Why AEO Is a Top Priority for CMOs

#361 | In this episode, Matt Carnevale, Head of Community at Exit Five talks with three marketers doing impactful work in AEO. AI search is changing how buyers find products, and most B2B teams are still figuring out where to start. In this session, each marketer shares what's working and wins they’ve experienced — from earned media and technical audits to homepage fixes and tracking AI visibility. Whether you call it AEO, GEO, LLMO, or EIEIO – this one’s for you. This session features guests Matt Dzugan, VP of Data Intelligence at Muckrack, Brett Bernath, Director of Product at Webflow, and Jess Joyce, Founder of Inbound Scope – an SEO and AI Search consultancy.

Timestamps

• (00:00) - - - Why 80% of CMOs say AEO is a top priority — and most don't know where to start
• (00:09) - - - How Muckrack used original research to get cited in ChatGPT before their product launch
• (00:11) - - - Why top-of-funnel content is getting eaten by AI — and where to focus instead
• (00:14) - - - Quick win #3: authority — how to show up in Reddit and third-party platforms
• (00:17) - - - The sleeper tip: Bing Webmaster Tools is already giving you first-party AI data
• (00:28) - - - How to handle competitor comparison content without verifiable claims falling flat
• (00:44) - - - The four-bucket AEO maturity model: content, technical, authority, measurement
• (00:45) - - - Why your homepage is your worst-performing page for AI discoverability
• (00:48) - - - Quick win #1: technical hygiene — schema, meta descriptions, and structured data
• (00:49) - - - How to identify which journalists get cited most by AI in your niche
• (00:50) - - - Quick win #2: are you actually answering what your customers are asking?
• (00:55) - - - Why 1 in 3 B2B SaaS sites have technical blockers killing AI discoverability
• (00:57) - - - Why original research is the single best content type for earning AI citations

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Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive.

Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive.

Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive.

Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive.

Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive.

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