Podcast Conversation with Tom Malesic: AI, SEO, and Why the Fundamentals Still Win

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Podcast Notes

Episode Title: Tom Malesic on AI, SEO, and Why Fundamentals Still Win

Guest: Tom Malesic

Founder, EZMarketing | Author of They’re Looking for You

Episode Overview

In this episode, Jason sits down with Tom Malesic, a nearly 30-year digital marketing veteran, to discuss how AI is reshaping marketing, why SEO fundamentals still matter, and how small businesses can win without chasing gimmicks. The conversation bridges early internet history with modern AI-driven discovery and focuses on practical execution over hype.

Key Topics Discussed

• Why AI feels like a return to the early days of the internet

• How SEO fundamentals still drive results in Google and AI search

• The role of content volume and probability in discoverability

• Programmatic SEO and local page strategies

• YouTube and podcasts as credibility assets versus lead engines

• AI voice cloning and removing friction from content creation

• Tools actually used in production: ChatGPT, Claude, AI-assisted workflows

• Why marketing should be findable, not loud

Key Takeaways

• AI accelerates marketing execution but does not replace fundamentals

• Businesses win by increasing relevant surface area, not clever tactics

• Content works best when it answers real customer questions

• Systems outperform one-off marketing efforts over time

Resources Mentioned

• Book: They’re Looking for You by Tom Malesic

• Website: EZMarketing.com

• AI Video Platform: EasyClone.ai

TL;DR



I sat down with Tom Malesic, founder of EZMarketing and a nearly 30-year veteran of digital marketing, to talk about AI, SEO, content, and what actually works when the noise fades. What stood out wasn’t a new tactic or tool. It was how little the fundamentals have changed, even as AI accelerates everything around them. This conversation reinforced a simple truth. AI does not replace marketing fundamentals. It exposes who never had them.

Table of Contents

1. Why This Conversation Matters Right Now

2. Tom Malesic and the Long View of Marketing

3. Why AI Feels Like 1996 All Over Again

4. Fundamentals Don’t Disappear, They Compound

5. “He Who Talks Most Wins” and the Math of Visibility

6. SEO Versus the Map Pack Debate

7. Content Volume, Not Cleverness

8. Programmatic SEO and Local Surface Area

9. AI as a Friction Remover, Not a Strategy

10. EasyClone.ai and Solving Human Behavior

11. Why YouTube and Podcasts Are Credibility Engines

12. The Real Role of AI Writing Tools

13. Why Voice and Review Still Matter

14. The Website as the Number One Salesperson

15. Why Most Businesses Start with Sprinkles

16. The Book: They’re Looking for You

17. AI, Trust, and the Next Discovery Layer

18. What Small Businesses Should Actually Do Next

19. Why This Episode Is a Reality Check

20. Closing Thoughts

Podcast Conversation with Tom Malesic: AI, SEO, and Why the Fundamentals Still Win

There are certain conversations that feel less like interviews and more like pattern recognition sessions. This was one of those. Talking with Tom Malesic wasn’t about chasing AI trends or debating which tool is better this week. It was about stepping back far enough to see the shape of the landscape, not just the latest ripple.

Tom has been in digital marketing since the mid-1990s. That matters. He remembers when businesses didn’t believe customers would ever look for them “on the computer.” He remembers Yahoo directories, early Google indexing quirks, and the moment SEO shifted from a curiosity to a survival skill. When someone has lived through that many cycles, they don’t panic when the next wave shows up. They measure it.

AI is that wave right now.

What came through clearly in this conversation is that AI feels massive not because it breaks marketing, but because it removes friction. Things that used to take hours now take minutes. Research that used to require multiple tools now happens in one interface. Content that once felt impossible to scale is suddenly abundant. That speed makes people assume the rules have changed.

They haven’t.

If anything, the rules have become less forgiving. AI amplifies fundamentals. It doesn’t replace them. If your foundation is weak, AI doesn’t save you. It exposes you faster.

That perspective colored nearly every part of our discussion.

Tom kept coming back to fundamentals, sometimes explicitly, sometimes indirectly. Websites still matter. SEO still matters. Content still matters. Trust still matters. The difference now is that execution velocity is no longer an excuse. If you are invisible, it is rarely because the tools are missing. It is because the system is.

One idea Tom articulated in a very practical way is what he half-jokingly refers to as “he who talks most wins.” Strip away the phrasing and what you’re left with is probability. Search engines, and now AI discovery engines, surface information. The more relevant, structured, and useful information you publish, the more opportunities you create to be discovered. Five pages create five chances. One hundred pages create one hundred chances.

That math hasn’t changed since the early days of Google. What has changed is how easy it is to generate and maintain that surface area.

This naturally led us into SEO versus map pack discussions. Many small businesses obsess over Google Business Profiles and map rankings. Those matter, but Tom’s experience aligns with something I’ve seen repeatedly. Organic search still drives more sustained traffic and higher-quality leads over time. Even in industries like HVAC, pest control, and local services, long-term visibility comes from content depth, not just proximity signals.

Local SEO works best when it’s supported by real pages, real explanations, and real answers. That’s why programmatic SEO and local page strategies continue to work when executed correctly. They aren’t hacks. They are structured ways of reflecting real-world demand back to search systems.

We talked about programmatic SEO specifically, and Tom shared how creating thousands of localized pages from structured templates can drive enormous lead volume when the underlying data is legitimate. This is not about spam. It’s about matching how people actually search. Neighborhoods, towns, service variations, and intent clusters all matter. When you map them correctly, search engines reward completeness.

AI fits into this not as the strategy, but as the accelerator.

That distinction became especially clear when we discussed EasyClone.ai, Tom’s AI video cloning platform. It wasn’t born out of a desire to be flashy or cutting-edge. It was born out of a constraint. Clients would not sit in front of a camera. Rather than trying to coach them into becoming content creators, Tom removed the bottleneck entirely.

That’s an important lesson. The best AI applications don’t fight human behavior. They route around it.

EasyClone.ai captures a person’s likeness and voice once, then allows content to be produced without the friction that usually kills consistency. That’s not a creative shortcut. It’s an operational one. And it reflects how Tom approaches AI in general. AI exists to make execution easier, not to replace thinking.

That philosophy carries into content creation. Tom’s team uses ChatGPT and Claude extensively, but nothing runs unattended. AI drafts. Humans review. Voice matters. Tone matters. Credibility erodes quietly when content stops sounding like the business it represents.

We also spent time talking about YouTube and podcasts. This was one of the most honest parts of the conversation. Tom doesn’t pretend these channels are immediate lead machines. He treats them as credibility assets. Books, podcasts, and videos compound trust over time. They make sales easier later, even if they don’t convert immediately.

That distinction is critical for business owners who feel discouraged by low view counts or slow traction. Visibility and authority are not the same thing as instant ROI. AI discovery engines increasingly pull from credible sources, not just viral ones. Long-form, thoughtful content has a longer half-life than people realize.

This ties directly into Tom’s book, They’re Looking for You. The premise is simple and, in many ways, obvious once you hear it. Customers are already searching. Marketing doesn’t need to interrupt them. It needs to be findable.

The book focuses on foundational marketing systems. Your website as your number one salesperson. SEO that attracts people already in buying mode. Content that answers real questions instead of chasing trends. Trust signals that reduce friction at the moment of decision. None of this is flashy. All of it works.

What struck me is how well this philosophy maps to AI-driven search. AI doesn’t invent demand. It retrieves and synthesizes information. Businesses that clearly explain what they do, where they do it, and why they’re credible are the ones that show up. Businesses that rely on gimmicks fade into noise.

This conversation mattered because it cut through the emotional fog around AI. There was no fear. No evangelism. Just a clear acknowledgment that we’re in another inflection point, similar to the early internet, but faster.

If you missed the fundamentals before, AI will punish you. If you built them patiently, AI will reward you.

That’s the quiet lesson of this episode.

FAQs

What is the main theme of the podcast conversation with Tom Malesic?

The conversation focused on how AI is accelerating marketing while reinforcing the importance of long-standing fundamentals like SEO, content, and trust.

Why does AI feel similar to the early internet era?

Because it represents a massive shift in how information is created and discovered, much like the internet did in the 1990s, but at a much faster pace.

Does AI replace SEO according to Tom Malesic?

No. AI amplifies SEO fundamentals rather than replacing them.

What does “he who talks most wins” actually mean?

It refers to the idea that more relevant content creates more opportunities to be discovered in search and AI systems.

Is Google Business Profile optimization enough for local businesses?

No. While important, it works best when supported by strong organic SEO and content.

What is programmatic SEO?

It is a structured approach to creating many relevant pages using templates and real data to match how people search locally.

Why does programmatic SEO still work?

Because search engines reward completeness and relevance when pages genuinely match user intent.

What is EasyClone.ai?

An AI video cloning platform designed to remove friction from content creation by eliminating the need for repeated on-camera filming.

Why did Tom create EasyClone.ai?

Because many clients refused to sit in front of cameras, which blocked consistent content production.

How does Tom view AI content tools like ChatGPT and Claude?

As assistants that speed up drafting, not replacements for human review and judgment.

Why is voice consistency still important with AI content?

Because credibility erodes when content no longer sounds like the business or person behind it.

Are podcasts and YouTube meant to generate direct leads?

They are better viewed as credibility builders that compound trust over time.

Why does organic SEO still outperform map packs in many cases?

Because organic content captures broader intent and drives sustained traffic.

What role does content volume play in marketing success?

More relevant content increases visibility and discovery probability.

What is the core idea behind the book They’re Looking for You?

Customers are already searching, and marketing should focus on being findable rather than interruptive.

Who is the book written for?

Small business owners who want clarity and foundational marketing systems instead of gimmicks.

How does AI affect marketing trust signals?

AI surfaces and synthesizes existing information, making trust signals more important than ever.

What mistakes do small businesses commonly make with marketing?

They chase tactics and trends instead of building solid foundations.

What should businesses focus on first in the AI era?

Websites, SEO, structured content, and credibility.

What is the biggest takeaway from the podcast?

AI changes speed, not fundamentals. Businesses that understand this will win long-term.

Jason Wade

Founder & Lead at NinjaAI

I’ve spent two decades engineering growth at the intersection of technology, marketing, and artificial intelligence, turning complex systems into measurable revenue instead of busywork metrics. My foundation was forged in early SEO, where I scaled Modena, Inc. into a national ecommerce operation before “search” was a department and not yet a discipline. Today, that same technical rigor powers a new category: AI Visibility, the practice of placing brands inside the answer layer where decisions are now made.

At NinjaAI, I design prompt architectures and visibility systems that convert large language models into operating infrastructure for real businesses. My work blends sales psychology, machine reasoning, and search intelligence into a single acquisition system that replaces ad dependency with owned inbound. The outcome is not better marketing. It’s leverage, velocity, and authority that compounds.

If you want traffic, hire an agency.

If you want ownership, build with me.

NinjaAI builds the visibility operating system for the post-search economy.

We invented AI Visibility Architecture so Main-Street businesses stay discoverable as discovery fractures across maps, answer engines, AI chatbots, and machine-driven search. While agencies chase keywords and tools chase content, NinjaAI builds the underlying system that trains the algorithms to find, trust, and surface you everywhere that decisions now start. This is not SEO. This is not software. This is visibility as infrastructure for the AI-driven world.