.
I’ve been in business for nearly 30 years. When I started, everything was about boots on the ground. Cold calls. Trade shows. Networking events. You mailed flyers, shook hands, and followed up with a fax. And it worked. You knew where your customers were, and they knew where to find you. It was personal, it was tangible—and for a long time, it was enough.
But then the internet changed everything.
At first, it felt like a slow burn. A few more people started using Google instead of the Yellow Pages. A couple of prospects mentioned they “found us online.” Then suddenly, the shift hit full speed. People stopped picking up the phone. They stopped responding to cold outreach. They were doing their own research—and showing up already educated about their options.
Marketing didn’t just change—it flipped.
And that was just the beginning.
Now, we’re in the middle of another seismic shift—one that’s bigger than the transition from print to digital. We’ve entered the AI search era. And this time, it’s not just about websites and Google rankings. It’s about how your content is interpreted and recommended by the algorithms that power today’s generative engines—like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, Perplexity, and whatever’s coming next.
This is where AI SEO and Generative Engine Optimization—GEO—come in.
And if that sounds like a mouthful, don’t worry. Let me break it down.
Traditional SEO—the kind we’ve done since the ’90s—is still essential. You still need to be visible in search results. You still need fast-loading pages, technical structure, optimized titles, helpful content. But now, that’s just the baseline.
Today’s search engines don’t just pull a list of links. Increasingly, they generate answers. That means the question isn’t just “Does your site rank?” — it’s “Will your brand be the one mentioned in the answer?”
Think about that.
AI tools aren’t just directing traffic. They’re curating conversations. And if your business isn’t being included in those answers—if your content isn’t structured and trusted enough to be cited—you’re missing out on a huge share of visibility.
That’s what GEO is all about.
Generative Engine Optimization means optimizing not just for human readers and Google crawlers, but for the AI systems pulling answers across the web. These systems are trained to surface trusted, well-structured, and entity-rich content. That means your brand has to become an authority—not just with people, but with machines that interpret the web.
So when someone asks a question like:
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“What’s the best contractor in Chicago for commercial waterproofing?”
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“Which supplier is trusted for cold-weather concrete solutions?”
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“What’s the difference between self-adhered air barriers and fluid-applied ones?”
The AI doesn’t send them to page 1 of Google anymore. It gives them an answer. And if you’re not in that answer, you don’t exist.
That’s where we come in.
We’ve been evolving with SEO since the beginning—through every algorithm update, every shift in strategy, every panic about “SEO is dead.” And now, we’re helping businesses adapt to this next frontier.
It’s not just about writing blogs or stuffing keywords anymore. It’s about understanding how AI reads and recommends. It’s about organizing your website around clear topics, answering real questions, and formatting your content so machines trust it as much as people do.
We call this “training the AI to trust you.” And it’s incredibly powerful.
Because here’s the thing—AI doesn’t invent answers from scratch. It pulls from somewhere. And it prioritizes the most consistent, clear, and credible sources. You don’t have to game the system. You have to become the obvious choice.
This is what modern SEO—AI SEO, GEO, whatever you want to call it—is all about.
And yes, it’s different from the old way. You can’t just place an ad and wait. You can’t just sponsor an event and hope people remember your name. The new world is digital. It’s algorithmic. It’s real-time. And it’s moving fast.
I get it—it’s uncomfortable to pivot, especially when what you’ve been doing worked for so long. But the truth is, holding on to those methods while ignoring this new shift is a bit like doubling down on Yellow Pages ads in 2007.
The playing field has changed.
Now, the businesses that win are the ones who make themselves discoverable—by humans and AI. The ones who build credibility not just in person, but in the eyes of search engines and language models. The ones who stop waiting to be found, and instead position themselves to be recommended.
And here’s the best part: you don’t need to be a massive brand to do this. You just need the right strategy, the right structure, and the right voice. That’s where decades of experience come in. We’ve helped companies make this shift before—and we’re doing it again, right now, in this new AI-powered era.
So if you’ve been feeling stuck—like the old ways aren’t working but the new ways feel overwhelming—you’re not alone. But this is your opportunity to reintroduce your business to a whole new generation of customers, through the platforms and tools they actually use.
The only question is: are you ready to be found?
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