We’re in a groundbreaking moment for content marketing, journalism, and tech, where GEO (generative engine optimization) is all anyone seems to talk about.
And Content Marketing World 2025 was no different. The best-of-the-best of content marketers spoke on everything from AI ethics to measuring ROI, but the most meaningful value was the conversations that happened between the sessions and on the exhibition floor.
Unsurprisingly, LLM entered the chat this year and generated a lot of discussion, whether it was on the official agenda or in conversations we shared with folks at the Stacker booth. Fitting, seeing as how we help brands stand out in the AI search landscape.
There wasn’t a single passerby who was not interested in AI discoverability and how we could help.
As an exhibitor, I was able to zoom out at the conference to take stock of these changes across our industry and observe how Stacker stands out from the crowd by modernizing “above the fold” visibility for brands.
This bird's eye view left me with clear observations about the state of the industry today.
Shout out to Danika Murphy and Coleman Walsh for repping Stacker at the booth!
Some of the trends I noticed surprised me a little, but all of them gave me hope for the future of our industry, thanks in a large part, to CMW’s stellar agenda and speaker lineup.
Thank goodness. At the conference, there was a real emphasis on the importance of preserving the humanness of content and storytelling — even in the face of generative AI.
It felt like a promise that this new era in content marketing would be much more than what we, storytellers, fear in this industry: AI slop.
At Stacker, we encourage our brand partners to tell stories that have an emotional connection and are not too overly technical or dry. After all, the common thread between journalists and marketers is emotion.
Yes, marketers are tracking ROI and things that a journalist might not necessarily be, but at the end of the day both know that their real audience is humans, not bots — who need to hit an emotional element to resonate.
On LinkedIn, my fellow co-founder Noah talks a lot about how former journalists make great brand editorial leads, which makes sense. But at the conference, I was interested to see varied approaches to team structures and expertise that support branded content strategies — spanning folks from journalism backgrounds, to advertising, and product marketing.
An org chart says a lot about a brand’s goals and how they’re positioning themselves for LLM visibility: like, does the marketing team report to product? Or marketing? Or even, the CEO? There’s not a right or wrong way to structure it, but where your marketing team reports into definitely shapes how their priorities are shaped and KPIs measured.
Regardless of the marketing make-up, it’s clear that in-tune content marketing teams are going full throttle in the LLM discoverability race, or are gearing up to drive their businesses towards this new destination in search.
Unsurprisingly, I noticed at Content Marketing World that feelings around using AI in content marketing differed by use case and the roles that the attendees held within their org. Though, it wasn’t as much the elephant in the room this year, rather, it was openly the subject of discussion. The debate was robust and rampant around its ethics and the ways AI adoption can become a slippery slope without guardrails.
I found that content marketers at Content Marketing World 2025 were more focused on how to work with the technology in a way that still preserves the integrity of their content, like helping automate processes or rote tasks. A marked difference from the previous sentiment which looked more like will this take my job.
Ultimately, the conclusions seemed to center in on two principal questions.
Could AI be your editor? Depending on the situation and content, yes. Could it replace your content creator? No.
This debate made me proud of Stacker’s work during this moment. I felt that we truly understood the assignment of our industry right now: marrying journalism and AI discoverability — with human-generated content that is optimized to be surfaced by the machines.
Folks that popped by our booth loved our use case for AI, because LLM discoverability is the brass ring for brands right now and the foreseeable future. What Stacker’s doing helps brands address this new challenge that they’re all facing.
And lastly, I’d be remiss not to highlight the ways Stacker is kicking goals in this frenzied arena of AI and earned media.
At Content Marketing World, we were surrounded by vendors focused on content production and asset management. They’re super important products to have in content marketers’ toolboxes — and it’s great that there are many options.
Whereas Stacker’s presence at the conference focused on our “earned reach” platform, which provides a bridge between brands that value editorial content and want to be seen on LLM and publishers that need high-quality content, with our model, which vets stories that go onto the distribution platform for publishers to syndicate for free.
Content distribution is the missing link for brands that churn out content but don't see an uptick in their results.
I saw lightbulbs appear over the heads of CMW attendees who realized Stacker’s focus on LLM discoverability. They stopped by our booth with the intention of learning more about how we help brands get their content to appear in ChatGPT, AI overviews, and the like.
Many had the fair question: “Don’t press releases help with LLM visibility?”
The answer is yes, but Stacker’s earned reach model provides more authentic content to LLMs which helps discoverability. Because we’re not simply offering pay-to-play press release distribution.
What we offer is a huge leap from press releases. How? Our model of vetted branded storytelling says more than a media release and has more staying power by signaling credibility.
I predict that over time, GEO will likely go in the way of SEO — where press releases once helped with Google visibility. Until the algorithm changed. And if the press release you created didn’t create buzz beyond the release itself, that lack of credibility with third-party backlinks meant that the content eventually became invisible in search. I think the LLMs will likely follow suit at some point. So, Stacker content gets ahead of this inevitability by building up that buzz, generating lots of high-quality backlinks and AI citations.
Plus, brands that distribute on the Stacker newswire are backed by third-party editorial standards that ensure content is credible and trustworthy, also with a lens for content that is actually newsworthy and interesting (which press releases sometimes lack).
We’re working with future-driven brands that are already generating legitimate business from their LLM visibility gains by distributing their content on Stacker’s earned reach platform. Their results speak for itself: All signs point to growth around this brand strategy.
Stacker is proud to help brands show up in LLM with the content they already have (or we help nurture). The impact is powerful.
Lastly, I need to give kudos to the humans that help brands and publishers navigate these rapid changes and come out on top. As a co-founder at Stacker, I’ve been alongside this team that has grown exponentially over the past eight years. I knew that our fully remote team was special…their work speaks for itself.
But reconnecting IRL with team members old and new floored me with their talent, energy for what we do, and the range of experiences we have on the team — from folks who come from publisher backgrounds, to brand marketing, to content.
Content Marketing World reassured us that journalism is in good hands, and so is marketing.
I’m left with this duality — remote teams can really kick ass and IRL meet-ups are crucial to really feel their magic, and truly get to know folks and their superpowers.
Stacker will play a big role in brand growth in this new era of GEO, Content Marketing World made me certain of that. LLM discoverability is only going to grow in importance in our industry, and I’m glad our clients have a head start
Want to learn more about how Stacker helps brands earn visibility in an AI-first search world? Get in touch with our team to see how earned media distribution can amplify your content strategy.