Search is no longer just about blue links and ranking on Google. More and more, people are getting their answers directly from AI tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and other answer engines that summarize information, pull citations, and decide what gets surfaced in real time. That means visibility is changing, and so is the value of content.
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In this episode of The Media Copilot podcast, Pete Pachal speaks with Josh Blyskal, who leads answer engine optimization research at Profound, a company focused on tracking how brands appear inside AI generated answers. Their conversation explores what answer engine optimization really means, how it differs from traditional SEO, and why specificity, utility, and structure now matter more than ever.
Josh shares how answer engines build responses, how citations are selected, why Reddit and forums still matter, and what brands, publishers, and media companies should be paying attention to as AI becomes a bigger gatekeeper between information and the audience.
Listen or watch:
Why this matters
The old search bargain is fading. It used to be simple: publish content, earn traffic, measure the clicks. Now, the answer may show up before the click ever happens. For brands, publishers, and media professionals, that shift raises bigger questions around visibility, credibility, attribution, and control.
This episode gets into the mechanics behind that shift, but it also looks at the bigger picture. If AI is becoming the front door to information, who gets included in the answer, who gets left out, and what happens to the business models built around discovery? It is a timely conversation for anyone thinking seriously about the future of media, search, content strategy, and digital reputation.
What we cover
- What answer engine optimization is and why it is not just SEO with a new label
- How AI tools break prompts into fan out searches behind the scenes
- Why answer engines favor utility, clarity, and highly specific content
- The role of citations, consensus, and diversified source portfolios in AI answers
- How Google, ChatGPT, and other models differ in the sources they pull from
- Why Reddit, forums, and user generated content still influence AI visibility
- How brands can monitor narrative shifts and emerging sentiment in answer engines
- The growing tension between publishers, AI discovery, and the value of being cited
- What Josh sees as the biggest opportunity and biggest risk in the next phase of AI powered media
Takeaways
AI search is quietly reshaping how information is surfaced and trusted online. Instead of sending users down a list of links, answer engines increasingly extract, synthesize, and deliver responses directly. That shift changes the economics of discovery, the role of publishers, and the way expertise shows up on the internet.
Josh explains that this isn’t just another search algorithm update. It represents a structural change in how knowledge is organized and retrieved. Content that is clear, credible, and machine-readable has a growing advantage, while content built purely for traditional search rankings may struggle to surface in AI-generated answers.
The conversation also highlights a widening knowledge gap. Organizations that understand how answer engines interpret authority, context, and sourcing will be far better positioned to remain visible. Those that don’t may find their work increasingly invisible, even if the underlying reporting or analysis is strong.
For media companies, brands, and creators, the real question is no longer just how to rank. It’s how to ensure their work becomes part of the answers people receive.
About the 👤 Guest Josh Blyskal
• Website: https://www.joshblyskal.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-blyskal
• X: https://twitter.com/joshblyskal
• Speaker Deck: https://speakerdeck.com/joshbly
Learn More About Profound
About the show:
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Produced by Pete Pachal and Executive Producer Michele Musso
Edited by the Musso Media Team
Music: “Favorite” by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under CC BY 4.0
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