What does AI really mean for digital marketing over the next five years?

That’s the question we tackled in our latest Mavuus Coffee Chat on June 19, with two sharp and seasoned marketing leaders weighing in:

👤 Johnny Russo – A digital commerce veteran with 20+ years leading eCom strategy at brands like Mark’s and Mexx Canada.
👤 Jonathan M Kvarfordt – A GTM strategist and AI advisor helping executive teams rethink how they drive revenue, growth, and relevance with AI.

Together, they explored how AI is reshaping three core pillars of digital marketing: SEO, paid media, and social.

From shifting search behavior and click-through decline, to the rise of generative content and the future of hyper-personalized ads, this conversation offered real-world examples and forward-looking insights that senior marketers can’t afford to miss.

📌 Here’s what we covered:

1. The New Era of SEO: From Keywords to Conversations
2. Paid Media’s Future: AI Agents and Hyper-Personalization
3. Social Media in the Age of AI: Scale Meets Authenticity
4. Helpful Resources to Bookmark

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The New Era of SEO: From Keywords to Conversations

SEO is no longer just about pleasing Google – it’s about preparing your content for AI readers.

During Coffee Chat, both Johnny Russo and Jonathan M Kvarfordt painted a clear picture: traditional SEO practices, once grounded in keyword density, backlinks, and metadata, are now sharing the stage with AI-powered search dynamics. The rise of LLMs like ChatGPT, Google’s SGE, and Perplexity has changed how content is discovered, interpreted, and surfaced.

The shift is no longer just about optimizing for Google. It’s about optimizing for AI systems that interpret intent, not just match keywords. That means we’re moving from Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to what's called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

So, what’s the difference?

Traditional SEO was all about matching the exact words users typed into the search bar. Today’s AI-driven engines aim to understand the intent behind a query, especially when most prompts are now full sentences or even paragraphs, not just a couple of keywords.

Jonathan summed it up powerfully in the chat:

“AI is trying to understand the intent of the request, find the content whose intent matches that request, and then deliver it, structured in a way the AI can consume, not just a human.”

That shift from keyword-matching to intent-matching has huge implications for how we write, format, and structure content.

In other words: it’s not just about using the right words anymore, but structuring your content to signal intent clearly to the AI reading it. That means front-loading answers, using contextually rich language, and incorporating structured data and formatting like headings, bullet points, and schema tags.

This also explains why long-tail queries and natural-sounding prompts are gaining traction. With AI systems generating summarized answers (often without linking back), the winner isn’t the site that ranks highest for a keyword, it’s the one that best aligns with the user’s intent in a conversational format.

The Data Speaks for Itself

GEO isn’t just theoretical, it’s already having an impact:

• 20-40% drop in organic CTRs due to Google’s AI Overviews
• 58.5% of Google searches now result in zero clicks
• 80% of consumers rely on AI-written results for ~40% of their searches

In short, users are getting answers without ever clicking through. The experience is moving from “find a result” to “get an answer.”

So where does that leave marketers?

It means our job is to help AI generate the right answer – one that positions our brand, product, or insights front and center. It’s still SEO, but it’s SEO shaped by AI consumption patterns, not just human ones.

We’re now optimizing for machines that think like humans, rather than humans typing like machines.

Want to see what this looks like in action? Jonathan shared a helpful visual on how to structure AI-friendly prompts and content, check it out HERE.

The Tools Are Catching Up

One upside to all this? New AI-powered SEO tools are taking over the time-consuming parts of keyword research. That means SEO teams can focus more on strategy, content positioning, and customer insight, not just manual analysis.

Rather than manually mapping dozens of keywords and search variants, marketers can now lean on AI tools to surface patterns, detect trending queries, and even suggest headline structures. The human role shifts from “researcher” to “strategist.”

And while traditional SEO isn’t going away, its foundations are being restructured. As Jonathan noted, “the principles that build SEO are not dead”, but they’re being repackaged. Think of it as formatting your content more like a great prompt than a blog post.

As SEO evolves into GEO, one thing remains clear: the foundational principles still matter. Strategy, clarity, and customer insight will always win. But how we apply them needs to adapt to a world where AI is often the first reader, not the customer.

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Paid Media’s Future: AI Agents and Hyper-Personalization

While SEO is being reshaped by AI-generated answers, paid media is heading toward an entirely new level of personalization, one that could eventually eliminate the need for traditional targeting altogether.

During the session, both speakers reflected on how generative AI is currently influencing paid strategies, and where things may be heading in the next few years.

Where We Are Now: Smart Creative, Same Targeting

Today, generative AI is already automating major chunks of the ad creation process, image generation, UGC-style video scripting, even landing page copy. Speed and scale are the name of the game.

But while what we create is evolving rapidly, how we deliver it still looks familiar. Google Ads, Meta, Reddit – they all continue to serve ads based on intent signals and behavioral data, often with limited transparency.

That’s the gap. AI tools can produce assets at lightning speed, but the delivery systems haven’t yet caught up to the sophistication of the content.

Where We’re Going: Ad Personalization via AI Agents

Jonathan pointed to a fascinating future-state scenario: AI agents serving ads not to humans, but to other AI agents acting on behalf of users.

“We're heading into a world where you'd have AI agents talking to your own AI agent, saying, ‘Hey, I want to get in and talk to Johnny,’” he explained. “Then if Johnny’s agent knows he just got a new job or is looking for a computer, it opens the gates to relevant ads.”

It’s a radical shift, from pushing ads based on inferred signals, to serving ads based on explicit, AI-mediated intent. In this model, personalization isn’t just about demographics or past behavior; it’s about real-time context surfaced through conversations, preferences, and triggers that your AI knows about you.

Imagine:

• An advertiser’s AI pitching your AI on why their product is the best fit.
• Your AI screening that pitch before you ever see it.
• Ads becoming something you choose to see, rather than something you’re shown.

We’re not there yet, but the foundations are already forming in how generative models understand preferences, behaviors, and long-term goals. As AI matures, the line between “advertising” and “assistance” may blur entirely.

What This Means for Marketing Leaders

For CMOs and paid media leaders, this future presents both challenge and opportunity:

• Challenge: The traditional methods of audience segmentation and performance tracking may become less effective as AI platforms become the new gatekeepers.
• Opportunity: Brands that can position themselves as trusted solutions before a need is fully realized, by the user or their AI, will win the game.

In the meantime, now is the time to experiment with AI-powered creative generation, start preparing for post-cookie personalization, and watch closely as platforms begin to integrate AI-first ad experiences.

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Social Media in the Age of AI: Scale Meets Authenticity

If SEO is being reinvented by algorithms and paid media is inching toward AI-to-AI personalization, social media is dealing with a different tension: 

How do we scale content without losing the human spark that makes people actually care?

During the Coffee Chat, both Johnny and Jonathan emphasized how generative AI has made content creation faster and cheaper, but also noisier.

AI’s Superpowers in Social

Johnny pointed to the clear efficiency gains that AI brings to social media workflows:

• Content generation (from post copy to hashtags)
• Customer service (via chatbots and auto-responses)
• Influencer identification (matching brand values to creator personas)

Jonathan added another layer: the rise of user-generated content (UGC), now heavily augmented by AI tools. Brands can generate 20 caption options, 10 image variations, and schedule across 6 platforms, all within minutes.

Sounds great in theory. But what happens when everyone can do that?

The Human Signal in an AI-Dominated Feed

Jonathan raised a critical point:

“In a world where everybody has AI, the only thing that will stand out is the human. Someone’s genius and uniqueness, that’s what will be amplified.”

In other words: authenticity is the new algorithm hack. AI makes production easier, but it also flattens originality. The marketers and creators who will win are the ones who know how to show up in a way that still feels human, even if AI helped build the message.

So, what’s your brand’s human play?

• Are you saying something remarkable?
• Do you have a recognizable voice?
• Are you aligned with real people – creators, customers, leaders – who others trust?

Jonathan argued that even as AI influencers rise, the pull of genuine human opinion won’t disappear. People still want to hear from people. They want to trust the voice behind the message, especially in a crowded content landscape.

Volume vs. Value

The trap for brands is mistaking volume for effectiveness. Churning out dozens of AI-written posts isn’t a strategy – it’s just noise. The brands that will stand out are the ones that:

• Deliver useful, thoughtful content that solves real problems.
• Lean into niche expertise or brand storytelling.
• Pair AI-powered scale with human insight and intention.

Social media isn’t about beating the algorithm, it’s about connecting with people. In a space where everyone has the same tools, your differentiator isn’t tech. It’s taste.

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Helpful Resources to Bookmark

With so much change happening across SEO, paid media, and social, it’s hard to keep up with what’s worth following – and what’s just hype.

Thankfully, our speakers shared a few high-signal resources to help marketers stay sharp and make smarter decisions about where (and how) to use AI in their work.

Blogs & Newsletters

• The Rundown AI – A popular daily newsletter summarizing the latest AI tools, trends, and use cases. Great for staying current without falling down rabbit holes.
• HubSpot’s AI Blog – Offers practical breakdowns on how marketers can apply AI across the funnel, with examples tailored to B2B teams.
• There’s An AI for That – As Johnny shared during the session, this is a goldmine of AI tools:  “You can search for something like ‘paid media creative optimization tools’ and it’ll throw up a bunch of suggestions.”

People Worth Following

• Emilia Moller – Shares thoughtful content around modern marketing strategy and AI integration. 
• Gisenberg – A go-to source for smart, tactical posts on digital growth. 
• Neil Patel – Known for his breakdowns on SEO, SEM, and AI trends with clear, actionable advice.
• Seth Godin – For anyone thinking about how brand, trust, and creativity will evolve in an AI-dominant world.

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Final Thoughts

The future of digital marketing isn’t just AI-powered – it’s human-led and AI-enabled. As this Coffee Chat made clear, the marketers who will thrive aren’t the ones trying to out-automate everyone else. They’re the ones who combine smart tools with sharper strategy, creativity, and a clear understanding of what really resonates.

Whether you’re rethinking your SEO game, testing AI-generated ads, or reworking your social content for a more human touch – the key is staying curious, experimental, and grounded in what matters to your audience.

🎥 Want to dive deeper?

Watch the full Coffee Chat replay for even more insights from Johnny and Jonathan and see how experts are putting AI to work across SEO, paid, and social.

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