Will Scott

05/29/2026

The first AI move in sales and marketing is not picking a tool. It is mapping the funnel.

Then use AI where it can improve the system: top-of-funnel creative rotation, better audience testing, and paid versus organic gap analysis.

05/28/2026

If you're trying to use AI for sales and marketing, don't start with the tool. Start with the funnel.

Map where leads come from, what happens to them, and where the biggest constraint actually is. Most of the time, the biggest opportunity is at the top of the funnel.

04/27/2026

One wants SEO + AEO.

The other wants wants AEO - SEO.

I’ll take the first one.

04/06/2026

Truck versus oak tree. Who wins?

03/24/2026

The 3-pack is dead. Google replaced it with AI Overviews and only 2-3 businesses make the cut.

Here's what changed in local search this week, GBP impressions are down 54% (but it's not a problem), and one Chicago limo service is dominating every AI result.

🤖 This post was built collaboratively by Will Scott and Bob — his AI assistant — as part of a weekly AI & local search briefing workflow. Will curated the topics and sources; Bob resear…

03/19/2026

Quick heads up: Early Bird pricing for my April 14 SMX Master Class on Generative Engine Optimization ends Saturday, March 21.

If you want to take a look before the lower rate goes away, here's the page:
https://searchengineland.com/smx/master-classes/topics/generative-engine-optimization/?ref=will

It's also reportedly the best-selling SMX Master Class ever.

If you want my promo code, message me.

03/17/2026

AI search has changed the job.

The challenge now is not just getting pages to rank. It's getting your content selected, summarized, and cited. That's what I'm covering in my April 14 SMX Master Class on Generative Engine Optimization.

It's reportedly the best-selling SMX Master Class ever, which tells you how mainstream this topic has become.

Details:
https://searchengineland.com/smx/master-classes/topics/generative-engine-optimization/?ref=will

If you want my promo code, message me.

03/11/2026

I'm teaching a full-day SMX Master Class on Generative Engine Optimization on Tuesday, April 14.

If AI search has started changing the questions your clients ask, this class is built to be practical. We'll cover citation signals, entity and schema work, competitive analysis, and measurement.

It's reportedly the best-selling SMX Master Class ever, which tells you how much demand there is for practical help here.

Details:
https://searchengineland.com/smx/master-classes/topics/generative-engine-optimization/?ref=will

If you want my promo code, message me.

03/01/2026

Sunday Service

02/18/2026

We analyzed 91 days of Bing's AI Performance data and found something Microsoft probably didn't intend to show us -- how Copilot's retrieval system actually selects sources, the "query fanout" pattern behind inflated citation counts, and why one page captured 69% of nearly 20,000 citations.

We analyzed 91 days of Bing’s AI Performance data and found something Microsoft probably didn’t intend to show us — how Copilot’s retrieval system actually selects sources, …