210: AI Agents Are Here (And They Hate Your Website) with Jes Scholz

There is a new user on the internet. It doesn't have eyes, it reads code, and it has zero tolerance for bad UX.

In this episode, I sit down with Jes Scholz (SEO Futurist & Marketing Consultant) to discuss the "Great Correction" coming to our industry. We talk about why a decade of obsessing over short-term metrics has "corrupted" brand marketing, and why AI is finally forcing us to fix the fundamentals we’ve ignored for too long.

Jes explains why AI agents are abandoning websites with messy HTML, why "entity optimization" is the real key to future visibility, and why the popular tactic of spamming Reddit to influence LLMs is a ticking time bomb for your brand.

Topics Covered:

• Why short-term metrics broke modern marketing (and how to fix it).
• The "New User": How to optimize for AI agents that read code, not screens.
• Why "trash" code and interstitial popups are fatal for AI discovery.
• The "Reddit Spam" Rant: Why trying to hack AI will destroy your brand reputation.
• The #1 skill AI cannot replace in 2026.

Timestamps: 

00:00 - Intro 

00:02:07 - How Short-Term Metrics "Corrupted" Brand Marketing 

00:03:59 - Why Marketers Must Relearn to Work Without Perfect Metrics 

00:08:00 - AI Agents: Why They Fail on Bad UX & Messy HTML 

00:17:52 - Beyond the Website: Why Entity Optimization is Key for AI 

00:21:14 - Why Spamming Reddit to Influence AI Will Destroy Your Brand 

00:27:23 - Final Advice: The #1 Skill to Keep & The #1 Habit to Drop

About the Guest: Jes Scholz is a global digital strategist and SEO futurist. Formerly the International Digital Director for Ringier, she has led digital transformation across 140+ media and e-commerce brands in Europe, Africa, and Asia. She is now an independent consultant helping enterprises adapt to the AI era.

Connect with Jes:

• Website: jesscholz.com
• Newsletter: SEO Brief on Substack
• LinkedIn: Jes Scholz

Connect with Sani:

• LinkedIn: Slobodan (Sani) Manić
• Website: nohackspod.com
• Newsletter: No Hacks on Substack

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