SEO, AEO and GEO are NOT the same thing.
Ltap Research
Thursday, June 11, 2026
Strategy Ted Talks
Most marketers spend $1000s on courses.
These 9 TED Talks are free and will teach you more than most of them.
I've spent over a decade working inside 100s of businesses.
The best frameworks I keep coming back to didn't come from courses or agencies.
They came from thinkers who understood people.
I've organized the best ones into 3 categories 👇
🧠PERSUASION AND BEHAVIOR
1️⃣ Dan Pink: The Puzzle of Motivation
↳ People aren't driven by what you think they are.
↳ Understanding what moves people changes how you market to them entirely.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/gXvtWhzW
2️⃣ Tim Harford: Trial, Error and the God Complex
↳ The best marketers don't guess; they test.
↳ This talk will change how you think about experimentation and iteration.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/gdn6hvpD
3️⃣ Jonah Berger: Why Things Catch On
↳ What makes something spread isn't luck or budget.
↳ The principles behind contagious ideas apply directly to every campaign you run.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/gM3-gtH3
❤️ AUTHENTICITY AND CONNECTION
4️⃣ Brené Brown: The Power of Vulnerability
↳ The brands people trust are the ones willing to be honest about who they are.
↳ This is the foundation of every genuine connection in marketing.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/g26RCDEC
5️⃣ Amaryllis Liampoti: Love, Trust and Marketing in the Age of AI
↳ As AI gets more personal, the brands that win will be the ones that stay human.
↳ 3 principles for building emotional connection without losing trust.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/g3nwz35v
6️⃣ Julian Treasure: How to Speak So That People Want to Listen
↳ Most people aren't heard because of how they communicate.
↳ Fix that and every conversation, pitch, and piece of content gets better.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/gu8m_M8z
📖 STORYTELLING
7️⃣ Andrew Stanton: The Clues to a Great Story
↳ A Pixar director on what makes stories work.
↳ Apply these principles to your marketing and watch how people respond.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/gA6MqQFy
8️⃣ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story
↳ Every brand tells a story, but most of them tell only one version of it.
↳ This talk will change how you think about narrative and who you're speaking to.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/g7wYYgZn
9️⃣ Kelly D. Parker: The Art of Persuasive Storytelling
↳ Stories make proposals and campaigns more memorable than any stat.
↳ A practical breakdown of how to use narrative to connect and drive action.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/g8bXdjSb
The best marketing has always been about understanding people.
These 9 talks will get you closer to that than anything else on your watch list right now.
Which category do you want to go deeper on?
I break down thinking like this every week in Network to Net Worth.
Subscribe here for more: https://lnkd.in/gFp5bEbt
♻️ Repost this for marketers on your team who need them.
Follow me, Rohan Sheth for more on marketing.
I've spent over a decade working inside 100s of businesses.
The best frameworks I keep coming back to didn't come from courses or agencies.
They came from thinkers who understood people.
I've organized the best ones into 3 categories 👇
🧠PERSUASION AND BEHAVIOR
1️⃣ Dan Pink: The Puzzle of Motivation
↳ People aren't driven by what you think they are.
↳ Understanding what moves people changes how you market to them entirely.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/gXvtWhzW
2️⃣ Tim Harford: Trial, Error and the God Complex
↳ The best marketers don't guess; they test.
↳ This talk will change how you think about experimentation and iteration.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/gdn6hvpD
3️⃣ Jonah Berger: Why Things Catch On
↳ What makes something spread isn't luck or budget.
↳ The principles behind contagious ideas apply directly to every campaign you run.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/gM3-gtH3
❤️ AUTHENTICITY AND CONNECTION
4️⃣ Brené Brown: The Power of Vulnerability
↳ The brands people trust are the ones willing to be honest about who they are.
↳ This is the foundation of every genuine connection in marketing.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/g26RCDEC
5️⃣ Amaryllis Liampoti: Love, Trust and Marketing in the Age of AI
↳ As AI gets more personal, the brands that win will be the ones that stay human.
↳ 3 principles for building emotional connection without losing trust.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/g3nwz35v
6️⃣ Julian Treasure: How to Speak So That People Want to Listen
↳ Most people aren't heard because of how they communicate.
↳ Fix that and every conversation, pitch, and piece of content gets better.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/gu8m_M8z
📖 STORYTELLING
7️⃣ Andrew Stanton: The Clues to a Great Story
↳ A Pixar director on what makes stories work.
↳ Apply these principles to your marketing and watch how people respond.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/gA6MqQFy
8️⃣ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story
↳ Every brand tells a story, but most of them tell only one version of it.
↳ This talk will change how you think about narrative and who you're speaking to.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/g7wYYgZn
9️⃣ Kelly D. Parker: The Art of Persuasive Storytelling
↳ Stories make proposals and campaigns more memorable than any stat.
↳ A practical breakdown of how to use narrative to connect and drive action.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/g8bXdjSb
The best marketing has always been about understanding people.
These 9 talks will get you closer to that than anything else on your watch list right now.
Which category do you want to go deeper on?
I break down thinking like this every week in Network to Net Worth.
Subscribe here for more: https://lnkd.in/gFp5bEbt
♻️ Repost this for marketers on your team who need them.
Follow me, Rohan Sheth for more on marketing.
Positioning vs messaging vs copy - Strat
You can rewrite the copy a hundred times.
It won't fix what's broken upstream.
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is treating positioning, messaging, and copy as the same thing.
They're not.
They serve completely different purposes.
Yet most companies start at the end.
They rewrite:
- Headlines
- Website copy
- Ads
- Sales decks
- LinkedIn posts
All while hoping their performance improves.
Great copy cannot create (strategic) positioning clarity for your business.
But once you have it, copy can amplify it.
That's why I think of these 3 disciplines very differently:
1️⃣ Positioning
↳ How you want to be understood.
This is the strategic layer.
It defines:
- What makes you different
- Why you matter
- Who you're for
- The category you belong to
- Why customers choose you
Positioning creates your context.
2️⃣ Messaging
↳ What you want people to remember.
This is where strategy becomes communication.
It translates positioning into:
- Value propositions
- Narratives
- Benefits
- Audience-specific stories
- Key messages
Messaging creates understanding.
3️⃣ Copy
↳ The words you use to communicate it.
This is execution.
It's how positioning and messaging show up in:
- Websites
- Emails
- Ads
- Sales decks
- Social content
Copy creates action.
The challenge is that most businesses try to solve strategic problems with executional fixes.
But when it's your positioning that's unclear:
❌ Messaging becomes inconsistent
❌ Copy loses direction
❌ Channels fragment
❌ Teams tell different stories
❌ Marketing becomes harder to scale
Eventually growth slows down.
Because the foundations weren't in the right place.
So my advice is to stop trying to start with copy.
And start by creating clarity around how you want to be understood.
Trust me, everything else gets easier from there.
♻️ Repost to help your network unlock their growth potential.
💡 Follow Paul Evans for actionable business and positioning advice.
🔔 Don't forget to turn on post notifications to stay up to date.
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is treating positioning, messaging, and copy as the same thing.
They're not.
They serve completely different purposes.
Yet most companies start at the end.
They rewrite:
- Headlines
- Website copy
- Ads
- Sales decks
- LinkedIn posts
All while hoping their performance improves.
Great copy cannot create (strategic) positioning clarity for your business.
But once you have it, copy can amplify it.
That's why I think of these 3 disciplines very differently:
1️⃣ Positioning
↳ How you want to be understood.
This is the strategic layer.
It defines:
- What makes you different
- Why you matter
- Who you're for
- The category you belong to
- Why customers choose you
Positioning creates your context.
2️⃣ Messaging
↳ What you want people to remember.
This is where strategy becomes communication.
It translates positioning into:
- Value propositions
- Narratives
- Benefits
- Audience-specific stories
- Key messages
Messaging creates understanding.
3️⃣ Copy
↳ The words you use to communicate it.
This is execution.
It's how positioning and messaging show up in:
- Websites
- Emails
- Ads
- Sales decks
- Social content
Copy creates action.
The challenge is that most businesses try to solve strategic problems with executional fixes.
But when it's your positioning that's unclear:
❌ Messaging becomes inconsistent
❌ Copy loses direction
❌ Channels fragment
❌ Teams tell different stories
❌ Marketing becomes harder to scale
Eventually growth slows down.
Because the foundations weren't in the right place.
So my advice is to stop trying to start with copy.
And start by creating clarity around how you want to be understood.
Trust me, everything else gets easier from there.
♻️ Repost to help your network unlock their growth potential.
💡 Follow Paul Evans for actionable business and positioning advice.
🔔 Don't forget to turn on post notifications to stay up to date.
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positioning,
Strategy
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Knowing the difference is non-negotiable:
If you are in the digital marketing space, this is something you can't avoid.
The biggest and best agencies already know the difference.
They've optimised for all three types of search.
And they are able to not only sell SEO, but AEO and GEO too.
(This Friday, June 12th, I'm hosting a free live masterclass:
"How To Scale An AEO Agency In 2026"
It will teach you how to do the exact same at your agency: https://lnkd.in/easeMTaX)
But you don't need to be Ogilvy to be seen.
You just need to accept that your clients are no longer crawling through blue links.
They're asking ChatGPT and taking Google's AI Overviews at face value.
The agencies that can sell all three are the ones winning retainers in 2026.
Here's a quick breakdown of each layer 👇
(Check the full sheet for in-depth details)
1️⃣ SEO - Search Engine Optimisation
↳ What it is: Ranking your firm's pages on Google.
↳ How it works: Identify high-intent keywords, optimise on-page content, etc.
↳ Pros: Proven, steady traffic driver.
↳ Cons: Slow to show results.
↳ How to rank higher: Focus on high-intent keyword clusters specific to your service.
2️⃣ AEO - Answer Engine Optimisation
↳ What it is: Getting your expertise pulled into Google's AI responses.
↳ How it works: Provide direct answers to the questions clients are asking.
↳ Pros: Instant authority and brand visibility.
↳ Cons: Some users get the answer without clicking through.
↳ How to rank higher: Answer questions in 40 to 60 words under clear headings.
3️⃣ GEO - Generative Engine Optimisation
↳ What it is: Getting your firm cited by name in AI recommendations.
↳ How it works: Publish well-structured thought leadership with citations and data.
↳ Pros: Early-mover advantage in AI search.
↳ Cons: Hard to measure direct impact.
↳ How to rank higher: Create entity-rich content following E-E-A-T principles.
Search has changed more in the last year than the last decade.
And most agencies still can't explain the difference between these three.
The agencies that can sell SEO, AEO and GEO as one package will own the next decade of search retainers.
If you run an agency and want the exact playbook to productise and sell all three,
Join me on Friday on the live masterclass: https://lnkd.in/easeMTaX
You'll leave with a clear action plan and roadmap.
Which of the three are you weakest on right now?
Drop it in the comments below.
And be sure to save this to refer back to it later !
♻️ Repost to help other agency owners get ahead of AI search.
And follow me Chris Donnelly for more on SEO, AEO and GEO.