ANDIE HOWARD / ADVERTISING & MARKETING
SEO, AI Search & Marketing Accountability
The Blonde’s Briefs, Episode 1: Andie Howard explains what to ask about SEO, AI visibility and whether your marketing reports show meaningful progress.
By Andie Howard ·
The Blonde’s Briefs · Episode 1
Written and narrated by Andie Howard. Watch the first episode above, or read this companion article for the questions to bring to your next marketing meeting.
An impressive report is not the same as an effective strategy
I have a confession. I’ve been involved in a rather unhealthy relationship. It’s demanding. It’s exhausting. It keeps changing the rules without telling me.
Naturally, I’m talking about Google.
If I wanted this kind of emotional instability, I’d start dating again.
The funny part is my relationship with search engines. The serious part is what business owners are paying for, and whether anyone can explain what they are getting.
Here is the short answer: your marketing report should connect the work being done to an agreed business goal. It should explain what changed, what the numbers actually measure, where the evidence is incomplete and what happens next. A colorful arrow is allowed. It just needs a reason to be there.
The questions that started the conversation
In the episode, I describe reviewing SEO spending and advertising campaigns during marketing work for a medical practice. In my assessment, the performance information and explanations I reviewed did not justify confidence in the strategy. I asked the providers to explain their methods, targeting, measurement and results.
My experience is a reason to ask better questions. It is not proof that every agency is dishonest or that every disappointing campaign was poorly managed. Good agencies should be willing to discuss their work, its limitations and the evidence behind their recommendations.
You hire an expert because you have a business to run. That should not mean you need an act of faith to understand the invoice.
Six questions to ask about your marketing
| Ask this | Look for this |
|---|---|
| What business goal are we working toward? | A specific outcome, such as qualified inquiries, appointments, registrations or sales, with an agreed way to measure it. |
| What work was actually completed? | Specific pages, technical fixes, creative assets, campaign changes or other deliverables you can review. |
| Who are we trying to reach? | An audience and geography connected to the people your business can actually serve, with targeting limits explained. |
| What does each reported number measure? | A clear distinction between ad delivery, website visits, inquiries and customers. |
| What changed from our starting point? | A baseline, a useful comparison period and an explanation of other factors that may affect the result. |
| What will we do next, and why? | A practical recommendation based on the available evidence, with scope, cost and a review date. |
You do not need to memorize every acronym. You do need an explanation that survives a reasonable follow-up question.
For the broader relationship between strategy, audience, creative and campaign management, read what an advertising agency should actually do.
SEO: separate being found from being chosen
SEO helps search engines discover and understand your website. Your content then needs to help the visitor decide whether you fit their problem.
Start by asking whether your important pages can be reached and indexed. Then ask which relevant searches are showing those pages, whether people visit them, and what happens after the visit. These are related steps, not interchangeable results.
| Measure | What it can help explain | What it does not prove on its own |
|---|---|---|
| Indexed pages | Google has included those pages in its index. | That they rank well or attract customers. |
| Search impressions | Your website appeared in search results. | That someone visited or contacted you. |
| Search clicks | Someone clicked through from a result. | That the visitor was qualified or became a customer. |
| Completed inquiries | Someone submitted a request or contacted the business through a measured path. | That the inquiry became a sale or came from one specific marketing effort. |
| Confirmed customers and revenue | A business outcome occurred. | That every part of that outcome can be credited to a single campaign. |
Read Google’s SEO Starter Guide for its explanation of the fundamentals. If you want help connecting technical discoverability to the message on your pages, explore SEO and website strategy.
AI search adds another way customers may discover you
A potential customer can ask an AI assistant for a contractor, an advertising company or someone who can produce a television commercial. The question for a business owner is whether the assistant can find useful, accurate information about the business when it searches.
That does not create a guaranteed route into an answer. Different products and searches can produce different recommendations.
For Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode specifically, Google says ordinary SEO fundamentals still apply. Its guidance calls for accessible pages, useful text, relevant internal links and accurate business information; it does not require special AI markup or promise inclusion. See Google’s guidance on AI features and your website.
For your own business, start with the things a real buyer needs to know:
- What do you do, and for whom?
- Where are you based, and where can you serve customers?
- Can someone examine examples of your actual work?
- Are your website and public profiles accurate and consistent?
- Is it easy to contact you and get a useful response?
Clear answers help a prospect evaluate you wherever they first hear your name. A directory listing, an article or an AI mention still needs to lead somewhere useful.
Try this before your next marketing meeting
Choose one service you want to sell. Write down the customer you need to reach and the action you want that customer to take.
Then put three things next to each other: the latest report, the ad or search page, and the page the visitor reaches. Ask whether they tell the same story. Is the audience relevant? Is the offer clear? Does the contact path work on a phone? Can the report tell you whether anyone took the intended step?
Bring those questions to your provider. Missing tracking may be the first problem to fix. A weak offer, an unsuitable audience or a confusing website may call for a different change. Our guide to evaluating advertising results explains how to look beyond the biggest numbers in a report.
Let’s look at the question you’re trying to answer
I founded Blonde Girl TV Productions in February 2022. My work brings together advertising strategy, media buying, commercial production, websites and SEO, shaped by three decades in media, marketing, sales and business development.
Start with a free 20-minute clarity call to discuss your concern and whether we are a fit. A detailed marketing audit is a separate paid service with an agreed scope.
Based in Kennewick, Washington, I work with businesses nationwide. You deserve to understand what you are paying for, what the evidence shows and which next step is worth taking.
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