What happens when people stop searching Google and start asking ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and other AI tools who they should hire, follow or learn from?
If AI can’t find you, you may be invisible to a growing number of potential listeners, clients and customers.
That was the focus of Lou Bortone‘s outstanding presentation at the September 12, 2026 New England Podcasters Group meetup: how to become findable and recommended by AI.
Lou has been teaching people how to navigate the online world for years, from video and SEO to podcasting and now AI. And, as he pointed out, the game is changing quickly.
Visibility isn’t enough anymore
For years, we’ve talked about visibility. Get found in Google. Rank for your keywords. Drive people to your website.
But AI is changing the journey.
People are increasingly asking AI questions like:
- Who are the best video marketing coaches?
- Who is an expert I should hire?
- Who is a good professional for this particular problem?
AI then decides who to mention in its answer.
Lou calls this findability.
His definition:
Findability is AI recognizing your expertise when a buyer asks, even when you’re not in the room.
And that’s a very different challenge from simply being visible online.
Try this yourself
Lou’s first recommendation is wonderfully simple.
Open an incognito/private browser window and ask ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity a question someone in your target audience might actually ask.
For example:
“Who are the best video marketing coaches someone should hire?”
Or make it specific to your own niche, location or expertise.
Then see what happens.
Lou tried this himself about six weeks before the meetup and wasn’t mentioned. After spending time working on his own AI findability, he tried again and was one of only two people mentioned.
That’s the kind of experiment every podcaster can run.
AI needs to know what you are known for
One of Lou’s biggest points was that AI needs to connect you with:
A category + an audience + enough proof to feel safe recommending you.
If your online presence sends mixed signals, AI may not know where to place you.
Lou used his own experience as an example. His YouTube channel included both video marketing content and Trump parody videos. That created confusion about whether he was the “Trump parody guy” or the video guy.
The takeaway?
Consistency matters.
Your positioning, expertise and audience should be recognizable across the places where you show up online.
Third-party platforms matter
Lou also shared that AI isn’t relying only on your own website.
He highlighted places such as:
- YouTube
- Substack
- Other third-party websites
- Influencers and outside mentions
- Community
He noted that third-party domains account for a large share of search mentions and specifically called out LinkedIn and YouTube as valuable places to be found.
And there’s an important Substack caveat: AI can find free content, but gated content isn’t accessible to AI in the same way.
Fresh content helps
Another reason to keep creating?
Lou shared research showing that content refreshed within the previous 90 days earns significantly more citations.
His own strategy this summer was to publish multiple Substack articles around essentially the same core message, approaching it from different angles.
You don’t necessarily need a completely new idea every time.
You need to keep making your expertise discoverable.
What should podcasters do?
Lou’s advice boiled down to some very practical questions:
Can a stranger tell who you help within 10 seconds?
Is your biggest claim backed up by proof AI can find?
Are you answering the questions your real buyers are asking?
That proof might be a case study, client result, article, video, interview or other evidence of your expertise.
And yes, your podcast can be part of this ecosystem.
Lou encouraged podcasters to think beyond simply putting an episode on their website. His own approach is to take his podcast content and put it on multiple discoverable platforms, including YouTube and Substack.
AI findability is a moving target
Perhaps the most reassuring part of Lou’s presentation was his willingness to say:
“I don’t know.”
AI search is changing so quickly that even experts are experimenting and testing.
As Lou put it, this is a moving target.
So don’t look for the one magic AI-search trick.
Instead, keep testing.
Keep asking AI how it sees you.
Keep making your expertise clear.
Keep building proof.
And keep showing up where AI can find you.
Want to test your own AI findability?
Lou created a free AI Findability Assessment that looks at five areas:
Relevance • Authority • Influence • AI Adaptability • Differentiation
The assessment is designed to identify your biggest advantage, biggest revenue leak, weakest pillar, relevance score and immediate opportunities for improvement.
You can find it at Impossible to Ignore.
And if you missed Lou’s presentation at our September meetup, we’ve got you covered.
Watch the full presentation above and see what AI says about YOU.
And then come back and tell us what you discovered!
Tap here to watch the full video presentation.
And be sure to subscribe to Lou’s Substack AI Today here.
