Press Release: Silverback Strategies CRO Allyson Cochran Featured on Clutch Conversations, Outlining the Shift from Traditional SEO to AI Search and AEO
Cochran details why “mentions are the new rankings,” the decoupling of citations from brand recommendations, and the three modern metrics that satisfy both CFOs and boards.
Leesburg, Virginia (September 8, 2026) – Allyson Cochran, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) of Silverback Strategies, recently appeared as a guest on Clutch Conversations, a video series hosted by Tim Condan, Chief Revenue Officer at Clutch. In the interview, Cochran broke down the tectonic shift from traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), warning businesses that twenty years of click-based attribution playbooks are officially broken in the era of AI search.
According to Cochran, the industry-wide transition began in earnest with the release of ChatGPT in spring 2023 and the introduction of Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE). However, Silverback first felt the real-world impact in mid-to-late Q1 2024, when high-funnel, informational “how-to” search queries began decoupling from website traffic. Because AI search platforms summarize answers directly on the search results page, they satisfy user queries without driving traditional click-throughs, rendering keyword search volume a dying metric.
To survive this shift, Cochran argues that marketing leaders must untangle themselves from the vanity metrics of the past.
“We have done clients a major disservice as an industry over the last 20 years by getting everyone addicted to click-based attribution. Ad platforms like Google and Meta are built to take credit for conversions they were simply last in line for. In this new AI environment, showing up in search no longer guarantees a click, and we have to redefine organic success around downstream business outcomes rather than superficial traffic.” — Allyson Cochran, Chief Revenue Officer, Silverback Strategies
A central theme of Cochran’s interview was the critical decoupling of “citations” and “mentions” within large language models (LLMs). While citations are the source links displayed in an LLM’s sidebar, a “mention” occurs when the AI active-text response recommends or references a brand directly. Cochran noted that because typical consumers live in the generated answer and rarely click on sidebar citations, chasing citation volume has become a futile exercise.
To earn these highly valuable brand mentions, Cochran highlighted that companies must expand their content footprint beyond traditional blogs. With YouTube now cited in roughly 30 percent of Google AI Overviews, and forums like Reddit heavily influencing AI responses, brands must build an authoritative, multi-channel footprint. Additionally, while technical SEO hygiene and structured schema remain important to help AI bots easily parse and extract entity data, they cannot substitute for a robust, multi-channel content engine.
“The ultimate moat in this AI-driven environment is a brand’s proprietary performance data. AI is not inherently smart on its own; it requires high-quality, authoritative inputs to learn from. By hosting unique research, performance studies, and first-hand testing data, brands create proprietary content that AI search engines are hungry to consume and recommend.” — Allyson Cochran, Chief Revenue Officer, Silverback Strategies
Looking ahead to measurement, Cochran advised marketing leaders to train their executive boards and CFOs to look at a broader “organic umbrella.” Rather than tracking isolated keyword rankings, Silverback measures three primary metrics to assess AI search performance over a 12-month horizon:
- Organic Revenue: A holistic financial metric combining organic search, direct traffic, and AI referrals.
- AI Mention Share: A brand’s share of voice and recommendation frequency across major LLMs.
- AI Referrals: Direct referral traffic driven by platforms like ChatGPT, which are increasingly supporting UTM parameters.
For brands looking to hire an agency to navigate this new landscape, Cochran offered a simple litmus test: “If an agency tells you that SEO and AI search are the same and that you don’t need to do anything differently, run for the exits.”
To learn more about Silverback Strategies and its performance marketing services, visit www.silverbackstrategies.com.
