Ahrefs Podcast

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Jun 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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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 nextWe 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_meWebsite: https://www.slice-social.com/Where to find Tim:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/Referenced:Alchemy by Rory Sutherland: https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Dark-Art-Science-Persuasion/dp/0062388428Ahrefs: 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-inWe 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.comWhere 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-radarAhrefs: 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 placesWe 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: @ledergorWebsite: https://www.gong.io/Where to find Tim:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/X: @timsouloWebsite: 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 itselfWhere to find Ryan Law:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkingslow/X: @thinkingslowWebsite: https://www.ryanlaw.me/Where to find Tim:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/Referenced:Claude (Anthropic): https://claude.aiAhrefs: 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 promptWhere to find Luke:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/luke-winter-75a2885aWebsite: deadpanagency.comWhere to find Tim:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timsouloX: @timsouloWebsite: timsoulo.comReferenced:Deadpan Agency: deadpanagency.comGamma: gamma.appStoryBrand by Donald Miller: storybrand.comContagious by Jonah Berger: jonahberger.com/books/contagious/ClientBoost: clientboost.comAhrefs: ahrefs.com

March 17, 2026Episode 11 hr 12 min

Inside ZoomInfo’s $1.2B AI GTM Engine | Tal Raz

ZoomInfo powers the world's outbound prospecting — and gets the majority of its own new business from inbound. Tal Raz, ZoomInfo's CMO, explains the flywheel behind a $1.2B ARR go-to-market machine.Tal is a nine-year veteran of ZoomInfo who joined as a marketing analyst and built her way to the C-suite by obsessing over funnel gaps, data quality, and campaign execution. She now leads a ~100-person global marketing team and is one of the architects behind how ZoomInfo actually goes to market — using its own platform to do it.In this conversation, Tal explains why AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are doing the buyer research that used to land on your website — and what that means for inbound-dependent companies. She breaks down why most AI-powered outreach fails (it's a data problem, not an AI problem), how GTM Studio compresses a weeks-long campaign launch into hours, and what "no leaders leaders" looks like as a real operating philosophy inside a public company.EPISODE CHAPTERS(00:00) Intro(01:11) Why ZoomInfo — master of outbound — relies on inbound for most new revenue(07:18) Why AI search (ChatGPT, Gemini) is dismantling traditional SEO-driven inbound(11:01) The execution gap: why AI-powered outreach so often gets it wrong(15:33) GTM Studio: how to compress weeks of campaign prep into hours(23:23) AI SDRs — real replacement for human sales reps, or just hype?(27:42) Managing a 100-person global marketing team from Israel(33:11) How to measure marketing by working backwards from ACV, not MQLs(41:46) What Henry Schuck really thinks about brand marketing(44:58) The apology billboard: turning a product failure into a campaign(50:50) Labubu at Dreamforce: making the case for playful B2B marketing(54:18) "No leaders leaders": why ZoomInfo's C-suite stays in the weeds(57:56) From marketing analyst to CMO: Tal's 9-year journey at one company(01:04:56) How AI is changing what it means to be a marketer(01:10:22) Rapid fire: favorite book, admired company, and thought leaderWHERE TO FIND TALLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tal-raz-46529620/WHERE TO FIND TIMLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/REFERENCEDZoomInfo: https://www.zoominfo.com/ZoomInfo GTM Studio: https://www.zoominfo.com/products/gtm-studioGamma (the "Office" campaign): https://gamma.app/The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36072.The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_PeopleKieran Flanagan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieranjflanaganLabubu (Pop Mart): https://www.popmart.com/usAhrefs: https://ahrefs.com

March 3, 2026Episode 101 hr 16 min

How to Build a $2.1B Brand with a Team of 10 (Gamma’s Playbook)

Gamma is everywhere right now. With viral videos starring Rainn Wilson, massive drone shows over San Francisco, and a valuation of $2.1 billion, this AI startup has mastered the art of capturing attention in a crowded market. But behind these huge stunts is a surprisingly small, scrappy team using a very specific playbook to punch way above their weight class.My guest today is Kristin Fracchia, the Head of Marketing at Gamma. She’s the architect behind the company’s explosive growth to 70 million users and its transition from a quiet product-led company to a brand that dominates the conversation. Kristin reveals how she orchestrates “audacious” marketing moments that break the internet without breaking the bank.In this episode, we deconstruct the exact strategies Gamma uses to go viral repeatedly. You’ll learn how to manufacture “luck” in PR, why unscalable influencer marketing is your biggest advantage, and how to execute massive brand stunts like The Sphere and celebrity cameos—even if you’re just a team of ten.Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:(00:00) Intro(01:29) The “Audacious” Launch Playbook for breaking through AI noise(05:28) Why constant shipping kills marketing momentum (and what to do instead)(10:38) The “Twist” Framework: How changing one element makes you viral(12:30) Landing a New York Times exclusive without a big agency(16:31) How to find the unique angle journalists actually care about(20:34) Scaling influencer marketing from manual outreach to 70M users(23:36) Why you can’t track ROI on influencers (and the proxy metric to use instead)(28:54) The “How did you hear about us?” attribution model(35:51) The strategy behind Gamma’s viral video parodies (Severance, Mission Impossible)(41:00) How Kristin used ChatGPT to negotiate a contract with Rainn Wilson(46:11) The real cost of celebrity cameos for B2B startups(48:01) Why distribution matters more than the creative asset itself(52:52) Production costs: When to go in-house vs. hiring an agency(56:44) Exploiting the “Gap”: How Gamma hacked The Sphere in Las Vegas(01:03:28) Orchestrating a 4,000-person drone show using existing events(01:08:55) “Peacocking”: Why your brand is your marketing budget(01:12:21) Using AI Tarot cards to win at Dreamforce(01:13:42) Rapid Fire: Favorite books and marketing inspirationsLINKS:Connect with Kristin:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinfracchia/Twitter: @KristinFracchiaWebsite: https://gamma.app/Connect with Tim:Where to find Tim:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/References:“Audacious” by Mark Schaefer : https://businessesgrow.com/audacious/Lenny’s Podcast: ⁨@LennysPodcast⁩Claire Vo (Product/AI thought leader): https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/

February 17, 2026Episode 91 hr 5 min

10x Your Marketing With These AI Workflows | Kieran Flanagan (Hubspot)

Most marketers use AI to write generic emails.Kieran Flanagan used it to increase sales meetings by 30% and build a “Chief of Staff” that manages his 350-person team.Kieran is the SVP of Marketing at HubSpot, where he has helped scale the company from 250 to over 7,000 employees.He is also the co-host of the popular “Marketing Against the Grain” podcast.In other words, Kieran doesn’t just theorize about AI; he is actively “vibe coding” custom internal tools to overhaul HubSpot’s entire go-to-market motion.In this episode, Kieran opens his laptop to show exactly how he builds custom AI agents that extract viral talking points from video, automate complex management reporting from Slack, and personalize outreach at massive scale.Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:The “Vibe Coding” Strategy: Why building your own simple tools beats buying off-the-shelf software.30% More Meetings: The exact email workflow change that drove massive sales efficiency.Management Automation: How to use AI to summarize weekly team activity and identify blockers across 350 employees.The Death of Prompt Engineering: Why “context grafting” and intent matching are replacing complex prompts.TIMESTAMPS:00:00 - Introduction00:30 - Managing a 350-person team at HubSpot04:05 - How AI drove a 30% increase in sales meetings08:07 - Building custom data sets for personalized outreach14:47 - Demo: Kieran’s custom “Viral Talking Points” tool21:18 - Why “Vibe Coding” is the future of marketing workflows25:49 - Turning video transcripts into high-performing LinkedIn posts30:45 - The evolution of prompt engineering (and why it’s dying)38:37 - The “Shakespeare Trap” of using AI for feedback42:30 - Using AI agents for deep research and storytelling50:28 - Automating management: Summarizing Slack and identifying blockers59:05 - Why AI makes creativity more valuable, not less01:02:40 - The #1 trait Kieran looks for when hiring01:03:15 - Sneak peek: AI agents inside Google SheetsWhere to find Kieran:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieranjflanagan/X: @searchbratWebsite: https://www.kieranflanagan.io/ , https://www.hubspot.com/Podcast: @MATGpodWhere to find Tim:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/

February 3, 2026Episode 856 min

Top SEO myths debunked with real data | Ethan Smith (Graphite)

Is SEO actually dying, or are you just listening to the wrong people? While the media claims that AI is causing a 25% traffic collapse, data from 40,000 of the largest websites in the U.S. tells a completely different story.In this episode, Ethan Smith (CEO of Graphite) joins Tim Soulo to perform SEO Necromancy — resurrecting search from the dead by debunking the biggest myths in the industry. Ethan is widely regarded as the leading expert on Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), having built growth engines for brands like Instagram, Robinhood, and BetterUp. He doesn’t just share opinions; he shares data-backed insights from his recent study on how search behavior is actually shifting.You’ll hear why the rise of ChatGPT isn’t the Google killer everyone predicted, how small websites are actually gaining traffic in the AI era, and the exact strategy you need to ensure your brand is cited by LLMs.Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:00:00 - Intro01:00 - Why AI isn’t actually killing the web04:49 - Measuring the real traffic drop07:31 - The winners and losers of the AI traffic shift13:24 - How AI behaviors are expanding the search pie18:18 - Cleaning up outdated and inaccurate citations23:28 - Why SEO and AEO are the same thing27:09 - Why your AI tracking is biased38:33 - Mining sales calls and Reddit for high-intent prompts41:29 - How to win the RAG citation game47:29 - Why being #15 in citations is better than #15 in Google51:04 - ChatGPT vs Gemini vs Perplexity: where to focus first?Where to find Ethan:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanls/Website: https://graphite.io/Where to find Tim:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/