Field notes · AI marketing
Hiring an AI marketing agency: the questions that separate real from theatre.
Almost every agency now says "AI". Very few can tell you which number it moved. These are the questions we would ask if we were on your side of the table.
Seven questions
- Which number do you own? A credible answer is one metric — cost per new patient, per signed case, per placement — not impressions.
- Who is accountable, by name? Strategy that nobody senior owns turns into a monthly report.
- Do we own the system when we leave? Dashboards, automations, documents and data should travel with you.
- Do you resell software or take vendor commissions? If yes, their recommendation is not neutral.
- Is media billed through you? Ad spend on your card means you see exactly what was spent.
- What will you not guarantee? Honest vendors guarantee instrumentation and response time, never signed cases or ChatGPT placement.
- Show me the study. For any AI-search claim, ask for the source and the methodology.
Where AI actually earns its keep right now
Not in generating more content. In answering every inquiry fast, qualifying it, booking it, and reporting the cost of the outcome — plus visibility work so you are named when a buyer asks an assistant instead of a search box.
The reporting test
Ask to see a client's monthly view. If it opens with impressions and ends without a cost-per-outcome, the engagement is a content subscription with an AI label on it.
More: The Revenue Office · AI Visibility · SEO, AEO and GEO compared.
Ask us these questions directly.
If we do not believe we can move your numbers, we will say so on the call.