AI search engines don't trust your blog — they trust your fans. In this episode, Krista and Kaleigh dig into "brandom" (fandom meets brand) and why third-party voices on Reddit, YouTube, and LinkedIn are now table stakes for showing up in AI search.

They cover:
Why Krista launched Fanout, an agency focused on offsite AEO
Why Reddit is to offsite what your blog is to onsite — and how to do it without the spammy tactics
Kaleigh's "Source Signal Stack": why LLMs trust voices furthest from brand control
Creator vs. advocate vs. influencer — why the language is breaking and what to call this work
Turning employees and customers into your most powerful advocates
Whose job is this? The new T-shaped marketer (and why the CMO role is changing)
Measuring AEO: citation rate, share of voice, "how did you hear about us" forms, and why conversion rates from AI search are surprisingly high
What we're fangirling over right now (agentic AI tools, non-alc beer, and deli container drinks)

If you work in SEO, content, community, or creator marketing, this one cuts through the noise on where AI search is actually headed.

Your blog is only 15% of the equation. The real AI search game is happening off your website.

In Episode 3 of Fan Out, Krista Doyle takes the lead and breaks down the reputation layer of AI search — her term for everything happening off-page that shapes how LLMs talk about your brand.

Krista calls it "the group chat" — AI is asking the internet what they’ve heard about you, and those conversations are happening whether you’re participating or not.

She and Kaleigh dig into how to actually get started, why AEO is a team sport, how to cross-collaborate with social, community, and PR, and Krista’s own proof-of-concept — she has no website, but ChatGPT nailed her expertise from LinkedIn posts and blog mentions alone.

Key takeaways:
• 85% of AI search citations come from third-party sources, not your own site
• Your reputation layer is being built with or without you — participate or get left behind
• Start with one platform that’s showing up for your target queries. Go hard there.
• Employee advocacy over astroturfing. Mobilize your team as real subject matter experts.
• Reddit is cracking down on gray-hat tactics — anonymous accounts and AI bots get exposed fast
• LinkedIn citations in AI search are rising, especially for B2B
• The AEO person is the coach, not the player — collaborate cross-functionally with social, community, and PR
• Consistency on one platform beats spreading thin across five

Your hosts Krista Dyole and Kaleigh Moore are back, this time to talk about how AI search has changed the rules.

We break down Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): what it is, why traditional SEO tactics are no longer enough, and exactly how to structure your owned (on-page) content so it gets cited by AI systems like ‪OpenAI, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and more.

We cover:

-The difference between owned and earned content — and why both are now essential for AI visibility
-Why content formatting is a first-order problem in the age of LLMs
-The must-have structural elements: direct answers, FAQ sections, schema markup, and recency signals
-How to shift your content brief from keyword-first to question-first thinking
-Why original data and primary research are your biggest competitive advantage right now

Whether you're a content marketer, SEO strategist, or brand building an inbound presence, this episode gives you a practical framework for making your content work in the new AI-driven search landscape.

Introducing Fan Out Podcast, a show about AI search.

In our very first episode, hosts Krista Doyle and Kaleigh Moore sit down with Nick Lafferty, Head of Growth Marketing at Profound to break down what's actually happening in AI search right now and separating signal from noise.

Nick shares what he's learned from Profound's explosive growth (Series A → B → C in 10 months), debunks popular AEO myths, and makes the case for why SEOs have never been more important. We dig into attribution, the rise of the "marketing engineer," why brand is the cornerstone of AI search visibility, and how to actually get started.

🔑 Key topics:
• Why SEOs are "sexy" now and how to lean into the moment
• AEO myths debunked: markdown sites, programmatic content, and more
• SEO vs. AEO: is there really a difference?
• The future "marketing engineer" role
• LinkedIn's surprising rise as a B2B citation source
• Attribution: how "how did you hear about us?" changes the picture (3% → 15%)
• Why brand and human-in-the-loop still matter in AI search
• How to get started with AEO today

⏱️ Timestamps:
00:00 Welcome to Fan Out Podcast
01:00 Meet Nick Lafferty, Head of Growth at Profound
04:05 AEO myths debunked: markdown sites & programmatic content
05:55 SEO vs. AEO — what's actually different?
08:40 Why SEOs are "sexy" now
10:20 Topical ownership & the role of brand
11:50 What makes great content in 2026
13:35 The "marketing engineer" role of the future
16:40 LinkedIn as a B2B citation powerhouse
19:40 AEO vs. GEO — what should we call it?
20:55 Staying up to date: tinkering, MCPs, and Cloud Code
22:30 Balancing AI agents with human authenticity
24:20 Brand as the cornerstone of AI search
27:15 Attribution in AI search: the 3% to 15% gap
29:50 How people actually search with AI
31:30 From keyword research to topic strategy
33:25 Why marketers should sit on sales calls
34:55 How to get started with AEO
35:55 Profound Sheets & the future of AI search tooling

Fan Out is a show about AI search, helping marketers sort through the noise and figure out what's actually working. New episodes dropping regularly. Subscribe so you don't miss one.