The AI Answer by AthenaHQ

What does it actually look like to build an AI search strategy for a major fintech company?In this episode, AthenaHQ’s CEO Andrew Yan sits down with Jeff Tucker, Senior Director of SEO & GEO at SoFi, to learn how his team enhances their AI search visibility across 12 business units with dozens of competitors and tens of thousands of tracked prompts in the mix.You'll learn:How Jeff made the transition from traditional SEO to AEO/GEO (Answer/Generative Engine Optimization), and why he sees them as inseparableThe biggest mistake companies make when refreshing old content for AI searchHow SoFi structures its team and organic content strategy to cover both SEO and AI search visibility A tactical framework for bucketing prompts by intent to uncover gaps in Share of VoiceHow Jeff uses AthenaHQ to surface opportunities and turn insights into action across SoFi’s affiliate, content, and SEO teams🔗 Learn more about Athena HQ: athenahq.ai

SEO isn't dead by any stretch. But if you're treating AI search like a checklist, you're already behind. In this episode, AthenaHQ's CEO Andrew Yan sits down with Lily Ray,  founder of Algorythmic and VP of SEO & AI Search at Amsive, to cut through the noise and get into what actually drives visibility in the age of AI search.You'll learn:Why E-E-A-T isn't a checklist and what brands consistently get wrong about building real authorityThe "cycle of SEO" and where we are right now with AI-generated content, listicle spam, and the next inevitable crackdownWhy ranking #1 on Google doesn't guarantee you show up in ChatGPT and the most common technical reasons brands go invisible in AI searchHow off-page strategy is evolving from backlinks to brand mentions, and why your SEO team needs to be working much more closely with PR and socialWhat CMOs and marketing leaders should actually do first if they're starting from zero on AI search (and why experienced SEOs are more equipped for this than most people realize)How agentic commerce and MCP integrations are changing the game for e-commerce brands (and what to do now before everyone else catches up)🔗 Follow Lily Ray at algorythmic.com and on LinkedIn, X, and Substack🔗 Learn more about AthenaHQ: athenahq.ai

AI search isn't just an SEO problem, it's a cross-functional challenge that touches content, affiliate, social, video, and beyond. In this episode, AthenaHQ's CEO Andrew Yan sits down with Chris Long, co-founder of Nectiv, to dig into what it actually takes to build an AEO strategy that works across the ecosystems AI models are pulling from.You'll learn:Why AEO/GEO lives across four distinct ecosystems — and why ignoring any of them leaves real gaps in your AI search visibilityThe biggest mistake marketing leaders make when building an AI search program (hint: it's a silo problem)How consumer and B2B buying behavior is changing as AI becomes the discovery layer and Google becomes the verification layerWhy affiliate is more important than it's ever been — and the creative tactics challenger brands are using to outmaneuver incumbentsHow to think about brand positioning in AI, and why getting mischaracterized can quietly kill deals before your sales team ever gets a shotWhat a "content engineer" mindset looks like in practice — and how to build AI-human content systems that make humans the bottleneck (in the best possible way)🔗 Learn more about AthenaHQ: athenahq.ai

AI search is changing everything about how brands get discovered, evaluated, and chosen. The AI Answer is the podcast where AthenaHQ CEO Andrew Yan sits down with the marketers, strategists, and growth leaders actually figuring it out in real time.Each episode gets into the specifics: what these teams are tracking, how they're structuring for it, and where they're finding traction.New episodes dropping soon!Learn more about AthenaHQ: athenahq.ai