AI Trust Signals

Find out just how likely AI is to recommend YOU. 

SEO got you found. AI trust signals get you recommended. And the brands that win tomorrow are the ones AI trusts today.

Co-Founder

PriceGuide.ai

Explode leads on your website with PriceGuide.ai, allowing you to quickly, easily, and inexpensively create a pricing estimator for your product or service, giving your website visitors what they want while giving you way more of what you need-- LEADS.

The Question First Group

Helping leaders and sales teams connect deeper and win more trust by learning the art of breakthrough conversations.

Marcus Sheridan International, Inc.

In 2017 Forbes named Marcus 1 of 20 “Speakers You Don’t Want to Miss the Opportunity to See." He has been featured in The New York Times, Inc., The Globe and Mail, Content Marketing Institute, Social Media Examiner and more. Having spoken to hundreds of audiences and thousands of people around the world, Marcus delivers riveting and passionate performances that motivate and inspire!

Keynote Speaker

They Ask, You Answer

Rated the #1 Marketing Book to read in 2017 by Mashable and the "#2 Marketing Book of All-Time" by Book Authority, Forbes listed it as one of "11 Marketing Books Every CMO Should Read."

"They Ask, You Answer" is a revolutionary approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today’s Digital Consumer.  In it, Marcus shares his simple approach to inbound marketing that has earned an exceptional track record across many industries and throughout the world.  How can a single approach to selling be so versatile? Simple - it's all about the customer.  All potential customers need answers along their way to making a purchase and "They Ask, You Answer" definitively shows businesses, B2B and B2C, exactly how to become the most trusted voice in their industry.

Author

The Visual Sale

How to Use Video to Explode Sales, Drive Marketing, and Grow Your Business in a Virtual World.

IMPACT

Recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the “Top 25 SMB Workplaces” in 2017, IMPACT is obsessed with helping businesses and organizations succeed.  By offering full support from strategy to implementation, as well as education and in-depth training, IMPACT is able to help lead their clients to success regarding all things inbound, digital, and today’s changing buyer.

Owner/Partner

River Pools

Currently one of the largest fiberglass pool installers in the United States with the most visited swimming pool web site in the world.  In 2001 and fresh out of college, Marcus stumbled across his first business with two friends: installing swimming pools out of the back of a beat-up pickup truck. Nine years later, with the help of incredible innovations through inbound and content marketing, Sheridan’s company overcame the collapse of the housing market and became a leader in the industry.

Partner

The Sales Lion

The Sales Lion is a Marketing/Sales consulting company focusing on helping organizations develop a culture of content and inbound marketing while dramatically improving sales, marketing and video communication.  We offer world-class training, consulting, workshops, and keynotes for businesses, brands, & agencies around the globe.

Founder and President

Working with Chris Marr, founder of the Content Marketing Academy, Marcus has developed workshops focused on achieving true “World Class Communication.”  His true passion is found in helping others reach their potential as teachers, communicators, and speakers. Marcus’s workshops are focused on pushing business professionals and executives to improve their ability to communicate, motivate, and inspire in all walks of life.  Covering such topics as: Presentation Design, The Power of Story, The Columbus Principle, and Trust Techniques; Marcus helps attendees to elevate their communication skills on stage, in the boardroom and in the home.

Co-Founder:  World Class Communication

Along with sales and marketing experts Joey Coleman and Ian Altman, Marcus created and hosted two unprecedented conference events focused on sales, marketing and customer experience.  The Remarkable Growth Experience conferences were held in historic Arlington, VA.  Attendance was limited to 100 participants allowing for more intimate discussions and interaction.  Conference attendees were able to have full access to event speakers, participate in hands-on practical applications, develop individualized specific action items and leave with clear plans for immediate improvement and success.

Co-Founder: The Remarkable Growth Experience Conferences

TED Conferences

The Honest Economy:  How Transparency Can Change the Economy and Inspire a New World

TEDx Speaker

Keynote Speaker on Sales, Marketing, and Building Trust...Author of They Ask You Answer...Ranked #1 LinkedIn Voices for Entrepreneurship...and a Dang Good Follow on LinkedIn

Called a “web marketing guru” by the New York Times, the Story of how Marcus Sheridan was able to save his swimming pool company, River Pools, from the economic crash of 2008 has been featured in multiple books, publications, and stories around the world and is the centerpiece to his best-selling book, They Ask You Answer, which has been named “One of the 5 Best Marketing Books of All Time” by BookAuthority and his follow up book, Endless Customers, was named a National Bestseller by USA Today.

Sheridan is a highly sought-after global speaker (averaging 50 keynotes yearly) in the digital sales and marketing space, working with hundreds of businesses and brands alike to achieve their potential in a rapidly evolving marketplace, ultimately helping them to connect deeper and become the most trusted voice in their respective industry.

Companies Marcus is a Part of: IMPACT, River Pools, Marcus Sheridan International, Question First Group, PriceGuide.ai

Keynote topics include:  Sales, Marketing, AI, Leadership Communication

Marcus Sheridan

Most people assume I “run” all my businesses.

But the truth is I barely run any of them.

Here’s the actual timeline of businesses I’ve started:

   2001 - Swimming pool installation
   2012 - Professional speaking
   2014 - Consulting/coaching agency
   2017 - Pool manufacturing
   2019 - Swimming pool franchise
   2020 - Sold #4 and #5
   2021 - Offshore fishing charter
   2024 - PriceGuide (software) + The Question First Group
   2025 - AI Trust Signals (software) + Pet food manufacturing

I’m still an owner in all of them except the two I sold.

People ask me all the time:
“How do you manage so many companies?”

My answer is simple:
"I don’t."

At least, not really.

I have exceptional business partners (and people) who run them without me.

My job is strategy, big picture, and making sure we are world-class in sales and marketing.

But a great CEO I am not.

And I’m perfectly fine with that.

After 25 years of building, failing, pivoting, selling, and starting again… here are a few lessons that stick:

👉 1. Most entrepreneurs don’t make great CEOs.
At a certain size, the skills that built the business aren’t the same skills needed to run it. This isn’t a knock, it’s self-awareness. Sadly, most CEOs never know when this day has come.

👉 2. Choose partners who are great at what you’re terrible at.
If your partner is just another version of you, you don’t have a partner, you have a mirror. You do NOT need another you.

👉 3. Your first “vision” for the business is almost always wrong.
The market will teach you what it wants...if you’re willing to listen. Observe. Adjust. Observe. Pivot. Observe…

👉 4. Someone on the team has to go to bed thinking about the business.
If that’s not you, you better know exactly who that person is.

👉 5. Your business only scales when you stop trying to be everything.
Ego doesn’t scale. Self-awareness does. You do NOT need to be everyone’s hero.

I could go on and on, but hopefully there’s a nugget or two for you.

I’d love to know, what would you add to the list? What has your journey taught you? 👇

One of the most engaging keynote speakers on the planet—I create experiences that change how businesses sell, connect, and win | Author of Endless Customers and They Ask, You Answer | Entrepreneur | Master Storyteller

What a magical couple of days teaching MasterCraft Boat Company dealers how to create extraordinary connections with their customers. But let me tell you a powerful story how one man in the audience immediately applied what he learned to his personal life:

During the event, one of the attendees recieved a text from his daughter that she was having a really hard time.  Instead of calling her and quickly going into "Dad" mode by telling her what she needed to do (or think, or feel, etc.) he simply reached out to her and kept inviting her to "tell me more."

He said it was one of the most powerful conversations he'd had with his daughter in a long time.

That's what is so rewarding about teaching leaders and sales pros to communicate at the highest levels - when done properly, it transcends their "professional" life and deeply affects their "personal" life.  And then, because of that, they come to you months later and  say, "That training has affected my entire life. I can't thank you enough for the impact you've had on my family."

Once again, this is just another reason why I love my job.

It was a good day. 🙂

Wild Stat:
After analyzing 3,500 websites, only ONE scored a “perfect” for NAP consistency (Name, Address, Phone Number).

If you own a business (especially a location-based one) you already know NAP matters. Legacy Google has always relied on it for local signals. But here’s the part business must now understand:

👉 LLMs (like ChatGPT) rely on NAP even more.

To a large language model, inconsistent NAP is a major "ding" on your trust score. If your core business identity isn’t consistent across the internet, the model questions whether you’re legitimate… which directly impacts whether it will recommend you.

When Patrick Moorhead and I reviewed this dataset from AI Trust Signals, we honestly thought something was broken, so we checked the data again and again.

But the result held: 1 out of 3,500. 😳 

Yes, that's a pretty shocking number.

So here’s the takeaway:

AI needs every possible reason to trust you. (I really can't stress this enough.)

NAP consistency is one of the simplest (and strongest) trust signals you can control.

So do this today:
👉 Audit every platform, directory, social profile, association listing, map entry, citation, and third-party mention of your business.
 👉 Make every instance of your name, address, and phone number identical--same formatting, same punctuation, same abbreviations, everywhere.

It may take an hour or two but will be well worth it.

Remember my friends, when it comes to AI recommending you online, small inconsistencies create potentially massive visibility penalties.

And if less than 1% of businesses are doing this correctly, that means one thing:
Fix your NAP, and you instantly separate yourself from the entire market.

Turns out that AI (and humans) HATE recommending stale/old content.

That's why EVERY marketer should make this a non-negotiable in 2026:

👉 Put a “Last Updated” timestamp on every major page and article on your website, just like you see in the photo here from HubSpot.

I know, this may seem incredibly tedious.

But at AI Trust Signals, we’re seeing over and over that it matters a lot, not just to readers, but to the AI systems deciding whether your content is confident, current, and *safe* to recommend.

And please understand, this isn’t just a "front-end" thing.

You also need the machine-readable version on the back end.

This means implementing the proper schema markup so AI can instantly verify when the page was truly updated. (Yes, it appears every marketer will be forced to a Schema expert in the future. 🤷‍♂️ )

This is just one of many "new rules of the game" that we're seeing because of AI.

And yes, it may feel a little annoying.

But it's the reality of where online content is heading, and so there's no need to complain about it.

Fact is, "content freshness" as a trust signal will only matter more and more moving forward. 

It's a new era in content my marketing friends.

Time to lean in.

While teaching a workshop this morning, I had a salesperson come up to me during a break and said, "Marcus, I don't do well with conflict. When a customer is upset, I freeze. Can you help?"

This simple question led to a great conversation, but the core of the answer I gave comes down to three simple steps any team can learn with a little bit of practice. 

Step #1: LET THEM VENT: 
This is a bit hard for folks to understand because the tendency is to immediately try to "fix" the situation. The issue with fixing is that the customer doesn't get a chance to feel heard. Your job is to make sure they feel VERY heard. Which means you let them vent, and even when you think they may be done, you ask them if there is anything else they're unsettled about. This step is the most important by far, yet the most overlooked in the world of customer experience.

Step #2: REPEAT WHAT THEY SAID: 
Not only must they feel heard, but they must feel *understood.* This occurs when you repeat the words they used and confirm, "What I've heard you say is..." (Again, do not use your words here. Use *their* words. Those are the ones that matter.)

Step #3: LET THEM VERBALIZE THE POTENTIAL SOLUTION: 
Assuming the individual has has a legitimate complaint (which is true in most cases), once you've allowed them to vent and have repeated their thoughts, you sincerely ask, "What would you like to happen to make this right?"

Now, granted, businesses can't always do what the customer asks for, but you at least want to put the ball in their court first.  Interestingly enough, often times the only thing they were looking for were step 1 & 2. In other words, they just wanted to feel heard and understood. But by asking them what they would like to do to make the situation right, you've now allowed them to at least state what they feel would be the appropriate solution.

Ultimately, there is no foolproof method of resolving customer frustration, but at a minimum you want to train (with role play) your team what to say and how to say it for these situations. 

Like the young man that approached me this morning, they shouldn't freeze when moments of conflict arise.

Instead, they should be ready for the moment. And if they follow these three simple steps, they are very likely to not only diffuse the situation, but create a lasting relationship as well.

As always, a little training goes a long ways.

#QuestionFirst

Have you seen this article from Inc. Magazine this month? It verifies everything I've been begging organizations to understand since AI changed the way we search.

👉 Pricing Transparency is about to be forced on ALL businesses. 👈 

Why? Here are a few impending realities (all of which have already begun):

1. In the future, if you don't discuss pricing/cost in detail on your website, it's highly unlikely that AI (like ChatGPT) will recommend you.

2. In the future, anytime someone is given a "price" , "quote" , or "estimate" they will run this through AI and it will give them an assessment as to whether or not they are getting a good value. 

3. In conjunction with #2, if someone doesn't feel good about a quote they've been given, they'll then be able to task their AI-agent to go out and "find" a better value...immediately.

I can assure you, these three things will be COMMON. The norm. Table stakes.

I can also say with high certainty most companies still do not realize this is what is happening.

The solution?

Get in front of this. 

Don't wait for everyone in your industry to move while you continue to do things the ways they've always been done.

Entire industries where "call for quote" is the norm are about to be upended.

Act now. Start winning today. And stay in front of all the laggards tomorrow.

Because it's all coming.

Profoundly

Profoundly is an exclusive platform for vetted experts that help HubSpot users with everything from simple tasks to complex integrations. No unnecessary sales pitches. No complex contracts. Just expert help, fast.


Leading the transformation of how HubSpot expertise is discovered, shared, and valued. At Profoundly, we're building infrastructure that enables natural value flow in the HubSpot ecosystem, where:

Experts can build sustainable success on their own terms
Knowledge flows freely to where it creates most value
Impact multiplies through natural network effects
Success compounds through genuine connection
Communities form around shared growth

As Founding Pro, I focus on illuminating paths that enable both Pros and organizations to realize the full potential of HubSpot's customer platform.

Founding Pro

Conveying Your Message LLC

As HubSpot Creator & Coach, I guide organizations through comprehensive digital transformation using HubSpot's customer platform. My role combines strategic advisory with hands-on implementation support:

- Create and document transformation frameworks that bridge technical capabilities with human understanding, enabling sustainable adoption of HubSpot's evolving platform features

- Lead complex post-sale implementations focusing on order management, customer portals, and revenue operations optimization

- Develop practical approaches for bridging critical knowledge gaps in industrial and manufacturing sectors

- Guide cross-functional teams through cultural and operational transformation while maintaining focus on customer experience

- Share insights and methodologies through daily educational content, helping organizations navigate the intersection of technical possibility and human adoption

HubSpot Creator & Coach

Co Host

Let's Build Media

Created and led a transformative educational content network focused on closing knowledge gaps in the HubSpot ecosystem through:

Daily live shows reaching thousands of HubSpot professionals
15 specialized series covering critical platform capabilities
30+ expert co-hosts sharing deep implementation knowledge
350+ episodes of practical, actionable education
Community-first approach to knowledge sharing


Built a creator collective that demonstrated the power of enabling natural value flow in the HubSpot ecosystem, laying the foundation for Profoundly's broader transformation mission.

Founder

Stored Energy Systems LLC (SENS)

As the Head of Marketing, my role is to align the organization around customer-centricity and develop robust marketing capabilities. I play a leading role in creating and managing a plan to achieve sustainable, profitable growth.

Our marketing mission at SENS is to drive revenue growth by enabling, empowering, and guiding SENS and its stakeholders to be the most accessible, trusted, and valuable resource online and face-to-face for the people and communities we serve.

SENS non-stop DC power systems, mission-critical filtered chargers and engine start chargers keep vital industries in business by helping insure against the risk of loss of life and property in case of commercial power outage.

Some of the best-known oil and gas providers, utilities, data centers, hospitals and government operations, such as air traffic control, depend on tens of thousands of SENS products to keep electric power, information, transportation and industrial processes from failing due to lack of power.

Contact me at chrisc@sens-usa.com and I can help connect you with a team to help you determine the best solution for your genset engine start, industrial power, or battery monitoring needs for your critical infrastructure. Can't wait to work with you.

Head of Marketing

Rigaku

Excited to help the many divisions of Rigaku transition into the new world of digital marketing, sales, and customer success. 

I am charged with inspiring and empowering teams across 6 divisions in the Americas to serve many different people from a diverse set of industries and communities. Lucky for me, I've never met a more passionate, knowledgeable, and welcoming group of people in my life. They realize that the landscape has changed and are ready to adapt to ensure the best experiences for our customers. We aim to be the most accessible, trusted, and valuable resource for Analytical X-ray & Laser knowledge, tools, and training in the world.

Since its inception in 1951, Rigaku has been at the forefront of analytical and industrial instrumentation technology including: 

X-ray diffraction (XRD), thin film analysis, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry, small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), protein & small molecule X-ray crystallography, Raman spectroscopy, Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), X-ray optics, semiconductor metrology, X-ray sources, X-ray computed tomography (XCT), nondestructive testing (NDT), & thermal analysis.

Communities served include:

Academia | Aerospace | Automotive | Batteries | Biotech | Cement | Consumer Goods | Electronics | Energy | Environmental | Food Processing | Geology | Glass | Inspection & Testing | Metals | Mining | Nuclear | Petrochemical | Pharmaceutical | Photovoltaics | Polymers | Research | Security & Defense | Semiconductor | Solar | Thin Films | Transportation

We view our customers as trusted partners and look to Empower them to Protect the Present and Develop the Future.

Contact me and I can help put together a team to help you determine the best solution for your analytical and training needs for life sciences, material analysis, or material identification. Can't wait to work with you.

Director of Marketing

Metal Analysis Group

I help people in the Metals industry test their product FASTER and SAFER using HANDHELD LIBS technology to INCREASE PROFITS and ROI.  People I help are in Scrap Metal Recycling, Positive Material Identification (PMI) testing, Metal Processing & Manufacturing Quality Control in Foundries and Mills, Metal Fabrication Quality Assurance for Parts Repair & Manufacturing, and Metals Inspection & Testing. The products and services Metal Analysis Group can provide are best suited for people in the following applications & industries:

Aerospace
Automotive
Cement
Consumer Goods
Electronics
Energy
Environmental
Food Processing
Glass
Inspection & Testing
Medical
Mining
Nuclear
Oil & Gas
Pharmaceutical
Plastics
Recycling
Sand
Security & Defense
Transportation

Inside Sales & Marketing Consultant

In this podcast series, Masters of PMI on The Manufacturing Show, my goal is to help you be successful with Positive Material Identification and truly master your metal testing wherever you may be in the metal supply chain. All the way from Scrap Metal Recycling and Metal Production at Foundries and Mills, to Metal Parts Fabrication and Inspection, PMI testing plays an important role in making sure everyone knows which metal they are working with in order to avoid material mix-ups that can lead to unhappy customers, expensive recalls or even catastrophic accidents like oil spills, plant explosions, and airplane crashes. We don’t like those things, right?!

Podcast Co-Host of The Manufacturing Show

Chris Carolan Consulting

Marketing Consultant

ASI Standards

Grew sales by 10% in 2017 and by 20% in 2018. Led website redesign and e-commerce implementation projects to greatly improve visibility and lead conversion.

Responsible for planning and implementing sales, marketing, and product development programs, both short and long range, targeted toward existing and new markets.

Primarily focused on Standards and Services for the petroleum and polymer related industries. Complex formulations for XRF analysis is our specialty.

Director of Marketing and Sales

Product Marketing Manager

Production and QC Manager

My primary responsibilities are analyzing our petroleum calibration standards to ensure quality and accuracy before getting shipped to the customer. I am also responsible for production of polyethylene standards (plastic discs/powders) as well as some special projects such as paint on film. Secondarily I assist with production of petroleum standards and dangerous goods shipping ( dangerous goods certified shipper).

Chemist/ Safety Officer/Quality Assurance

Produced liquid calibration standards for the petrochemical industry
Researched and produced ROHS/WEEE standards
Provided analysis for in-house standards using an XRF instrument
Calibrated an XRF instrument
Certified shipper of dangerous goods
Retrofitting lab/business to conform to OSHA guidelines

Chemist/Safety Officer

Co-Founder & Head of Revenue | Co Host of the Manufacturing Marketing Show | Growth leader obsessed with Customer Experience

I'm passionate about solving the HubSpot knowledge gap through hands-on expertise and collaborative problem-solving.

As the Founding Pro at Profoundly, I'm transforming how HubSpot expertise flows between those who need help and those who provide it. Our platform connects HubSpot users with vetted experts ready to help with everything from quick fixes to complex integrations – no unnecessary sales pitches, no complex contracts, just expert help when you need it.

My journey to this role follows a pattern I've seen throughout my career: discovering critical knowledge gaps in complex technical fields and building bridges to close them. This pattern has repeated whether working with certified reference materials, analytical instruments, or digital transformation.

I started in material quality control for petrochemical and polymer industries, where serving diverse customers with customized materials taught me the importance of understanding the needs of not only the customer but also the customer's customer. This early experience building solutions at the intersection of technical complexity and practical application shaped my approach to all future challenges.

Two years with MAG deepened my perspective on the analytical instrument side of business, working across Marketing, Field Sales, Inside Sales, Internet Sales, and Sales Enablement. This gave me crucial insights into the needs of buyers, customers, and internal stakeholders including direct sales, manufacturer reps, service teams, and supply chain partners. I discovered my talent for training and empowering customer-facing teams to provide exceptional experiences.

This journey led me to HubSpot, where I've become deeply engaged in helping others navigate the platform's technical complexity while achieving practical business outcomes. I've found that the most valuable solutions come not from isolated expertise but from collaborative problem-solving that addresses both technical details and strategic context.

With Profoundly, I'm focused on democratizing HubSpot expertise – making it accessible, practical, and immediately valuable. Whether through our daily shows, expert marketplace, or educational content, we're creating paths to success that anyone can follow.

If you're facing HubSpot challenges, I'm here to help in multiple ways:
- Book a direct consulting call: https://meetings.hubspot.com/chris-carolan1/consulting-call
- Explore expert help options at Profound.ly
- Join our daily "Let's Build" shows for free problem-solving and education

Let's transform your HubSpot experience, together.

⚙️ Chris Carolan ⚙️

Headed to Colombia for a couple months. Hey HubSpot Latin America, can I come check out the office?! Worth a look .Gabrielle H. ? 

In other news, since I can't resist the chance to teach and coach, I just logged into the United screen in front of me... 

After it said, Hello Christopher... 

After I changed my seat 30 minutes ago... 

In economy class. 

Hyper personal experiences will take over in 2026. Like you have never seen. And it's not reserved for B2C. Likely the easiest way for you to stand out from your competition moving forward. 

Check out valuefirstteam.com, scroll to the bottom of any page and join us next week to see how you can build out your HubSpot to do just this!

Chris Carolan

A Profoundly Value-First HubSpot Coach for CX, AI, RevOps, Quote-to-Cash, Orders | Founding Pro @ Profoundly | Human Context Engineer

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The Battle

Marcus Sheridan

⚙️ Chris Carolan ⚙️

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The Battle

Marcus Sheridan

⚙️ Chris Carolan ⚙️

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Marcus Sheridan's LinkedIn Performance

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