Latest Digital / Social Media Marketing News & Insights

​Presented by Neal Schaffer​

In this week's newsletter:

• YouTube views, likes, and subscriber count have near-zero correlation with being cited by AI.
• Nearly half of U.S. consumers now use TikTok as a search engine.
• How do you get AI to sound just like you?

Hey Reader,

Do you ever find that you're the bottleneck that prevents your business from moving forward?

I had that epiphany moment this week. And I decided to do something about it.

I have been spending the last week revising my digital marketing infrastructure both in terms of people as well as technology. And, of course, AI was part of that.

As always I will share what I experience in hopes that it benefits you, but there is one tool that I recently discovered as part of this process that I wanted to share with you.

For those that read Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth, you'll know that LinkedIn has a whopping 12 different types of content formats that the LinkedIn algorithm manages for you to choose from. One that traditionally does well are LinkedIn carousels (see my complete guide to them on my blog here), but how does one go about creating a good looking one if you're not a graphic designer?

Enter AI Carousels.

It not only quickly generates an AI draft for you, but it gives you a lot of control which other similar makers do not have so that you can easily get the look and feel you want quickly and effectively.

And while I started using it specifically to easily create LinkedIn carousels like the one you see below (click on the image to check out the actual carousel in my LinkedIn post), it actually has a number of features including an AI infographics generator and an AI headshot generator.

I'll keep sharing interesting findings as I find them—now on to this week's top news and insights!

Please note: Some links in this newsletter are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you.

This Week's News

Almost Half Of US Consumers Use TikTok As A Search Engine - Adobe's latest study confirms that nearly half of U.S. consumers now use TikTok as a search engine—up almost 20% in just two years. With over 200 million American users, the discovery potential is massive, especially for recipes, beauty, and restaurant recommendations. But Google, Reddit, and ChatGPT still rank as more trusted sources overall. If your audience searches on TikTok, this data should shape your content discovery strategy. Social Media Today​

Activist Investor Elliott Takes A $1B Stake In Pinterest, Betting On AI-Driven Growth - Elliott Investment Management just doubled down on Pinterest with a $1 billion stake, betting big on the platform's AI-powered visual search and turnaround strategy. Despite headwinds—layoffs, declining ad revenue, and AI chatbot competition—Pinterest hit record revenue and all-time user highs for ten consecutive quarters. For marketers watching social platform shifts, this signals Pinterest's renewed push to become a serious AI-driven discovery engine. TechCrunch​

First Large-Scale Study Shows YouTube Is #2 Social Platform For AI Citations - OtterlyAI's study of 100 million AI citations reveals YouTube is the #2 social platform cited by AI search engines, behind only Reddit. The surprising finding? Views, likes, and subscriber count have near-zero correlation with being cited. AI favors long-form, reference-style videos with clear structure—40% of cited videos had fewer than 1,000 views. If you create YouTube content, optimize for structure and clarity, not popularity metrics. MarTech Series​

Google AI Overview Citations From Top-Ranking Pages Drop Sharply - Ahrefs' latest study of 863,000 keywords reveals a major shift: only 38% of AI Overview citations come from top-10 ranking pages, down from 76% last year. Google's fan-out query process now pulls sources from well beyond page one—and YouTube has emerged as the most-cited domain overall, growing 34% in six months. The takeaway? Ranking for one keyword isn't enough anymore. Cover topics across related angles and formats. Search Engine Journal​

This Week's Sponsor

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More News

Clone Your Knowledge: Getting AI To Truly Sound Like You - Loren Bartley's Leadership Lexicon approach transforms AI from a generic tool into a digital clone of your expertise. The six-step process covers collecting your raw knowledge, organizing it into Personal DNA and Business DNA documents, then building specialized custom GPTs trained on your methodology and voice. The real power? Using it not just for content, but for decision-making and accountability. A fascinating framework for scaling yourself with AI. Social Media Examiner​

Claude vs. ChatGPT: A marketer’s Guide To Choosing AI - HubSpot's Justina Thompson delivers the most thorough Claude vs. ChatGPT comparison I've seen for marketers. Her verdict? It's not a competition—it's a collaboration. Use ChatGPT for rapid drafting, social content, and ideation; use Claude for long-form editing, brand voice enforcement, and compliance-sensitive work. The guide includes decision matrices by team size, workflow templates, and integration steps for both tools. A practical framework for building your AI content stack. Hubspot​

Revive Old Content To Win In AI Search - Adam Tanguay makes a compelling case on MarTech: your best AEO opportunities may already be sitting in your content archive. The key is reformatting evergreen posts so AI models can quote and surface them—optimizing for chunk-level retrieval and answer synthesis, not just keywords. His simple prioritization test is gold: can an AI confidently summarize your page as-is? If not, it's time to reformat for AI search visibility. MarTech​

What Is Query Fan-Out? Understanding The Hidden Queries Driving AI Search - Ahrefs' Despina Gavoyannis unpacks one of AI search's most important concepts: query fan-out. When you search "how to start a podcast," ChatGPT doesn't search that phrase—it generates 5 to 420 sub-queries behind the scenes. This means ranking for one keyword isn't enough anymore. Your content needs to cover entire topic landscapes, not single terms. A must-read for anyone rethinking their SEO strategy for AI search. Ahrefs​

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X Premium Review (Formerly Twitter Blue): Is It Worth It In 2026? - In my latest review, I give you my honest take on X Premium in 2026—after subscribing, canceling, and resubscribing myself. Buffer's analysis of 18.8 million posts shows Premium accounts get roughly 10x more reach than free ones. But is that worth $8/month? It depends entirely on how you use the platform. I break down all three tiers, Grok AI access, and who should skip it. Here's how to decide what makes sense for you. Neal Schaffer​