Will visibility continue to be the north star of measuring AI performance?

Summary

Voices of Search Podcast

Episode: Will Visibility Continue to Be the North Star of Measuring AI Performance?

Host: Joran Cooney
Guest: Garrett Sussman, Director of Marketing at Ipull Rank
Release Date: May 1, 2026

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Brief Overview

This episode examines how the evolution of AI, particularly conversational AI search, is transforming user behavior and the measurement of search marketing performance. Joran Cooney and Garrett Sussman tackle whether visibility—a foundational SEO metric—remains the central “north star” for tracking AI-driven content discovery, or whether marketers need new success indicators in this fast-changing landscape.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The State of AI Search Behavior

• Frictionless Information Gathering:
  • Garrett highlights that people’s search habits are increasingly driven by a desire to avoid the “friction” of traditional research. As conversational AI outputs become more sophisticated, users are expecting information to be delivered with minimal effort.

    “People don't want the friction of having to do the research themselves.”
    — Garrett Sussman (00:46)

  • Changing Consumer Habits:
    • The ease of use offered by AI is encouraging lazier behavior—or a preference for efficiency—in information gathering.

The Role of Visibility in the AI Era

• Essential Metric or Outdated Measure?
  • The hosts discuss whether visibility—traditionally being “found” in search—remains critical as AI provides answers based on recommendations and conversational cues.
  • Garrett stresses that being “recommended” by AI is now as important, if not more so, than being directly searched for.

    “It just matters that you are recommended and then ultimately searched for because you're recommended.”
    — Garrett Sussman (02:26)

  • This shift means brands and marketers need to refocus efforts on earning AI recommendations, not just rankings.

Separating Real Opportunities from “Industry Noise”

• Actionable Marketing Tactics:
  • The conversation points to the idea that, amidst perpetual change and hype, marketers must sort meaningful opportunities from distractions.
  • The episode suggests data-driven approaches and remaining grounded in what measurably works for brand discovery.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On User Behavior:

  “People are unfortunately kind of lazy and as the output gets better…”
  — Garrett Sussman (00:46)

• On the New Role of Visibility:

  “It just matters that you are recommended and then ultimately searched for because you're recommended.”
  — Garrett Sussman (02:26)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:22] — Episode theme introduction: The shift in AI search behavior and visibility as a metric.
• [00:46] — Garrett outlines the impact of AI on user research habits.
• [02:26] — The importance of being recommended by AI algorithms.
• [02:32] — Episode wrap-up and resources.

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Takeaways for Marketers & SEOs

• Prioritize Quality and Authority:
  • Earn recommendations from AI by building authoritative, trustworthy content.
• Adapt to Conversational Discovery:
  • Recognize that traditional visibility is fragmenting; focus on being part of AI-driven recommendation ecosystems.
• Stay Data-Driven:
  • Continue to let insights from real data, not sentiment, dictate strategy— “the answers are always in the data.”

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The episode is a concise yet potent discussion for SEO professionals navigating the implications of AI-powered search, emphasizing adaptability and the enduring—but evolving—importance of visibility.

Transcript

[Joran Cooney]

The Voices of Search Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast, I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice? Then visit iheareverything.com I'm Joran Cooney and

joining me today is Garrett Sussman, Director of Marketing at Ipoll Rank. Today, Garrett and I are going to talk about what AI search behavior actually looks like, why conversational search is changing, how people discover information, and how marketers can separate real opportunity from industry noise. Will visibility continue to be a North Star of measuring AI performance?

[Garrett Sussman]

It has to be. I think that people don't want the friction of having to do the research themselves. I think people are unfortunately kind of lazy and as the output gets better

[Sponsor/Pre Visible Announcer]

Time for a one minute break to hear from our sponsor, Pre Visible. So you're looking for SEO help and you got a couple of options. You could start replying to spam from agencies that claim they can get you to rank number one on Google. You can pay an hourly rate for a consultant who will inevitably nickel and dime you with hourly charges, or you can work with a cookie cutter agency to quickly launch a strategy less project with low success rate. None of those sound very good now do they? Well, well, that's where Pre Visible's integrated consulting model comes in. Pre Visible draws From a collective 40 years of SEO and digital marketing experience to unlock your organic growth opportunities. They build custom solutions that combine strategy, technical expertise, content and reporting to effectively operationalize SEO for your business. Pre Visible's four stage approach ensures that your SEO programs thrive by starting off with a strategy first approach. Then they support you in your efforts to create quality content, help you identify technical issues, and most importantly, they'll work with your cross functional teams to integrate your SEO strategies to make sure that your SEO budget actually drives results, not just your agency's bottom line. So join brands like Yelp, eBay, Canva, Atlassian Square, all who rely on the SEO consultants at Pre Visible. For more information go to Previsible IO that's Pre Visible P R E V I S I B L E I O

[Garrett Sussman]

It just matters that you are recommended and then ultimately searched for because you're recommended.

[Joran Cooney]

Thank you to Garrett Sussman, Director of Marketing at Ipull Rank for joining us. If you'd like to contact Garrett, you can find a link to his LinkedIn profile in our show notes or on the voiceofsearch.com or you can also visit his company website iPoll rank.com if you haven't subscribed yet or want a daily stream of SEO and content marketing knowledge in your podcast feed, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app or on YouTube and we'll be in your feed every week. Okay, that's all for today, but until next time, remember, the answers are always in the data.