Visibility Brief

In this episode of The Visibility Brief, Yext SVP of Marketing Rebecca Colwell sits down with Bill Simpson, Director of Value Consulting at Yext, to explore a question many marketers are still working through: how far is too far when it comes to personalization?As AI is changes how people interact with technology, customers  are sharing more personal information than ever before — often without realizing it. But why does AI feel so different from traditional search, and what’s making people more willing to open up?At the same time, brands are under pressure to move faster, adopt new tools, and deliver more personalized experiences. But speed introduces risk. From data exposure to inaccurate AI responses, the line between helpful and harmful is thin — and easy to cross.Drawing on his years of experience working with brands, Bill shares insights on how marketers can move forward thoughtfully — balancing innovation with responsibility.The episode breaks down:How conversational interfaces create a sense of trustWhere personalization starts to feel invasiveWhy transparency is the new competitive advantageThe hidden risks in everyday AI workflowsHow to safely pilot AI inside your organizationWhy human oversight still mattersIf you’re a marketing leader trying to move quickly with AI while protecting your customers and your brand, this episode will help you understand the real tradeoffs — and how to navigate them with confidence.

In this episode of The Visibility Brief, Yext SVP of Marketing Rebecca Colwell is joined by Heather Physioc, Chief Discoverability Officer at VML, for a conversation about how search has expanded far beyond Google — and why brands must rethink what discoverability really means.For years, “search” was shorthand for one thing: Google and the ten blue links. But today, consumers move fluidly between social platforms, retail sites, video search, maps, and AI search depending on what they’re trying to accomplish. So what does it mean to show up consistently when discovery no longer happens in one predictable place?Drawing on her journalism background and years leading cross-channel search strategy, Heather reframes SEO as something broader and more human: the practice of meeting real human needs – wherever and however they surface.The episode breaks down:Why brands must move beyond optimizing for a single engineHow consumer intent changes depending on contextHow LLMs handle complex queries better than traditional searchWhy trust is becoming the real competitive edgeHow structured data and consistency matter more than everHow to rethink measurement in a world where discovery is fragmentedIf you’re a marketing leader navigating a world where search happens everywhere (not just in a browser), this episode will help you rethink how your brand connects with customers across today’s search journey.

In this episode of The Visibility Brief, Yext SVP of Marketing Rebecca Colwell sits down with Chief Data Officer Christian Ward to unpack something many marketing leaders are quietly feeling: the way we’ve measured visibility for the last 20 years isn’t working the way it used to.Impressions spike and dip without reason. Rankings change by the second. Clicks are disappearing. And as AI models fragment search across multiple platforms, the idea of a single, stable “position” is starting to disappear.So if rank isn’t reliable, and clicks don’t tell the full story, how should marketers measure performance in an AI-driven world?Drawing on the latest Yext Research and a new competitive scoring model inspired by Elo rankings, Rebecca and Christian explore how visibility should be measured going forward — and why the brands that win will be the ones that understand competition, context, and consistency, not just position.The episode breaks down:Why AI literacy is becoming a competitive advantageWhat model fragmentation means for brand visibilityWhy being “chosen” matters more than ranking#1How Elo-style competitive scoring reframes measurementWhy having more local competitors raises the stakes for your dataWhy structured, consistent data remains foundationalIf you’re a marketing leader trying to make sense of fluctuating rankings and disappearing clicks, this episode will help you rethink visibility — and build a more resilient way to measure success in a world where AI sits between you and your customer. 

In this episode of The Visibility Brief, Yext SVP of Marketing Rebecca Colwell is joined by Garrett Sussman, Director of Marketing at iPullRank, for a refreshingly human conversation about how people really search — and how AI is amplifying the psychology behind it.Marketers love to talk about algorithms, platforms, and technical optimization. But what if the biggest variable in discovery isn’t the system at all — it’s the person behind the keyboard? How we frame questions, what we believe going in, and the bias we carry with us all shape the answers we get back, especially in AI-driven search experiences.With a background in psychology, literature, and technical SEO, Garrett brings a unique perspective to the table. This episode explores how identity, bias, intent, and trust influence search behavior — and what brands can do to show up accurately, even when they’re not in control of the interface.The episode breaks down:Why search behavior is as much psychological as it is technicalWhy two people can search the same thing and get totally different answers The rise of conversational searchWhy AI answers feel more trustworthy than linksHow LLMs filter, summarize, and simplify information Why reviews, forums, and social proof now shape brand visibilityWhat brands can influence in AI, even when they can’t control itIf you’ve felt like discovery is getting harder to predict – or harder to influence – this episode will give you a new lens. It’s not just about ranking for keywords anymore. It’s about understanding how people think, how AI interprets intent, and how brands can adapt by focusing on trust, structure, and a holistic, human-first approach. This episode will help you rethink visibility from the inside out.

Paid search isn’t broken…but it’s definitely changing. In this episode of The Visibility Brief, Yext SVP of Marketing Rebecca Colwell is joined by CEO Mike Walrath for a conversation about the rising cost of paid search — and why AI is forcing marketers to rethink not just tactics, but the entire structure of marketing and measurement. Cost-per-click (CPCs) are climbing, clicks are disappearing, and nearly 70% of searches no longer result in a website visit. So what happens when the click (the foundation of modern digital marketing) stops being the most important metric? Are paid ads in AI platforms the next evolution, or a replay of search’s earliest monetization debates?Mike draws on his experience building and monetizing one of the web’s first major ad exchanges to explore where AI advertising is headed next, how new models like Gemini and OpenAI are testing monetization,  and what marketers must prepare for as paid and organic blur inside AI-driven discovery.The episode breaks down:Why paid search feels more expensive (and less effective) than everHow AI is rewriting the funnel — and what that means for performanceWhat early AI ad models tell us (and don’t)Why ads and organic visibility are starting to blurWhat marketers should really be tracking when clicks aren’t the goalThe hidden opportunity for marketers inside all the noiseIf you’re a marketing leader navigating rising paid costs, shrinking clicks, and uncertainty about how AI will monetize discovery, this episode will help you reframe the problem – and see why this moment may be one of the biggest opportunities marketers have ever had.

In this episode of The Visibility Brief, Yext SVP of Marketing Rebecca Colwell is joined by Anthony Rinaldi, Senior Director of Insights & Analytics at Yext, to talk about a growing challenge every marketing team is facing: the old playbook for measuring success is starting to break.Impressions are dropping. Rankings seem less reliable. Traffic doesn’t tell the full story. And yet… business results haven’t necessarily tanked. So what gives?Rebecca and Anthony dig into what’s really happening behind the scenes — how discovery is shifting into AI conversations, why a single click today often represents the work of dozens of searches, and what metrics marketers should actually be paying attention to now.The episode breaks down:Why impressions and traffic are no longer a reliable signalHow “rank” fails to capture the complexity of AI-driven resultsWhat new models of brand visibility can reveal — and why they matterHow predictive ranking  models change measurement and help define performanceWhy benchmarking must be local, competitive, and contextualHow to turn visibility insights into actionIf you’re a marketing leader struggling to explain declining impressions, this episode will help you rethink what visibility really means—and how to measure success in a world where AI mediates discovery.

In this episode of the Visibility Brief, Yext SVP of Marketing Rebecca Colwell is joined by Tim Rickards, Senior Director of Value Consulting at Yext, to tackle one of the most uncomfortable realities facing marketing teams today: declining web traffic and broken performance metrics.Marketers have spent years watching impressions, clicks, and sessions to gauge success. But as AI tools start answering questions before anyone even visits a website, those signals aren’t telling the full story anymore. So if clicks are down… does that actually mean performance is worse?Drawing on decades of experience in financial services and conversations with marketing leaders across regulated industries, Tim explains how AI is reshaping discovery, flattening the funnel, and forcing teams to rethink how success is measured in an environment they can’t fully see.The episode breaks down:Why web traffic and click-through rates are decliningWhat “good enough” answers mean for marketersWhich metrics still matter — and which don’tHow the funnel is flattening, not disappearingWhat to track in an AI-driven visibility modelThe mindset shift marketers must embraceIf you’re a marketing leader staring at soft traffic, messy dashboards, and tough questions about performance in the age of AI, this episode will help you reset — and refocus on what visibility really means now.

In this episode of The Visibility Brief, Yext SVP of Marketing Rebecca Colwell sits down with Chief Data Officer Christian Ward for the final episode of the year — and a timely discussion on one of the most critical issues facing AI today: accuracy.As AI platforms increasingly power discovery, recommendations, and answers, consumers expect accurate responses, every time. But what happens when an LLM gets something wrong – whether it be about a fact, a location, or a brand? And with models improving daily, how should marketers approach their data, and the expanding responsibilities they now share with AI systems?Rebecca and Christian break down Google’s recent FACTS Grounding Benchmark results and Suite, why even top models still make mistakes, and what brands must do to keep their data clean, consistent, and trustworthy across all digital touchpoints, including AI.The episode breaks down:Why accuracy matters more in AI search than in traditionalWhat brands can (and can’t) controlHow models decide when to check facts against the live web, and a simple test marketers can useHow inconsistent data invites errors and hallucinationsWhat high-stakes accuracy really means for brandsWhy memory and corroboration will define 2026If you’re a marketing leader preparing for a world where AI powers a large share of searches, answers, and recommendations, this episode will help you understand why accuracy is becoming the new competitive battleground and how to make sure your brand shows up correctly… when it matters most.

In this episode of The Visibility Brief, Yext SVP of Marketing Rebecca Colwell sits down with Chief Data Officer Christian Ward to break down one of the most fundamental shifts happening in marketing today and what marketers must do to make sure their brand appears accurately when every result is tailored to the individual.For years, marketers have chased the promise of personalized experiences, but why did so many approaches fall short, and what makes this wave of AI different?Today’s AI systems aren’t guessing. They remember customer preferences, understand context, and build a picture of the individual based on what users actually tell them.The episode breaks down:Why traditional personalization failed and why AI finally changes the landscapeHow AI memory and context actually workWhy every user now see different resultsWhy location used to be the strongest signal, and how AI is shifting personalization toward deeper understanding of the individual.What brands must do to stay visibleIf you’re a marketing leader navigating the shift from guesswork to AI-powered relevance, this episode will help you rethink how personalization works and how your brand shows up in experiences shaped by memory, context, and user intent.

Everyone is talking about “agents,” “assistants,” and “autonomous AI;” however, few marketers have a good understanding of what these systems truly do, or what they mean for how consumers discover and interact with brands. In the third episode of The Visibility Brief, Rebecca Colwell, SVP of Marketing at Yext, and Christian Ward, Chief Data Officer, discuss one of the most trending concepts in AI today: agentic AI. They discuss the real definition of agentic AI, how these systems behave, and how marketers can prepare for a world where AI doesn’t just answer questions, it takes action.From executing tasks to personalizing decisions, agentic AI represents a major shift in how brands show up, compete, and stay visible today.Christian and Rebecca break down:What agentic AI actually is. Christian explains what agentic systems are and how to distinguish simple automations, guided assistants, and fully autonomous agents, and why that difference matters.How AI agents will reshape consumer behavior. We explore the emerging reality of AI assistants researching, recommending, and even completing tasks for consumers, and what that means for visibility throughout the buying journey.Why structured data determines your visibility. Recent Yext research across more than 6.8 million AI citations reveals a huge finding: your website, and how you structure your data, is now the strongest signal large-language models (LLMs) use to answer questions about – and eventually take actions on behalf of –  your brand.How memory and personalization shape results. Christian unpacks how AI agents leverage chat history, use location, loyalty, and context to build preferences on behalf of users to determine which brands to surface.How to evaluate “agentic” tools. Christian shares the key questions every marketer must ask to separate true agentic AI from marketing fluff.In this episode, Rebecca and Christian provide a practical, non-technical guide to understanding agentic AI, and how it will fundamentally reshape search, loyalty, and the customer journey.If you’re a marketing or digital leader preparing for an AI-driven future where AI agents actually take action on behalf of consumers, this episode is for you.

When a customer types a question into ChatGPT or Perplexity, how does it decide which brand to mention — and what to say?In this episode of The Visibility Brief, Yext Chief Data Officer Christian Ward joins SVP of Marketing Rebecca Colwell to unpack how AI engines source, summarize, cite, and speak on behalf of your brand in today’s fragmented discovery landscape. From probabilistic reasoning to prompt inversion, this is a candid look at how AI really works — and what it means for marketers trying to stay visible.Drawing on real-world brand behavior and Yext research, Christian shares why structured data is becoming the most powerful asset in your visibility strategy — and how even small data gaps can take your brand out of the conversation entirely.You’ll learn:Why AI doesn’t just search — it decidesHow structured data drives trust, visibility, and speedWhat “prompt inversion” is — and how it’s rewriting the buyer journeyWhy a clean, consistent data foundation matters more than everHow to reverse-engineer what AI engines see when they “look” at your websiteWhether you're leading marketing, data, or digital strategy, this episode offers a practical, grounded roadmap for making your brand findable, credible, and cite-able in an AI-first world.

In the debut episode of The Visibility Brief, Yext SVP of Marketing Rebecca Colwell sits down with Chief Data Officer Christian Ward to unpack how AI is fundamentally reshaping the way consumers search — and what that means for brand visibility today.Search isn’t just about keywords anymore. Consumers are asking more complex, personalized questions, and AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are becoming the first stop for answers. So how do you make sure your brand surfaces — and shows up accurately — when there's no traditional search result to optimize for?Christian breaks down:How AI understands and interprets brand informationThe difference between structured and unstructured dataWhy citations are the new backlinks in the world of LLMsHow location, memory, and personalization shape resultsWhat marketers need to do right now to stay visible in AI search"Your AI strategy is just your data strategy. If your information isn't structured, you're invisible."Plus, Christian shares insights from Yext’s proprietary research on over 6 million AI citations — revealing how AI platforms really decide which brands to recommend.If you’re a marketing leader trying to future-proof your strategy for the AI era, this episode is your starting point.