#140: Vibe design makes everything faster. That's the problem.

#140: Vibe design makes everything faster. That's the problem.

A marketer has an idea—a landing page, a campaign, a new brand direction. Not long ago, turning that idea into reality meant weeks of briefs, revisions, approvals, and waiting. Today, a prompt can generate it in minutes. Welcome to the era of Vibe Design. In this episode, we explore how AI-powered design workflows are collapsing the distance between ideas and execution, transforming marketers from creators into curators, strategists, and decision-makers. But as design becomes faster, a new problem emerges: speed amplifies everything—including weak strategy, vague positioning, and average thinking. Why is vibe design becoming the default way of working? What changes for marketers, founders, and brands? And why are taste, customer understanding, creative risk, and human judgment becoming more valuable than ever? Because when execution becomes abundant, differentiation becomes scarce. (00:00) Intro (01:03) What is vibe design? (03:46) Why is vibe design exploding right now? (07:07) How is vibe design changing (and has changed) the role of marketers? (09:40) What vibe design can’t replace in marketing, yet? (13:02) When to use vibe design, and when not to… (15:37) A take on the duality of vibe design…

#139: RCS marketing is solving a problem social media created

For years, marketers chased audiences across social media feeds, battled changing algorithms, watched email open rates decline, and begged users to download yet another app. Then, an old technology quietly evolved. In this episode, we explore how RCS Marketing is solving a problem social media created: the loss of direct access to customers. Combining the reach of SMS with the rich experience of modern messaging apps, RCS enables brands to send interactive messages, product carousels, videos, verified business profiles, and conversational experiences—without requiring app installs. We unpack the rise of Rich Communication Services (RCS), its growing global adoption, real-world brand success stories, business results, challenges, and why it could become the next major direct-to-consumer marketing channel. Is RCS the future of customer communication, or simply SMS finally catching up with the modern internet? (00:00) Intro (01:17) What is Rich Communication Services or RCS, exactly? (03:21) What makes RCS different from SMS? (05:30) How big is RCS adoption, right now? (07:21) Few examples of how brands are already using RCS for marketing (11:16) Key challenges and things to remember before using RCS (14:50) Parting thoughts…

#138: RAG for AI search visibility: Why good content still gets ignored

A brand invested in great content, strong SEO, and a consistent online presence. By traditional search standards, everything looked right. Yet when AI search tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity generated answers, the brand kept disappearing. Why? Because AI search has changed the rules. AI no longer simply finds webpages. Through Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), it decides which sources are trustworthy enough to retrieve, cite, and build answers from. In this episode, we explore why good content still gets ignored and how AI search visibility now depends on trust, authority, citations, structured content, brand consistency, and external credibility signals. For marketers and brands preparing for the future of AI SEO and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), this episode breaks down how retrieval works inside AI systems and what marketers can do to become retrievable. Because in AI search, visibility is no longer enough. Your brand must be trusted enough to be retrieved. (00:00) Intro (01:08) The challenge AI’s source selection process poses (02:45) How AI actually builds an answer to a user query? Hint: Retrieval-Augmented Generation or RAG (04:17) Retrieval is a filtering mechanism, not a search process (06:16) Authority is now a retrieval signal for AI (07:27) Where should marketers focus to get their brand retrieved by AI? (09:36) A few more thoughts…

#137: AI visibility isn’t built on content alone - It’s built on citations

In a world obsessed with publishing more content, brands are learning a hard truth: AI doesn’t trust what brands say about themselves as much as what others say about them. In this episode of Likely **Marketing, we explore why AI visibility is no longer built on content alone, but on citations, credibility, and repeated validation across the web. From Reddit discussions and podcasts to digital PR, analyst reports, and industry directories, AI systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Perplexity learn from the wider information ecosystem around your brand. Because in the AI era, visibility isn’t earned by publishing more. It’s earned when your brand becomes repeatedly cited, discussed, and trusted across the Internet. (00:00) Intro (01:12) The information environment AI actually learns from (03:07) How to ensure that your brand registers with AI, not just exist online (04:38) So, which channels can help brands register with AI? (09:15) Single mention is not enough, AI looks for pattern as an indicator of influence (11:36) Here’s a quick list of things to do to get cited by AI (13:52) A broader view on getting mentioned by AI

#136: AI search can’t trust a brand it doesn’t understand. Here’s what to do

In the age of AI search, brands are no longer competing only for rankings. They’re competing to be understood. When someone asks ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, or Perplexity about a company, the machine first asks: “Who exactly is this brand?” In this episode, Shivendra explores Entity SEO — the invisible layer shaping visibility in AI search. From vague positioning and confusing brand names to schema markup, structured data, and consistent digital signals, discover why AI trusts clarity over noise. Because before AI can recommend your brand, mention it, or rank it, it needs to confidently understand who you are. AI search doesn’t reward the loudest brand. It rewards the clearest identity. (00:00) Intro (01:33) How AI solves the confusion of brand identity (05:13) How can brands reduce AI’s confusion? (08:14) How unclear positioning makes AI hesitate and what more can marketers do? (09:32) Bringing it all together: How to make sure AI understands your brand clearly