I realize it’s August. You’re probably still applying sunscreen and navigating the eyewatering cost of school supplies. Everything is already pumpkin spiced for some reason. (When will it stopppp?!?!?!) AND if you work in retail or CPG, you know what else is happening right now: holiday planning.

Across CTP clients, we’ve begun planning a host of “typical Q4 tactics” (e.g. Black Friday promos, influencer partnerships, gift guides, etc.) … only this year, there’s one point we keep stressing: while your holiday media plan may start in October, your AI visibility plan absolutely cannot.

Last week was a “skip week” for the newsletter, but it was for good reason. I had the opportunity to teach at the Naturally NY bootcamp, where I spoke about how CPG brands can (and SHOULD) win the “Third Shelf” today. After NY, I grabbed some time in the Northwoods with my family.

This combination of airports, planes and road trip(s) provided ample time to read up on things (so.many.things)! Here are three key pieces that were worth the click for me. Have a read and then get back to summering. Cheers.‍

We’ve been enjoying the summer over here at CTP. Since the days are long and light-filled, we’re going to keep this week’s newsletter short. Total read time: 2 mins … then you can go touch grass!

With the rise of GEO, ideal team structure is *the* question weighing on leaders’ minds this year. Many are wondering who-owns-what, who-reports-where, and, crucially who is ultimately responsible for reputation in an AI-mediated world. Is it Marketing? IT? Comms? To absolutely no one’s surprise, I have thoughts.

This is perhaps the most frequent question we receive. (It’s especially fun to answer with clients who remember their personal progression from, say, the J.C. Penny catalogue to Google’s 10 blue links to ChatGPT.) 

It’s clear that buyers increasingly ask AI for comparisons and recommendations instead of searching individual websites (or mailed catalogues!). For many organizations, though, it's far less clear how to earn those recommendations. 

This week, we dive into four basic need-to-knows. Each one is free from robot-speak and fear-mongering. (See, we TOLD you we keep it human around here!)

“I take great pride in understanding the drivers of my company’s reputation. For years, we’ve built our business on word of mouth, often getting recommendations from former clients, associates, and others that know us. These days, I know that it’s crucial to know what AI platforms are saying about my company (and how it stacks up against our competitors). But HOW do I do this? With an SEO assessment? Other?” 

Indeed, reputation is built on what trusted humans AND trusted machines say about you. In this week’s piece, I share how we answer two seemingly simple questions for our clients:

• How often are you chosen versus competitors? 

• What should you do to address (and track) your gaps?

Every time I’ve heard/read direction akin to, “Don’t blame the tool, blame the foundation” I get annoyed. VERY annoyed.

If these solid foundations were out there just laying around and all it took was “15 minutes to upload the documents to Claude,” we wouldn’t be seeing the rise of AI “brain fry.”‍ Lets talk about what it really takes to build right from the beginning. ‍

May 5, 2026

When I speak about GEO and people say, “So basically you do SEO?” I take issue. In a word, no.

Last week’s WSJ piece re: AEO/GEO/SEO made one thing clear: AI Visibility is now a corporate priority. It also exposed a big gap: who’s actually accountable for it.