Episode Details

Sales channels in cybersecurity have been the same list for years: ads, LinkedIn, cold calling, cold email, ABM, inbound. Then AI search turned up and started sending qualified, bottom-of-funnel leads straight to BDRs. Scott Johnson runs an SEO and GEO agency that works only with cybersecurity companies, and in this episode he lays out what is actually happening in that channel, why most cyber vendors are invisible or badly described inside it, and what to do about both.

In this episode

• Why some cyber companies are already seeing 5% of new business come from AI search, and why nobody can see it in their numbers
• The Apollo study Scott cites: visitors from Google convert at 2.8%, visitors from AI search at 14.2%
• The incognito test he wants every listener to run tonight, and why it will make them uncomfortable
• Why AI has learned to skip marketing language, and what it cites instead
• The testimonial format that works on AI: a close rate and a timeframe, not a compliment
• Why the self-promotional listicle, a cheat code for two years, now hands visibility to your competitors
• What to measure instead of brand mentions, and how to get attribution when the click never happens
• Where the hype has run ahead of reality, in the words of someone selling the service

About the guest
Scott Johnson is the Founder and President of Amplifyed, an SEO and GEO agency working exclusively with cybersecurity and SaaS companies. He has been in SEO since 2010, ran a branding agency before this one, and Amplifyed landed at number 1,957 on the 2025 Inc. 5000.

Notable quotes

1. "CMOs tell me, “When I go into Claude and look for our service, I see our competitors and it's driving me crazy."”
2. "AI is so thirsty for data points."
3. "If you want to feel uncomfortable, go do that. Cause you will see what AI thinks of you."

Chapter timestamps
01:40 Nothing in seventeen years of SEO has moved like this
02:27 The sentence cyber CMOs open with, and the channel that came from nowhere
04:50 What you can and cannot see about how buyers search
07:53 The conversion numbers, and the incognito test
10:22 Reputation, quality content, and why PR is having a moment
12:04 Testimonials AI will actually cite
19:29 AI slop, and the four-minute recording that replaces it
24:29 Measuring visibility without fooling yourself
26:49 Write the problem, not the product
29:55 Why listicles started backfiring
33:07 Where the hype has run ahead of the leads
39:38 Spin the wheel: overrated or underrated

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The Cyber Go-To-Market Talk is the show for cybersecurity sales leaders, founders, CROs, and go-to-market operators looking to improve cyber sales performance and build more predictable revenue growth. Hosted by Andrew Monaghan, founder of Unstoppable.do, covering cyber sales leadership, revenue leadership, sales onboarding, forecasting, pipeline generation, and cybersecurity go-to-market execution.

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