Coffee with a Founder Podcast: Ethan Smith, Graphite

03- Mar-2026

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Ethan Smith from Graphite for a follow-up conversation on AEO and GEO, plus what’s actually changing right now in how people discover brands inside AI tools. Coming off two conferences in the same week, they get into prompt behavior, why citations are more fragmented than most people think, and why earned media is becoming even more important in an AI-first world.

The conversation dives into what’s working, what people are doing wrong, and how founders should think about measurement when clicks are disappearing.

If you’re into the new playbook for getting found in AI search and want the practical version, don’t miss this one.

show notes:

0:38: Two big conference takeaways on AI usage and prompts

1:27: What’s actually working right now for AEO

2:40: Why the Reddit-only approach is a trap

3:12: The first step for building an AEO strategy

4:51: Common mistakes with prompts and tracking tools

8:18: Why earned media matters more in AI discovery

11:51: Measurement problems when users cannot click

13:53: What Ethan is most excited about right now

Read More About The Episode:

0:38: Two big conference takeaways on AI usage and prompts

Ethan explains why AI usage is bigger than most reports suggest and shares how prompts are longer and more specific than traditional searches.

1:27: What’s actually working right now for AEO

The conversation dives into why product content like integrations, use cases, FAQs, and help centers are winning in AI results.

2:40: Why the Reddit-only approach is a trap

Ethan explains why chasing Reddit alone misses the point and why citations are spread across a highly fragmented set of domains.

3:12: The first step for building an AEO strategy

Ethan talks about starting with the prompts you want to win, tracking them, and building a strategy based on the domains that actually show up.

4:51: Common mistakes with prompts and tracking tools

The conversation highlights why focusing on short head prompts is outdated and why logged-out tracking tool results can differ from real user answers.

8:18: Why earned media matters more in AI discovery

Ethan explains why brands need broader earned coverage to win consensus, and why he believes budgets should increase significantly.

11:51: Measurement problems when users cannot click

The conversation dives into why attribution breaks down in AI and how post-conversion questions and journey mapping can help fill gaps.

13:53: What Ethan is most excited about right now

Ethan shares why this moment feels like a rare, major tech shift and why marketers are finally energized again.