Jes Scholz is a technical SEO strategist and growth leader who rose to Group CMO at Ringier AG (a Swiss media group with nearly $1B in annual revenue), working across 100+ brands. She’s also an SEOktoberfest World Champion, a published contributor to Search Engine Land and Search Engine Journal, and a judge for search awards across the US, UK, EU, and APAC.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why “SEO is dead” is the wrong question (and what’s actually changing)
  
• Keywords vs entities: how Google’s Knowledge Graph understands brands
  
• How to check if your brand exists as an entity (and what Google knows about you)
  
• The step-by-step process to build brand salience through corroboration
  
• Why Domain Authority is a vanity metric (and what to measure instead)
  
• How Share of Search connects to market share (and why execs care)
  
• How to use schema to connect your brand across the web
  
• Quick wins you can validate in weeks (Discover, partnerships, distribution)
  
• How AI assistants are reshaping discovery and repeat purchases
  
  
  In this episode, we cover:
  Chapter 1: Is SEO Dead? What’s Changing in Search
  0:00 SEO is transforming (not dying)
  3:05 Why organic traffic is declining
  3:50 AI as the new top-of-funnel discovery layer
  4:23 Why brand salience matters in AI results
  Chapter 2: Entities, Knowledge Graph & Brand Salience
  4:43 Keywords vs entities (how Google “thinks”)
  5:52 How to check your Knowledge Graph entity
  6:44 What Google associates with a brand entity
  9:19 Where to start (homepage + About clarity)
  10:18 Corroboration: getting others to confirm your narrative
  Chapter 3: Small Business & SaaS Playbooks
  11:18 Local SEO as the fastest trust signal (Maps)
  12:53 SaaS without an office: directories + community mentions
  13:48 Why mentions matter (not just “follow” links)
  Chapter 4: Schema, and Multi-Surface Visibility
  14:31 Using schema to “draw the lines” for Google
  15:57 Why schema helps beyond Google (across indexes)
  17:16 Measuring brand presence in ChatGPT (what’s possible today)
  18:55 LLM visibility tools: how to use them without false certainty
  Chapter 5: Metrics That Matter (And What to Stop Doing)
  21:25 Why Domain Authority doesn’t matter
  23:06 Share of Search explained (market-aware measurement)
  25:17 Short-term wins vs long-term SEO reality
  26:01 Discover: how to test fast via partners
  41:04 Stop selling “X links per month” (outputs vs outcomes)
  Chapter 6: Content, AI, and the Future of Discovery + Purchase
  29:26 Writers: POV, expertise, and digital footprint
  32:00 Content enrichment for deeper, more contextual queries
  49:25 Transactional vs informational content in an API/MCP world
  52:56 Where discovery and purchasing is heading
  57:24 Books + closing advice
  
  
  About the Host:
  Paul Jebasingh Emmanuel is the Founder and CEO of GoX.ai and Two Minute Reports. Two Minute Reports helps agencies and marketers automate reporting workflows across 30+ platforms.
  
  Listen to Paul’s Agency Podcast:
  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gox-ai
  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cyb0NKCaEq0V1x1vNtqj9?si=119f46b74f184143
  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pauls-agency-podcast/id1877052450
  

Jason Swenk is the founder of Agency Mastery and host of the Smart Agency Masterclass podcast. He built and sold a 100+ person agency, worked with brands like AT&T, Coca-Cola, and Porsche, and has helped 20,000+ agency owners across 42 countries scale with better systems, better hires, and better profit.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Why chasing 7-figure revenue can actually hurt your agency
The 6 stages every agency goes through (and how to identify yours)
How to hire based on your weaknesses so you get time back
The 1-3-1 framework to stop being the team bottleneck
How to structure your first sales hires (closer vs AM vs lead gen)
Why profit and freedom matter more than top-line vanity metrics
How AI will change agency roles and where founders should adapt

In this episode, we cover:
Chapter 1: Founder Mindset, Leadership & Hiring
0:00 Revenue growth vs profit growth (the hard truth)
1:14 Jason Swenk intro and background
3:22 Start of interview
5:35 Traits of successful agency founders
9:02 Hire for your weaknesses, not your strengths
11:22 First sales hire: what role do you really need?
13:08 Every hire should give you time back
14:05 The 1-3-1 framework for problem-solving
15:53 The two “Who” questions every founder must answer
Chapter 2: The 6 Stages of Agency Growth
16:23 Where agencies get stuck most
16:58 Stage 1 and Stage 2 breakdown
17:58 Stage 3: owner-led sales bottleneck
18:38 Stage 4: owner-led delivery bottleneck
19:02 Stage 5: transition from owner to CEO
19:47 Stage 6: the false summit
20:27 Agency Intelligence tool (find your stage)
21:20 Revenue does not define your stage
21:58 Why some programs require a minimum stage
Chapter 3: Profit, Scale & Agency Performance
23:43 Effort, results, and doubling EBITDA
25:06 Who succeeds inside communities
27:16 Why most founders fixate on the wrong revenue milestone
28:21 Time freedom as the ultimate metric
30:05 If sales, delivery, and leadership are all broken, fix this first
Chapter 4: AI, Books & Closing Advice
31:30 Future of agencies in the AI era
33:10 How Jason uses AI in his business
34:12 Book recommendations
35:19 Final framework: F.O.C.U.S.

Where to find Jason Swenk:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonswenk/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jasonswenk

About the Host:
Paul Jebasingh Emmanuel is the Founder and CEO of GoX.ai and Two Minute Reports. Two Minute Reports helps agencies and marketers automate reporting workflows across 30+ platforms.

Where to find Paul Jebasingh Emmanuel:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauljebasingh/
Automate Marketing Reporting: https://twominutereports.com/

Listen to Paul’s Agency Podcast:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gox-ai
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cyb0NKCaEq0V1x1vNtqj9?si=119f46b74f184143
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pauls-agency-podcast/id1877052450

Gavin Hewitson is the founder of In-box, an email marketing agency, and the creator of the world's #1 email marketing community on Skool.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:
1) How to structure signup forms to boost on site conversions
2) Why percentage of discounts outperform every other offer
3) What you should actually be testing in your email campaigns and flows
4) How to fix an email welcome series and multiply revenue
5) How to build automations that take every customer as an individual
6) Why pop up forms are not for list growth, but for capturing zero party data
7) How his background in stand-up comedy helped build an agency with 0% churn

If you run or manage an e-commerce brand trying to build out your email and SMS strategy, this episode will change how you approach flows, campaigns, and capturing zero party data.

In this episode, we cover:
Chapter 1: Email Marketing Strategy for E-Commerce
0:00 Testing the wrong things in email campaigns
1:01 Standup comedian to #1 email marketing community
3:03 DTC email and SMS agency approach
5:57 Why newsletter lists are so valuable
7:38 From standup comedy to Klaviyo agency
10:06 Building a YouTube channel for agency growth
12:12 Email marketing makes paid ads 20% better

Chapter 2: Email List Building & Signup Form Strategy
15:17 Building a high quality email list
18:17 Percentage off discounts vs dollar off
23:37 Essential e-commerce email automations
25:48 Test offers, not subject lines
28:48 Copywriting tip: lead with the number

Chapter 3: Popup Forms, Zero Party Data & Segmentation
33:24 Signup form audit: common red flags
36:41 Popup forms for conversions, not list growth
42:40 Zero party data matched to purchase behavior
46:43 Scaling an email marketing agency

Chapter 4: Agency Growth, Personal Brand & Mindset
51:51 Standup comedy and building confidence on camera
54:55 Goal setting: five year plan to daily tasks
58:18 Book recommendations for entrepreneurs
1:01:22 Ego and self-worth as a business owner
1:04:24 How to hold your agency accountable
1:07:04 Six months of consistency changes everything

Where to find Gavin Hewitson:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavin-hewitson-bb561685/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Gavinhewitsonsemail

About the Host:
Paul Jebasingh Emmanuel is the Founder and CEO of GoX.ai and Two Minute Reports. Two Minute Reports is used by 4,000+ agencies and marketers to automate their reporting workflows across 30+ platforms.

Where to find Paul Jebasingh Emmanuel :
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauljeba/pauljebasingh/
Automate Marketing Reporting : TwoMinuteReports.com

Listen to Paul’s Agency Podcast:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gox-ai
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cyb0NKCaEq0V1x1vNtqj9
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pauls-agency-podcast/id1877052450