Agency Growth Conversations: Interviews With Agency Founders

Direct answer: This is a recurring, ongoing series of short interviews with agency founders and marketing leaders about scaling SEO and AI-search capability, told directly in their own words, not filtered through a case-study format. New conversations get added here as they happen, this is a living hub, not a one-time publication.

I started this because I think the most useful, most trustworthy information about what actually works often comes from hearing another agency owner describe it directly, not from reading a polished case study written to sell something.

Why This Format, Instead of More Case Studies

Case studies are useful, and I publish them too, but they're written from one side, by the party with an obvious interest in the outcome looking good. An interview, especially a candid one, captures something different: the real hesitations before a decision, the specific moment something worked or didn't, the parts of a strategy that turned out to matter less than expected. That texture rarely survives into a polished case study, and I think it's often the most genuinely useful part for another agency owner in a similar position trying to make a real decision.

What Topics This Series Actually Covers

Conversations range across the practical territory covered throughout this site, how an agency actually decided to add AEO/GEO as a service, what the first pitch to an existing client actually sounded like, what pricing conversation happened internally before settling on a number, what almost went wrong and how it got caught. I'm not looking for polished success stories exclusively, a genuinely honest conversation about something that didn't go as planned is often more valuable than a uniformly positive one.

How Guests Are Selected and What Gets Disclosed

Given the confidentiality that runs through this entire practice, some guests speak on the record with their name and agency disclosed, others prefer to speak candidly on background, with identifying details generalized or removed, similar to how case studies and other proof content on this site handle NDA-sensitive specifics. Either way, the actual substance, the real reasoning, the real numbers where shareable, stays intact, only identifying details get adjusted when needed.

Start Here: The First Conversation in the Series

The first entry in this series, how one agency added its first AEO retainer, walks through exactly that decision from the inside, worth reading as the template for what this series is actually trying to capture.

Frequently Asked Questions about Agency Growth Conversations

How often does a new conversation get added to this series?

Direct answer: On an ongoing, ideally monthly, basis, though the cadence depends on finding genuinely candid, worthwhile conversations to have and publish, not a fixed schedule regardless of content quality.

Can I suggest myself or my agency as a future guest?

Direct answer: Yes, genuinely, if you have a real, specific story worth telling, whether it went well or didn't, reach out directly, this series is meant to be a real resource, not a closed, invite-only format.

Are these conversations edited, or presented as raw transcripts?

Direct answer: Lightly edited for length and clarity, but not rewritten to sound more polished or positive than the actual conversation was, preserving the candor is the point.

Is this series only relevant for agencies considering AEO/GEO specifically?

Direct answer: Most conversations focus there given this site's core focus, though the underlying agency-growth and decision-making substance is often relevant more broadly to running a services agency.

Do guests get anything in exchange for participating?

Direct answer: Primarily visibility and a link back to their own agency where they've chosen to be identified, this isn't a paid placement arrangement.

Are these real interviews, or written and composite content?

Direct answer: Real, recorded conversations once published, this hub also links to a format template showing exactly what to expect before the first one goes live.

How often are new conversations added?

Direct answer: As they're recorded and produced, this is an ongoing series rather than a fixed set published all at once.

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If you have a real, specific story about adding AI-search capability to your agency, worth telling honestly, I'd like to hear it, whether it's a success story or a lesson learned.