Episode Details

Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/

Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire

Neil and Eric dig into McKinsey shifting a quarter of its fees to outcome-based pricing and what that means for agencies built on billable hours. Then they run through seven AI marketing trends for 2026: hiring AI-pilled marketers, optimizing for agents instead of just LLMs, AI-built sites and landing pages, integrating directly into LLMs over chasing their traffic, the documentation boom, the backlash against using AI to market to AI, and why HTML artifacts are becoming the new way to package and share ideas.

Key takeaways

◾Outcome-based pricing is reshaping how agencies charge

◾Optimize for agents and integrations, not just LLM traffic

◾Using AI content to win inside LLMs will get discounted

Chapters

00:00 McKinsey goes outcome-based pricing

01:01 How outcome-based deals get structured

02:51 Quantum Black savings example

03:35 Why performance-based deals get renegotiated

04:53 Seven AI marketing trends for 2026

04:58 Trend 1: Hiring AI-pilled marketers

05:45 Trend 2: Optimizing for agents

07:57 ClickFlow AI SEO break

08:36 Trend 3: AI-built sites and landing pages

10:07 Trend 4: Integrating directly into LLMs

11:35 Trend 5: The documentation boom

12:32 Trend 6: Backlash against AI marketing to AI

14:15 Trend 7: HTML as a marketing trend

𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗟

Welcome to Marketing School, one of the top business podcasts with over 61 million downloads. Each episode delivers actionable marketing tips and strategies from two entrepreneurs who truly practice what they preach. The show is hosted by Eric Siu, founder of Leveling Up and Single Grain, and Neil Patel, co-founder of Neil Patel Digital and recognized by Forbes as a Top 10 Marketer.

🎙️ Learn More About the Hosts

Eric Siu – Leveling Up: https://www.youtube.com/@LevelingUpOfficial

Neil Patel: https://www.youtube.com/@neilpatel

📩 Free Resources

Ubersuggest: https://www.ubersuggest.com/

Answer The Public: https://www.answerthepublic.com/

✅ Subscribe for Daily Marketing Insights!