Dana DiTomaso

CANADIAN MARKETERS' AI USAGE: 74% of Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) members use generative AI tools for work at least weekly. This is ahead of the 62% average uptake amoung Canadian knowledge workers, which includes academics, physicians, engineers and scientists. We completed the Generative AI Readiness Survey in partnership with CMA member twenty44 and will be sharing more of the findings at our CMAai event today (April 10) and also in our CMA Connect podcast episode with Steve Mast, which is released tomorrow (April 11). You can also learn more in Strategy Online article. #CanadianMarketers #GenAI #marketing #CMAConnect

39

4 Comments

After working with agencies across Canada, the US & UK, here’s what I’ve learned: The agencies that scale fastest don’t hire faster. They partner smarter. White-label is the secret weapon behind their margins.

5

Your domain isn’t just a URL. It’s a signal. A Canadian tech company we spoke with was struggling to grow in the U.S. The culprit? Their .ca domain. Their brand and messaging were solid. However, Google kept prioritizing them in Canada, not the U.S. Key insight: Search engines treat regional domains like local storefronts. This is great for owning your home market, but it can be a barrier if you’re aiming to scale globally. If international growth is part of your roadmap, your domain strategy can quietly limit you until it’s too late. This is something to solve before you hit the ceiling. #SEO #DigitalStrategy #B2BGrowth

14

2 Comments

Automation isn't the enemy. But it's definitely not your strategist, either. In my latest article for Search Engine Land, I unpack where automation actually helps inside Google Ads and where it quietly burns your budget 🫠 👉🏾 Smart Bidding? Useful. 👉🏾 Broad match? Powerful (if set up right). 👉🏾 Auto-applied assets, misfired signals, and "set-it-and-forget-it" habits? That's where the damage happens. I go over real pitfalls I've encountered in accounts, what causes them, and how to prevent them, especially if you’re spending $ 5,000+/month and still hearing, "the leads suck.” 📖 Give it a read here: https://lnkd.in/gum9kC3C And if your campaigns feel out of control, you'll know where to start looking.

8

2 Comments

I had a technically deep, slightly unsettling conversation with Manick Bhan from Search Atlas a few weeks back while we were both in Toronto for SEO IRL. We DIDN'T talk about "optimizing content" or "buying cheap backlinks" to survive until the next algorithm update. We talked about the fact that the floor is currently being ripped out from under the entire digital marketing industry. 🎙️ Google vs. ChatGPT: The Battle for Search Has Already Begun Watch the full podcast episode here: https://lnkd.in/erRMy3pQ Manick and I reflected on how SEO is being replaced by agentic search and how AI models actually read the web. Most businesses still don't know whether they even exist in AI answers. They're ranking well in Google and assume that translates into LLM relevance. It doesn't. We're living through a genuine architectural shift. This is not another algorithm update. It is a completely different way that information gets discovered, trusted and surfaced. In this episode we unpacked what my team at WLDM AI Research Lab has learned from analyzing 300,000+ AI citations across ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini - data that shows how LLMs decide what to cite and why there are a lot of wrong assumptions and misinformation about these topics. Domain Authority? Barely correlates. Traffic? Often irrelevant. Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness? Nice words. Not how it works. Search engines and LLMs are both forced to infer meaning - but they infer differently. Google looks at links, user signals and authority. LLMs look at semantic depth, text quality scores and co-citation patterns. Which means the optimization steps are fundamentally different. In our conversation, we broke down: - The Citation Paradox: Why your #1 Google ranking means nothing to an LLM - How sites with Zero Google traffic end up as top AI citations - Why personalization in AI generated answers is weaker than we assume + and why that’s dangerous - What 300,000+ real AI citations reveal about the future of trust (exclusive insights from WLDM’s data study) - How asking questions changes the model itself (LLM superposition) - Why agentic traffic is about to become one of the most important KPIs in digital marketing By 2027, 25-30% of search traffic will come from LLM interfaces. That's not far away. That's 24 months. You can either learn how to influence the LLMs now, or you can grab the popcorn and watch your business become invisible in real-time. Question for you: Have you checked whether your brand shows up in AI answers? If the answer is "no," what exactly is your plan for next year? 📺 Check out the full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/gagJmgeT #SEO #AI #LLMs #DigitalMarketing #AImodels #AICitations #AgenticTraffic #GEO #LLMs

28

8 Comments

Google had some day yesterday. Two huge announcements that have massive impact to how ecommerce is going to be done. 🔹 Google collaborating with Shopify to release UCP  🔹 Google selected by Apple to power AI (inc Siri) across all hardware. What does this mean: You’ll have likely seen a million posts about UCP already. Importantly it's the framework which is expected to become the default for how humans + ai agents + merchant/product data are all connected in the buying journey. With merchant specific functionality layered in - eg Loyalty or Shipping configurations. While this will be open for all tech to utilise, Google & Shopify being co-creators put them best placed to benefit going forward. Away from the standard web browser, Google will essentially be powering all voice & AI assistant commerce behaviour directly from most widely used devices, pending any new hardware from the likes of OpenAI or Meta becoming mainstream. Why is this important: These announcements are the start of possibly massive change, but also a signal of stability and things remaining somewhat the same. 🔹 Google have been facing possibly their biggest threat for ~2 decades, with momentum of traffic being lost to chatgpt. I think they’ve regained control of having the best AI models (as well as all the traffic & resource), and so this could mark a slowing of of that momentum. 🔹 Shopifys competition from a 2-5 year view (in my opinion) isn’t so much Magento, Salesforce etc but rather a wave of competitors in the form of product data feeds directly connecting catalog data into LLMs, plus socials and the growing number of channels. This move removes the need/desire for most merchants to have to consider any other option once they’re on Shopify. The sole focus on a storefront is changing. These collaborations mean that wherever & however commerce is done differently - which its still too early to confidently know - the starting point for users will remain Google. And being on Shopify is the most stable way to guarantee you’ll be setup to facilitate AI/Agentic commerce without additional disruption.

41

1 Comment

A few things I’ve learned after 20+ years as a professional Graphic Designer (cause apparently I'm in a nostalgic mood). 1️⃣ Technology will always change. I learned QuarkXPress in college. QUARKXPRESS! (please raise your hand if you even know what I'm talking about). Our tools are not permanent. Your edge isn’t the software, it’s your willingness to keep learning. 2️⃣ Rude people don’t make better work. I’ve worked with some real meanies. None of them produced better outcomes because of it. The best creative leaders are empathetic, not intimidating. 3️⃣ It's not you, it's the brief. If the work feels wrong, the brief probably is. Raise your hand. Ask the question. Get clarity early. 4️⃣ A portfolio is never the whole picture. It doesn’t show how you think, how you collaborate, or how you recover when things go sideways. Don’t let a grid of squares define your worth. 5️⃣ The real ones love what they do. Community, conferences, and real-world inspiration matter. If you’re feeling stuck, finding your people helps. The Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) is a great place to start. Careers are long. Trends are short. Be curious. Be kind. Keep making stuff.

562

165 Comments

Most agencies don’t fail because of lack of talent. They struggle because they’re caught in the generalist trap trying to be everything to everyone. In this episode of the Conquer Local Podcast with Jeff Tomlin, Co-Founder and CMO at Vendasta Technologies Inc., I share how to flip that script by building a deep specialization flywheel that compounds: Identify your most profitable verticals hiding in your client list ➡️ Escape context switching & bottlenecks with real systems ➡️ Win trust faster and de-founder your sales process ➡️ Charge more, deliver better, and scale sustainably ➡️ Why just 1% of the right market can equal an 8-figure agency 🎙️ Watch here: https://lnkd.in/eqkTTca5 If you’re tired of chasing every opportunity and ready to stand out as the go-to choice in your market, this episode is for you.

31

6 Comments

Ranking on Google used to be the goal. Now it’s just one layer of visibility. The way people discover and decide is changing, fast. And if you’re only thinking in SEO terms, you’re missing the bigger picture. Big thanks to Chris Donnelly for the visual. It’s not the full playbook — but a simple frame to explain how discovery is shifting: SEO → AEO → GEO 1. SEO = Search Engine Optimization The original game. You earn your rank on Google. ✅ Works best for: intent-based discovery ❌ But: it’s slow, it’s crowded, and it favors incumbents 📌 How I’ve seen it work: → Focus on a few high-intent keyword clusters → Build strong internal linking → Clean UX, mobile-first, fast-loading pages 2. AEO = Answer Engine Optimization This is the zero-click world, where answers show up directly in Google’s results, without sending users to your site. ✅ Works best for: direct answers and structured content ❌ But: you lose the click, and control over context 📌 How to win: → Structure content with clear subheaders, bullets, and FAQs → Answer specific questions in 40–60 words → Add schema markup (FAQ, How-To) ⚠️ You're not writing blog posts, you’re writing answers. 3. GEO = Generative Engine Optimization This is the new frontier: showing up in the answers AI tools generate. You’re not ranking a page, you’re becoming a trusted source in an AI model’s output. ✅ Best when: your goal is to influence decision-making, not just attract traffic ❌ But: the rules are evolving, and it’s harder to measure 📌 What works: → Be cited in authoritative sources AI pulls from (Reddit, Quora, niche blogs) → Use entity-based content: facts, statistics, frameworks → Structure matters more than style, AI needs clean inputs to generate clean outputs ⚠️ This is no longer about your website. It’s about your presence across the web. If you're not thinking about all three: SEO, AEO, and GEO you're not competing at full scale. Save this, study it, and share it with your team.

1,674

172 Comments

This Shopify integration with ChatGPT is going to shake up the ecomm space more than most brands realize. I'm already seeing it firsthand. Last week, I was looking for a power washer and thought, "Why not use ChatGPT to help with research?" I asked it to find the best units around my price point, and it delivered everything I needed: - pros - cons - videos, - comparisons, and - made the decision for me based on my specific use case. The only thing missing? A direct "buy" button. That's about to change, and the implications are massive. Think about it. I personally use ChatGPT for most of my questions now instead of Google because I get better responses. And I'm not alone. Just as people who’ve manipulated Google to generate traffic, others will exploit AI in the exact same way. In the future, when someone asks, "What are the best alternatives to traditional laundry jugs?" the AI might respond, "True Earth is a laundry sheet brand." Boom ➡️ instant distribution. Here’s what DTC brands need to prepare for: 1. LLMs will support all the big players, including Amazon, Shopify, and Walmart. 2. Trust factors must be integrated. Nobody wants to buy from a random UK store when they're in Canada and have to wait a month for shipping. 3. This isn't just about SEO, it's about manipulating what AI recommends. 4. The impact goes beyond business. Political use cases and slanderous opportunities will emerge. Remember, where there's opportunity, there will be marketers f***ing it up. The brands that win in this new reality will provide the most transparent, honest information about their products because AI will eventually see through BS marketing claims. Don't panic, but don't sleep on this either. The game is changing, and understanding how to position your products for AI recommendations will give you a massive advantage.

63

8 Comments

Are AI search summaries killing your hard-earned website traffic? A lot of companies (including Mind Meld PR Inc.) have thrown a TON of effort into SEO over the years. 😱Thanks to AI, fewer people are clicking links that lead to your website. 💡 Instead, they're just using the search summaries and taking action from there. So your content may not be having the impact it used to have. Today, AI is focused on 'authoritative' sources. That means getting traditional media coverage (eg. Forbes, Inc., Business Insider, etc.) How do you boost your relevance so you show up in an AI search summary? Let's talk about #PR and how we can get you the media coverage you need. https://lnkd.in/gwxk9KgS

5

Just contributed to Maria Raga and Mal Minhas' deep dive on the shift from SEO to GEO 🙏 They asked me to share what I'm seeing on the ground as an SEO consultant and through LLM Pulse data. Some patterns worth noting: - B2B SaaS companies are already seeing 10%+ of organic traffic from AI platforms - E-commerce brands visits from AI search already at 3-5% from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews - One B2B client grew their AI search visibility from 2% to 27%, overtaking their main competitor The essay breaks down how brands should approach GEO differently from traditional SEO, why this matters for acquisition costs, and what's actually working right now. SEO isn't dying, but it's clearly evolving. AI search -GEO, AEO or whatever we want to call it- is expanding what's possible with organic acquisition 📈 Read it here: https://lnkd.in/dknaHVKi

20

4 Comments

Most U.S. ad tech people wouldn’t recognize Victoria, BC if it hit them with a kayak paddle. But up there—where people apologize faster than your DSP can drop a bid timeout—AdButler just pulled off something very un-Canadian: bragging rights. They didn’t just make The Globe and Mail’s Top Growing Companies list with 148% growth in three years. They also bagged a spot on the Financial Times Americas’ Fastest-Growing Companies list. That’s the international flex usually reserved for companies with too many press releases and not enough profit. AdButler, meanwhile, is the opposite: 25 years old, bootstrapped, profitable, and yes, still delivering ads with a straight face. Let’s pause here. An independent Canadian ad tech platform with 1,200+ clients worldwide didn’t get swallowed by Google. Didn’t get strangled by Amazon. Didn’t get rebranded into oblivion by some PE firm in Midtown. They just kept shipping product and somehow became the turtle that beat the hare. If that isn’t the Canadian tech fairytale, I don’t know what is. And the best part? They’re not promising to reinvent advertising with “revolutionary AI agents powered by vibes and seed funding.” They’re literally selling what publishers want: control, transparency, revenue they actually keep. It’s refreshingly boring. Which, in this industry, is more punk rock than anything. Here’s why it’s a bigger deal in Canada than you’d think: Canadian tech usually gets bought out. The graveyard is full of startups that sold too early because U.S. acquirers waved a cheque. AdButler didn’t flinch. They’re profitable. Name another indie ad tech platform with 25 years of receipts and no billion-dollar burn rate. I’ll wait. They kept it west coast. Not Bay Street. Not Silicon Valley. Victoria. That’s like building a global SaaS out of a Tim Hortons. In the U.S., people will skim past this because it doesn’t involve an IPO, a lawsuit, or Jeff Green subtweeting someone. But north of the border, this is Stanley Cup parade down Yonge Street energy. So yes, Americans might not care. But Canadians do—and they should. Because when one of their own manages to stay independent, scale globally, and still keep the lights on without dancing for VC scraps, it’s proof that not everything in ad tech has to orbit Google or live on Sand Hill Road. Stay Bold, Stay Curious, and Know More than You Did Yesterday. A roar of gratitude to Troutman Amin LLP — our lion of an attorney. 🦁 Without them, half these social media posts would still be locked in a cage marked “legal risk.” Instead, we get to hit publish, stir the pot, and occasionally make people spit out their coffee. Thanks for keeping the claws sharp and the jungle ours to play in. Eric J. Troutman, Founding Partner.

40

6 Comments