Why In-House Marketing Teams Are Still Outsourcing AI
Plus: Keeping score of ChatGPT vs Google, why AI is ignoring your instructions, and the AI-generated commercial shaking up the industry.
👋 Happy Thursday AI Marketers. Who’s sending more traffic: ChatGPT or Google? A new scoreboard is keeping track as the tide shifts. Meanwhile, everyone’s talking about optimizing for AI search, but Bluefish actually helps your brand do it. And Fiverr’s AI-generated ad isn’t just going viral, it’s sending a message to marketers everywhere. Let’s get you caught up…
In-House Marketing Teams Are Still Outsourcing AI
Brands have been pulling marketing work in-house for years, from content to media buying, with the promise of faster turnaround and cost savings. But generative AI is proving harder to manage internally.
Why? AI tools are expensive, clunky, and risky. Inside corporate walls, that means red tape at a time when falling behind isn’t an option. With expertise and efficiency on-demand, AI-forward agencies are helping clients hit the ground running.
Some brands are running a hybrid model, experimenting with AI tools while still leaning on agency partners for heavier lifts. Others simply prefer the flexibility and scale external partners bring.
But the training wheels will eventually come off. As tools improve and budgets tighten, expect brands to revisit what they can take on themselves.
ChatGPT vs Google: Who’s Sending More Traffic?
How much traffic is ChatGPT really sending to websites compared to Google? A new tracker shows ChatGPT referrals are growing about 1.5 percent a month. Drops of water next to Google’s firehose, but trending up. Right now it’s more complement than replacement as search habits are changing gradually. Still, the chart updates monthly, and it’s one worth bookmarking.
Why AI is Constantly Ignoring Your Instructions
We’ve all been there. You give AI a clear instruction, it nails it once, then ignores you the next time. Forbes breaks down the many ways that happens, from style drift to math mistakes to memory that doesn’t remember. Each section tackles a different scenario where AI goes off-script, and why. If you’ve ever yelled at ChatGPT for not listening, read on.
What Does Meta’s Superintelligence Push Mean for Marketers?
Meta just lumped all its AI teams into a new Superintelligence Group and marketers want to know what’s in it for them. They want less black box, more transparency, better brand tools, and AI that predicts which creative will hit before spending big. Mostly, they want real ROI. Not more research headlines and empty promises.
Here’s What AI Knows About Your Brand
Bluefish is basically SEO for AI. It’s a service that sends millions of prompts into ChatGPT and Gemini every day to figure out how your brand is being portrayed. Then helps you fix it. Optimizations include website adjustments and content designed specifically for LLMs, as well as broader strategies like social media presence, forum discussions, and press coverage.
Fiverr’s new AI-generated ad is generating major buzz. Not because it’s artificial, but because it pokes fun at AI skeptics. Namely, Garry. The poor schlub who dares AI professionals to use their powers to exact revenge on him. And that they do. The resulting sequences of over-the-top slapstick humiliation are as entertaining as they are inspiring. The company spent about 10% of its typical production budget on the ad and more are already in the works.
🎙️ My top 3 podcast episodes this week:
MARKETING AGAINST THE GRAIN
Only 2 Types of Marketers Will Survive the AI Era
Kieran Flanagan breaks down why AI is shrinking marketing teams and reshaping roles. He argues the future belongs to two camps, creative storytellers who can capture attention and engineer-minded problem solvers who can build systems. The rest risk getting left behind.
CMO CONFIDENTIAL
If You Dropped the Best Marketers of the 1950s Into Today’s World, How Would They Do?
Tom Goodwin pulls no punches on why modern CMOs obsess over efficiency and short-term metrics instead of real marketing. He critiques tech-driven playbooks, warns against chasing every shiny tool, and defends the overlooked power of beauty. Plus, hear his wild story about a self-driving car.
DECODING AI FOR MARKETING
Entering the Age of Supermarketers
Auxia cofounder Sandeep Menon explains how agentic AI is ushering in “supermarketers” who can replace entire teams with the right tools. He shows how AI agents compress roles, supercharge experimentation, and unlock first-party data, while still needing guardrails to avoid shallow, spammy content.
Have a favorite podcast to recommend? Shoot me the details.
🚨 AI-forward companies are looking for AI-forward marketers:
AI Native, Performance Marketing Senior Manager
ConsumerAffairs
Oversee paid marketing channels using AI bidding and predictive modeling; design and optimize multi‑channel campaigns; leverage machine learning analytics and forecasting; lead a data‑driven team and collaborate across functions.
Creative Marketing Strategist, Lead Generation
Square
Lead creative strategy for lead generation campaigns, integrating generative AI tools for ideation, personalization and optimization; build modular content frameworks and collaborate across marketing, product and analytics teams.
Chief Email Officer
Lyzr AI
Own the end to end email marketing program and train Lyzr’s AI SDR, combining copywriting with prompt design, LLM ideation, A/B testing, deliverability management and human in the loop workflows.
Marketing Manager
Workhelix
Lead Workhelix marketing by developing messaging and campaigns around GenAI value, writing an AI insights newsletter, managing thought leadership and social channels, running experiments and events, and partnering with leadership.
AI Search & SEO Manager
Zip
Lead Zip’s evolution from traditional SEO to AI‑powered discovery; develop and execute SEO/AIO strategies; optimize content for AI platforms; collaborate with cross‑functional teams; and monitor trends and performance.
📅 Join AI marketers at conferences, summits, and industry events.
WordCamp
Portland, OR, August 26–29
Contact.io
Denver, CO, August 27–29
Inbound
San Francisco, CA, September 3–5
DTC Live
New York City, NY, September 4
Product Marketing Summit
San Francisco, CA, September 10–11
AI for Marketers Summit
San Francisco, CA, September 11
Content Marketing World
San Diego, CA, September 16–17
AI Conference
San Francisco, CA, September 17–18
HeroConf
San Diego, CA, September 23–24
GAI World
Boston, MA, September 29–30
Have an event to add? Send me the details.
