Field Notes
// GROWTH MARSHAL BLOG
Insights from the frontier of AI search
A working journal of applied research into how companies earn citations in LLMs, engineer knowledge graphs, and map semantic authority across AI surfaces. Minimal self-promotion. Moderate provocation.
llms.txt: What you need to know
Leaders want leverage. llms.txt gives it to you. The file is a simple, public, machine-readable guide that tells language models what your site is about, what to use, and where to fetch clean context in markdown.
Understanding a Canonical Identity Registry
A canonical identity registry is the single, authoritative record of who your organization is, expressed in machine-readable form, with stable identifiers that disambiguate you from every look-alike on the internet.
Evolution of the Search Stack: From Blue Links to LLM Answers
What did “blue links” actually optimize for and when did search shift from strings to things?
Core KPIs in AEO and AI Search Optimization
Key performance indicators are not dashboard decorations. They are the oxygen supply that keeps AI search optimization from suffocating in hand-wavy jargon.
Why Embedding Optimization Matters for AI Search
Embedding optimization is the unglamorous plumbing of AI search. Every time you type into ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Claude, the model translates your words into dense vectors called embeddings.
Creating Machine-Readable Trust Assets for AI Search
In AI search, trust is not what a prospect feels after a sales lunch. Trust is what a machine calculates when it parses your digital footprint. If the signal isn’t machine-readable, it might as well not exist.
Entity Resolution: So Easy, Even Baby Yoda Can Do It
Entity resolution is the art of figuring out that different records all point to the same real-world entity. Think of it as digital detective work.
How AI Search Optimization Really Works
AI Search Optimization is the art and science of making your brand discoverable, retrievable, and cite-worthy inside large language models. It is not SEO with a fresh coat of AI paint.
Structured Data Mastery
If your growth strategy isn't knee-deep in structured data, you're essentially waving a white flag in the AI-driven semantic search wars. A provocative claim? Sure. But sometimes truth needs a punch to the gut
A Simple Guide to Understanding Embeddings
Embeddings are the hidden geometry beneath modern artificial intelligence. They are not visible to the end user, but without them, large language models (LLMs) would not be able to represent or compare meaning.
Entity-Centric Architecture 101
Entity-Centric Architecture defines the way modern knowledge systems survive the onslaught of digital chaos. And without it, you’re left with the informational equivalent of a Baghdad, circa 2006: tangled wires, collapsing roofs, and a thousand alleyways leading nowhere.
How Wikidata Enables AI Search Optimization
For large language models and retrieval systems, Wikidata is a primary evidentiary layer.
Intro to AI Search Optimization
AI Search Optimization exists because the world’s information plumbing got rerouted in 2023
AI-Native Lead Capture: From Architecture to Execution
The conversation, the qualification, and the capture can all happen inside that black-box dialogue.
AI Search Optimization: A Technical Definition
AI Search Optimization is the discipline of making information discoverable, retrievable, and cite-worthy by LLMs.
Engineering Answer Coverage: Mapping Prompt Surface Patterns in AI Search
On one side is the way a question is phrased: the prompt surface pattern. On the other is the way the model knows how to reply: the answer shape.
The Importance of Entity Salience in AI Search: From Mentions to Meaning
Understand why entity salience separates winners from the content herd.
Trust Signals in AI-Driven Rankings: Why Authority is the New Currency of Visibility
Learn how Large Language Models (LLMs) and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems evaluate trust. Discover the new rules for entity consistency, knowledge graphs, schema markup, and AI-native content authority.
Authority Building for LLM Credibility
To stay relevant, companies need to establish authority that LLMs recognize, just like they do with traditional search engines. The strategies overlap, but the nuances matter.
The Ultimate Guide to Building AI-Era Authority
Learn how structured data, entity linking, citations, and author trust fuel AI search visibility. Build a Trust Stack LLMs can't ignore.