The biggest misconception CEOs have about their digital presence
Most entrepreneurs I speak with believe their personal brand is in good shape online.
They’ve been on 15 podcasts, written a book, featured in Forbes… Surely Google and ChatGPT get it, right?
Not quite.
The most common misconception I see? Leaders assume the machines will “figure it out” and get it right.
They won’t. And they don’t.
Just because you know you’re credible, doesn’t mean Google and AI do. Just because your clients love you, doesn’t mean Google and AI can see it.
Why? Three simple reasons:
1. Your digital presence is fragmented
You’ve got your credibility spread across 20 different platforms—none of them connected. The machines can’t stitch it together.
2. A lot of what proves your authority isn’t even online
Your board roles, keynote talks, awards, qualifications, influential people you work with—if it’s not explicitly stated online and structured correctly, Google and AI like ChatGPT can’t see it.
Try this: trying to convince a human being that you’re the #1 expert in your field just by showing them webpages. If you can’t even prove it to a human, then how do you expect Google and AI to understand?”
3. You’re competing with name confusion and noise
Google and AI have to figure out which version of you is actually you.
There are 3,000 Jason Barnards online, including a podcaster, a professor, a hockey player, a footballer, a circus clown. And then I have had various well-documented careers including entrepreneur, author, singer, conference speaker, actor, award winning geek…
How do Google and AI figure out which ones are me and which ones aren’t
If you haven’t clearly defined your identity, your expertise, and your credibility in a way machines can process, you’ll either be ignored, misrepresented—or mistaken for someone else entirely.
The fix? A single source of truth.
You need a personal website that acts as the official reference for who you are, what you do, who you serve, and why you’re the best at it.
I call it the Entity Home. Google calls it the “Point of Reconciliation.”
Same idea: it’s the place the machines use to see your version of the truth about you. They can then reconcile all the fragmented information that it finds across the web and decide which is about you.
From there, the machines look for supporting signals:
Do other sites say what you say?
Are your claims corroborated across respected sources?
Once all the dots are joined and everything lines up, the ambiguity disappears and the machine “gets” you: become the go-to recommendation, the trusted expert, the clear answer—on Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and beyond.
If you assume AI understands you, you’ve already lost control.
If you build your Entity Home and digital footprint with intent, you’ll own the narrative.
Want help doing that? That’s what we do.
