How to Evaluate an SEO / AEO Agency – Tips from René Descartes | Marketing Philosophy

Hiring an SEO or AEO consultant, a Google Ads agency, or an AI marketing firm can require a “leap of faith.” You’re paying someone to do something that, almost by definition, you don’t know how to do yourself. If you already understood search engine optimizationm, AEO (Answer Agent Optimization), or AI optimization as well as the consultant or ads agency, you probably wouldn’t need to hire one in the first place. That creates an uncomfortable imbalance. The agency knows more than you do. You have to trust them. But how much trust is healthy, and when does trust become blind faith? More than four hundred years ago, the French philosopher René Descartes asked a remarkably similar question—not about marketing, of course, but about knowledge itself. How do we know what is true? More importantly, how do we protect ourselves from being deceived? Continue reading →

Answer Engine Optimization: How to Audit Whether Your Company Appears in ChatGPT, Google AI & Other Answer Engines

Artificial Intelligence is everywhere. ChatGPT. Google AI. Google AI Overviews. Google AI Mode. Claude. Perplexity. Your customers are beginning to use it – a lot. If you own a business or work in marketing, chances are your boss has already burst into your office asking:

“Do we show up in ChatGPT?” “Google AI Overviews?” “Claude?” Continue reading →

Google Ads Gotchas: 7 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs

Google Ads is an incredible platform—but it’s full of hidden traps. Many of these are Google’s default settings, and they’re designed to get you more clicks, not necessarily more customers. Welcome to “Marketing Philosophy,” where we use philosophy to understand marketing, and marketing to understand why your customers claim that they “ignore ads” and yet sometimes actually do click, get excited, and convert while simultaneously munching on potato chips and salsa, streaming football, scanning Instagram on their phone, and Google searching “Mexican restaurants near me.” Continue reading →

The More Search Changes, The More It Stays the Same : Why Marketers Should Pay Attention to AEO

The French have a wonderful expression, Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. That is, “the more things change, the more things stay the same.” I asked AI about this, and it pointed out that this idea – that things may seem different but be the same or similar has a long history. We live in a technological age.  AI (Artificial Intelligence) is clearly in HYPE mode.  Be afraid, be very afraid!  AI is changing everything!  It’s coming for your job, your company, your cat, your car, your 401k….  Now, we are seeing the rise of AEO – Answer Agent Optimization. What’s that? Continue reading →

Your Business is Having an Existential Crisis – Writing a Business Value Proposition with Sartre as Your Guide | Marketing Philosophy

The connections between French existentialism and marketing seem absurd. Well… “absurd” is an existentialist concept, so we’re off to a pretty good start.

Bear with me. In this video I’m going to explain what the existentialist philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre meant by his famous phrase, “existence precedes essence,” and why that idea has everything to do with writing a Business Value Proposition for your company. Continue reading →

Social Media Marketing: Top Ten (Free) Tools & Tips for 2026

If social media is a “party,” then you are the “party thrower.” As a marketer, you want to throw engaging and exciting parties (largely via content marketing) on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube… even LinkedIn not to mention TikTok or even X. If you follow the party analogy, you’ll realize that just as people show up are your party for “food” and “entertainment,” on social media they show up (largely) to have fun. They want to watch that hilarious YouTube or TikTok video, that bizarre but engaging AI-generated meme on Facebook, and even when they are in “learning” mode on LinkedIn, girls (and guys) still want to have fun! How do you market on social media in 2026? Continue reading →

Marketing Philosophy: A Google Review Solicitation Strategy that Doesn’t Suck (Too Badly)

What are reviews and why do they matter? Let’s look at this from a marketing philosophy perspective. The big picture – not just that marketers and small business owners love to complain about reviews. Google reviews. Reviews on Yelp. Amazon reviews. Pick your poison.

But why the entire review ecosystem feels like a swamp of hypocrisy. Fake reviews. Competitors gaming the system. Review gating. Super annoying pissed off customers slamming your business. Scammy reputation management companies. Meanwhile, the big tech companies threaten to ban you if you ask a customer to share their experience. Continue reading →