

2 Oct 2026 · 2m · 1 chapter

Whether search marketers will spend more time optimizing for humans or AI agents in the next five years, and how agentic marketing will change SEO work.
Alex German, co-founder and CEO of Bluefish AI. Background: Runs Bluefish AI (AI company leadership; specific prior roles not stated in transcript).
Humans won’t stop using the internet; social remains strong. However, the balance will shift as AI agents take on more tasks marketers can’t imagine today. Marketers will need to solve for agent applications, not just human search behavior.
Social media as a durable channel; “SEO vs AEO” debate framed as misleading; new marketing channel cycles create new companies and talent.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes.
Discussion on the evolving role of search marketers and the shift towards optimizing for AI agents.
“But I definitely think that the split is going to shift quite a bit.”

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On Voices of Search // A Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Content Marketing Podcast, what are the key points of this episode?
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0:00The Voices of Search podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything podcast network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast? I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth, and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice? Then visit IHearEverything.com. Welcome to the Voices of Search podcast and I Hear Everything production. In this podcast, we'll share the news, knowledge, and strategies you need to navigate the ever-changing world of SEO. Ready to expedite your company's organic growth efforts? Sit back, relax, and get ready for your daily dose of search engine optimization wisdom.
0:41Here's today's host of the Voices of Search podcast, Tyson Stockton. My name is Tyson, and joining me today is Alex German, co-founder and CEO at Bluefish AI. Five years from now, will search marketers spend more time optimizing for humans or AI agents? I would be surprised if humans basically stop using the internet at all. I think that there are definitely channels in particular that are not going away, like social, I think is a really good example where consumers are very happy with social experiences and their adoption rates and usage rates. Time for a one-minute break to hear from our sponsor, Previsible.
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2:46But I definitely think that the split is going to shift quite a bit. We will be using agents in ways that we can't fathom today. And search marketers and agentic marketers and the rest of the marketing teams will be solving for those applications. So, you know, like I always love when I see people have the like SEO versus AEO debate, you know, because of course, like everybody's wrong. And so, you know, you sort of hold that line at your own peril. Anytime we've seen a big, you know, marketing channel cycle on the internet, it has opened up sort of a new class of talent, a new class of companies.
3:20And it's created opportunity for new players in space. And I think we'll see the same thing here.
3:31Thank you.
The SEO versus AEO debate misses the point entirely. Alex Sherman, co-founder and CEO of Bluefish AI, previously built and sold PromoteIQ to Microsoft, giving him rare perspective on how marketing channels transform at scale. He argues that treating search and agent optimization as competing disciplines is a losing strategy, that historical marketing channel shifts consistently open doors for new talent and new market entrants, and that brands need to prepare now for customer journeys increasingly mediated by AI agents rather than waiting for the split between human and agentic traffic to fully materialize.
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