Ben Lund, Founder at Rise Marketing Group, built it after 22 years inside Yahoo, Monster.com, and Google, and in this episode, he breaks down how that corporate playbook shapes the way he runs an agency today.
Austin Willman sits down with Ben to talk company culture, hiring for A-players, and why performance marketing has to be tied to profitable revenue, not just clicks and impressions.
The conversation goes deep on AI’s impact on SEO: how to measure AI visibility using Bing Webmaster Tools and Google Search Console, why AI referral traffic converts at a higher rate, and how digital PR and brand authority now matter as much as on-site content.
Ben also shares his approach to long-tail, high-intent keyword strategy, why agencies are more valuable (not less) in the age of AI, and how brands can prepare for agentic commerce as AI shopping tools like ChatGPT and Shopify integrations start driving real sales.
If you run a marketing agency, manage SEO or paid ads, or are trying to figure out how AI is reshaping search and e-commerce, this episode is packed with practical, tactical insight from someone who’s lived through every major shift in digital marketing since 2005.
Takeaways:
- Corporate experience at Google and Yahoo built Ben's business acumen and client trust.
- Great feedback culture, not micromanagement, is what shapes strong leaders.
- Hiring A-players only; one C-player can drag down an entire team.
- Track profitable revenue, not just clicks, impressions, or lead volume.
- Use profitability calculators to find real breakeven ROAS with clients.
- Bing and Google now report AI visibility data directly at the source.
- AI referral traffic converts higher because users are pre-vetted before clicking.
- Digital PR and brand mentions now matter as much as content quality.