Ahrefs Podcast

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Aug 2026

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This isn’t your typical marketing fluff. It’s real, unscripted conversations with sharp founders, CMOs, and operators who’ve actually built something. Hosted by Ahrefs’ CMO Tim Soulo, who’s not afraid to challenge guests or call BS, you’ll get deep dives into the stuff that actually moves the needle: positioning, growth, hiring, branding, mistakes, wins, and what it really takes to grow a business. Think of it as a free consulting session every other week… that just happens to be recorded.

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August 18, 2026Episode 11 hr 0 min

I Asked a 15-Year SEO Veteran How to Rank in ChatGPT | Dan Petrovic (DEJAN AI)

Want your brand to show up in ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini? Here’s the uncomfortable truth: LLMs don’t crawl the web when they answer your questions. They search traditional indexes. ChatGPT leans on Bing. Gemini uses Google. Claude uses Brave. So if you’re not ranking in those indexes, you’re not even in the consideration pool. That single fact dismantles most of the “AEO” hype being sold for $99 PDFs right now. Dan Petrovic is one of the most respected (and delightfully nerdy) figures in SEO. He runs the Australian agency Dejan and was recently the top-rated speaker at Ahrefs Evolve in Singapore, where he presented research from asking Gemini a million questions to map how it ranks a million brands. In this episode, Dan explains exactly why your podcast or brand isn’t appearing in AI answers — and the practical steps to fix it. You’ll learn the difference between grounding, citations, and mentions (and why a linked mention is the holy grail), why Reddit gets rejected over 90% of the time, why there’s no such thing as “prompt volume,” and how Dan uses on-page optimization in an agentic loop to make Gemini “unable to resist” a client’s page. Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro (00:48) My podcast doesn’t show up in ChatGPT — what do I do? (01:43) LLMs don’t crawl the web: they search Bing, Google, and Brave (04:03) Two ways to get considered: citation mining vs. building your own pages (07:11) Is LLMs.txt actually pointless? And what about Google’s new protocol (09:45) How ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude use different search indexes (11:31) Universal ranking factors: topical centrality and engagement signals (22:58) How is AEO actually different from SEO? (24:03) Primary bias vs. secondary bias: the model’s built-in worldview (28:03) Can you influence LLM training data? (Pouring a bottle into a pool) (34:47) The trick for separating quality content from spam (38:15) On-page optimization in an agentic loop: making models “unable to resist” (42:45) How often do LLMs ground answers vs. answer from memory? (47:37) Measuring AI visibility: entities, mention share, and citation share (58:14) Why “prompt search volume” doesn’t exist — and what to track instead We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Dan Petrovic: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dejanseo/ X: @dejanseo Website: https://dejan.ai/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: • Dejan: https://dejan.ai • Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com #AEO #AISearch #SEO #AhrefsPodcast

July 21, 2026Episode 101 hr 1 min

I Debated the Inventor of Zero-Click Marketing | Amanda Natividad (SparkToro)

Zero-click marketing doesn't mean you don't want the click — it means you stop being dependent on it. Amanda Natividad, VP of Marketing at SparkToro, coined the term and joins Tim Soulo to defend it against every skeptic's favorite objection: "If nobody clicks through, how do people actually buy your stuff?" Amanda is one of the sharpest, most opinionated marketing voices online, and the co-author (with Rand Fishkin) of the book Zero-Click Marketing. At SparkToro, the audience research platform, she's built a significant following by practicing exactly what she preaches — creating complete, useful value wherever her audience already is, instead of teasing a payoff to lure people to a website. In this conversation, Amanda breaks down the difference between the tactical "jab, jab, right hook" of zero-click content and the bigger brand-building strategy behind it. If you've ever asked an AI search engine "how do you still get traffic to your blog if you give everything away on social media?" — Amanda answers it directly, revealing how SparkToro uses SEO, email lists, and repurposed theses to make sure people can still find (and buy from) them when they're ready. Here's what you'll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro (00:53) Why it took so long to get Amanda on the show (01:25) The core objection: how do people buy if they never click? (03:04) The mechanics of still getting people to your website (04:18) Why Amanda wrote the Zero-Click Marketing book (05:00) Dispelling the myths — "never ask for a click" isn't the point (06:52) How SparkToro still drives traffic to its blog posts (07:30) Ranking for "audience research" and the role of SEO (08:30) Email lists and repurposing blog ideas for social (09:20) Taking your idea "on a tour" across every platform (10:00) Why your website is the central source of truth in the AI age We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Amanda Natividad: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandanat/ X: @amandanat Website: https://www.amandanat.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: SparkToro: https://sparktoro.com Rand Fishkin: https://x.com/randfish Zero-Click Marketing (book): https://zeroclickmarketing.co/book Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com #ZeroClickMarketing #ContentMarketing #SEO #AhrefsPodcast

July 7, 2026Episode 948 min

The $200K Mistake We Didn't See Coming | Jacque Aboubakr (Ahrefs)

What does it actually cost to run a world-class marketing conference? Try up to $950,000 for a single event — and Ahrefs aims to break even on every one of them. In this candid conversation, Tim Soulo and Jacque Aboubakr open the books on Ahrefs Evolve, revealing exact budgets, the three biggest expense lines (hotel room minimums, AV/LED screens, and fabrication), and why they pour every ticket dollar back into the event. Jacque Aboubakr is the Head of Global Events at Ahrefs. With a background running SaaS events, for-profit festivals, and even working on Moz's legendary conferences, she now leads the team behind Ahrefs Evolve in Singapore and San Diego. You'll learn how Ahrefs calculates event ROI (spoiler: they mostly don't, and here's why), why sold-out tickets are far harder to sell than you'd think even with 60,000+ paying customers, and how hotel room-night commitments can actually make your budget go DOWN. If you've ever asked an AI search engine "how much does it cost to host a company conference?" — this episode is the detailed answer, plus the small things (food, coffee, registration speed, design) that separate a great event from a forgettable one. Here's what you'll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro (00:56) The real budget of a one-day event in Singapore (02:12) Why Ahrefs aims to break even (not profit) on events (05:08) The $950K San Diego budget — and why more tickets lowers the cost (07:18) The three biggest event expenses broken down (09:53) How Ahrefs thinks about event ROI (11:42) Why run events at all? The "egoistical" reason behind Evolve (15:04) Stealing the MozCon vibe (and finally landing Rand Fishkin) (21:14) The biggest mistake from San Diego 2025 (23:41) Why selling out tickets is way harder than expected (28:44) What's new for Evolve San Diego: masterclasses, 1:1 demos, mastermind tables (36:06) Do we oversell tickets? Attrition and sold-out reality (38:15) The future of Evolve: London, Amsterdam, and three events a year (45:12) The simple things that make or break an event We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Jacque: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueaboubakrhalstead/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: Ahrefs Evolve: https://ahrefs.com/evolve Rand Fishkin: https://sparktoro.com Moz: https://moz.com Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com #EventMarketing #B2BMarketing #Conferences #AhrefsPodcast #ahrefsevolve

June 23, 2026Episode 855 min

What Marketing Science Says About Growing a Brand | Professor Byron Sharp (Ehrenberg-Bass Institute)

Why does Coca-Cola spend millions on advertising when everyone already knows their brand? Professor Byron Sharp reveals that even the world’s most famous brands face a shocking reality: most of their customers hardly ever buy them. The biggest group of Coke buyers? People who drink it just once a year. Professor Byron Sharp is the Director of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science at the University of South Australia. He’s the author of How Brands Grow , one of the most influential marketing books ever written, where every claim is backed by empirical data rather than opinions. His research has fundamentally challenged conventional marketing wisdom about differentiation, segmentation, and brand loyalty. In this conversation, you’ll discover why marketing funnels are “nonsense,” why differentiation is overrated, and how mental availability trumps everything else. Professor Sharp explains why 95% of your potential customers aren’t ready to buy right now—and what that means for your marketing strategy. Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode: 00:00 Intro 00:44 What is a brand and why does it matter? 02:30 The Soviet TV story: How brands emerge naturally 07:27 Wine branding mysteries and champagne’s marketing triumph 09:27 The advertising budget debate: Does more money = bigger brand? 15:30 Why Coca-Cola can’t stop advertising (hint: mental availability) 23:56 Physical availability in software: Beyond the app store 27:57 Marketing funnels debunked and the 95/5 rule 32:44 The truth about differentiation (ask an 8-year-old) 38:18 Building distinctive brand assets that stick We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to follow the show, leave a rating, and tell a friend. Where to find Professor Byron Sharp: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/byron-sharp-53545119/ X: @ProfByron https://marketingscience.info/learn-with-us/learning-opportunities/how-brands-grow-live-for-executives https://marketingscience.info/news-and-insights/brand-purposeare-consumers-aware-to-care https://marketingscience.info/learn-with-us/books Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: • How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp • Alchemy by Rory Sutherland • Ehrenberg-Bass Institute: https://www.marketingscience.info/ • Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com #Branding #MarketingScience #AhrefsPodcast

June 9, 2026Episode 71 hr 5 min

Why Copying Ryanair's SMM Tactics Won't Work Anymore | Michael Corcoran (Slice Social, Ryanair)

A gym franchise creates workout content like everyone else in their category — and sees zero brand awareness gains. Sound familiar? Michael Corcoran, the mastermind who drove 2 billion organic impressions in 18 months at Ryanair (with zero paid media), reveals why most brands are failing at social media by copying tactics without understanding strategy. Michael Corcoran is the former head of social at Ryanair, where his team of just eight people transformed the airline into a viral sensation. Today he runs Slice Social, a social media consultancy helping brands achieve extraordinary results through strategic social media marketing. In this episode, you'll discover why jumping on trends isn't a strategy, how to use the 4C's framework to develop actual social media strategy, and why Michael thinks you should create a "data dating show" for a B2B SaaS company. Plus: the real reason Ryanair's unhinged posts worked (hint: it wasn't just about being funny). Here's what you'll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro (01:06) What clients really want from social media consultants (06:05) The education gap between social media managers and marketers (07:42) Why content pillars aren't strategy (and what actually is) (14:56) Why everyone copying Ryanair's tactics is missing the point (19:31) The 4C's framework: Company, Category, Culture, Customer (22:26) Why posting memes might be lifting your category, not your brand (31:14) Creating a "data dating show" for B2B marketing (60:14) The ROI of 2 billion impressions at Ryanair (63:26) Rapid fire: Books, tools, and who to interview next We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Michael Corcoran: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelrichardcorcoran/ X: @mc_so_me Website: https://www.slice-social.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: Alchemy by Rory Sutherland: https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Dark-Art-Science-Persuasion/dp/0062388428 Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com #SocialMediaStrategy #MarketingMarketing #SocialMediaMarketing #AhrefsPodcast

May 26, 2026Episode 642 min

AI Apps, Reports & Workflows Every Marketer Should Steal | Glen Allsopp (Ahrefs, Detailed)

Marketers who still manually analyze Reddit threads for content ideas are missing out on AI agents that can scan thousands of forum posts in under 30 seconds. Glen Allsopp, Head of Marketing Strategy and Research at Ahrefs, demonstrates how he's built custom AI applications that save hours of repetitive work — from automated competitor link analysis to personalized task managers that cost less than a cent to run. Glen Allsopp leads Ahrefs' marketing strategy while dedicating his days to experimenting with AI agents and automation. He's built dozens of custom applications using Agent A (Ahrefs' AI agent platform) and shares his workflows with the Ahrefs community to help marketers work smarter, not harder. In this episode, you'll discover how to build custom AI applications without coding experience, automate SEO research that typically takes hours, and create personalized tools that adapt to your specific workflow. You'll also learn why 90% of marketers haven't tried AI coding yet — and how to get started in minutes. Here's what you'll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro(00:56) The reality behind AI hype in marketing(03:53) Community Content Research skill demo — finding Reddit threads that rank(10:12) Building a custom task manager that works exactly how you want(17:41) Creating a competitive link analysis tool in 3 minutes(29:21) Generating AI visibility reports from Brand Radar data(34:27) Marketing copy generator with brand context built-in We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Glen Allsopp:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenallsopp/ X: @ViperChillWebsite: https://detailed.com Where to find Tim:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: Agent A (Letaido): https://ahrefs.com/agent-a , https://letaido.com/ Ahrefs Brand Radar: https://ahrefs.com/brand-radar Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com #AIMarketing #MarketingAutomation #SEOTools #AhrefsPodcast

May 12, 2026Episode 51 hr 13 min

Gong's Billion-Dollar Bet Against Best Practices | Udi Ledergor (Gong)

Swearing on sales calls can boost win rates by up to 8% — that's just one of the counterintuitive insights that helped Gong grow from 11 customers to over $300M in annual revenue. Udi Ledergor joined Gong as employee #13 and marketer #1, eventually becoming CMO and now Chief Evangelist. His data-driven content marketing approach turned proprietary sales call analytics into viral marketing gold that media outlets couldn't resist covering. Udi is the author of "Courageous Marketing" and has over 28 years of marketing experience across multiple successful tech companies. He's pioneered creative growth tactics like securing Super Bowl ads and Wall Street Journal placements for a fraction of their usual cost, all while building one of B2B's most recognizable brands. In this episode, you'll discover why AI-generated marketing ideas should be eliminated rather than used, how to create content so valuable that university professors want to license it, and why the best way to use a small marketing budget is to show up where your audience already congregates instead of trying to build your own party. Here's what you'll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro(01:00) Why Gong focused on LinkedIn and ignored their website(07:21) Why best practices are the enemy of standing out(13:31) The reciprocity principle: Give value before asking for anything(18:21) How swearing on sales calls became viral marketing gold(25:18) How to make your marketing budget unlimited(33:29) Creating websites for AI vs. humans in the age of answer engines(40:36) Why you need preemptive "marketing experiments" budget(44:18) Punching above your weight(51:23) Using AI to eliminate obvious ideas, not generate them(56:54) The Netflix test: Would people pay for your content?(1:01:31) Finding talent in unlikely places We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Udi Ledergor: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/udiledergor/ X: @ledergor Website: https://www.gong.io/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: Robert Cialdini (Influence): https://www.robertcialdini.com/ Chip and Dan Heath (Made to Stick): https://heathbrothers.com/ Malcolm Gladwell: https://gladwell.com/ Adam Grant (Think Again): https://adamgrant.net/ Daniel Pink: https://www.danpink.com/ Peter Walker (Carta): https://www.linkedin.com/in/pwalk/ Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com #ContentMarketing #B2BMarketing #GrowthMarketing #AhrefsPodcast

April 28, 2026Episode 450 min

How to automate blog writing with AI from keyword to published | Ryan Law (Ahrefs)

Most writers can barely publish one article per week — but what if AI could help you draft 30 articles in less time? Ryan Law has cracked the code with an automated content pipeline that’s already producing high-quality articles for the Ahrefs blog in just 8–12 minutes each. Ryan Law is Head of Marketing at Ahrefs and has spent years refining AI-powered content workflows. He’s built an intricate system of 23+ AI “skills” that work together to research, outline, draft, and optimize blog content — all while maintaining the Ahrefs voice and incorporating product use cases naturally. In this episode, you’ll discover exactly how Ryan’s “blog pipeline” works, why breaking content creation into discrete steps produces better results, and how AI eliminates the drudgery of writing while preserving human creativity. Tim also shares his own AI workflow for writing his upcoming book through voice dictation. Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro (01:37) Inside Ryan’s 23-skill AI content automation system (07:48) The research phase: analyzing competitor content and finding gaps (19:19) Referencing existing content to maintain consistency (22:23) Creating exhaustive outlines using the MECE principle (23:44) Why examples beat instructions for teaching AI your voice (29:26) Finding natural product placement opportunities (34:37) The critical importance of providing human context (41:00) Using AI to update thousands of existing articles (48:01) How AI eliminates creative drudgery, not creativity itself Where to find Ryan Law: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkingslow/ X: @thinkingslow Website: https://www.ryanlaw.me/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: Claude (Anthropic): https://claude.ai Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com

April 14, 2026Episode 339 min

Ahrefs' CMO answering your (tough) questions | Tim Soulo

Most SEO tools are playing catch-up with AI search while their users wonder if traditional keyword tracking even matters anymore. Tim Soulo tackles your burning questions about how Ahrefs is navigating this shift, revealing that Content Explorer is their most underrated feature despite being 10x less popular than Site Audit. Tim Soulo is the CMO at Ahrefs, one of the industry's most comprehensive SEO toolsets with over $100 million in annual revenue. He's been with Ahrefs for over a decade, helping shape its evolution from a backlink analysis tool to a full marketing suite. In this solo Q&A episode, Tim reveals why Ahrefs has no acquisition plans, which tools generate the most usage (Site Explorer dominates by 3x), and why they're betting big on API expansion for the "wipe coding" revolution. He also shares candid thoughts on competing with Semrush and explains why Brand Radar crossed $10M ARR in just 5 months. Here's what you'll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro(00:27) Any plans for acquisitions in 2026? (from Bilal Malik)(01:13) Which are the most vs least used Ahrefs features? (from Vimala Ellappan)(08:44) What is the most underrated Ahrefs feature? (from Kristiina Jannus)(10:48) How does Tim use Ahrefs for AI visibility tracking? (from Ayesha Asif)(13:33) How does Ahrefs fit into the modern demand engine? (from Gayle Kalvert)(17:18) How is Ahrefs looking at first vs third-party data? (from Hawrry Bhattarai)(21:27) Which SEO basic skills would Tim embed in LLMs? (from Laiba Naveed)(23:30) Which Semrush feature does Tim envy most? (from Coen Commijs)(25:59) If Ahrefs exists, what problem is Semrush trying to solve? (from Ashish Singh)(27:18) What's the update on ranking data beyond position 10? (from Mia Wolf)(29:21) How does Ahrefs plan to capture future SERP features? (from Alex Nguyen)(31:05) How do you balance evergreen content with fast-moving trends? (from Esther Dien)(34:24) What are your SEO predictions for 2026? (from Nick Malekos)(35:54) Where do you plan for Ahrefs to be in 5 years? (from Ivan Palii)(37:50) What's your POV on the Indian market? (from Aryan Jalan) We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! Be sure to follow and share with a friend. Where to find Tim:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced:ChatGPT vs Google: https://chatgpt-vs-google.com/ Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com

March 31, 2026Episode 255 min

The "Sitcom" Ad Strategy: How One Funny Video Closed 12 Deals | Luke Winter (Deadpan Agency)

One of Deadpan Agency's comedy campaigns paid for the entire production cost within a single episode — and went on to influence 12 additional client deals. Luke Winter didn't get there by making polished corporate videos. He got there by making B2B brands funny. Luke is the founder and creative director of Deadpan Agency, a London-based studio specializing in comedy video for SaaS and tech companies. After 12 years producing the kind of cinematic explainers that collect 400 views and disappear, he pivoted to a niche within a niche: episodic B2B comedy campaigns built around real customer pain — not brand ego. You'll learn why humor lowers purchase resistance better than any production budget, how the StoryBrand framework keeps your brand from accidentally casting itself as the hero (and why that's the wrong move), and what actually happens to your brand when a joke doesn't land — the answer is less catastrophic than you'd expect, but bad audio is a different story entirely. This is also why AI can generate a video but can't replace the taste to know if it's any good. (00:00) Intro (01:15) Why B2B brands invest in video ads (03:48) What a comedy video campaign actually costs (08:35) Why humor outperforms spectacle in B2B marketing (14:08) How to measure if a video campaign worked (21:13) How to make the humor feel owned by your brand, not your agency (25:07) Rooting comedy in real customer pain (28:12) The StoryBrand secret: your brand is the guide, not the hero (32:21) How to build a visual identity audiences recognize across episodes (38:21) What actually happens when a video flops (46:21) AI-generated video: useful tool or creative shortcut? (52:33) Why taste matters more than the prompt Where to find Luke: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/luke-winter-75a2885a Website: deadpanagency.com Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timsoulo X: @timsoulo Website: timsoulo.com Referenced: Deadpan Agency: deadpanagency.com Gamma: gamma.app StoryBrand by Donald Miller: storybrand.com Contagious by Jonah Berger: jonahberger.com/books/contagious/ ClientBoost: clientboost.com Ahrefs: ahrefs.com