The Collective Podcast: January Through June 2026 Recap

The Collective Podcast features conversations between Steve Peron of Collective42 and Trevor Norton of R40 Collective about digital marketing, artificial intelligence, paid media, SEO, agency ownership, and business.

Watch and subscribe to The Collective Podcast on YouTube.

Going forward, we will publish one recap each quarter rather than creating a separate blog post for every episode. Our next recap will cover episodes published between July and September 2026.

For our first recap, here are the episodes of The Collective Podcast published between January and June 2026.

#064 – Podcasting & Prepping

Steve and Trevor have a wide-ranging conversation about podcasting, prepping, business, and what they have each been working on.

#065 – Google’s AI Moat?

Google may have fallen behind some of its competitors in the early stages of generative AI, but does its combination of data, distribution, infrastructure, and widely used products give it a long-term advantage?

Steve and Trevor discuss Google’s position in the AI race and whether the company has built a moat that will be difficult for competitors to overcome.

#066 – Local Search Ads Eating Organic?

More paid placements are appearing throughout local search results.

Steve and Trevor discuss whether local search ads are reducing the visibility and value of traditional organic results, along with what these changes could mean for local SEO and paid media strategies.

#067 – We Got AI Data From Bing Webmasters!

Bing Webmaster Tools introduced new reporting that provides greater visibility into how websites appear in AI-generated answers.

Steve and Trevor review the available data and discuss what citations, queries, and page-level information might tell marketers about their performance within AI search.

#068 – Jack Dorsey Cuts 40% Staff – Good for Agencies?

Steve and Trevor react to Jack Dorsey’s major staff reduction and discuss what increasingly lean internal teams might mean for marketing agencies.

Could reduced internal capacity create more opportunities for outside specialists, or is it a warning sign for service-based businesses as well?

#069 – Is Reddit King for LLM Traffic?

Reddit content appears frequently in AI research, recommendations, and generated answers.

Steve and Trevor discuss Reddit’s influence on large language models, its potential as a source of referral traffic, and whether businesses should be paying more attention to the platform.

#070 – AI Programmatic SEO + Running Miles

Steve and Trevor discuss using artificial intelligence to support programmatic SEO and the balance between creating content at scale and maintaining quality.

The episode also includes an update on running, training, and the miles they have been logging.

#071 – Ad Reports Using AI + Running Miles

AI can help agencies process campaign data and turn it into more useful reporting, but it still requires experienced interpretation.

Steve and Trevor discuss using AI to improve paid media reporting and provide clearer observations and recommendations to clients. They also share another update on their running progress.

#072 – TBPN Cashes $100 Mill & Who Actually Uses Whoop?

Steve and Trevor discuss TBPN’s reported $100 million deal and what it says about the value of niche media brands and highly engaged audiences.

They also look at Whoop, who actually uses the product, and how community and brand affinity can help businesses grow.

#073 – How Our Agency Generates Inbound With AI Search

Collective42 has started receiving legitimate inbound opportunities from people who discovered the agency through AI search platforms.

Steve and Trevor break down what they are seeing, the types of searches generating visibility, and how content, authority, citations, and brand recognition may contribute to inbound leads from AI.

#074 – Is Reclassifying Marijuana Good for Ad Agencies?

Steve and Trevor discuss whether the potential federal reclassification of marijuana could create new advertising opportunities for cannabis businesses and marketing agencies.

They also consider the platform restrictions, compliance issues, and uncertainty that could continue even if federal rules change.

#075 – Structured Schema: Legit or AI Snakeoil?

Structured data is increasingly being promoted as a way to improve visibility within AI-generated answers.

Steve and Trevor examine where schema markup provides legitimate value, where its benefits may be overstated, and how businesses should evaluate some of the claims surrounding generative engine optimization.

#076 – GEO Tools Lied to You. Google Responds.

A growing number of tools claim to measure brand visibility within ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and other AI platforms.

Steve and Trevor discuss the reliability of these measurements, Google’s response to GEO claims, and what marketers can and cannot confidently report about AI visibility.

#077 – The Most Important Aspect of Paid Ads in 2026

Paid advertising platforms continue to become more automated, making accurate conversion tracking and attribution increasingly important.

Steve and Trevor discuss bot prevention, changes announced at Google I/O, and why tracking the right actions remains the foundation of a successful paid media campaign.

#078 – Google’s Rich Content Update, Uber Can’t Track AI ROI & Thiel Leaves for Argentina

Steve and Trevor cover several recent business and marketing stories, including Google’s rich content update, Uber’s difficulty measuring the return on its AI investments, and Peter Thiel’s connection to Argentina.

The conversation looks at what these stories might tell us about search visibility, AI measurement, technology investments, and broader business trends.