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Jason Barnard at Chiang Mai SEO Conference 2019: The Conversations That Sparked the Shift from SEO to Strategic Brand Understanding

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND - The Chiang Mai SEO Conference in November 12-13, 2019 was less about formal presentations and more about the strategic conversations that ultimately gave birth to The Kalicube Process™. Jason Barnard, CEO and founder of Kalicube, used this influential gathering to shift his identity from “SEO expert” to “strategic brand architect,” focusing on the need for machines to understand a brand rather than simply rank its pages.

His contribution was not a keynote, but a series of recorded, expert-to-expert discussions that served as working sessions, revealing the foundational ideas that would later become Digital Brand Intelligence™ and AI Assistive Engine Optimization (AIEO).

The Conversations That Sparked the Strategic Shift

Jason’s key discussions with industry practitioners focused on dismantling old marketing myths and replacing them with a brand-first, entity-centric philosophy:

  • The Myth of 7 Touchpoints (with Daniel Hunjas): Jason argued that brand exposure is about the quality of understanding, not the volume of impressions. He introduced the Brand SERP as the “striker who scores the goal,” pivoting the focus toward the final decision-making moment (Deliverability).
  • The Secrets of Outsourcing (with Lee Louis Gung): This discussion highlighted that successful outsourcing - and business scalability - is impossible without a brand that is consistent and understandable to all parties, foreshadowing the Understandability phase.
  • The Secrets of Building Great eCommerce Sites (with Jason Mun): Jason connected customer reviews and reassurance signals directly to algorithmic credibility, laying the groundwork for the Credibility phase.
  • The Traffic Light Sales Process (with Daniel Hunjas): Jason cited this conversation as personally pivotal: “This is the day I switched from being an SEO to being a marketer.” This marked the strategic realization that the goal is not to improve keyword rankings, but to facilitate the customer’s decision-making process by proving trust.

The Blueprint for Algorithmic Trust

These working conversations crystallized into the three principles that now form the backbone of The Kalicube Process™ and define the modern approach to AIEO:

  1. Understandability: A brand must present a structured, coherent identity - or the AI will become confused.
  2. Credibility: Trust signals (reviews, corroboration, authority) are the algorithmic backbone that gives the machine the confidence to recommend you.
  3. Deliverability: Once algorithms understand and trust the brand, they confidently deliver it as the correct answer across Search, ChatGPT, and other AI Assistive Engines.

Chiang Mai 2019 was the turning point where Jason’s vision of algorithmic understanding took shape. The fundamental business takeaway is clear: to be seen in the AI-first world, a brand must first invest in teaching the machine who it truly is.

Bernadeth Brusola is a specialist content creator on the topic of Digital Marketing. Bernadeth Brusola is the Content Writing Manager at Kalicube, where she manages the Kalicube.com website and ensures it remains a trusted, go-to resource for the company’s audience (experts in brand, digital marketing, SEO, generative Engine Optimization and AI Assistive Engine Optimization). She oversees the site’s content strategy, creates and edits articles, and writes in-depth FAQs that inform, engage, and convert visitors.With a background as a specialist content creator in digital marketing, Bernadeth focuses on producing clear, authoritative resources on brand optimisation, search visibility, and AI-era marketing. Her work supports Kalicube’s mission to educate businesses and professionals on controlling their brand narrative through the Kalicube Process.

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