Balancing brand journalism and independent trust

They discuss conflicts of interest, the need for transparency, and why brand outlets cannot replace independent journalism.

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Episode notes

In this episode of The Long Game Podcast, Alex Birkett interviews Noah Greenberg, CEO of Stacker, a content distribution platform that helps brands turn owned content into earned media. They dive into the paradigm shift from SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and how brands can optimize for visibility in AI-powered interfaces like ChatGPT and Gemini. Noah shares how earned media, brand mentions, and distribution at scale are becoming the new backlinks, and how the lines between PR, content, and SEO are blurring. From Google's disappearing traffic to ChatGPT's probabilistic answers, this is a deep dive into the future of organic visibility and media strategy in the AI era.

Key Takeaways

SEO Is Evolving into GEO: The goal is no longer just ranking on Google—it’s being cited and surfaced in AI-powered responses.
Earned Media Drives AI Visibility: PR, brand mentions, and syndicated content now influence whether LLMs cite your brand.
Distribution Increases Surface Area: Publishing content broadly boosts the probability of being included in AI-generated answers.
PR Is Cool Again: The rise of AI search has revived interest in press releases and third-party citations as visibility tools.
SEO, Content, and PR Must Merge: Teams need to collaborate across departments to drive brand visibility in AI environments.
Impact Is Visible—Fast: A single article syndicated through Stacker can be cited in AI search results within 24 hours.
Measurement Models Are Changing: Traditional KPIs like backlinks and traffic are giving way to visibility, trust, and AI mentions.
Founders Should Think Like Media Companies: Being the source of truth—and distributing it widely—is key to staying top-of-mind.

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