// the masters of search podcast
Conversations with the people shaping AI search
Long-form interviews with the operators, researchers, and strategists pushing organic growth forward.
You are what you EEAT | Lily Ray, Founder @ Algorythmic & VP SEO & AI Search @ AmsiveLily Ray is one of the most respected voices in SEO. She even launched her own Substack recently to create a “safe space for ranting about all things SEO and AI Search”. What we covered in this episode Links from Lily Check out the full…
How big is AI Search, Rise of Claude, ChatGPT fan-out shake-up | #MonthlyLandwehrMalte is CPO & CMO at Peec AI, one of the leading AI search analytics platforms, and one of the brightest minds in the field. So I want to take all the news, new research and interesting developments and get his perspective on them. Want…
Why you still need TOFU content | Saskia Sarışın, Head of Global SEO @ MeltwaterMy guest in this episode is Saskia Sarışın, Head of Global SEO at Meltwater, one of the leading media intelligence platforms out there. We’ll talk about how Saskia and her team have built up SEO at Meltwater, how she thinks about pillar…
Where ChatGPT gets its products | Tom Wells, Researcher @ Peec AIMy guest in this episode is Tom Wells, AI Search Researcher at Peec AI. Tom has spent over a decade decoding ranking signals at companies like Semrush and Searchmetrics, and he recently published some fascinating research that got a lot of…
AEO is eating SEO | Steve Toth, CEO @ Notebook AgencyMy guest in this episode is Steve Toth, CEO of Notebook Agency and the voice behind AI Notebook and SEO Notebook, two newsletters with 27,000+ subscribers where he cuts through the noise in one of the fastest-moving spaces in marketing…
Mount AI, Fan-out research, Gemini vs OpenAI, Profound $96M Series C | #MonthlyLandwehrClaude Cowork is replacing agencies. A Mac Mini is the new must-have for AI enthusiasts. And Bing just gave marketers something Google still hasn’t. A lot has happened in the last weeks, so it’s time for a new episode of #MonthlyLandwehr.…
SEO is not a marketing job anymore | Felix Welckenbach, HomeToGoMy guest today is Felix Welckenbach, Director of Product for Search and Discovery at HomeToGo, a marketplace where millions of travelers book their next dream vacation rental. In this episode we’ll talk about how SEO is not a marketing…
How to get started with OpenClaw | Alfred Simon, AI Architect @ AdwiseToday’s episode will be about AI. But not the ChatGPT kind of AI, but the building agents kind of AI. We’ll talk about what Alfred has been cooking over the last months, what FAFO really means (not just what the acronym stands for), and…
Why SEO agencies will struggle in 2026 | Nick LeRoySeven years ago, Nick LeRoy got fired. Today, he runs one of SEO’s most trusted newsletters with over 12.5k subscribers, operates SEOjobs.com with over 200k annual sessions, and consults with enterprise brands on SEO strategy that actually…
Why content marketers should learn about RAG, n8n & automation | Maddy (Osman) FrenchAfter 10+ years building The Blogsmith into a content agency serving B2B giants like HubSpot and Klaviyo, Maddy Osman French made an unexpected move: she went in-house. Now at DigitalOcean, she represents a “content engineer”. A marketer…
ChatGPT Ads, Meta x Manus, CharacterAI, State of Search | #MonthlyLandwehrWe’re kicking off a new format in the Masters of Search podcast and we’re calling it #MonthlyLandwehr. Malte is CPO & CMO at Peec AI, one of the leading AI search analytics platforms, and one of the brightest minds in the field. So I want…
Why SEO belongs in your M&A due diligence | Daphne Monro, Head of Website & Content @ hosting.comM&A in SEO is a topic that you won’t find a lot of content about. But it’s a high-stakes topic that can make our brake organic visibility. My guest today is Daphne Monro, who is Head of Website & Content at hosting.com, where she oversees…
Good SEO/Bad SEO | Björn Darko, Director Product SEO @ Aviv GroupMy guest today is Björn Darko. He leads an Enterprise SEO org by day, and hosts one of the largest German SEO podcasts by night. At Aviv Group, Björn oversees a 30-person team building SEO infrastructure for some of the biggest real estate…
How to get your brand mentioned in ChatGPT & Co. | Ethan Smith, CEO @ GraphiteGraphite is nothing like your typical agency. While most agencies sell slides and strategic decks, Graphite builds things. While others work on hundred-item SEO audits, they obsess over the 5% of work that actually drives results. They’ve…
If I were VP Marketing… | Volodymyr Korol, VP Marketing @ LodgifyIf I were VP Marketing at a €30M+ ARR SaaS… Oh wait, I know someone who actually is. Joining me on the latest episode of the Masters of Search is Volodymyr Korol, VP of Marketing at Lodgify. Lodgify is a $30M+ ARR vacation rental…
What it means to think like a content engineer | Lucy Hoyle, Senior Content Engineer @ CartaSEO has already been a proven growth engine for Carta, and in 2025, they’ve gained strong AI Search visibility driving real pipeline results. Lucy Hoyle is Senior Content Engineer at Carta, and played a crucial role in that. She oversees…
How he built a 560m profit organic growth machine | Fabrizio Ballarini, Head of Organic Growth @ WiseWise is moving £145 billion across the globe, serving 15 million customers across 160 countries and 40 currencies. They’ve been profitable for years, with their latest financial accounts posting a £560 million profit before tax while…
How ChatGPT helped her bootstrap to $8M ARR | Sandra Đajic, Senior Marketing & Growth Lead @ ChatbaseChatbase bootstrapped to $8M ARR* and turned AI search into their No. 2 user acquisition channel. So I invited Sandra to the Masters of Search podcast to reveal how they did it. *it was still $7M when we recorded Her answer? There’s no…
How he managed 24 billion pages | Roberto Grasiano, ex Head of Organic Growth & SEO @ Shutterstock24 BILLION pages. That’s the sheer scale at which Roberto Grasiano led SEO and organic growth at Shutterstock. I’m so excited that I could convince him to come on the Masters of Search to bring you 73 minutes of Enterprise SEO masterclass.…
How he led Miro through the AI Search transition | Luis Rodriguez, ex Head of Organic Growth @ MiroLuis Rodriguez has 12+ years of international SEO experience and led organic growth at Uber and most recently Miro. He let me pick his brain for 60 minutes about scaling organic growth in PLG companies. Full interview with Luis Rodriguez…
SEO for early-stage startups | Irina Maltseva, Growth Advisor @ Aura, Sphere, Artisan & more | Masters of Search #17Most founders think SEO takes too long for early-stage startups. Irina Maltseva proves them wrong by helping YC alumni build organic growth from 0. In our latest Masters of Search episode, she shares 5 tactics you can start…
Why you should stop obsessing over keywords | Margarita Loktionova, Content Marketing @ SemrushStop starting your content workflows with keyword research. If you don’t trust me, trust someone way smarter than me — and learn why it’s just one piece of the puzzle. Full interview with Margarita Loktionova, Content Marketing Lead @…
Why AEO might just be SEO | Andy Muns, Director of AEO @ Telnyx | Masters of Search #15This might be the most niche flex ever, but I’m pretty sure this is the first ever publicly documented talk with a Director of AEO. Prove me wrong. Andy scaled a site to Alexa Top 100 and grew revenue from $900K to $22M. Now he’s leading…
How he gets 20% of his customers from AI Search | Tomasz Niezgoda, Co-Founder & CMO @ SurferTomasz Niezgoda (Co-Founder & CMO @ Surfer) let me pick his brain for 60 min on how they bootstrapped to €15M ARR, get ~20% of paying customers from AI Search, and talked to 50+ customers per week in the early days. If you care about SaaS,…
How to improve your brand’s visibility in AI Search | Eoin Clancy, Head of Growth @ AirOpsIf you’re a startup founder or marketing exec, and you know AI Search matters, but struggle with where to start, this conversation provides INSANE clarity. Quick context about AirOps: They’re based in San Francisco, recently raised a…
How to drive real pipeline from SEO | Carla Chicharro, Revenue Marketing @ Mitiga SolutionsCarla Chicharro is Director of Revenue Marketing at Mitiga Solutions, one of Europe’s most innovative climate tech companies specializing in climate risk intelligence. What makes Carla particularly fascinating is her long journey from the…
How to grow a B2B SaaS with SEO and sell for €400m | Felix Zipf, Senior Director Marketing @ sevdeskFelix spent 10 years building the marketing that led sevdesk from startup to a €400m exit. In this episode of the Masters of Search, he’s revealing how search (especially SEO) played a key role in it. While most marketing leaders jump…
Why SEO agencies might be in serious trouble | Matthäus Michalik, Co-Founder @ ClaneoMatthäus built one of Germany’s top SEO agencies in less than 10 years, working for A-level clients like HelloFresh, Henkel, or KfW. This Thursday, he’s sharing his learnings and how he navigates his 80-person agency through the GEO…
How Pipedrive drives $200M ARR | Margus Veeber, Head of Web @ PipedriveMargus Veeber is Head of Web at Pipedrive, one of Europe’s most successful SaaS unicorns, competing with the likes of HubSpot or Salesforce. Pipedrive has had great success with SEO over the last years, driving more than half a million…
How to win against 100x budgets in B2B SEO | Ayla Grzegowski, Team Lead Content & SEO @ aworkAyla Grzegowski is Team Lead Content & SEO at awork, a Hamburg-based B2B SaaS startup that’s making waves in the project management space. What makes awork particularly interesting is their David vs. Goliath story. They’re competing…
Why SEO is dead | Malte Landwehr, CMO/CPO @ Peec AIMalte Landwehr quit his 6-figure corporate job (VP SEO @ idealo) to bet everything on AI search. I went live with him on the 1st episode of the Masters of Search podcast, so he tells me everything about it. Malte spent 5 years leading one…
How he spends 6-figure B2B SaaS budgets | Bert Winterfeld, Performance Marketing @ HERO SoftwareBert Winterfeld runs performance marketing at HERO Software (B2B SaaS, Series B, >$50M funding) with 6-figure monthly budgets. One of the key insights he shared in our Masters of Search interview was: Paid search in B2B always hits a…
How home24 drives €90M from SEO | Federico Cutillo, Head of SEO @ home24Federico Cutillo is Head of SEO at home24, one of Europe’s leading home & living e-commerce platforms competing with giants like IKEA and Wayfair. What makes Federico particularly fascinating is his 7+ year tenure leading SEO at home24. He…
Why Google will crush ChatGPT | Kirk Williams, Founder @ ZATO PPC MarketingKirk Williams is the founder and owner of ZATO PPC Marketing, a US-based agency completely focused on Paid Search. Kirk has been the named the #3 Most Influential PPC Expert for 2025, his 9th year on this list. Full interview with Kirk…
Why you should embrace AI before it takes your job | Mike RhodesMike Rhodes has become one of the most influential voices around PPC and AI. After building and selling four businesses, Mike has spent a lot of time building products like the famous PMAX Insights Script and teaching people how to do the…
What he learned from spending €100M on Google Ads | Bob Meijer, Co-Founder @ PPC MasteryBob Meijer has spent over €100M on Google Ads, is a 2x Top 50 Most Influential PPC Expert, and built a 1,900+ member community, but he almost never does interviews anymore. Until I asked him to join mine. Together with Miles, Bob…
How Search in ChatGPT works behind the scenes | David Konitzny, PO Organic Search @ KKPDavid Konitzny has probably spent 100+ hours figuring out how AI Search really works. While most SEO professionals are still guessing about AI search, David has been reverse-engineering the actual systems. As Product Owner Organic Search @…