Welcome back to another Chat With Sean. I’m joined by Nick Lafferty, founding marketing engineer at Profound.

Profound helps brands understand and improve how they show up across AI search - ChatGPT, Claude and the other answer engines.

We get into the biggest platform shift in marketing history, why roughly 90% of citations come from third parties, the rise of the “marketing engineer,” and the practical stuff: prompt tracking, query fanouts, citations vs mentions vs sentiment, and Nick’s hot take on how to actually build the prompts you track.

Nick discusses:

- Why this is the biggest platform shift in marketing history

- The biggest misconceptions people still have about AI search

- Why ~90% of citations come from third parties — and why AEO is a team sport

- Evolution or revolution? How SEO, AEO and GEO actually relate

- The rise of the “marketing engineer”

- What Profound does beyond prompt tracking — Fact Check, MCP server, agents

- Which brands win and which struggle in AI search

- Affiliates as gatekeepers, and why LLMs are citing LinkedIn so much in B2B

- How to report on AI visibility: inputs vs outputs

- Citation vs mention vs sentiment vs accuracy — and why each matters

- Why query fanouts matter more than tracking a million prompt variations

- His hot take: stop using keyword tools, talk to your customers

- Fixing damaging sentiment, and when to escalate to PR/crisis comms

- Where AI search is heading + what’s next for Profound

Related Source: Mike King’s brilliant breakdown of how AI Mode works — mentioned in the episode:

https://ipullrank.com/how-ai-mode-works

Connect With Nick Lafferty:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicklafferty/

Thank you to our partners:

SEO Gets, the easy-to-use analytics and reporting tool for your GSC & GA4 data.

Be sure to check out the tool and use code search10 for 10% off:

https://seogets.com/

Linkavista — A backlink marketplace built for SEOs who want more transparency. With access to thousands of websites, real traffic insights through Google Search Console connections, and an easier way to find relevant opportunities.

Use code SEAN10 for 10% extra credit on your first order:

https://linkavista.com/

Welcome back to Search With Sean — another Chat With Sean, and this one’s a proper demo. I’m joined by Mohamed Yousuf, founder and CEO of Smart Workforce AI, who’s spent 15+ years in workforce planning and operational strategy across complex industries like aviation, rail and healthcare. Mo shares his screen and walks us through the AI platform he’s built to help large organisations make smarter operational decisions.

If you’ve ever stood in a shop watching four people do the work of one — or seen a hospital understaffed one day and overstaffed the next — this is the problem Mo’s going after. We get into how the system forecasts demand by the hour (not the month), designs the shifts, builds the rosters, and keeps the whole thing live with agentic workflows running in the background. Mo’s line stuck with me: he wants AI that’s “human in command, not just in the loop.”

What I liked most is that it isn’t just a cost-cutting tool for the company. Mo’s Marketplace feature hands staff real control over their lives — swap, drop and pick up shifts within the rules, without begging a manager every time — which is where burnout, retention and morale actually get fixed. We also get into the stuff everyone worries about: data privacy (single-tenant, your own small language model, nothing leaves, nothing trains anyone else’s AI), surveillance vs lifestyle benefit, and geofenced clock-in. And right at the end, Mo tells us what he’s building it all with — including Claude and Fable.

Mohamed discusses:

- Why he split the product into Smart Workforce AI (SMBs) and a deeper platform for 5,000+ employee enterprises

- Forecasting demand by the hour, not the month — and why that matters for rail, aviation and hospitals

- “Human in command, not just in the loop” — his take on agentic AI

- The algorithm library + knowledge library: different roles, different equations

- Marketplace: letting staff swap, drop and pick up shifts to control their own lives

- Overtime, burnout and why nurses leave — and how better forecasting helps

- Data privacy: single-tenant, your own SLM, nothing leaves the tenancy

- Surveillance vs lifestyle: the system learning your shift preferences

- Geofenced clock-in/out and break management

- Which industries fit best — aviation, rail, healthcare, events and stadiums

- The scenario studio: “what if we add five routes?” answered in real time

- What he builds the platform with — Claude, Fable and where the tooling’s going

Topics covered include:

- Agentic AI & workforce automation

- AI forecasting, scheduling & rostering

- The future of work & staff wellbeing

- AI data privacy & single-tenant models

- AI in aviation, rail, healthcare & events

Got an innovative idea around search, AI or digital marketing? I'm always open to showcasing it on the channel — get in touch.

🔗 Connect with Mohamed / the platforms:

Smart Workforce AI (SMBs & smaller enterprise): https://smartworkforce.io

Maia Intelligence (large / critical industries): https://maiaintelligence.io

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohamed-a-yousuf/

Katherine Watier Ong (WO Strategies) presents real-world SEO case studies from the health and science sectors. She demonstrates how targeted technical fixes, content strategies, and internal team training drive measurable organic growth and client trust.

Connect With Katherine - https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinewatier/

This video was generously created for Search With Sean Live 2026 to share valuable digital marketing knowledge while raising awareness for charities nominated by our speakers.

If you enjoy the video, please consider donating to one of the three main charities or any of the other brilliant causes featured on the event page:

https://www.searchwithsean.com/search-with-sean-live-2

Main Charities Supported

These charities were nominated and selected entirely by our speakers, without any involvement from me.

SEO For Paws - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/search-with-sean-live-seo-charity

RSPCA - https://www.justgiving.com/page/search-with-sean-live-rspca?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL

Macmillan Cancer Support - https://www.justgiving.com/page/search-with-sean-live-macmillan-cancer-support?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL

Join Louisa Frahm and her mother, Chris Frahm, for an honest, cross-generational dialogue on how technology has reshaped our lives. Spanning 40 years of change, this conversation explores the evolution of search, the rise of AI, and the enduring importance of human connection in a digital world. We discuss the benefits of innovation, the challenges of modern automation, and how we can foster a more thoughtful, human-centric future.

Connect With Louisa - https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisa-frahm-67710922/

This video was generously created for Search With Sean Live 2026 to share valuable digital marketing knowledge while raising awareness for charities nominated by our speakers.

If you enjoy the video, please consider donating to one of the three main charities or any of the other brilliant causes featured on the event page:

https://www.searchwithsean.com/search-with-sean-live-2

Main Charities Supported

These charities were nominated and selected entirely by our speakers, without any involvement from me.

SEO For Paws - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/search-with-sean-live-seo-charity

RSPCA - https://www.justgiving.com/page/search-with-sean-live-rspca?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL

Macmillan Cancer Support - https://www.justgiving.com/page/search-with-sean-live-macmillan-cancer-support?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL

In this video, Rebecca Holloway breaks down the fundamentals of running successful Meta Ads campaigns, covering the key building blocks, common mistakes to avoid and practical ways to improve performance and get more from your advertising budget.Connect With Rebecca - https://www.linkedin.com/in/beccasocial/This video was generously created for Search With Sean Live 2026 to share valuable digital marketing knowledge while raising awareness for charities nominated by our speakers. If you enjoy the video, please consider donating to one of the three main charities or any of the other brilliant causes featured on the event page: https://www.searchwithsean.com/search-with-sean-live-2Main Charities SupportedThese charities were nominated and selected entirely by our speakers, without any involvement from me.SEO For Paws - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/search-with-sean-live-seo-charityRSPCA - https://www.justgiving.com/page/search-with-sean-live-rspca?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CLMacmillan Cancer Support - https://www.justgiving.com/page/search-with-sean-live-macmillan-cancer-support?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL

Host: Sean Barber — https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrbarber/ — He/Him

In this Chat With Sean, I sit down with Ross Simmonds — founder of Foundation Marketing, author of Create Once, Distribute Forever, and one of the most recognisable voices in digital marketing — fresh ahead of his Brighton SEO headline slot. Ross has spent the best part of a decade arguing that in a world where anyone can create anything, the people who win aren't the best creators — they're the best distributors.

We get into why distribution now matters more than creation, the three things that actually hold people back (time, algorithms and plain fear of being judged), and how Ross is using AI agents and workflows to automate the mundane so he can spend his energy on the things only a human can do.

From there we tackle the big one: is Google dead? Ross makes the case that Google is still "the front page of the internet," why optimising for Google is increasingly the same thing as optimising for the LLMs, and why he'd bet on bottom-of-funnel and video over chasing shiny AEO hacks. We also dig into whether you can genuinely engineer LLM visibility, what Google's move towards preferred sources means for marketers (and for society), click-friendly vs clickbait, what happens when AI agents start choosing brands for us, and the channels Ross would focus on right now.

Ross discusses:

- Why distribution now beats creation — and the "Create Once, Distribute Forever" philosophy

- Using AI agents and workflows to automate the mundane and augment yourself

- The three barriers to distribution: time, changing algorithms and the fear of being judged

- How his platform Distribution.ai turns one piece of content into many

- Whether Google is dead — and why he still bets on it as "the front page of the internet"

- Why optimising for Google and optimising for the LLMs are becoming the same job

- Whether you can actually engineer LLM visibility (and where the real opportunities are)

- Where he'd spend £500k today — and why the answer is video

- Google's preferred sources: the marketing opportunity and the echo-chamber risk

- Creating "click-friendly" content, not clickbait, using the information gap

- What it means when AI agents start making buying decisions for us

- The channels he'd focus on right now: YouTube, Reddit and LinkedIn

- His advice for anyone trying to break into marketing today

Topics covered include:

- Content distribution

- AI search & LLM visibility

- AEO / GEO

- AI Overviews

- Bottom-of-funnel SEO

- Preferred sources

- AI agents & agentic commerce

- Content marketing careers

Connect With Ross Simmonds:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosssimmonds/

Thank you to our partners:

SEO Gets, the easy-to-use analytics and reporting tool for your GSC & GA4 data. Be sure to check out the tool and use code search10 for 10% off:

https://seogets.com/

Linkavista — A backlink marketplace built for SEOs who want more transparency. With access to thousands of websites, real traffic insights through Google Search Console connections, and an easier way to find relevant opportunities. Use code SEAN10 for 10% extra credit on your first order:

https://linkavista.com/

Unlock the full potential of your SEO strategy by moving beyond basic traffic metrics. In this session, SEO Manager and consultant Bengü Sarıca Dinçer demonstrates how to use GA4 Explorations to map the complete user journey. Learn how to transform raw data into actionable insights by tracking actual user behaviour, connecting SEO efforts to real-world conversions, ROI, and long-term business impact.

Connect With Bengu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bengu-sarica-dincer/

This video was generously created for Search With Sean Live 2026 to share valuable digital marketing knowledge while raising awareness for charities nominated by our speakers.

If you enjoy the video, please consider donating to one of the three main charities or any of the other brilliant causes featured on the event page:

https://www.searchwithsean.com/search-with-sean-live-2

Main Charities Supported

These charities were nominated and selected entirely by our speakers, without any involvement from me.

SEO For Paws - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/search-with-sean-live-seo-charity

RSPCA - https://www.justgiving.com/page/search-with-sean-live-rspca?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL

Macmillan Cancer Support - https://www.justgiving.com/page/search-with-sean-live-macmillan-cancer-support?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL