Potential clients are no longer only Googling your name or asking a friend for a referral. They may also be asking ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or another AI tool who they should work with.
So the question becomes: does the internet contain enough meaningful evidence for those tools to understand what you actually know?
In this episode, I’m joined by Ashley Smith, host of Show Your Proof, and creator of the “Proof Gap,” her framework for explaining why highly experienced professionals can still be difficult to find or understand online.
Ashley helps professionals turn the expertise they already have into clearer, searchable proof without requiring them to become full-time content creators.
Can AI Actually Understand What You Do Well Enough to Recommend You?
([05:51]) Building an Expert Online Presence in the AI Age
([08:43]) Why Defining Your Niche is Even More Important Now
([14:18]) Google Yourself & See What AI Says About You
([21:02]) How to Get What You Want Out of AI
([26:15]) Why Podcasting Helps You Get Found by AI
([36:05]) Using Conversations You’d Already Have to Create Content You Need
([37:40]) Leveraging Your Personal Voice to Stand Out Online
([42:03]) Learn from the Proof Talks Show
Start by Seeing What the Internet Already Knows About You
Start with a simple audit.
Step 1: Open an incognito browser and search your name along with your profession, specialty, or location. Look at what Google and its AI features actually say about you.
Step 2: Search the way a prospective client might search without already knowing your name.
Does your expertise surface? Does the description accurately reflect what you are known for? If not, ask what information is missing to understand the gap between your real-world reputation and your online one.
Generic Expertise Is Harder to Recognize
Simply identifying yourself as a financial advisor, CPA, or planner gives both prospective clients and search systems very little context.
Your online presence should make it increasingly clear who you serve, what problems you understand deeply, and what perspective makes your approach different. Choose two or three areas of expertise and consistently add thoughtful material around them instead of trying to publish about everything.
Publish More of Your Thinking, Not More Generic Content
AI has made it incredibly easy to publish large amounts of average content.
So, instead of asking AI to generate another generic article, capture your own explanations, client questions, stories, frameworks, observations, and professional judgment.
This likely means publishing less often while making each piece much more specific.
Why Podcasting Can Help Capture Your Expertise
You may struggle to sit down and “write thought leadership,” but when someone asks you the right question, you can often explain the issue easily because you have spent years working through it with clients.
Those conversations can become podcast episodes, articles, newsletters, LinkedIn posts, FAQs, and other searchable assets.
The objective is to create a growing body of credible material that helps people—and increasingly AI-driven search—understand your specialty.
Action Steps from This Episode
- Find out what AI already knows about you.
- Identify two or three subjects you want to become strongly associated with.
- Write down the questions clients repeatedly ask about those subjects.
- Record yourself answering those questions in your natural voice.
Turn those conversations into published assets.
Revisit your online presence periodically to see whether the way you are being represented is improving.
If you want help turning your expertise into clear podcast or YouTube episodes, download my free Script Starter Kit.
Connect with Ashley Smith:
Website: https://showyourproof.beehiiv.com/ashley-smith
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ShowYourProof/featured
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleysmithnow/?isSelfProfile=false
Podcast: https://showyourproof.buzzsprout.com/
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