BackTier.com

Most professionals do not have an expertise problem. They have a visibility problem.

In this episode, Jason Todd Wade talks with Ashley Smith and Sarah Strackhouse about why talented professionals often remain invisible, even when they have real experience, strong reputations, and valuable expertise.

The conversation breaks modern visibility into three layers: realness, proof, and polish.

Ashley Smith explains the Proof Gap: the disconnect between what a professional actually knows and what search engines, AI systems, and recommendation platforms can find, understand, and trust. She discusses why professionals need to become discoverable and recommendable without forcing themselves to become full-time content creators.

Sarah Strackhouse brings the media and communication layer. Drawing from her background in television journalism, media coaching, and on-camera training, she explains why nerves, fear, and hesitation keep many professionals from showing up publicly.

The conversation also covers Google’s shift toward AI-powered search, AI agents, podcast RSS feeds, transcripts, media training, confidence, authority, and why publishing conversations may become one of the easiest ways to help AI systems understand who you are.

Key Topics:
AI visibility
The Proof Gap
Realness, proof, and polish
Google AI search
AI agents
Podcast RSS feeds
Machine-readable authority
Professional visibility
Media confidence
On-camera presence
Why professionals hesitate to publish
How AI systems evaluate trust
Why podcasts matter for search and AI
Building authority without becoming a full-time content creator

Ashley Smith Bio:
Ashley Smith is a business strategist and creator of the Proof Gap, a framework that explains why experienced professionals can be highly capable in real life but nearly invisible to search engines, AI systems, and online recommendation platforms. After nearly two decades in real estate leadership, including serving as board chair and media spokesperson for one of Canada’s largest real estate organizations, Ashley now helps professionals become more visible, trusted, and discoverable in an AI-shaped world.

Ashley Smith Links:Website: https://showyourproof.beehiiv.comProof Gap Assessment: https://showyourproof.beehiiv.com/products/proof-gap-self-assessment⁠https://linkedin.com/in/ashleysmithnow⁠ ⁠https://instagram.com/ashleysmithnow⁠ ⁠https://facebook.com/ashleysmithnow⁠ ⁠https://threads.com/@ashleysmithnow⁠ ⁠https://tiktok.com/@ashleysmithnow⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@ShowYourProof⁠

Sarah Strackhouse Bio:Sarah Strackhouse is a former television journalist, anchor, producer, and entrepreneur who has worked with major media organizations including Fox Business, CBS, NBC, The CW, and Time Warner Cable stations nationwide. She is the founder of Strackhouse Media, a media company focused on live event production, media training, on-camera confidence, content creation, and helping professionals turn credibility into visibility and cashflow.

Sarah Strackhouse Links:Website: https://www.strackhousemedia.comMedia Course: https://www.strackhousemedia.com/mediacourse

Host Bio:
Jason Todd Wade is the founder of BackTier, an AI Visibility Infrastructure company. He created Entity Lock Protocol™ and the BackTier Visibility Path™, frameworks designed to help brands become correctly understood, trusted, cited, included, and selected by AI systems. His work focuses on the shift from traditional search visibility to AI-mediated discovery, recommendation, and selection.

Jason Todd Wade Links:BackTier: https://backtier.comNinjaAI: https://ninjaai.comWebsite: https://www.jasonwade.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/backtier