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Article's Content
Ross here. Ethan’s out this week, and this is edition 300 of this newsletter. On tap today: vertical video crashing B2B search, a webinar on fixing what AI gets wrong about your brand, and two reads worth your time.
AI VISIBILITY
The 60-second videos beating your SEO team
Search “best CRM” today and a YouTube Short might reach your buyer before any review site does. That’s because over the last six months, Shorts have climbed into Google’s results for 1,100+ “best + software” searches worldwide. Instagram and TikTok are right behind.
Here’s why I think this matters for me, for you, and for everyone else you can send this to…
Those result pages are already packed with AI Overviews. And Google reads the transcript and metadata of every vertical video it ranks. Your video feeds the AI answer whether anyone clicks it or not.
Most B2B teams still file short-form under brand awareness. Meanwhile it’s quietly becoming a citation source. The brands cutting long-form video into buyer-query Shorts right now are building the signals Google’s AI will pull from when someone asks which software to buy.
Three things you should do starting tomorrow:
→ Search “best + [your category].” If vertical video is ranking, you’re late. If it isn’t, you’re early.
→ Cut what you already have. Webinars, demos, podcast clips. Transcript quality beats production polish because the transcript is what the machines read.
→ Say your category out loud in the video. Spoken words are the ranking surface.
Bottom line: your video library is raw material for AI answers. Full breakdown on the Lab: Short-form Video is Showing Up in B2B Search Results and AI Answers
TOGETHER WITH PROFOUND
AI search is already talking about your brand. Some of what it says is wrong. I’m co-hosting a live session with Profound on finding those errors and correcting them at the source. Seats are limited.
→ Save your spot: Beyond Visibility: How to Correct What AI Search Gets Wrong
WORTH YOUR TIME
→ Non-Commodity Content, Explained. Google’s own term for what wins AI search, with examples from 6sense, Clarify, and Beehiiv. [Foundation Labs]
→ Content Distribution in 2026. The playbook for reaching buyers who start in a chat window. [Foundation Labs]
ONE LAST THING
Edition 1 of this newsletter went out when Reddit for B2B was a weird bet and AEO wasn’t a word. 300 editions later, both calls aged well. Help us make the next 300: hit reply and tell me the one topic you want us to break down. I read every response.
