How Smart SEO Agencies Are Adapting to AI Search

About This Episode

Is your agency preparing for the future of search or reacting to it?

As ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Claude, and other AI-powered search experiences continue to reshape how people discover information online, agencies face a critical challenge: adapting their SEO strategies for a world where citations, questions, and AI visibility matter just as much as rankings.

In this episode of SEO On-Air, host Koa Kauwe sits down with Brenton Thomas (Twibi Agency) and Kevin McGrew (Everzocial) to discuss how agencies are evolving their SEO, content, and AI strategies to stay ahead of the biggest shift search has seen in years.

The conversation dives into AI-native teams, AI content workflows, GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), schema-first SEO, AI visibility tools, and the growing importance of authority, citations, and structured content in AI-generated search results.

Brenton and Kevin share practical insights from their agencies, including how they’re integrating AI into client workflows, balancing automation with human expertise, measuring AI referral traffic, and preparing clients for a future where ChatGPT and AI search platforms become major discovery channels.

🎯 What You’ll Learn

• How agencies are integrating AI into SEO workflows

• Why AI-native teams will have a competitive advantage

• The difference between traditional SEO and AI Search Optimization

• How ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews are changing search behavior

• Why questions, chunks, and citations matter more than keywords

• The role of schema markup in GEO and AEO

• How AI referral traffic is impacting websites

• Why authority and trust signals are becoming more important

• Tools agencies use to track AI visibility

• What the future of SEO looks like in an AI-first world

Whether you’re an agency owner, SEO professional, marketer, or business leader, this episode provides actionable insights into adapting your strategy for ChatGPT, AI search, and the next generation of digital visibility.

Because in the AI era, ranking isn’t enough.

You need to become the source AI trusts enough to cite and recommend.

⏱️ Key Timestamps

00:01:06 – Meet Brenton Thomas & Kevin McGrew

00:06:21 – How Agencies Are Training Teams to Use AI

00:09:17 – Building an AI-Native Team for 2026

00:11:22 – Using ChatGPT Projects & AI Workflows for Clients

00:14:27 – Human-Written Content vs AI Content: What Actually Ranks?

00:29:07 – How AI Overviews Are Impacting Website Traffic

00:33:14 – ChatGPT Referral Traffic vs Google Search Traffic

00:35:48 – Tracking AI Visibility: Tools, Data & Reporting Challenges

00:42:52 – GEO, AEO & The Future of AI Search Optimization

00:47:13 – Why Questions, Chunks & Citations Beat Traditional SEO