What AI says about you when you’re not in the room
Published on Marketing Tech April 24, 2025 (Muhammad Zulhusni)
In this age of generative AI, what machines say about you might matter more than what you say about yourself.
That’s the central message from Jason Barnard, founder and CEO of Kalicube, who has spent over a decade studying how search engines and AI systems understand, represent, and recommend people and businesses. As engines like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and DeepSeek become default sources of information, AI is already shaping your reputation, your reach, and your revenue.
“Your personal brand is what Google and AI say about you when you’re not in the room,” Barnard says. And if you’re not controlling that narrative, the machines will. Whether they get it right or not is another question entirely.
From strings to things: The shift to entity SEO
For nearly three decades, SEO was built on strings of characters – keywords and backlinks. But today’s AI-powered engines do more than match text.
“The string ‘Jason Barnard’ used to be just that – a string. Now, machines recognise it as an entity: a person,” he says. “Entity SEO is about making sure the machine knows exactly which Jason Barnard we’re talking about, and that it understands he runs Kalicube.”
The process is not automatic. Unless the subject is globally famous or extremely lucky, the machine needs help connecting the dots. Kalicube calls this the understandability-credibility-deliverability (UCD) model:
- Understandability: Does the machine know who you are, what you do, and whom you serve?
- Credibility: Does it believe you’re a trustworthy and authoritative source?
- Deliverability: Will it recommend you to users as a solution to their questions?
Why it matters: The stakes for CEOs and entrepreneurs
Ignoring your digital identity isn’t just a missed opportunity – it’s a risk, Barnard says, and outlines three consequences:
- Lost leadership: “If I deserve to be the industry leader and I’m not represented accurately, someone else might take that place. And machines will recommend them instead of me.”
- Reputation damage: AI might hallucinate facts, get your age wrong, or confuse you with someone else entirely.
- Legacy loss: “What AI says about me affects my daughter, my ex-wife, my family. And when I die, it will shape what people remember about me.”
In the B2B world, the impact of a founder or CEO’s personal brand can be significant. “In B2C, the effect might be minimal,” Barnard says. “But in B2B, a strong personal brand can influence anywhere from a few percentage points to 80% of your bottom line. And when you’re raising investment, it becomes even more important. Investors back people.”
Building the brand the machines see
Barnard speaks from experience. In the early 2000s, he was known online as the voice of a cartoon dog. Despite running entertainment ventures and launching a record label, when he tried to pivot into digital marketing, he couldn’t close deals. Prospects Googled him, saw “cartoon dog,” and backed away.
“I lost hundreds of thousands in contracts,” he says. “So in 2012, I started trying to change how Google saw me. I solved it for myself – then realised I could do it for anyone. That’s how Kalicube was born.”
Kalicube’s model focuses on controlling your Entity Home: a central website that defines who you are, what you offer, and why you’re credible. Kalicube refers to this as the “spoke-and-wheel” model: your Entity Home is the hub, and your mentions, articles, podcasts, and profiles across the web form the spokes. Properly connected, they give machines a clearer view of who you are. This can act as a reference point for AI systems, which then compare that information with what they find on the web.
“If your digital footprint is fragmented, missing, or ambiguous, machines won’t connect the dots. If your name is shared by thousands of people, like mine is, it’s even harder. You need to build a clear, unified profile.”
Brand trigger phrases and linkless links
As conversational AI becomes more common, the way people interact with information evolves. Instead of searching “Jason Barnard,” users ask questions like, “Who is the expert in Google Knowledge Panels?” If your profile is optimised, the machine will respond with your name – that’s a brand trigger phrase.
Barnard has written over 1,500 articles on topics like Google Knowledge Panels, answer engine optimisation (AEO), ranking in AI, personal branding for entrepreneurs, and brand control for corporations. The niche areas form the backbone of his authority.
He’s also built credibility by working with major players like Yoast, Semrush, Ahrefs, EMI, HP, and high-profile individuals like Scott Duffy. Appearances on podcasts and coverage in recognised media contribute further to his signal strength.
“I tested this with ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot – they all say Jason Barnard is the world expert on Knowledge Panels,” he says. “That’s because I’ve optimised for understandability and credibility across the board.”
Interestingly, hyperlinks no longer matter as much, Barnard says. AI systems can draw confidence from brand mentions if they recognise the entity. “We call them linkless links,” Barnard adds. “If the machine knows who you are, a name mention is enough.”
Real-world results: Controlling the narrative
Kalicube clients have used these principles to change how they’re perceived online:
- Scott Duffy wanted Google to show he had sold a company to Richard Branson. Now, despite sharing a name with a more famous tech instructor, Scott dominates the SERPs and AI results.
- Jonathan Cronstedt, former president of Kajabi, wanted to shift perception from SaaS leader to business advisor. In a year, AI systems introduced him as an investor and advisor – and only secondarily as Kajabi’s ex-president.
“That’s the power of entity optimisation,” Barnard says. “You can pivot, amplify, and take control. But you have to keep working at it – weekly, monthly, consistently.”
Future-proofing your presence
Tools and user behaviours are changing, but the foundational mechanics of how AI understands people remain consistent across platforms. “Whether it’s ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Perplexity, or Gemini, they all learn the same way,” Barnard says. “They rely on knowledge graphs, search results, and language models – all fed by your online presence. Control that, and you control how they see you.”
The fundamentals are surprisingly stable: If you want machines to represent you correctly, you need to teach them who you are, prove your credibility, and supply the content that confirms it.
“If you leave it to chance, you lose,” Barnard warns. “But if you build your digital foundation properly, you don’t just get visibility. You get influence. You get control.”
Interested in learning more? Head over to the Kalicube website to download the free guide Control and Grow your Personal Brand in Search and AI: The Kalicube Process for Personal Brands, The DIY Guide
