Is AI replacing marketers, or just helping bad marketers move faster?
In this episode, we're joined by Eric Siu, founder of Single Grain, host of @LevelingUpOfficial , and advisor to some of the biggest SaaS companies, to debate how AI is changing marketing right now.
Eric breaks down the AI workflows his agency uses to cut content production time by 90%, including how they generated 21 blog posts in 30 minutes. But it’s not magic. We dive into where AI works, where it still fails, and why human editors are still a critical part of the process.
We discuss:
00:00 Intro
00:57 Growing an Agency in an AI World
05:23 What Can AI Actually Be Used for Right Now?
09:30 21 Blog Posts in 30 Minutes: Real or Slop?
13:11 The Role of Human Editors in AI Content
15:52 AI Tools Reshaping Marketing
23:54 Agency Value in the Age of AI
30:25 AI for Scheduling, Note-Taking, and Automation
44:03 Gamifying SOPs with AI
46:57 One-Click Internal Linking
50:53 The Personal Brand Machine (And How AI Supercharges It)
58:50 AI-Powered LinkedIn Ads & ABM
01:08:07 Outro
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend).
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Where to find Eric:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericosiu/
X: @ericosiuWebsites: https://www.singlegrain.com/
https://karrot.ai/
https://www.levelingup.com/
Where to find Tim:
LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/)X: @timsoulo
Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/
👥 People Mentioned
• Neil Patel – Co-founder of NP Digital, marketing influencer, frequent collaborator with Eric
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilkpatel
Website: https://neilpatel.com
• Gael Breton – Co-founder of Authority Hacker, SEO educator
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gael-breton-762b1515
Website: https://www.authorityhacker.com
• Nathan Barry – Founder of ConvertKit (now Kit), previous podcast guest
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry
Website: https://nathanbarry.com
• Dmitry Gerasimenko – Founder & CEO of Ahrefs
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerasimenko
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🏢 Companies & Tools Referenced
• Single Grain – Digital marketing agency founded by Eric Siu
Website: https://www.singlegrain.com
• Ahrefs – SEO and marketing intelligence platform
Website: https://ahrefs.com
• NP Digital – Marketing agency co-founded by Neil Patel
Website: https://npdigital.com
• Authority Hacker – SEO and content marketing education
Website: https://www.authorityhacker.com
• Lindy.ai – AI agent tool for task automation, including recruiting
Website: https://lindy.ai
• Manos – AI-powered recruiting automation (referenced)
Website: https://manos.so
• Reclaim.ai – Smart calendar management for scheduling and productivity
Website: https://reclaim.ai
• Hawie.ai – AI meeting scheduling assistant
Website: https://hawie.ai
• Granola – AI note-taking tool
Website: https://granola.so
• Gong – Sales intelligence and meeting recording tool
Website: https://www.gong.io
• Overlap – AI video clipping for short-form content
Website: https://www.overlap.so
• Opus Clip – AI video clipping tool for podcasts and YouTube
Website: https://www.opus.pro
• Descript – AI-powered video editing tool
Website: https://www.descript.com
• Bannerbear – Automated image and video generation (used for OG images)
Website: https://www.bannerbear.com
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📚 Books & Ideas Referenced
• “Who’s Got the Monkey?” – Harvard Business Review article on delegation
Read it: https://hbr.org/1974/11/management-time-whos-got-the-monkey
