the dead internet is here đ»
Welcome to the AI + Marketing Weekly! The internet is now 56% bots, AI Mode ads hit 30% of queries, and publisher ad supply dropped 40%.
~The AI + Marketing Weekly~
what you need to know in ai + marketing (15-second version):
Google is generating images directly inside AI Overviews. The Nano Banana model creates custom visuals from text prompts with no source attribution and no outbound link. Rolling out in English over the coming weeks. (Search Engine Land)
AI Mode ads now appear on 30% of commercial queries. SE Ranking studied 50,032 keywords and found ads on 29.45%. But hereâs the catch: buying an ad does not get you cited. Only 11.53% of advertiser domains showed up in AI Mode sources. (Search Engine Land)
Publisher ad supply dropped up to 40% in Q2. Ozone data shows ad request volumes fell 32-37% in the US and 39-41% in the UK year over year. The cause: AI-powered zero-click search is choking referral traffic to the open web. (Digiday)
Publishers are packaging AI visibility as a new ad product. Axios, Forbes, Time, and The Washington Post are selling brands on how often they appear in AI-generated answers. The Postâs AI referral traffic is up 16%, and those visitors convert to subscribers 4-5x higher than traditional search. (Digiday)
90% of CMOs now use LLMs daily, and theyâre routing to different models. Profound/Listen Labs surveyed 100 CMOs: Claude leads for strategy (44%), ChatGPT for content (29%), Gemini for Google workflows (22%). 22% start vendor research in LLMs vs. 16% in traditional search. 47% have moved beyond ad hoc prompting into structured AI workflows. (CMO Thinks)
Fable 5 pricing settled: free for Max, pay-per-use for Pro. After three deadline extensions, Anthropic resolved it. Max, premium Team, and premium Enterprise plans keep Fable 5 as standard. Pro and standard Team users get a one-time $100 credit, then pay $10/$50 per million tokens. (Anthropic)
đïž top ai + marketing news
google generates images inside search now
Google AI Overviews will let you create images
Search Engine Land | ~2-min read
Google is using its Nano Banana model to generate images directly inside AI Overviews. Type a prompt, get a custom visual with no source attribution and no outbound link. It announced this alongside Google Imagesâ 25th anniversary. Rolling out in English across all regions that support AI Mode image creation.
Why it matters: This is a categorical break from how images have worked in search. No source, no link, no click. If your brand relies on image search traffic, that channel just got thinner.
ai mode ads hit 1 in 3 queries (but citations donât follow)
Google AI Mode ads reach nearly 30% of queries: Study
Search Engine Land | ~4-min read
SE Ranking analyzed 50,032 commercial keywords and found ads on 29.45% of AI Mode queries. 71% of those showed two ads. CPC predicted placement better than search volume or difficulty. But buying an ad did not get you cited: only 11.53% of advertiser domains appeared in AI Mode sources, and just 1.95% at the exact URL level.
Why it matters: Ad spend buys placement, not citation. Ads, organic rankings, and AI citations are three separate visibility channels now. If youâre only buying one, youâre missing two.
publisher ad supply dropped 40% in a quarter
Publisher ad supply fell by up to 40% in Q2 as AI search choked the open web
Digiday | ~5-min read
Ozone data tracking 20 billion impressions across the Guardian, News UK, and WSJ shows ad request volumes down 32-37% in the US and 39-41% in the UK year over year. Rising eCPMs (up 30% in the UK) are partially plugging the gap, but the volume is gone. Apps were the only channel growing, with US spend up 23%.
Why it matters: If you buy programmatic display on publisher sites, there is less inventory to buy, and it costs more. The economics of open-web advertising are shifting.
publishers are selling AI visibility as a new product
AI visibility is becoming publishersâ newest currency
Digiday | ~5-min read
Axios, Forbes, Time, and The Washington Post are packaging how often brands appear in AI-generated answers into marketing products. The Post hired its first head of AI discovery and saw AI referral traffic grow 16% in six months. Those visitors convert to subscribers at 4-5x the rate of traditional search. 56.4% of news publishers now block at least one AI crawler.
Why it matters: Publishers figured out AI visibility is worth money, and if your brand shows up when a chatbot answers a question, expect publishers to start charging you for it.
cmos stopped betting on one AI
Study finds CMOs are embedding AI into everyday marketing operations
CMO Thinks | ~4-min read
Profound and Listen Labs surveyed 100 CMOs: 90% use LLMs daily, 85% say usage is increasing. Instead of picking one model, theyâre routing tasks: Claude for strategy (44%), ChatGPT for content (29%), Gemini for Google workflows (22%). 22% now start vendor research in LLMs instead of Google. 47% have moved past ad hoc prompting into structured workflows and custom agents.
Why it matters: The multi-model stack is not a trend piece anymore as CMOs are actually doing it. If your team is still debating which AI to pick, the answer is probably all of them, matched to the task.
fable 5 pricing finally settled
Claude Fable 5 ends subscription limbo: permanent for Max, credits for Pro
Anthropic | ~3-min read
After three deadline extensions (July 7, then 12, then 19), Anthropic resolved Fable 5 pricing. Max, premium Team, and premium Enterprise plans keep Fable 5 as a standard feature. Pro and standard Team users get a one-time $100 usage credit, then pay $10/$50 per million tokens going forward.
Why it matters: If youâre on Pro and using Fable 5 heavily, do the math on whether Max ($100/mo) makes more sense than burning through credits. For most marketers doing daily work, it probably does.
đ builds & playbooks
New section! A lot of you have been asking for more hands-on, âshow me how to actually do itâ content. So as of last week, Iâve added Builds & Playbooks: the best templates, 101 guides, and walkthroughs I find each week for marketers building with AI. Enjoy and keep the requests coming! đ
skill packs & starter kits
James (Marketing In Action) - 29 marketing skills for Claude Code
Free, open-source. Covers positioning, content, customer research, growth experimentation, SEO, and automation. Updated July 19. Install the whole pack and route to the right skill per task.
Connor Gallic - Kai Marketing OS (42 slash commands)
Free, open-source. A full Claude Code marketing operating system: growth plans, SEO/AEO audits, ad campaigns, content calendars, email sequences, and competitive intel. Built on a 100+ document marketing knowledge base.
walkthroughs
The AI Break (Rui & Luis Sousa) - âBuild your founder skill packâ
Five Claude skills you install once: Voice Twin, Reply Desk, De-Slop tool, Brief Machine, and Weekly Review. Includes a Voice Extractor that reverse-engineers your writing patterns. Intro is free, full skill prompts are paywalled.
Emily Kramer (MKT1) - âI used an MCP to build a landing page about MCPsâ
Emily used the Framer agent inside Claude to build and design a page from scratch, live in the Framer canvas. Real example of an MCP-powered marketing workflow. Her MKT1 showcase on 7/28 will demo Framer, Airtable, Attio, Profound, and more inside Claude.
đ©âđ» thought-leader highlights
Carmen Vicente - âThe internet is 56% dead. It might be a creatorâs market.â
Carmen broke down Cloudflareâs data showing bot traffic officially passed 50%, then connected it to LinkedInâs problem: 40%+ of longform posts and 23% of comments are flagged as fully AI-generated. Her take: dwindling trust in online spaces means human discernment and influence will appreciate in value. The dead internet might actually be a creatorâs market.
Will McTighe - âMost people defend their favorite AI like itâs their football teamâ
Will tested ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini head-to-head across 10 tasks. His verdict: Claude writes the most human-sounding copy and stays consistent in long chats. ChatGPT is best for data analysis and CSV work. Gemini wins on image generation and Google ecosystem. His rule: the task picks the tool. 1,742 reactions.
Allie K. Miller - âThree massive org chart changes AI is causingâ
Allie says teams are getting smaller (2-8 people plus agents), roles are getting wider (defined by outcomes, not titles), and hierarchy is getting flatter (more ownership per person, more risk per hire). The AI conversation inside orgs is still about tools. The bigger change is structural.
Andy Turner - âStop using AI-generated visuals for your businessâ
Andy went on a rant about AI-generated food photos, event posters, and World Cup pub promos flooding his feed. His argument: it looks cheap, lacks authenticity, and does the opposite of strengthening your brand. âAnd we can spot it a mile off.â 313 reactions from people who clearly agreed.
Claudia Sandino - âHow ChatGPT ads actually work (and what to build before spending a dollar)â
Claudia explained that ChatGPT ads match whole conversations, not keywords. Your ad shows up after the AI already answered. Her playbook: build a âproblem libraryâ from sales calls and support tickets, write ads that mirror that language, and make one landing page per problem, not per product. Judge on conversion rate, not click volume.
đ ïž latest ai + marketing tools
Cision AI Search Visibility
AI citation tracking integrated into CisionOne PR platform.
Launched July 15. Uses NLP to track brand mentions in AI-generated answers across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Bridges the gap between PR and GEO for comms teams.
Profound FactCheck
Monitors how AI models represent your brand and flags inaccuracies.
Launched July 15. Catches when AI outputs get your brand details wrong, from pricing to product descriptions. Useful for brands worried about AI hallucinating their info.
Klaviyo Social Marketing
Organic social profiles integrated into Klaviyoâs customer database.
Launched July 15. Connects your social accounts to your CRM so engagement data flows into customer profiles. ML handles post scheduling and optimization.
GumGum Mindset Agent
Places ads based on consumer state of mind, no cookies required.
Launched July 15. Uses AI to read contextual signals and match ads to mindset rather than identity. Cookie-free targeting for a post-cookie world.
Sprinklr Autonomous Conversations
AI agents that process service requests and initiate refunds without humans.
Launched July 15. Autonomous conversational capabilities for customer service. Handles inquiries, processes requests, and triggers actions end to end.
đŒ cool ai + marketing jobs
Harvey - Growth Engineer
Sendbird - AI-First Full Stack Marketer
OpenAI - Product Marketing Manager, Research & Safety
Profound - Product Marketing Manager
Spotify - Marketing Technology Manager
Stripe - Integrated Campaigns Manager, Startups and AI
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Thanks, yâall!
Carley