SEO in an AI-First World: How to Adapt and Win in 2025 with Andrei Țiț

#269 AI Search & SEO | In this episode, Dave is joined by Andrei Țiț, Head of Product Marketing at Ahrefs, a leading SEO tool trusted by marketers around the world. Andrei has been on the front lines of how AI is reshaping search and what that means for marketers trying to stay visible in an AI-first world. Dave and Andrei cover:Why branded search volume is now a top indicator of visibility in AI-generated results (and how to grow it)The new playbook for SEO in 2025, including what metrics to track beyond traffic and backlinksActionable tactics to get your brand mentioned by AI search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews Whether you’re a marketing leader or an SEO newbie, this episode will help you rethink your approach to content, attribution, and brand in the AI era. Timestamps (00:00) - – Intro (02:39) - – Why this was Exit Five’s most-registered webinar ever (04:59) - – Meet Andrei from Ahrefs (06:39) - – Is SEO dead? Not quite, but it’s harder than ever (08:19) - – AI traffic is growing fast (63% of sites already see it) (09:09) - – Why brand is your best SEO defense (11:39) - – How Google measures brand impact (keywords, mentions, clicks) (14:39) - – Calculating content ROI with traffic value (17:09) - – Why branded search volume predicts AI visibility (21:09) - – How to track brand mentions in ChatGPT, Perplexity & AI Overviews (24:09) - – AI traffic = fewer clicks, better leads (29:13) - – How to improve your visibility in AI-generated answers (36:13) - – Why backlinks matter less and PR matters more (43:13) - – New rules for writing content LLMs can surface (52:13) - – Final takeaways: metrics to watch and content to prioritize Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.com Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Check out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/ Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership *** Today’s episode is brought to you by Walnut. Why are we spending all this time on marketing… just to push buyers to a “Request a Demo” button? Even if they’re interested, no one wants to click that. No one wants to “talk to sales.” They just want to try the product for themselves! Good news: now they can - with Walnut. Walnut is the interactive demo platform for marketers who are done hiding their product and want to put it front and center. You can build guided, self-serve demos in minutes. No engineers. No developers. No waiting. Embed them on your site. Drop them in emails. Let buyers explore your product on their terms - at any stage of the funnel. And the best part? You get the data. See what features prospects are engaging with, where they drop off, and what’s actually driving pipeline. 500+ companies use Walnut - including Adobe and NetApp. Their teams save 400+ hours a year building demos… and have prevented over 1.5 million minutes of bad ones. So if you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product, go check out Walnut.io (and tell their team you heard about it on the Exit Five podcast!).