Soapbox Digital

Author: Richard Brown

  • An AI First World

    An AI First World

    The New Optimizatioin

    This moment marks a shift. Not from SEO to something else—but from SEO to something deeper. Something more situational, more contextual, more aligned with how people actually discover solutions in an AI-first world.

    An AI First World

    By:

    Richard Brown

    A Prompt, a Problem, and a Shift

    It begins with a prompt. A business leader, facing friction in their job to be done, turns to a Gen AI tool—not just for answers, but for orientation, for framing, to better understand and define their challenge. This is a generational shift. Not from SEO to something else—but from SEO to something deeper. Something more situational, more contextual, more aligned with how people actually discover solutions in an AI-first world.

    That something is AI Content Optimization (ACO)*.

    ACO as Strategic Imperative

    Search behavior is evolving. People no longer type just keywords or phrases—they express intent, urgency, and nuance in natural language. Whether through AI assistants or search engines that prioritize AI-generated results, the journey begins with context-rich prompts that demand more than relevance—they demand synthesis.

    AI Content Optimization (ACO) responds to this shift by aligning content, structure, and authority signals with the way AI systems interpret, summarize, and recommend information. It’s not just about being indexed—it’s about being surfaced, parsed, and positioned. ACO transforms traditional SEO from a visibility tactic into a strategic architecture for AI-mediated discovery.

    While SEO focuses on ranking in traditional search engine results (SERPs), ACO is about earning presence in AI-generated answers and recommendations. It’s not a replacement—it’s a strategic expansion that works alongside traditional SEO. ACO ensures your content is not just discoverable, but influential, even when people never click a link.

    ACO as Contextual Architecture

    Intent-Driven Discovery

    The earliest search engines relied on lexical keyword matching—scanning indexed pages for exact terms. Today’s search engines prioritize semantic relevance, interpreting user intent and context to surface results that answer the query, not just echo its language.

    AI systems interpret nuance—location, urgency, tone, and task. A query like “best CRM for contractors” typed into an AI assistant yields not a list of links, but a synthesized answer. That answer is drawn from structured, authoritative, and contextually rich content.

    ACO optimization begins here. It’s the practice of aligning your digital presence with the way AI systems parse and prioritize information. It’s not just about ranking—it’s about being recommended and cited.

    DimensionTraditional SEOAI Content Optimization
    FocusRank in SERPsInclusion in AI-generated answers
    MechanismKeywords, backlinks, metadataStructure, semantic clarity, factual relevance
    GoalClicks on blue linksInfluence via citations or summaries—often without a direct click

    Authority Evolved

    Traditional SEO emphasized semantic relevance, backlinks, and keyword density. ACO builds on these foundations while adding new dimensions of authority through interpretability and trust signals:

    • Structured clarity: Clear headings, modular layouts, semantic markup
    • Topical depth: Comprehensive coverage of core themes and subtopics
    • Citation integrity: Verifiable references that AI can parse and validate
    • Factual accuracy: Content that can withstand AI fact-checking processes

    AI systems don’t just crawl—they synthesize. They look for content that’s not only accurate, but explainable. ACO content must be not only helpful, but citable—designed to be extracted, summarized, and embedded in AI responses while maintaining context and accuracy.

    Schema as Infrastructure

    Schema markup remains the invisible scaffolding that helps systems understand your site. ACO-enhanced schema takes this further:

    • FAQ schema: Enables AI to extract direct answers to common questions
    • Article schema: Clarifies editorial structure and authorship for trust signals
    • HowTo and Product schema: Supports step-by-step synthesis and feature comparison
    • Organization schema: Establishes domain expertise and authority

    These aren’t technical flourishes—they’re strategic declarations. They tell AI systems: “This content is structured for reliable synthesis.”

    Pillars and Clusters: ACO’s Editorial Spine

    The pillar-cluster model remains foundational to good content strategy. A comprehensive “pillar” page anchors a topic, while “cluster” content explores subtopics. ACO adapts this proven model for AI parsing:

    Example Structure:

    • Pillar: “Choosing the Right CRM for Your Construction Business”
    • Clusters:
      • “CRM Compliance for Contractors”
      • “Managing Subcontractors with CRM Tools”
      • “CRM Integrations for Bidding Platforms”

    Each cluster supports the pillar while targeting specific use cases or Jobs-to-be-Done scenarios. This modularity is ideal for AI systems that surface cluster content based on nuanced, intent-rich prompts.

    JTBD Meets ACO

    Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) theory helps businesses understand the functional, emotional, and social tasks people are trying to accomplish. ACO adds a fourth dimension: synthetic relevance.

    Pain resolution journeys are shaped by:

    • Task complexity
    • Emotional urgency
    • Contextual constraints
    • Prompt phrasing and natural language patterns

    ACO-aware content anticipates these variables. It doesn’t just answer the question—it understands the journey. And it’s structured to be surfaced in the exact moment that journey begins, regardless of whether that’s through traditional search or AI-assisted discovery.

    AI as the First Interface

    AI tools are increasingly the first interface between people and content. Whether it’s Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, or Google’s Search Generative Experience, people are asking questions—and AI is answering before links are even shown.

    Your content must be:

    • Structured for AI parsing: Clear headings, schema markup, modular layout
    • Contextually rich: JTBD alignment, use-case specificity, comprehensive coverage
    • Authoritative and current: Updated citations, demonstrated domain expertise, factual accuracy
    • Synthetically friendly: Written in a way that maintains meaning when excerpted or summarized

    ACO ensures your content isn’t just indexed—it’s surfaced, summarized, and recommended across multiple AI interfaces and traditional search results.

    Back to the Pain Prompt

    The journey begins with a question. A business leader, facing friction or stagnation, turns to AI for clarity—not to Google, not to a search engine, but directly to an AI assistant. They chose AI first.

    For the businesses trying to reach that leader, this shift changes everything. AI Content Optimization becomes the strategic framework that ensures your solutions surface when these conversations happen. It reframes traditional SEO from a keyword-focused game into an intelligent content architecture that aligns with how AI systems parse, understand, and recommend information.

    It meets people where they are—not just digitally, but cognitively, whether they’re using traditional search engines or conversational AI interfaces.

    And it works.

    Because in a world where AI increasingly mediates discovery, relevance isn’t enough. You must be synthetically present across multiple discovery paths. ACO ensures that when your ideal customer begins their journey—whether through a search engine or an AI assistant—you’re not just visible.

    You’re recommended, cited, and trusted.

    *Editor’s Note: AI innovation is happening at breakneck speed, and the terminology around optimizing content for AI systems is still rapidly evolving. In this flurry of activity, you may encounter various terms for similar concepts. “Generative Engine Optimization” (GEO) emerged from a 2023 research paper by Aggarwal et al. from Princeton University and Georgia Tech, demonstrating up to 40% improvement in content visibility within AI-generated responses.

    Other emerging terms in industry discussions include “AI Engine Optimization,” “Conversational Search Optimization,” and “AI-Ready Content,” though these lack the same level of academic research backing. While the specific terminology varies, the core strategic imperative remains consistent: adapting content structure and strategy for AI-mediated discovery and recommendation systems.

    We’ve chosen “AI Content Optimization” (ACO) for its clarity and broad applicability across different AI interfaces and use cases.

  • Educating the Marketplace

    Educating the Marketplace

    Relevance, Resonance, & Results

    educating the marketplace—specifically your ideal customer—is not just a branding exercise but a strategic imperative.

    Educating the Marketplace

    By:

    Richard Brown

    How to Become a Mentor on Your Customer’s Hero’s Journey

    In a world saturated with content, pitches, and promises, the most powerful form of marketing isn’t persuasion—it’s education. Not the kind that lectures, but the kind that listens, understands, and illuminates. When a business truly grasps the job its customer is trying to get done—and offers insight that helps them overcome what feels like an intractable challenge—it transcends the role of vendor. It becomes a mentor. A companion. A trusted guide on the customer’s hero’s journey.

    This article explores how educating the marketplace—specifically your ideal customer—is not just a branding exercise but a strategic imperative. By aligning your messaging with the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework and positioning yourself as a mentor in your customer’s narrative arc, you create relevance, resonance, and results. We’ll unpack how JTBD reveals the deeper motivations behind purchasing decisions, how the Hero’s Journey offers a blueprint for emotional engagement, and why focusing on your ideal customers with relevant and helpful content amplifies your impact and authority.

    Understanding the Job to Be Done: Beyond Demographics and Personas

    The Jobs to Be Done framework, popularized by Clayton Christensen, shifts the focus from who the customer is to what they are trying to accomplish. It’s not about selling a drill—it’s about helping someone hang a family photo in their new home (Christensen, Know Your Customers’ “Jobs to Be Done”, Harvard Business Review, 2016).

    Key Principles of JTBD:

    • Functional, Emotional, and Social Dimensions: Customers hire products and services not just for utility, but for how they make them feel and how they affect their identity (Christensen Institute, Jobs to Be Done Theory, Christensen Institute, 2024).
    • Contextual Triggers: JTBD analysis reveals the circumstances that lead to a purchase—moments of struggle, aspiration, or transition (Anthony et al., Identifying Jobs to Be Done, Harvard Business Press, 2008).
    • Progress, Not Preference: JTBD is about helping customers make progress in their lives, not just satisfying preferences.

    “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.” 

    — Theodore Levitt, Harvard Business School

    When you understand your customer’s job to be done, you stop guessing what they want. You start seeing the world through their eyes. And that’s where education begins—not with your expertise, but with their struggle.

    The Hero’s Journey: Your Customer Is the Protagonist

    Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, a narrative structure found in myths and stories across cultures, offers a powerful lens for understanding the emotional arc of your customer’s experience. In business, your customer is the hero. They face a challenge, seek a solution, and undergo transformation. Your role? You’re the mentor. The Obi-Wan. The Gandalf. The guide who helps them cross the threshold.
    (Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Princeton University Press, 1949)
    (Campbell, The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work, Harper & Row, 1990).

    Mapping the Journey to Business Context:

    Hero’s Journey StageBusiness Equivalent
    Ordinary WorldStatus quo before the challenge
    Call to AdventureRecognition of a problem or opportunity
    Refusal of the CallHesitation, fear, or inertia
    Meeting the MentorDiscovery of your content (domain insights)
    Crossing the ThresholdDecision to engage with content or brand
    Trials and ChallengesStruggles with so many options in the marketplace and some DIY failues
    TransformationRecognizes the value of your solution
    Return with the ElixirBuys your product or service

    By aligning your content and messaging with this journey, you don’t just inform—you inspire. You show your customer that you understand their path, and you offer tools, insights, and encouragement to help them succeed.

    “In the best marketing, the customer is the hero. The brand is the guide.” 

    — Donald Miller (Building a StoryBrand, HarperCollins Leadership, 2017)

    Educate the Right Audience: Why Ideal Customers Matter Most

    Not every customer is your customer. And that’s not just okay—it’s essential. Educating the marketplace only works when you’re speaking to the right people: those whose jobs to be done align with your strengths, whose values resonate with your brand, and whose success stories you want to help write.

    Characteristics of Ideal Customers:

    • Strategic Fit: Their needs align with your capabilities.
    • High Stakes: Their job to be done is urgent, complex, or emotionally charged.
    • Receptive to Insight: They value guidance and are open to transformation.
    • Potential Advocates: They’re likely to share their success and refer others.

    “The greater clarity you have with regard to your ideal customer, the more focused and effective your marketing efforts will be.” 

    — Brian Tracy (Determining Your Ideal Customer, Entrepreneur, 2005)

    Educating the wrong audience leads to diluted messaging, wasted effort, and misaligned expectations. But when you focus on your ideal customer, you create content that feels like it was written just for them—because it was.

    “If you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll be nothing to no one.” 

    — Dave McClure (500 Startups, 2012)

    Educating Through Insight: From Vendor to Mentor

    So how do you educate the marketplace in a way that positions you as a mentor? It starts with empathy and ends with empowerment.

    Strategies for Educational Impact:

    • Publish Insight-Rich Content: Feature articles, white papers, and videos that unpack complex problems and offer actionable solutions, even if your solution doesn’t do it and the customer can do it themselves (DIY)..
    • Use Language from thier perspective: Frame your messaging around progress, struggle, and transformation—not features and benefits.
    • Be a Mentor: Share case useful domain and pain specific informaton that aligns with their Hero’s Journey arc, showing how they can solve smaller challenges in the journey.
    • Create Visual Frameworks: Diagrams, infographics, and panels that make abstract ideas tangible and memorable.
    • Help them define their problem: Help customers self-identify their stage in the journey or articulate their job to be done and name their pain with definition.

    When your content helps someone recognize and frame their problem, see a path forward, or feel understood, you’re not just marketing—you’re mentoring.

    From Insight to Impact

    In a marketplace flooded with noise, the brands that rise above aren’t the ones shouting the loudest—they’re the ones that listen the closest. When you educate with empathy, grounded in your customer’s job to be done, you stop being a vendor and start becoming a mentor. You’re no longer just selling a solution—you’re illuminating a path.

    You become the trusted companion on your customer’s hero’s journey. The one who shows up when the challenge feels insurmountable. The one who offers clarity when the stakes are high. The one who helps them make meaningful progress.

    And when you do this for your ideal customers—those whose stories you’re uniquely equipped to support—you don’t just earn attention. You earn trust. You don’t just drive conversions. You drive transformation.

    Because the most powerful form of marketing isn’t persuasion. It’s education. And the most powerful form of education? It’s mentorship.

    Educating the marketplace isn’t about being the loudest voice—it’s about being the most credible.

    Does this concept resonate?

    Are you struggling to engage with your markplace meaningfully? Then why not try educating them.

    Reach out if you’d like help starting →

  • What Is a Feature Article—and Why It Works

    What Is a Feature Article—and Why It Works

     The Briliance of Feature Articles

    A lead (anecdotal), a nut graph, the body, and a circle kicker—was developed to guide readers through a compelling narrative journey. Each part plays a critical role in delivering value and building trust.

    What Is a Feature Article—and Why It Works

    By:

    Richard Brown

    More Than Just an Article or Blog Post

    The Historical Legacy of Storytelling

    In the 1830s, the penny press revolutionized journalism by making news accessible to the masses—one cent at a time. These papers didn’t just report facts; they told stories. Mark Twain, writing under his real name Samuel Clemens, used satire and serialized sketches to capture the absurdities of American life. Nellie Bly went undercover in an asylum to expose systemic abuse, turning investigative reporting into gripping narrative. By the time Jon Franklin won the first Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 1979 with Mrs. Kelly’s Monster, the format had evolved—but the mission remained: tell a story that matters, and tell it well.

    The Role and Relevance of Feature Articles

    Feature articles have their roots in traditional journalism, where they were used to provide in-depth analysis and storytelling beyond the scope of daily news. Publications like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times pioneered this format, recognizing its ability to captivate readers and drive engagement.

    The structure of feature articles—lead, nut graph, body, and circle kicker—was developed to guide readers through a compelling narrative journey. Each part plays a critical role in delivering value and building trust.

    Body: Building Domain Authority and Engaging the Ideal Customer

    The Case for Feature Articles in Corporate Storytelling

    Feature articles are not just tools for storytelling; they are strategic assets that establish domain authority and engage the ideal customer. By weaving narratives that resonate with the reader’s challenges and aspirations, feature articles position businesses as thought leaders and trusted advisors.

    The Structure of Feature Articles

    A well-crafted feature article follows a proven structure that builds authority and trust:

    SectionPurpose
    LeadA simple, relatable opening that hooks the reader with a real-world moment or tension.
    Nut GraphA clear articulation of the article’s purpose and relevance to the reader’s pain or goal.
    BodyA robust, well-cited narrative that educates, persuades, and builds credibility.
    Circle KickerA clean, resonant close that ties back to the lead and reinforces the core message.

    Mapping Feature Articles to Corporate Storytelling

    Feature articles align with Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) theory by addressing the reader’s need for actionable insights and solutions. They engage the ideal customer by:

    • Establishing Domain Authority: By providing well-researched, credible content, feature articles position businesses as experts in their field.
    • Engaging the Customer Journey: Through compelling narratives, feature articles guide readers through their journey to solve challenges and achieve their goals.
    • Resolving JTBD: By aligning content with the reader’s Jobs to Be Done, feature articles deliver emotional and strategic relevance.

    Real-world examples:

    1. The Wall Street Journal: Articles like “The Lonely Burden of Today’s Teenage Girls” open with a lead that immerses readers in the quiet isolation of a teenage girl scrolling through social media. The nut graph then frames this moment within a broader mental health crisis, citing CDC and Pew data on rising anxiety and loneliness among adolescent girls. The body builds out the narrative with expert interviews, longitudinal studies, and firsthand accounts from families and educators. Finally, the circle kicker returns to the original subject, offering a glimpse of hope through therapy and connection, underscoring the human stakes behind the statistics. (Pipher & Gilliam, “The Lonely Burden of Today’s Teenage Girls,” The Wall Street Journal, March 2019).
    2. Harvard Business School Online: Articles like “How Climate Change Affects Business Strategy” begin with a lead that personalizes the global crisis through everyday business touchpoints — from food and water to supply chains. The nut graph positions climate change as both a threat and an opportunity for strategic innovation. The body dives into frameworks like life cycle assessments, carbon accounting, and adaptation vs. mitigation strategies. The circle kicker returns to the role of business leaders as agents of change, urging proactive transformation. (Cote, “How Climate Change Affects Business Strategy,” Harvard Business School Online, May 28, 2024)
    3. The New York Times: Feature reporting like “How Climate Change Is Putting Small Towns in America at Risk of Bankruptcy” leverages immersive storytelling to surface the systemic fragility facing rural communities. Through layered narratives that span Fair Bluff, Princeville, and Seven Springs, the piece reveals how climate shocks intersect with economic precarity and fragmented federal policy. It aligns with Jobs-to-Be-Done principles by illustrating the unmet needs of local governments — from orchestrated recovery to dignified relocation — and by highlighting the emotional toll of losing not just homes, but heritage and civic identity. (Flavelle, “How Climate Change Is Putting Small Towns in America at Risk of Bankruptcy,” The New York Times, September 2, 2021).

    Strategic Benefits

    Feature articles build trust, position expertise, and support SEO, making them invaluable tools for corporate storytelling.

    The Power of Storytelling

    Just as the penny press revolutionized journalism by making stories accessible to the masses, your feature articles can democratize insights for your audience. By weaving compelling narratives that resonate with their challenges and aspirations, you’re not just informing—you’re inspiring action. The mission remains: tell a story that matters, and tell it well.

    If your organization is interested in getting content like this produced, reach out and let’s chat.

    Contact Us
  • The Weight of Power

    The Weight of Power

     The role of a Prime Minister

    …is no longer confined to domestic governance. It is a global performance—one judged not only by constituents but by tribunals. 

    The Weight of Power

    A Prime Minister’s Quiet War with the ICC

    The Man at the Edge

    The Lead: The wind off the Atlantic was sharp that morning, slicing through the silence like a whispered accusation. The man stood at the edge of the compound, eyes fixed on the horizon. He had once commanded a nation. Now, he was learning how to defend himself from it.

    Leadership in the Crosshairs

    In an age where international justice is increasingly politicized, the role of a Prime Minister is no longer confined to domestic governance. It is a global performance—one judged not only by constituents but by tribunals. This article explores the precarious balance between leadership and liability, through the lens of Adam Lang’s tenure and the growing reach of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

    The Burden of Statesmanship

    Adam Lang’s rise was meteoric. A man with no initial political ambition, Lang entered the public sphere to impress a woman—Ruth, his future wife and, as later revealed, his most influential advisor. His premiership was marked by decisive action, particularly in matters of national security. But those decisions, especially the authorization of extraordinary rendition, would later place him in the crosshairs of the ICC.

    “Lang’s decisions uniformly benefited U.S. interests,” noted Richard Rycart, former Foreign Secretary, in a 2010 interview. “That’s not coincidence. That’s coordination.”

    Lang’s critics accused him of outsourcing British sovereignty to American intelligence. His defenders argued he was preserving Western unity in a time of global terror. Both were right.

    The ICC and the Politics of Prosecution

    The ICC, founded on the principle of complementarity, steps in only when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute. But its reach has become increasingly controversial. Critics argue that the Court disproportionately targets leaders from Western-aligned democracies while ignoring abuses in more opaque regimes.

    “The ICC’s progressive bias is no longer subtle,” wrote Mandy Pritchard in The Federalist Society Review, June 2024. “It is structural. And it is strategic.”

    Lang’s legal team understood this. His retreat to Martha’s Vineyard was not just for privacy—it was for protection. The United States, not a party to the Rome Statute, offered a shield against extradition. But it also offered scrutiny.

    Leadership in the Age of Surveillance

    Lang’s ghostwriter, tasked with shaping his memoirs, uncovered more than political anecdotes. He found evidence of Lang’s ties to CIA operatives, including Professor Paul Emmett, a Harvard academic with deep intelligence connections. The implication? Lang’s political career may have been engineered—not merely inspired.

    “Lang’s wife Ruth was recruited as a CIA agent by Professor Paul Emmett,” the ghostwriter discovered, hidden in the manuscript’s first words of each chapter.

    This revelation reframed Lang’s legacy. Was he a sovereign leader or a managed asset? Was his conviction real, or rehearsed?

    The Ethics of Power

    Lang’s story forces a deeper question: Can a leader act decisively in defense of his nation and still remain innocent in the eyes of international law? The ICC’s mandate is justice. But justice, like politics, is often a matter of perspective.

    “There are things worth dying for,” Rycart once said. Lang believed there were things worth being misunderstood for.

    Lang’s decisions—however controversial—were not made in a vacuum. They were shaped by intelligence briefings, diplomatic pressures, and the haunting specter of another 9/11. The ICC, however, does not weigh context. It weighs conduct.

    The Ghostwriter’s Dilemma

    As I wrote Lang’s memoirs, I found myself caught between two truths: the man I came to know, and the man the world wanted to prosecute. Lang was neither a hero nor a villain. He was a man who made choices under pressure. And in the end, he paid for them—not in court, but in consequence.

    “The memoir is not a confession,” Lang told me once. “It’s a defense. But not the kind you think.”

    Lang’s death—sudden, tragic, and unresolved—left behind more than questions. It left behind a manuscript. And in its pages, a warning.

    Circle Kicker: The Wind Still Cuts

    The wind still cuts across the Vineyard, though Lang is gone. His memoirs remain, scattered like the pages that flew from my hands in the final scene. What remains is not just a story of power—but of the cost of wielding it.

    Lang once told me, “History doesn’t judge. It remembers.”
    And in remembering, it asks: Was it worth it?

Secret Link