The Modern Digital Marketing Stack: Analytics, AEO & ROI (3 Part Series)

Introduction: How GA4 Actually Works

An overview of what and how GA4 tracks website visitors.

• How GA4 collects data and its accuracy (javascript/cookies, events, parameters, sessions)
• GA4 jargon: users, sessions, engagement, dimensions, metrics, etc.
• Navigating the UX: The two reports and two features you’ll use 80% of the time

Setup That Matters (and What to Ignore)

Let’s take a quick tour of the admin section and confirm that we’re tracking everything we can.

• The ONE most important setup check (key events / conversions)
• URL-based event creation (no code)
• Campaign tracking basics (UTMs that don’t break reports)
• Adding users and basic property hygiene
• Quick intro to Google Tag Manager (what it’s for, when you need it)

Content Performance & the 90/10 Reality

Some content drives huge performance. Other content? Not so much. Analytics will show you the difference.

• Identifying the top URLs that drive most traffic and conversions
• Which articles perform best by source (search, email, social)
• Engagement indicators that correlate with performance

BREAK

Campaign & Conversion Analysis

Connect marketing activity to outcomes.

• Measuring traffic sources and campaigns beyond the click
• Landing page performance by traffic source
• Which email campaigns support lead generation goals

Next Level Analysis: GA4 Explorations (but just the useful stuff)

Some things can only be measured with explorations. For other things, a quick custom report will save time and expose insights quickly.

• GA4 Explorations vs. standard reports
• Custom tables for content and campaigns
• Path exploration to see what people do next (What do people click in the main navigation? What paths lead to conversion?)

Andy Crestodina

Cofounder / CMO of Orbit Media

Why this matters now

• Search behavior is changing fast as buyers use AI tools to research vendors, compare options, and ask more detailed questions.
• Traditional rankings still matter, but they are no longer the whole story.
• The real question is not just “Do we rank?” but “Would AI recommend us?”

What is changing in search and buyer behavior

• Organic clicks are getting squeezed by AI answers, SERP features, and zero-click behavior.
• Buyers are asking longer, more specific questions with more context and more constraints.
• AI-driven research often happens earlier in the buying process, shaping which brands make the shortlist.

What marketers need to measure differently

• Separate informational traffic from commercial-intent traffic.
• Look beyond traffic volume and focus more on visibility for high-intent pages.
• Track whether your brand appears in AI answers, comparisons, and recommendation-style prompts.

How AI decides which brands to mention

• AI tends to reward clarity, specificity, consistency, and evidence.
• It pulls from what your site says, what others say about you, and how clearly your brand is associated with a category or use case.
• If your positioning is vague or your proof is thin, competitors may be easier for AI to recommend.

What to improve ON your website

• Strengthen service pages so they clearly explain who you help, what you do, and why you are different.
• Add proof to key pages, including outcomes, examples, testimonials, credentials, and case studies.
• Publish content that answers buyer questions directly, especially comparison, evaluation, and decision-stage content.
• Make pages easier for AI to interpret with strong structure, helpful headings, lists, and direct language.

What to improve OFF your website

• Increase high-quality mentions of your brand across trusted industry sources.
• Show up in the places your audience already trusts, including publications, communities, associations, events, and expert roundups.
• Build stronger associations between your brand and the problems you solve best.

How to find your biggest gaps

• Test the prompts your buyers are likely to use when researching providers.
• Compare how AI describes your brand versus competitors.
• Look for missing proof, weak positioning, missing use cases, and absent mentions in key sources.
• Use those findings to prioritize content, messaging, and digital PR.

What teams should do next

• Audit the pages most likely to influence leads, not just the pages that get traffic.
• Improve the evidence behind your claims before rewriting copy.
• Create content that helps AI understand your fit for specific buyers and scenarios.
• Treat AI visibility as a new layer of lead generation strategy, not a replacement for SEO or conversion optimization.

Andy Crestodina

Cofounder / CMO of Orbit Media

• Why most organizations measure AI incorrectly. Introduction to Goodhart’s Law: Why measuring speed can unintentionally lead to mediocrity and limit innovation.
• Reframing AI through the Expansion Framework: Quality Lift (Outcomes), Scope Expansion (Throughput), and Capability Unlock (Constraint Removal)
•  Real-world examples of translating AI activity into “CFO-speak” (e.g., mapping unconstrained search landscapes to Market Share).
• Building a 30-day proof plan including instrumentation, success indicators, and an “Objection Pre-Mortem.”
• Moving from the “AI Performance Gap” to a culture of outcome-based measurement. Final Call to Action.

Purna Virji

Principal Consultant, Content Solutions at LinkedIn