Winning with AI-driven search is less about tricks and more about disciplined, asset-based marketing: tightly focused content, genuine expertise, and deliberate distribution. Garrett Hammonds’ approach reinforces that if you build durable systems around SEO, podcasts, and small-business strategy, you stop chasing hacks and start compounding results.
- Flip your content model to “spoken-hub”: start with narrow, expert-level topics, then expand only where you see traction.
- Treat AI search recency as a feature, not a bug—systematically refresh and re-release your highest-value legacy content.
- Anchor your SEO and AI strategy in EEAT: expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness over shortcuts or spam.
- Use podcast guesting as a strategic asset to build authority, drive brand mentions, and secure high-quality links—especially in niche markets.
- Design marketing offers for small businesses around outcomes and timeframes (short-term wins vs. long-term foundations), not generic channel checklists.
- Leverage AI to customize plans at scale, while keeping humans in the loop so recommendations remain realistic and accountable.
- Measure success not just by leads, but by the durability of the assets you’re building: content libraries, relationships, and data.
The Spoken-Hub Growth Loop: A Six-Step System for AI-Era SEO
Start with narrow, high-intent “spokes.”
Instead of beginning with broad hub pages, identify a handful of tightly defined topics where your client has real depth—industry niches, specific use cases, or even geographic pockets. Produce substantial, accurate content for each niche, addressing fundamental questions and genuine buyers.
Launch multiple test spokes simultaneously.
Publish several of these focused pieces in parallel so you can watch how the market and search engines respond. This is content-level A/B testing: different angles, keywords, and audience segments, all grounded in legitimate expertise, not keyword stuffing.
Watch the signals, not just the rankings.
Monitor which pieces begin latching onto meaningful keywords and traffic, and also look at engagement metrics such as time on page, scroll depth, and assisted conversions. The goal is to identify where your authority already resonates, not to chase vanity terms.
Build the hub around the winning spoke.
Once a spoke shows strong traction, build the broader “hub” around it: supporting articles, FAQs, use-case pages, and multimedia that deepen and organize the topic. Internal linking, schema, and straightforward navigation turn one promising spoke into a robust, interlinked asset.
Layer in AI-aware recency and refresh cycles
AI answer engines are biased toward fresher content, so use tools and processes to identify aging but valuable assets. Refresh, expand, and, in some cases, reframe them for AI and search without losing their core voice or substance, then re-release them on a predictable cadence.
Reinforce with off-site authority and brand mentions
Support your spoken-hub network with podcast guesting, PR placements, and niche-directory features that cover the same themes. These brand mentions and contextual links send consistent authority signals to search engines and AI models, compounding the impact of your on-site work.
From Hacks to Assets: Comparing Short-Term Tactics and Long-Term Systems
Approach | Primary Goal | Typical Tactics | Long-Term Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
Black-hat / exploit-driven | Short-lived traffic spikes | Keyword stuffing, AI-spam content, model poisoning, link schemes | Eventual de-indexing, loss of trust, fragile lead flow |
Channel-only “checklist” marketing | Activity over outcomes | Random blogs, sporadic ads, unmanaged social posting | Low ROI, hard-to-measure impact, constant restart costs |
Asset-based, AI-aware strategy | Compounding authority and revenue | Spoken-hub SEO, recency-driven refresh, podcast guesting, tailored small-biz plans | Durable rankings, more substantial brand equity, predictable pipeline |
Leadership-Level Insights: Questions Every Marketing Decision Maker Should Ask
How do we decide which topics deserve our deepest SEO and content investment?
Start by mapping where your real-world expertise intersects with high-intent audience needs—often in niche sectors, specific geographies, or specialized applications. Use Garrett’s spoken-hub approach: define several narrow topics that match your strongest capabilities, ship robust content for each, then double down only where data shows genuine traction and quality engagement.
What’s the right way to respond to the flood of AI-generated spam content?
Resist the temptation to join the noise. Anchor your program in EEAT—expertise, experience, authoritativeness, trustworthiness—backed by verifiable credentials, case studies, and transparent authorship. Search engines and AI platforms are already working to identify and penalize manipulative content; brands that stay disciplined, useful, and human will outlast the shortcuts.
How can podcast guesting become a measurable growth channel rather than a vanity activity?
Treat every appearance as a strategic campaign: pre-select shows with relevant audiences and strong domain authority, align your talking points with your target keyword themes, and ensure there’s a clear path back to your owned assets. Track referral traffic, branded search lift, and new relationships formed; over time, these appearances become a flywheel for authority and deal flow, especially in niche B2B markets.
What does a “genuinely useful” small-business marketing plan look like?
It clearly separates short-term revenue levers (like targeted PPC or local campaigns) from foundational assets (SEO structures, content libraries, data hygiene, analytics). Garrett’s direction—using an AI-assisted planning app fed by real constraints and offerings—is a practical way to provide smaller firms with customized options without bloated retainers or one-size-fits-all packages that don’t reflect their reality.
Where should we apply AI inside our marketing organization right now?
Use AI to do the heavy lifting on analysis, planning, and refreshing—identifying decaying content, generating first-draft outlines, and assembling tiered plan options based on budget and goals. Keep human experts in charge of strategy, voice, and quality control. The winning posture is not “AI or humans” but “AI for scale, humans for judgment.
Author: Emanuel Rose, Senior Marketing Executive, Strategic eMarketing
Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/b2b-leadgeneration/
Last updated:
- Google Search Central – Guidance on helpful content and EEAT.
- OpenAI and major model providers – Public documentation on content and safety policies.
- Industry case studies on SEO and podcast-driven authority building.
- Internal experience from Marketing in the Age of AI podcast conversations with practitioners.
About Strategic eMarketing: Strategic eMarketing designs and executes data-informed, AI-aware marketing systems for growth-minded organizations that want durable, asset-based results rather than short-term hacks.
https://strategicemarketing.com/about
https://www.linkedin.com/company/strategic-emarketing
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-in-the-age-of-ai
https://open.spotify.com/show/marketing-in-the-age-of-ai
https://www.youtube.com/@EmanuelRose
Guest Spotlight
Guest: Garrett Hammonds, Co-founder, HMM – Hammonds Media & Marketing
Company: HMM – Hammonds Media & Marketing, Norman, Oklahoma
Email: garrett@hmm.agency
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garretthammonds-digital/
Episode: Marketing in the Age of AI with guest Garrett Hammonds (recorded Dec 22, 2025, 12:00 pm PST)
Bio: Garrett Hammonds is one of the founders of HMM – Hammonds Media & Marketing, a digital marketing agency based in Norman, Oklahoma. With more than eight years in the industry, he focuses on data-driven strategies that help businesses grow through PPC advertising, SEO, and performance-focused digital campaigns. Known for combining technical rigor with approachable communication, he works with brands, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, to maximize ROI, strengthen customer relationships, and elevate market presence. Outside of work, he enjoys brewing coffee, spending time outdoors, and spending time with his family.
About the Host
Emanuel Rose is a senior marketing executive and author of “Authentic Marketing in the Age of AI,” specializing in AI-enabled, human-centered growth systems for B2B and regional brands. Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/b2b-leadgeneration/
Putting Spoken-Hub Strategy and AI Discipline to Work
Begin by selecting three to five narrow topics where your expertise is unquestionable, publish substantial content for each, and monitor which one starts to gain real traction. From there, expand the surrounding hub, schedule regular refreshes, and support the theme with podcast guesting and off-site mentions. Within a few quarters, you’ll see the shift: fewer random tactics, more durable assets that generate leads, authority, and options.