The Ranking Expert: How to DOMINATE AI Search in 2026 (ChatGPT, AI Overview)
The Topline team interview Ethan Smith, founder of Graphite, an San Fransico-based growth and SEO agency with clients like Notion, Webflow and Rippling. As well as Rahul Jain from Noble, a consultant who writes and speaks about AI. Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Wednesday. Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Introduction and Host Introductions 00:41 How Well Do You Know AI Search? 08:14 SEO vs. AI: The Changing Landscape 13:42 The Role of PR in AI Search 14:46 Get Cited By THESE Websites 18:13 SEO Strategies in the AI Era 25:07 Is SEO Actually Dead? 33:16 HubSpot's Message to The Market 34:27 SEO Evolution and Traffic Trends 34:54 The Future of Search and LLMs 36:34 Signs You Have The Wrong Product 40:01 Scaling AI Search Content 46:38 The Role of PR and AI in Marketing 01:01:42 What Have You Learned?
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Big Tech Will Lay Off 1M People In 2026. Are You One of Them?
We ran a comprehensive model to predict how many layoffs may happen in 2026. To see our math, and try to predict what's next, tune into this full episode of Topline. Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:43 Show intro & what we're covering today 01:31 Setting the stage: big layoffs & what's coming 01:54 Quiz Pro Quo: the tech ecosystem trivia segment 05:37 Why layoffs are happening in a strong market 10:07 What "AI" actually means 11:28 The Twitter/X effect & middle-management reductions 14:31 AI vs. inefficiency cuts: spectrum check 20:13 Where AI is replacing jobs today 22:13 Executive hiring vs. junior hiring shifts 26:03 Big Tech's speed, efficiency & fewer layers strategy 37:33 The new sales productivity curve 49:03 How to protect your career in an AI world
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99% of AI Leaders STILL Don't Know How to Keep Us Safe
The biggest AI companies in the world have made some bold statements about their priorities, but their actions haven't always lined up. Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Welcome Back to Topline 00:52 How Well Do You Know The AI Bubble? 12:48 AI's Job Market Collapse? 15:19 Anthropic's Controversial Funding 30:25 Where is Funding Going? 47:38 How Should We Invest in AI? 59:39 Lessons and Reflections from 2025
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The Inevitable Rise of 72-Hour Work Weeks, Explained
Dave Kellogg, EIR at Balderton Capital, wrote an explosive piece on the reality of modern startups in 2025. Dave walks us through the winners and losers in the AI era. Read Dave's Article Here: https://topline.beehiiv.com/p/the-era-of-haves-and-have-nots Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:47 Introduction & editorial setup 03:03 Defining winning: market share as goal 07:09 Marathon vs sprint; growth tradeoffs 12:02 Switching costs, returns, and herd dynamics 21:42 Disruption resets order; capital to #1 25:06 Easy-come growth vs durable ARR 28:18 Creative destruction and incentives 33:31 Winning by ownership type 36:39 Strategy over grind; #2 playbook 40:33 Labor leverage, RTO, and 9-9-6 culture 53:31 Stalled SaaS: valuations, NRR, and growth 1:01:00 Consolidation, moats, domain expertise 1:04:45 Outro & where to follow
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AI Cults? The Most Popular ChatGPT Uses Are Not What You Think.
The Topline crew, joined my Kyle Norton from the Revenue Leadership Podcast, look at the newest ChatGPT usage data. This is getting unhealthy Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast. Chapters: 00:00 AI's Personal Health Impact 00:37 Intro & Today's Three Topics 01:38 ChatGPT Usage Study Overview 02:34 Non-Work Usage Surges to 73% 05:05 Writing Beats Search for Work 06:00 Companionship & Personal Advice Use Cases 10:57 Switching Tools vs Staying Put 19:10 Centralizing AI Workflows & Infrastructure 21:01 Phone-First Sales Tech Stack 23:32 Reading Our Last 13 ChatGPT Chats 27:08 AI for Health: Power & Risks 32:17 Vibe Coding Traffic Slide 36:13 Vibe Coding's Audience & Use Cases 40:21 Trust Gap & Product Focus 42:51 Leading Through Momentum Slowdowns 50:11 Europe's Startup Problem 51:28 Firing Laws, Risk & Funding Gaps
The #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Tune in every week to hear Sam Jacobs, AJ Bruno and Asad Zaman discuss and debate the trends, news, and developments impacting the B2B tech world. Enjoy the hot takes, strong opinions, and dry humor.