The GTMnow Podcast Bonus: The Next Digital Revolution: You Optimized for Humans, Now You Have to Optimize for AI | with Mike Walrath (CEO of Yext)

Jul 15, 2025

In this insightful discussion, Mike Walrath, CEO of Yext and founder of Right Media (which Yahoo acquired for $850M), delves into the seismic shift from human-centric to AI-optimized marketing strategies. He emphasizes the urgent need to adapt business data structures for AI, as they now hold more weight than traditional web pages. The conversation highlights the impact of generative AI on customer discovery and stresses an 'intelligence first' approach for data-driven marketing excellence and future-proofing SaaS product development.

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INSIGHT

Rebuild Digital Presence for AI

AI needs data structured specifically for machine consumption, not humans.
The digital presence must be rebuilt to be AI-ready, focusing on pure unfiltered data.

INSIGHT

Search is Expanding Beyond Google

Search share metrics miss generative AI platforms like ChatGPT and Grok.
These AI platforms significantly broaden where questions are asked and answers are provided.

INSIGHT

Local Search is Personalized by AI

AI-driven search results vary greatly by location and user preferences.
Marketers must go beyond basic info and deeply structure business data for AI discovery.

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This bonus episode explores one of the most important shifts happening in go-to-market right now: the move from optimizing for humans to optimizing for AI.

Mike Walrath, CEO of Yext and former founder of Right Media (acquired by Yahoo for $850M), shares why this change is as big — or bigger — than the first wave of digital transformation. You’ll learn how AI agents are changing how customers discover businesses, why your structured data now matters more than your homepage, and what you can do to stay ahead.

This is a clip from the full episode with Mike — a must-watch roadmap for the AI-driven future of marketing. Hit the links to dive into the full conversation.

• GTMnow: https://gtmnow.com/gtm-146-future-of-search-ai-digital-presence-mike-walrath/
• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/gtm-146-the-future-of-search-ai-and-digital/id1369291464?i=1000708383559
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2xs4xXGmTTKXHSNUMmYqvy
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m1051j_hq4&list=PLGXnz4Tyz3-SfJ5DPByHtUOQOFB3yJ6zZ&index=11&t=1327s

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The GTMnow Podcast
The GTMnow Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.

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