AI and Authenticity in Digital Marketing

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With clients increasingly expecting their agencies to leverage AI, are you waiting for client direction, or leading the way on how to use it? Today’s featured guest has a unique vantage point on this shift. He runs a platform that connects clients with credible agencies while helping agencies showcase their expertise, giving him a front-row seat to what clients truly want and what agencies fear about AI.

With hundreds of thousands of agencies on his platform, he’s seen firsthand that the agencies standing out are the ones leading the AI conversation, not waiting for permission to start it. He’ll share why educating your clients on the possibilities of AI is now a competitive advantage and how his company’s new verification layer aims to bring trust and clarity to an increasingly crowded agency marketplace.

Tim Condon is the Chief Revenue Officer at Clutch, the largest B2B service provider marketplace online, boasting over 300,000 agencies. Tim helps agencies showcase services, collect reviews, and attract qualified buyers. With a front-row seat to the challenges and wins of agencies across industries, Tim sees exactly how the best adapt—and how others risk falling behind.

Tim has been on the show before with advice on how agency owners can separate from the pack and position their agencies for success.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• Is AI coming for your agency?

• Document your AI processes before it gets expensive.

• How you should be starting the AI conversation.

• The power of documented proof.

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Sponsors and Resources

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Is AI Coming for Your Agency? It Depends

The elephant in every agency Slack channel: Will AI replace us?

Tim sees a spectrum. Some agencies think they’re immune (“We only serve local dentists, so we’re safe.”), while others are already using AI to transform delivery, productizing what used to be manual labor into scalable SaaS products for other agencies. Most agencies are stuck in the middle - unsure where to begin and afraid to fall behind.

Basically, if your clients are tech-savvy DIYers, yes, you’re at risk. But 99% of clients aren’t like that. They want the results AI brings, but they don’t want to build or manage it themselves.

Hence, those who adopt AI to streamline delivery and elevate their positioning—not those who ignore it or just dabble, will win.

AI Isn’t a Threat. It’s Your Edge

AI is already making agencies faster, leaner, and more profitable if they leverage it correctly:

• Custom GPTs for marketing, sales training, and operations

• Automated research and lead qualification

• Speeding up delivery while maintaining quality

Tim shared an example of a San Francisco agency using LLMs to automate internal processes. It wasn’t complicated: structured folders, an AI model to search and output organized results. Simple, but powerful.

If your agency isn’t at least experimenting with AI to remove repetitive manual work, you’re falling behind—not because AI will replace you, but because other agencies will outpace you by using AI to do what you do, faster and cheaper.

Document Your AI Processes Now (Before It Gets Expensive)

AI pricing today is like Uber in the early days: cheap to get you hooked, but it won’t last. AI’s current affordability is saving agencies the equivalent of multiple salaries annually. Eventually, these tools will increase in price to reflect their true value.

What can you do about this? Jason recommends documenting your workflows and data used to train custom GPTs or AI agents now. If pricing spikes or a model goes down, you can pivot to another provider without losing your institutional knowledge.

Why Agencies Must Shift from Order-Takers to Advisors

Most agencies fail not because they lack skills, but because they act like order-takers. As a clients, it’s frustrating for Jason when agencies ask, “What do you want us to do?” instead of showing him what’s possible.

Remember that as agencies, your purpose is to solve problems for your clients. Clients (dentists, local businesses, even large brands) don’t know what’s possible with AI. They think it’s just a fancy chatbot. If you step up to educate and advise clients on what’s possible with AI, you become indispensable.

Look to build systems that:

• Research prospects automatically before calls

• Automate competitor and market analysis

• Help clients leverage AI in their workflows

Agencies that step into this advisor role, showing clients what’s possible and taking accountability for delivering results, become irreplaceable. You’re not just executing tasks; you’re creating outcomes they can’t create alone, and that’s where real value lies.

Don’t Be Another “Nomad Agency.” Be the Real Deal

Too many people who failed at running agencies pivot into teaching how to run an agency while living the “digital nomad” lifestyle, without having actually built sustainable businesses. This creates noise and mistrust in the marketplace, making it harder for real agencies to stand out.

Most of the time, agency owners are accidental entrepreneurs—people who mastered a skill and were asked to help, not those who started for the lifestyle. If you’re listening to this, you’re likely the latter. To stand out, you need to showcase not just what you can do but what you’ve actually done. Your wins, client results, and case studies speak louder than lifestyle photos on Instagram.

The Power of Specific, Documented Proof

If you want to stand out from the fly-by-night agencies, talk specifics. Others mostly speak in generalities. Instead, credible agencies share specifics. If you can clearly articulate, “Here’s the exact problem we solved for a client just like you,” then you instantly separate yourself from the pack. Tools like Clutch help because they use AI to pull themes from your reviews to match buyer intent, but your agency still needs to collect, showcase, and share detailed case studies and client stories.

Documentation matters. If you’re working with SMBs or mid-market clients, they want to see clear, verified results before investing. When you can present proof, it’s hard for low-quality competitors to compete, no matter how flashy their pitch decks look. Start gathering your “receipts” now to future-proof your positioning.

Verification Adds Trust in a Crowded Marketplace

Tim’s company Clutch now offers Clutch Verified as an additional trust layer. They don’t just take your word for it; they check your business registration, credit history, and operating longevity to separate real agencies from “gaming-the-system” players. It’s a powerful way to signal to potential clients, “We’re credible, stable, and vetted.”

For clients, it’s a good indicator of who you’ll be working with and for agencies it becomes a sales asset. When potential clients research you on Clutch, verified agencies are prioritized, giving you an edge over competitors. It’s a practical, low-cost step to build trust and signal legitimacy, especially if you’re competing for premium clients.

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