AI search engines don't trust your blog — they trust your fans. In this episode, Krista and Kaleigh dig into "brandom" (fandom meets brand) and why third-party voices on Reddit, YouTube, and LinkedIn are now table stakes for showing up in AI search.

They cover:
Why Krista launched Fanout, an agency focused on offsite AEO
Why Reddit is to offsite what your blog is to onsite — and how to do it without the spammy tactics
Kaleigh's "Source Signal Stack": why LLMs trust voices furthest from brand control
Creator vs. advocate vs. influencer — why the language is breaking and what to call this work
Turning employees and customers into your most powerful advocates
Whose job is this? The new T-shaped marketer (and why the CMO role is changing)
Measuring AEO: citation rate, share of voice, "how did you hear about us" forms, and why conversion rates from AI search are surprisingly high
What we're fangirling over right now (agentic AI tools, non-alc beer, and deli container drinks)

If you work in SEO, content, community, or creator marketing, this one cuts through the noise on where AI search is actually headed.

In Episode 3 of Fan Out, Krista Doyle takes the lead and breaks down the reputation layer of AI search — her term for everything happening off-page that shapes how LLMs talk about your brand.

Krista calls it "the group chat" — AI is asking the internet what they’ve heard about you, and those conversations are happening whether you’re participating or not.

She and Kaleigh dig into how to actually get started, why AEO is a team sport, how to cross-collaborate with social, community, and PR, and Krista’s own proof-of-concept — she has no website, but ChatGPT nailed her expertise from LinkedIn posts and blog mentions alone.

Key takeaways:
• 85% of AI search citations come from third-party sources, not your own site
• Your reputation layer is being built with or without you — participate or get left behind
• Start with one platform that’s showing up for your target queries. Go hard there.
• Employee advocacy over astroturfing. Mobilize your team as real subject matter experts.
• Reddit is cracking down on gray-hat tactics — anonymous accounts and AI bots get exposed fast
• LinkedIn citations in AI search are rising, especially for B2B
• The AEO person is the coach, not the player — collaborate cross-functionally with social, community, and PR
• Consistency on one platform beats spreading thin across five

Mentioned in this episode:
‪@semrush‬ ‪@TryProfound‬ ‪@superpath‬ ‪@reddit‬ ‪@LinkedIn‬ ‪@quora‬ ‪@OpenAI‬ ‪@claude‬

Hosts: Krista Doyle & Kaleigh Moore

We break down Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): what it is, why traditional SEO tactics are no longer enough, and exactly how to structure your owned (on-page) content so it gets cited by AI systems like ‪@OpenAI‬, ‪@perplexity-ai‬, and ‪@Google‬ AI Overviews.

We cover:

-The difference between owned and earned content — and why both are now essential for AI visibility
-Why content formatting is a first-order problem in the age of LLMs
-The must-have structural elements: direct answers, FAQ sections, schema markup, and recency signals
-How to shift your content brief from keyword-first to question-first thinking
-Why original data and primary research are your biggest competitive advantage right now

Whether you're a content marketer, SEO strategist, or brand building an inbound presence, this episode gives you a practical framework for making your content work in the new AI-driven search landscape.

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