s05e01 – Tim Hickle – SEO is Dead. Long live SEO.

Season 5 of the BigCheese Podcast kicks off with a deep dive into how AI is fundamentally reshaping marketing, product discovery, and sales. Joined by marketing executive Tim Hickle, the crew unpacks why traditional SEO playbooks are breaking, how tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT are replacing Google searches, and what founders and marketers must do to stay visible in an LLM-driven world. From LLM.txt files and AI-optimized pillar pages to Reddit authority and the coming wave of native AI ads, this episode lays out the new rules of growth in 2026.

## Topics

- 00:00 – 06:30: Season 5 kickoff, guest intro, and Tim Hickle’s background in B2B SaaS marketing

- 06:30 – 15:00: Why Google search traffic is declining and AI answers are replacing clicks

- 15:00 – 28:00: How ChatGPT discovers and recommends products differently than SEO

- 28:00 – 38:00: LLM.txt files, FAQs, and AI-driven pillar pages explained

- 38:00 – 52:00: Why small, niche startups are beating big incumbents in AI search

- 52:00 – 1:05:00: Reddit, reviews, and “being honest” as ranking factors for LLMs

- 1:05:00 – 1:18:00: AI ads, intent data, and the future of attribution

- 1:18:00 – 1:28:00: How AI compresses the buyer journey and kills traditional sales funnels

- 1:28:00 – End: Indiana football, leadership standards, and rapid turnarounds

## Mentioned in This Podcast

- Tim Hickle on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/timhickle/

- Crafted – Product and web development partner https://craftedup.com

- Crafted NBA – Deep NBA analytics and trivia community https://craftednba.com

- Wickedform – AI-driven branded Zoom backgrounds https://wickedform.com

- LLM.txt protocol – Emerging standard for AI website discovery

- Pillar Pages & AI FAQs – Modern content strategy for LLM visibility

- Indiana University Football – Leadership, standards, and rapid transformation lessons