August 3, 2025 • 16 mins
Remember when "Googling something" meant typing a few keywords and sifting through pages of results? Those days are rapidly fading. The search revolution is here, driven by AI that delivers direct answers to our questions with unprecedented speed and accuracy.
Against this backdrop, we uncover the fascinating story of Exponent 21, a digital agency that transformed from relative obscurity into the authority in their field by making a bold strategic gamble on AI search optimization. Their journey wasn't fueled by luck or viral flukes, but through a systematic approach that evolved into a repeatable 14-step framework that delivered staggering results: 4,162% organic traffic growth in under a year, and recognition as the top-cited source in Google AI overviews for their niche.
We dissect their strategy's key components, from intentional AI signals and schema markup to their innovative "flywheel effect" that created a self-reinforcing ecosystem of content. You'll discover how they leveraged structured data, multimedia presence, and subject matter expertise to build digital authority that translated into tangible business outcomes – transforming from occasional leads to daily sales opportunities and a multimillion-dollar pipeline purely from inbound interest.
The lessons are clear and actionable: AI doesn't reward tricks, but completeness and clarity. The new standard isn't just page one rankings but being recognized as the definitive answer. And there's significant advantage to moving first, as success creates a positive feedback loop of increased citations and authority. The question now becomes: what unanswered question in your field are you ready to dominate? Because the future of search isn't waiting – it belongs to those who proactively claim their authority.
Don't forget to subscribe where ever you get your podcasts!
This podcast is produced by Xponent21, a top U.S. AI SEO agency headquartered in Richmond, VA. We specialize in AI-driven SEO strategies that help businesses optimize their content to rank in ChatGPT, AI Overviews, and Perplexity. Want to stay ahead in the evolving search landscape? Check out our expert guide on how to optimize your content for AI search and partner with Xponent21 for digital marketing success.
Dive deeper into the world of AI SEO with this article on WillMelton.com, Shaping Reality: A Journey into Influencing Generative AI Outputs and AI Search Engine Results.
Want to learn now videos and podcasts are leveraged to elevate your brand in AI search results? Watch a replay of our webinar: Winning The Attention War: How to Use Strategic Video to Stand Out in the AI Era.
Get a jumpstart on your competition in the AI search visibility race: get a free, instant SEO report at Xponent21.com...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Have you ever noticed how the very way we find
information is changing I meanreally changing?
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Oh, definitely.
It's not just about typingkeywords anymore, is it?
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Not at all.
It's more like asking aquestion and boom, you get a
direct answer.
Ai-driven search is justfundamentally reshaping things.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
It really is how brands get discovered, how
content surfaces.
It's a whole new landscape.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Yeah, exactly.
So the big question, I think,for all of us is how do you not
just you know adapt?
How do you actually dominatethis new frontier?
And that's our mission.
Today, we're doing a deep diveinto this fascinating story
about one company, exponent 21.
They faced what they called anobscurity gap and, instead of
(00:42):
just waiting around, they madethis really bold strategic
gamble.
They went all in on AI searchAll in and in less than a year
they went from being pretty muchunknown to the authority
getting cited directly byGoogle's AI.
It's quite something.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
It really is.
And the thing is, this wasn'tjust like a lucky break or some
viral fluke.
No, it was very systematic, acalculated experiment actually,
and it didn't just work.
It evolved into this repeatable14-step framework.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Okay, a framework.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah.
So in this deep dive, we'regoing to dissect that whole
journey.
We'll look at the exact steps,the hurdles they jumped and the
outcomes, which were prettyremarkable.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
And you mentioned, it came from practice, not theory.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Absolutely Born entirely out of doing the work
seeing what stuck Hands on.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Got it Okay, so let's set the scene Mid-2024,.
Where was Exponent 21?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Well, they were doing great work for their clients,
no question.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Right, I saw the example of Richmond Water.
Took them from launch to localsensation status.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Exactly Big buzz, lots of press, really successful
outcome for the club.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
The agency itself.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
That was the problem.
Exponer 21, the agency, largelyin the shadows.
Clients knew the results, theoutcome but not necessarily the
source.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
So they lack that authoritative presence for
themselves.
The irony.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Right.
That's the core of it, that'sthe obscurity gap, and that
realization led to their pivotaldecision.
They figured, if we want to beknown as experts in visibility.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
I had to make themselves visible.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Precisely, preview it publicly and they needed a new
arena, something highly credible.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Which turned out to be AI search.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Exactly Generative answers, perplexity, google, ai,
overviews, chat, gpt.
That was their chosen provingground, a big strategic
experiment.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Okay.
So what was the thinking behindthat?
Their hypothesis?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Well, they believe that you know the fundamentals
of SEO.
Still mattered user intent,authority structure.
So you're on the basics, butthey needed to be supercharged
for the AI age.
That was their term.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Supercharged.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
How it meant a pretty dramatic shift away from just
say, modest blogging to a rapidfire cluster based content
system, creating content withreally intentional AI signals
built in.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
What kind of signals are we talking about?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Things like really rich FAQ sections, explicit Q&A
formats and crucially robustschema markup.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Schema markup.
That's the code that helpssearch engines understand the
page content better right.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Exactly, it makes the information highly retrievable
for AI, like signposting exactlywhat's there.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Got it, and they also decided, speed was important.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Hugely important.
Speed wasn't seen as a risk.
It was a core feature of theirstrategy Move fast.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Okay, speed as a feature.
I like that and it seems likethat paid off like almost
instantly.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Pretty much.
Yeah, let's walk through thatinitial sprint.
It was fast, okay.
August 8th, 2024.
Decision day they commitpublicly, plan an AI SEO webinar
, set their goals Okay.
Visibility ranking leads.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Right Clock's ticking .
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Two days later, August 10th, they published
their big one how to Optimizefor AI Search, their cornerstone
piece.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Two days Wow, that's hitting the ground running.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
No kidding, shows real conviction, right,
definitely.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Okay, so articles out , then the webinar.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
August 28th webinar day.
But get this the morning of thewebinar they find out that
flagship article.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
It hit number one in perplexity for how to rank an AI
search.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
No way, yes way In under two weeks.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
That's incredible validation.
Talk about perfect timing for awebinar.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Couldn't script it better.
They showcased that win liveBasically launched their
category leadership right there.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Amazing.
And it didn't stop there.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Nope.
By September 10th.
Just a few weeks later, they'dsecured top citations in Google
AI overviews and ChatGPT2.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
So boom, early dominance across the board.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Pretty much cemented it early on.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
So this rapid success , that must be when they started
thinking OK, we have somethingrepeatable here.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Exactly that leads right into formalizing the
framework.
Around September 25th theystart documenting what worked.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
The birth of the AI SEO accelerator framework.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
That's it and, again, born from practice not theory,
it went straight from case studyto methodology.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Can you give us a sense of like, maybe two or
three core principles thatreally defined it early on,
things they discovered worked.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Sure, I think one was definitely those intentional AI
signals.
We talked about explicitlystructuring for AI with schema
FAQs Right, not just keywords.
Not just keywords.
Second, that rapid iterationand multi-platform validation
publishing fast, checking acrossperplexity, google learning,
adjusting.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Okay, test and learn.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah, and maybe third , this idea of building a web of
relevance Publishing outsidetheir own site to LinkedIn,
youtube, guest posts and linkingback, creating broader context
and credibility for the AI.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Ah, so it's not just about your own website's content
, it's the whole picture.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
The whole ecosystem.
Yeah, which actually fitsperfectly with what they did
next, which was Well around thatsame time, september 25th again
, they launched a podcast.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Makes sense.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
They repurposed radio segments from their CEO, will
Melton, smart move.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
How so.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Every episode linked back to Exponent 21.
As the sponsor used optimizedlanguage rich links, it was
another way to strengthen thoseEAT signals.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Expertise, experience , authoritativeness, trust
across different media.
Clutter.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Very, and this leads us nicely into this concept.
They embraced the flywheeleffect.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
The flywheel.
Ok, explain that.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Instead of seeing content as just you know
individual pieces, think of itas a connected system, a
holistic ecosystem, ok, whereeach format, each channel
reinforces the others.
It builds momentum like aflywheel, once it gets spinning.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
It keeps itself going , gaining energy.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Exactly Compounding returns.
Over time that became reallytheir secret sauce for
maintaining dominance.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
So how did that play out in practice?
What did that flywheel looklike as it spun up?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
You can see it clearly in their timeline.
October 5th, they launchedCosmic Rankings, a content
series specifically to influenceAI SEO conversations, branded
media.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Building authority.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yep, Then October 15th that local SEO push you
mentioned earlier, targetingbest SEO agency in Richmond.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Ah, the dual boost idea.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Right, capturing local market, reinforcing their
overall entity strength and EEATglobally Smart, very smart.
And then, december 1st, theyroll out these big glossary and
EEAT globally Smart.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Very smart.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
And then, december 1st, they roll out these big
glossary and FAQ libraries.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
With the schema markup.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Absolutely Meticulously structured, made it
super easy for AI to pull thatinfo, boosting their
retrievability, getting thosestructured snippet exposures,
creating this deep well oforganized knowledge.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Like a knowledge-based design for AI.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Essentially yes.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
So if you break down the components of that flywheel,
let's do it.
Okay, you had the flagshiparticles, deep dives, formatted
for AI Core hubs.
Then the glossary and FAQsBite-sized, schema-rich, easy
for citation.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Snackable content for AI.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Exactly, webinars and videos got repurposed
everywhere YouTube, transcriptsfor blogs, summaries, maximizing
reach, multi-format, yep, thepodcast, like we said,
repurposing audio, keyword-richnotes, backlinks.
Right Then social media andthought leadership Sharing wins
insights on LinkedIn, twitter,reddit, engaging, getting more
(07:59):
mentions, more links.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Building community and reach.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Critically structured data and technical SEO were
always front and center Schemafor everything optimizing page,
experience, hand-deliveringcontext.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Making it easy for the algorithms.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
And finally, the cross-promotion and backlink
strategy Strong internal linkingon their site plus external
links from guest posts, linkedinarticles, building that web of
relevance and authority.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Wow, it really is an integrated system.
Every piece connects.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Totally and by mid-2025, that flywheel was
spinning fast.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
And the impact.
What did that integrated systemactually achieve?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Well, it boosted their SEO overall, obviously,
but also built serious brandrecall and created this really
strong multi-channel presence.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Which became a huge competitive advantage in AI
search.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Undeniably.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Okay, let's talk payoff.
What did the numbers look likeafter all this relentless
execution?
Speaker 2 (08:48):
The numbers are frankly pretty exceptional.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Hello Amani.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
All right, april 25th 2025.
They hit the top spot for topAI SEO agency in both Google AI
overviews and perplexityCategory leadership Check.
Nice, may 2025.
About a year into it, theycrossed 10.5 million impressions
Right, 20.1 thousand totalclicks.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Okay, and the growth percentage?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Get this 4,162% organic traffic growth since
launch 4,000.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Put it another way, they went from about 3,000
organic visitors a year to over60,000.
Each jump Total websitesessions from around 11,000 to
nearly 120,000.
Year over year Over 10xincrease.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Incredible.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Daily impressions went from maybe 1,000 to over
100,000.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
It's massive scaling.
And what about the direct AIvalidation getting cited by
Google?
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Yeah, that's maybe the most telling part by
mid-2025, they were thetop-cited source in AI overviews
for their niche.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Top-cited.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
And apparently, if you actually asked Google's AI,
who are the top AI SEO agenciesin America?
Speaker 1 (09:51):
What did it say?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
It recommended Exponent 21 nine times out of
ten.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Nine out of ten.
That's basically Google saying.
These guys are it.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Pretty surreal validation right.
And then, july 22nd 2025, theyhit a single day peak of 168,337
impressions.
Good grief, and here's a reallykey detail Over 5% of their
traffic started coming directlyfrom LLMs large language models.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Like ChatGPT, providing answers and sending
traffic.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Exactly and that specific channel it was
outperforming all their otheracquisition sources.
Better engagement, higherquality leads.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
So the AI driven traffic was actually their best
traffic.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Became their highest converting channel.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Yeah, that speaks volumes about the quality and
intent.
Okay, so beyond the analytics,what was the real business
impact?
Did this turn into actualrevenue?
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Oh, absolutely.
This wasn't just about vanitymetrics.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Not at all.
So what changed?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
They went from getting maybe a few sales
qualified leads sequels a monthto getting them daily.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Daily sequels.
That's a game changer for anagency.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Huge.
It built a multimillion dollarpipeline purely from inbound
interest generated by thisstrategy.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
And the value of those opportunities climbed too.
They started attracting biggercompanies, bigger budgets, more
complex problems to solve.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
So it directly translated traffic into tangible
high-value revenue, Proved thewhole gamble paid off.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Absolutely Proved the worth of the strategy big time.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
That is a powerful transformation.
Okay, let's shift gears a bit.
Let's unpack this for thelistener, for you listening
right now.
What are the core actionablelessons here?
What do we take away fromExponent 21's journey for
succeeding in this AI era?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
OK, lesson number one , I think, is crystal clear
Generative AI doesn't rewardtricks anymore.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
No more gaming the system.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Not really.
It rewards completeness,clarity and trust.
Forget keyword stuffing orclever hacks.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
So what should people focus on?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Focus on really comprehensive coverage of your
topic, absolute clarity in yourwriting and building a
consistent authoritativepresence, those digital trust
signals.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Being genuinely helpful beats hacks.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
In the long run.
Absolutely Every time Okay.
Second lesson the new formulafor SEO excellence.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Which is.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Structured content, plus multimedia, plus expertise.
That's the trifecta.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Break that down.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Structured data like schema, gives AI the scaffolding
, makes it easy to understand.
Okay, multimedia video,podcasts, images engages users,
earns visibility acrossplatforms.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
And your unique subject matter expertise.
That's what sets you apart.
That's the human element theauthority AI is looking for.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Got it.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Structure media expertise and lesson three the
new standard isn't just page one.
It's be the best answer on theinternet.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Position zero.
The direct answer.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Exactly.
You have to strive to literallybe the best, most complete,
most trustworthy answer for aspecific question, because only
the best gets picked by the AI.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
It raises the bar significantly.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Hugely.
And this ties into the firstmover advantage, that snowball
effect.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Explain that.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Once you get cited by AI, it creates this positive
feedback loop More trust, moreauthority, more citations.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Yeah, success breeds success.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Right.
The data showed the top 50domains got nearly 30% of all AI
overview mentions.
It's a winner-take-mostsituation.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
So getting there first really matters.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
It makes it much easier to maintain that lead
than to try and catch up later.
Early movers have a real edge.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
That makes sense.
And Exponent 21,.
They're not just sitting backnow, are they?
They're still pushing.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
No, definitely not resting on their laurels.
That really highlights theirwhole proactive approach.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
What are they working on now?
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Well, they're developing an AI SEO readiness
tool like a self-assessmentthing.
Oh cool To score your content.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Yeah, score it and give recommendations for making
it more AI ready.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Useful.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
What else they're launching a certification
program for AI SEO leadershiptraining Useful?
What else they're launching acertification program for AI SEO
leadership training othermarketers?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
on their 14-step method Sharing the knowledge.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
And, of course, scaling the system itself,
rolling out the AI SEOaccelerator to more clients,
replicating their success forhigh-growth brands.
It really hammers home thatmessage of proactivity, doesn't
it?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
It really does.
They didn't wait around to beacknowledged, they went out and
earned it.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
By being faster, more comprehensive.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
And just genuinely committed to quality, providing
real value.
That stood out.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
So bringing it back to the listener.
What does this all mean for you?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Well, it means there's a real opportunity here.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
How so.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
To close your own obscurity gaps, to become the
best answer in your corner ofthe internet.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
This isn't just a story about one company
succeeding.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Not at all this kind of opportunity.
It still exists in countlessindustries just waiting for
someone to step up and seize it.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
So the potential is there.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Absolutely Exponent.
21's story is just you know,powerful proof of what's
possible with foresight,relentless execution.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
And that commitment to real value, especially when
technology shifts so fast.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Exactly, that's the core of it.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
You know, it makes me think the internet and the AI
scanning it.
It doesn't just give youauthority.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
No, it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
It really feels like it has to be taken earned
claimed.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Well said.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
So the final thought for everyone listening what new
frontier, what unansweredquestion in your field are you
ready to dominate?
How can you be the first andthe best?
Because the future of search,it's definitely not waiting
around.
Have you ever noticed how the very way we find
information is changing I meanreally changing?
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Oh, definitely.
It's not just about typingkeywords anymore, is it?
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Not at all.
It's more like asking aquestion and boom, you get a
direct answer.
Ai-driven search is justfundamentally reshaping things.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
It really is how brands get discovered, how
content surfaces.
It's a whole new landscape.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Yeah, exactly.
So the big question, I think,for all of us is how do you not
just you know adapt?
How do you actually dominatethis new frontier?
And that's our mission.
Today, we're doing a deep diveinto this fascinating story
about one company, exponent 21.
They faced what they called anobscurity gap and, instead of
(00:42):
just waiting around, they madethis really bold strategic
gamble.
They went all in on AI searchAll in and in less than a year
they went from being pretty muchunknown to the authority
getting cited directly byGoogle's AI.
It's quite something.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
It really is.
And the thing is, this wasn'tjust like a lucky break or some
viral fluke.
No, it was very systematic, acalculated experiment actually,
and it didn't just work.
It evolved into this repeatable14-step framework.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Okay, a framework.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah.
So in this deep dive, we'regoing to dissect that whole
journey.
We'll look at the exact steps,the hurdles they jumped and the
outcomes, which were prettyremarkable.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
And you mentioned, it came from practice, not theory.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Absolutely Born entirely out of doing the work
seeing what stuck Hands on.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Got it Okay, so let's set the scene Mid-2024,.
Where was Exponent 21?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Well, they were doing great work for their clients,
no question.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Right, I saw the example of Richmond Water.
Took them from launch to localsensation status.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Exactly Big buzz, lots of press, really successful
outcome for the club.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
The agency itself.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
That was the problem.
Exponer 21, the agency, largelyin the shadows.
Clients knew the results, theoutcome but not necessarily the
source.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
So they lack that authoritative presence for
themselves.
The irony.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Right.
That's the core of it, that'sthe obscurity gap, and that
realization led to their pivotaldecision.
They figured, if we want to beknown as experts in visibility.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
I had to make themselves visible.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Precisely, preview it publicly and they needed a new
arena, something highly credible.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Which turned out to be AI search.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Exactly Generative answers, perplexity, google, ai,
overviews, chat, gpt.
That was their chosen provingground, a big strategic
experiment.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Okay.
So what was the thinking behindthat?
Their hypothesis?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Well, they believe that you know the fundamentals
of SEO.
Still mattered user intent,authority structure.
So you're on the basics, butthey needed to be supercharged
for the AI age.
That was their term.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Supercharged.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
How it meant a pretty dramatic shift away from just
say, modest blogging to a rapidfire cluster based content
system, creating content withreally intentional AI signals
built in.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
What kind of signals are we talking about?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Things like really rich FAQ sections, explicit Q&A
formats and crucially robustschema markup.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Schema markup.
That's the code that helpssearch engines understand the
page content better right.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Exactly, it makes the information highly retrievable
for AI, like signposting exactlywhat's there.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Got it, and they also decided, speed was important.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Hugely important.
Speed wasn't seen as a risk.
It was a core feature of theirstrategy Move fast.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Okay, speed as a feature.
I like that and it seems likethat paid off like almost
instantly.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Pretty much.
Yeah, let's walk through thatinitial sprint.
It was fast, okay.
August 8th, 2024.
Decision day they commitpublicly, plan an AI SEO webinar
, set their goals Okay.
Visibility ranking leads.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Right Clock's ticking .
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Two days later, August 10th, they published
their big one how to Optimizefor AI Search, their cornerstone
piece.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Two days Wow, that's hitting the ground running.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
No kidding, shows real conviction, right,
definitely.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Okay, so articles out , then the webinar.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
August 28th webinar day.
But get this the morning of thewebinar they find out that
flagship article.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
It hit number one in perplexity for how to rank an AI
search.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
No way, yes way In under two weeks.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
That's incredible validation.
Talk about perfect timing for awebinar.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Couldn't script it better.
They showcased that win liveBasically launched their
category leadership right there.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Amazing.
And it didn't stop there.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Nope.
By September 10th.
Just a few weeks later, they'dsecured top citations in Google
AI overviews and ChatGPT2.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
So boom, early dominance across the board.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Pretty much cemented it early on.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
So this rapid success , that must be when they started
thinking OK, we have somethingrepeatable here.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Exactly that leads right into formalizing the
framework.
Around September 25th theystart documenting what worked.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
The birth of the AI SEO accelerator framework.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
That's it and, again, born from practice not theory,
it went straight from case studyto methodology.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Can you give us a sense of like, maybe two or
three core principles thatreally defined it early on,
things they discovered worked.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Sure, I think one was definitely those intentional AI
signals.
We talked about explicitlystructuring for AI with schema
FAQs Right, not just keywords.
Not just keywords.
Second, that rapid iterationand multi-platform validation
publishing fast, checking acrossperplexity, google learning,
adjusting.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Okay, test and learn.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah, and maybe third , this idea of building a web of
relevance Publishing outsidetheir own site to LinkedIn,
youtube, guest posts and linkingback, creating broader context
and credibility for the AI.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Ah, so it's not just about your own website's content
, it's the whole picture.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
The whole ecosystem.
Yeah, which actually fitsperfectly with what they did
next, which was Well around thatsame time, september 25th again
, they launched a podcast.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Makes sense.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
They repurposed radio segments from their CEO, will
Melton, smart move.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
How so.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Every episode linked back to Exponent 21.
As the sponsor used optimizedlanguage rich links, it was
another way to strengthen thoseEAT signals.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Expertise, experience , authoritativeness, trust
across different media.
Clutter.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Very, and this leads us nicely into this concept.
They embraced the flywheeleffect.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
The flywheel.
Ok, explain that.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Instead of seeing content as just you know
individual pieces, think of itas a connected system, a
holistic ecosystem, ok, whereeach format, each channel
reinforces the others.
It builds momentum like aflywheel, once it gets spinning.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
It keeps itself going , gaining energy.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Exactly Compounding returns.
Over time that became reallytheir secret sauce for
maintaining dominance.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
So how did that play out in practice?
What did that flywheel looklike as it spun up?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
You can see it clearly in their timeline.
October 5th, they launchedCosmic Rankings, a content
series specifically to influenceAI SEO conversations, branded
media.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Building authority.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yep, Then October 15th that local SEO push you
mentioned earlier, targetingbest SEO agency in Richmond.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Ah, the dual boost idea.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Right, capturing local market, reinforcing their
overall entity strength and EEATglobally Smart, very smart.
And then, december 1st, theyroll out these big glossary and
EEAT globally Smart.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Very smart.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
And then, december 1st, they roll out these big
glossary and FAQ libraries.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
With the schema markup.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Absolutely Meticulously structured, made it
super easy for AI to pull thatinfo, boosting their
retrievability, getting thosestructured snippet exposures,
creating this deep well oforganized knowledge.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Like a knowledge-based design for AI.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Essentially yes.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
So if you break down the components of that flywheel,
let's do it.
Okay, you had the flagshiparticles, deep dives, formatted
for AI Core hubs.
Then the glossary and FAQsBite-sized, schema-rich, easy
for citation.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Snackable content for AI.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Exactly, webinars and videos got repurposed
everywhere YouTube, transcriptsfor blogs, summaries, maximizing
reach, multi-format, yep, thepodcast, like we said,
repurposing audio, keyword-richnotes, backlinks.
Right Then social media andthought leadership Sharing wins
insights on LinkedIn, twitter,reddit, engaging, getting more
(07:59):
mentions, more links.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Building community and reach.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Critically structured data and technical SEO were
always front and center Schemafor everything optimizing page,
experience, hand-deliveringcontext.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Making it easy for the algorithms.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
And finally, the cross-promotion and backlink
strategy Strong internal linkingon their site plus external
links from guest posts, linkedinarticles, building that web of
relevance and authority.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Wow, it really is an integrated system.
Every piece connects.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Totally and by mid-2025, that flywheel was
spinning fast.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
And the impact.
What did that integrated systemactually achieve?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Well, it boosted their SEO overall, obviously,
but also built serious brandrecall and created this really
strong multi-channel presence.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Which became a huge competitive advantage in AI
search.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Undeniably.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Okay, let's talk payoff.
What did the numbers look likeafter all this relentless
execution?
Speaker 2 (08:48):
The numbers are frankly pretty exceptional.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Hello Amani.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
All right, april 25th 2025.
They hit the top spot for topAI SEO agency in both Google AI
overviews and perplexityCategory leadership Check.
Nice, may 2025.
About a year into it, theycrossed 10.5 million impressions
Right, 20.1 thousand totalclicks.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Okay, and the growth percentage?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Get this 4,162% organic traffic growth since
launch 4,000.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Put it another way, they went from about 3,000
organic visitors a year to over60,000.
Each jump Total websitesessions from around 11,000 to
nearly 120,000.
Year over year Over 10xincrease.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Incredible.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Daily impressions went from maybe 1,000 to over
100,000.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
It's massive scaling.
And what about the direct AIvalidation getting cited by
Google?
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Yeah, that's maybe the most telling part by
mid-2025, they were thetop-cited source in AI overviews
for their niche.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Top-cited.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
And apparently, if you actually asked Google's AI,
who are the top AI SEO agenciesin America?
Speaker 1 (09:51):
What did it say?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
It recommended Exponent 21 nine times out of
ten.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Nine out of ten.
That's basically Google saying.
These guys are it.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Pretty surreal validation right.
And then, july 22nd 2025, theyhit a single day peak of 168,337
impressions.
Good grief, and here's a reallykey detail Over 5% of their
traffic started coming directlyfrom LLMs large language models.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Like ChatGPT, providing answers and sending
traffic.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Exactly and that specific channel it was
outperforming all their otheracquisition sources.
Better engagement, higherquality leads.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
So the AI driven traffic was actually their best
traffic.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Became their highest converting channel.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Yeah, that speaks volumes about the quality and
intent.
Okay, so beyond the analytics,what was the real business
impact?
Did this turn into actualrevenue?
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Oh, absolutely.
This wasn't just about vanitymetrics.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Not at all.
So what changed?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
They went from getting maybe a few sales
qualified leads sequels a monthto getting them daily.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Daily sequels.
That's a game changer for anagency.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Huge.
It built a multimillion dollarpipeline purely from inbound
interest generated by thisstrategy.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
And the value of those opportunities climbed too.
They started attracting biggercompanies, bigger budgets, more
complex problems to solve.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
So it directly translated traffic into tangible
high-value revenue, Proved thewhole gamble paid off.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Absolutely Proved the worth of the strategy big time.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
That is a powerful transformation.
Okay, let's shift gears a bit.
Let's unpack this for thelistener, for you listening
right now.
What are the core actionablelessons here?
What do we take away fromExponent 21's journey for
succeeding in this AI era?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
OK, lesson number one , I think, is crystal clear
Generative AI doesn't rewardtricks anymore.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
No more gaming the system.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Not really.
It rewards completeness,clarity and trust.
Forget keyword stuffing orclever hacks.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
So what should people focus on?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Focus on really comprehensive coverage of your
topic, absolute clarity in yourwriting and building a
consistent authoritativepresence, those digital trust
signals.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Being genuinely helpful beats hacks.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
In the long run.
Absolutely Every time Okay.
Second lesson the new formulafor SEO excellence.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Which is.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Structured content, plus multimedia, plus expertise.
That's the trifecta.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Break that down.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Structured data like schema, gives AI the scaffolding
, makes it easy to understand.
Okay, multimedia video,podcasts, images engages users,
earns visibility acrossplatforms.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
And your unique subject matter expertise.
That's what sets you apart.
That's the human element theauthority AI is looking for.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Got it.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Structure media expertise and lesson three the
new standard isn't just page one.
It's be the best answer on theinternet.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Position zero.
The direct answer.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Exactly.
You have to strive to literallybe the best, most complete,
most trustworthy answer for aspecific question, because only
the best gets picked by the AI.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
It raises the bar significantly.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Hugely.
And this ties into the firstmover advantage, that snowball
effect.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Explain that.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Once you get cited by AI, it creates this positive
feedback loop More trust, moreauthority, more citations.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Yeah, success breeds success.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Right.
The data showed the top 50domains got nearly 30% of all AI
overview mentions.
It's a winner-take-mostsituation.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
So getting there first really matters.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
It makes it much easier to maintain that lead
than to try and catch up later.
Early movers have a real edge.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
That makes sense.
And Exponent 21,.
They're not just sitting backnow, are they?
They're still pushing.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
No, definitely not resting on their laurels.
That really highlights theirwhole proactive approach.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
What are they working on now?
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Well, they're developing an AI SEO readiness
tool like a self-assessmentthing.
Oh cool To score your content.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Yeah, score it and give recommendations for making
it more AI ready.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Useful.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
What else they're launching a certification
program for AI SEO leadershiptraining Useful?
What else they're launching acertification program for AI SEO
leadership training othermarketers?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
on their 14-step method Sharing the knowledge.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
And, of course, scaling the system itself,
rolling out the AI SEOaccelerator to more clients,
replicating their success forhigh-growth brands.
It really hammers home thatmessage of proactivity, doesn't
it?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
It really does.
They didn't wait around to beacknowledged, they went out and
earned it.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
By being faster, more comprehensive.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
And just genuinely committed to quality, providing
real value.
That stood out.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
So bringing it back to the listener.
What does this all mean for you?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Well, it means there's a real opportunity here.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
How so.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
To close your own obscurity gaps, to become the
best answer in your corner ofthe internet.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
This isn't just a story about one company
succeeding.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Not at all this kind of opportunity.
It still exists in countlessindustries just waiting for
someone to step up and seize it.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
So the potential is there.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Absolutely Exponent.
21's story is just you know,powerful proof of what's
possible with foresight,relentless execution.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
And that commitment to real value, especially when
technology shifts so fast.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Exactly, that's the core of it.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
You know, it makes me think the internet and the AI
scanning it.
It doesn't just give youauthority.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
No, it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
It really feels like it has to be taken earned
claimed.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Well said.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
So the final thought for everyone listening what new
frontier, what unansweredquestion in your field are you
ready to dominate?
How can you be the first andthe best?
Because the future of search,it's definitely not waiting
around.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.