HubSpot's Senior Director of Global Growth on Embracing AI, Diversifying Beyond Search, and Reviving 'Dead' Marketing Channels

“Just GPT it” is all the rage right now.

(Okay, okay. It hasn’t caught on just yet. But my Uber driver said it, and I hope it sticks.)

But our marketing leader this week isn’t sweating it. She doesn’t think SEO is going anywhere.

“I remember when people were saying up to 50% of queries were going to be handled by voice assistants. The SEO industry was in a tizzy over it,” she told me with a laugh.

“And the only thing I ask my Alexa for is the weather. So I wouldn’t write [Google] off.”

She’s also HubSpot’s senior director of global growth, so I’ll take her word over my Uber driver’s .

Lesson 1: Go non-monogamous with Google.

The HubSpot Blog team has been running on Google fumes for years, and we’ve racked up millions of views in organic traffic based on high-intent searches. It’s also how we attracted many of our current customers.

Aja Frost, who started on the Blog team in 2017 (back when “SEO strategy” was based on our own personal whims that day), knows Google’s value better than anyone.

But she tells me it’s time for a new playbook.

“The encroachment of AI search has required us to lean into other channels like YouTube, micro-apps, and areas we see as more defensible against AI. And it’s pushed us to figure out new ways to be ultra-helpful to our reader,” she says.

Frost’s tip for any marketing leader? Spread the love. Test out Substack, team up with creators, or invest in your own micro-apps.

Google is still a viable channel. It’s just not the only one.

Lesson 2: The days of reverse-engineering algorithms are over — and that’s a good thing.

I asked Frost — in the same tone of voice you’d use to avoid scaring the neighborhood cat — if she’s concerned about the future of SEO in the midst of AI search. (I asked timidly because, you know… SEO is still her job.)

But she adamantly shook her head. “I think it’s one of the most exciting developments over the last two years. For so long, we have all just oriented toward Google, and reverse-engineering the Google algorithm has, in many ways, stifled innovation in content marketing and SEO.”

She adds, “If there is a more competitive landscape, then the relationship between SEO or content strategist and search engine could change pretty dramatically. It could be a much more collaborative, mutually beneficial relationship.”

Frost sees the future of SEO as a shift from obsessing over algorithms to building real partnerships with search engines.

Is there a world where Google takes input from little old me, a content creator? We’ll see.