Show notes
E836: How did Originality.ai become one of the biggest SEO success stories in the AI space? I sit down with the company's CMO, Madeleine Lambert, who explains the strategies that took her startup from zero to ranking for 13,000+ high-value keywords and earning 78,000 backlinks - all without outside funding. We discuss: • How they built a content marketing operation from the ground up. • The digital PR and data studies that generated thousands of backlinks. • Why Google penalizes AI-written content and how to avoid it. • The SEO mistakes that cost tens of thousands and what they learned. • How Originality.ai approaches AI content, human writing, and the future of search. • How they use social listening and Reddit engagement to shape brand perception. • Why consistency across LinkedIn, YouTube, and other platforms boosts LLM visibility. • Building a lean marketing team and workflow that scales without investors. • The strategy they use to rank for competitor brand keywords and capture their search traffic. This episode offers practical lessons on scaling organic traffic, ranking for competitive keywords, and building a sustainable SEO strategy in the age of AI. ⭐️ Use Originality.ai here - https://originality.ai/ ⭐️ Madeleine Lambert on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeleine-lambert-b6426aa9/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Introduction and Company Overview 01:16 SEO Success and Background 02:51 Originality.ai Features and Development 08:19 Content Marketing and Social Media Strategy 10:15 Challenges and Competition in AI Detection 16:28 Data Studies and Digital PR 27:24 Link Building and Early Strategies 41:09 Hijacking Competitor Traffic 42:06 Outranking Competitors for Brand Keywords 42:39 Building Links to Comparison Pages 44:57 AI Strategies and Consistent Messaging 47:20 Social Listening and Organic Marketing 48:25 Reddit as a Marketing Power Play 49:57 UGC Platforms and Social Media Engagement 51:41 Handling Feedback and Content Creation 53:10 Tracking Mentions and Engaging on Social Media 58:18 SEO Audits and Technical Improvements 01:01:14 Explosive Growth and Lean Team Management 01:01:51 Detecting AI Writing 01:04:09 Humanizing AI Content 01:07:21 Mentorship and Learning in Digital Marketing 01:09:34 Holistic Marketing and Team Agility 01:14:42 Failures and Lessons in Digital PR and Media Buying 01:21:17 Advice for SEO Beginners and Advanced Strategies 01:23:15 Final Thoughts and Where to Follow The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #saasmarketing #performancemarketing #marketing