Love At First Search (formerly Social Slowdown)

Meg Casebolt
  • 5.0 (18)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Weekly

Love at First Search is a podcast about expert authority, discoverability, and the future of search. Hosted by Meg Casebolt, it explores how experts become easier to recognize, understand, recommend, and find across search engines, AI tools, websites, podcasts, and other public platforms. Episodes dig into authority architecture, expertise legibility, positioning, narrative differentiation, semantic territory, omnichannel distribution, and the changing mechanics of search—without reducing the work to keywords, content volume, or platform hacks. This is the audio layer of a larger body of work from Love at First Search: the same core ideas may also appear in video, written articles, LinkedIn posts, frameworks, and case studies, each adapted to the format rather than simply duplicated. If your expertise is strong but your public signals are scattered, vague, outdated, or hard for humans and machines to connect, this show is about making that expertise clearer, sharper, and easier to trust.

  1. 7h ago

    AI Discoverability for Experts: What Modern Search Rewards in 2026

    Search isn’t dead, but Google isn't the only tool that peoplea re using anymore And the path between someone asking a question and finding the right expert has changed. For years, search worked through a fairly simple model: someone typed a query into Google, Google ranked a list of webpages, and the goal of SEO was to earn a high enough position to get the click. That still happens. But it’s no longer the whole system. Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and other AI-mediated search tools can now interpret questions, retrieve information from multiple sources, compare what they find, and synthesize an answer before someone ever visits a website. That changes what experts need to make visible. In this episode, Meg Casebolt, founder of Love At First Search, explains how modern search is moving beyond page rankings and keyword-first content strategy toward a system that also has to understand the source behind the information: who you are, what you know, what you’re known for, and whether there is enough evidence to trust and recommend you. You’ll hear about why AI did not suddenly replace search when ChatGPT launched, how individual ideas can be retrieved from webpages and synthesized into larger answers, why Meg no longer starts content strategy with keyword volume, and why expert ideas need to be stated explicitly enough for both humans and machines to understand. Meg also explores how zero-click search changes measurement. Rankings and traffic still matter, but they no longer tell the entire story. Citations, mentions, branded searches, recognition, trust, and recommendation are becoming part of the discoverability picture too. The takeaway: modern search is no longer only about getting a webpage to rank. It’s about making your expertise understandable enough to retrieve, credible enough to trust, and clear enough to recommend. Go deeperFor more on AI discoverability and how search systems evaluate information and expertise: How AI Chooses What to Citehttps://loveatfirstsearch.com/how-ai-chooses-what-to-cite/Google AI Search: How Search Is Changinghttps://loveatfirstsearch.com/google-ai-search/Why I Returned to Blogging for AI Discoverabilityhttps://loveatfirstsearch.com/blogging-for-ai/AI Findability Libraryhttps://loveatfirstsearch.com/ai-library/

  2. 5d ago

    Love At First Search Is Back: Authority, AI Discoverability, and the Future of Search

    After nearly three years of podcast silence, I’m reviving this feed — but not to pick up exactly where Social Slowdown left off. Search has changed. My work has changed with it. And the questions I’m most interested in now are less about ranking for keywords and more about how experts become easier to understand, trust, and recommend across Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, YouTube, and the rest of the public web. In this reintroduction episode, I explain why I decided to revive an old podcast feed instead of starting from scratch, what happened when dormant listeners immediately started downloading three-year-old episodes again, and how I’m thinking about the value of old content, existing audiences, and accumulated authority. I also lay out the experiment I’m running across the blog, YouTube, this podcast, and LinkedIn: taking the same core concepts, translating them into different formats, and tracking both how humans respond and how search and AI systems pick them up. Over the next several episodes, we’ll get into: recognition vs. recommendationthe Unmistakable Authority Methodentity claritysemantic territoryauthority architecturepublic evidence and reinforcementwhy you can’t build authority in privatehow omnichannel distribution can strengthen your signalpositioning and narrative differentiationwhat to do when years of accumulated content start making you harder to understand, not easier If you’ve been here since Social Slowdown, thanks for sticking around. If you found me more recently, welcome. Love At First Search is now about expert authority, discoverability, and the future of search. Explore the AI Findability Library: loveatfirstsearch.com/ai-library

  3. 09/19/2023

    Choose a Business Model That Is Set Up to Pay Your Bills With Jessica Abel

    Jessica Abel's background as an author led her to assume that mass marketing and a large audience was the ONLY way to succeed as a business owner; Thankfully, she finally figured out that her business models needed to first pay her bills, and THEN she could make decisions about audience and marketing style. In this week's episode, Jessica (she/her) and I discuss: How to think about choosing a business model, and why/when you may choose one over anotherChoosing a business model that allows you to make more money in less timeWorking with fewer clients for more money versus working with more clients for less moneyFiguring out how social media fits into your marketing - what do you need it to do for you? Connect with Jessica: Learn more on Jessica's websiteThe Autonomous Creative podcast A little bit about Jessica: Jessica Abel (she/her) is a graphic novelist, author, creative business coach, and the founder of Autonomous Creative, a coaching company that helps mid-career creative professionals build businesses that can pay their bills AND honor their creativity. Abel founded the company in response to the ever-greater struggle creatives face in making a living. Pushing back on the “starving artist” mythology, Abel focuses on business fundamentals, stripped of jargon and adapted to the unique needs of creative professionals, and puts the tools of making real money in less time—without creative compromise—into the hands of the artists, writers, and entrepreneurs who need them. Support the Show. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit loveatfirstsearch.substack.com

    Choose a Business Model That Is Set Up to Pay Your Bills With Jessica Abel

  4. 09/12/2023

    Why a Traffic-Based Business Model May Not Be Right for You With Jessica Lackey

    By now we know that what works for one, may not work for another. And in this week's episode, I'm talking with Jessica Lackey all about business models, and how sometimes what makes sense for other people may not make sense for you and your business. Maybe the traffic-based business models that we're sold can actually be less profitable than a lower, slower pace of business. Jessica Lackey is a strategy and operations advisor who is on a mission to radically disrupt mainstream business culture in an effort to create sustainable businesses with a human-centric approach. With a background in corporate leadership, McKinsey & Company consulting, and a Harvard Business degree, Jessica knows a thing or two about hustle culture and what it feels like to judge success by the bottom line…at all costs. Now, she combines her deep experience in consulting, Fortune 500 operations leadership, and coaching to help businesses grow without sacrificing the well-being of their clients, team, and community. Here's what you can expect from this episode: The importance of community and relationship marketingThe "cult-ish" side of social media (in regards to online business)Why you DON'T need to build your business like everyone elseBusiness models and the math behind scale Connect with Jessica: Sign up for her newsletter and/or take the quiz "What’s Your Stage of Business?"Learn more about Jessica Support the Show. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit loveatfirstsearch.substack.com

    Why a Traffic-Based Business Model May Not Be Right for You With Jessica Lackey

  5. 09/05/2023

    Bring More Feminine Energy Into Your Business With Marissa Lawton

    Marissa Lawton is an 8-year online entrepreneur and conduit for ancient women’s wisdom who guides feminine seekers to reclaim their divine power and channel it into their businesses. As a former licensed therapist who left the medical model of mental health care, Marissa had a behind-the-scenes look into how patriarchal systems and structures continue to diminish women’s ability to co-create the lives and businesses that serve their innate needs. And her Work in the world is to change that. By helping women reconnect to nature’s rhythms, Marissa aims to reintroduce long-denied mysteries and reestablish deep feminine roots in the entrepreneurial space. In this week's episode, Marissa and I are talking about how you can bring more feminine energy into your business. We discuss: Living from a rooted placeIntuitive decision-making for your businessListening to your intuition versus having an analytical mindset when it comes to business decision-making; Can you do both?What does masculine and feminine energy look like in a business?Traditional marketing with a mystical, sacred flare and how you can bring mysticality into your businessRedefining your measure of successSome examples of how you can bring more feminine energy into your business Connect with Marissa: RootedFeminine.comRooted Feminine PodcastFollow Rooted Feminine on InstagramMarissa Lawton - Side Hustles for PsychotherapistsTake the quiz: "What season of “re-rooting” are you in?" Support the Show. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit loveatfirstsearch.substack.com

    Bring More Feminine Energy Into Your Business With Marissa Lawton

  6. 08/29/2023

    The Challenges and Advantages of Entrepreneurship with Diann Wingert

    In this week's podcast episode, I'm thrilled to be speaking with Diann Wingert, a fellow female solopreneur with ADHD. Diann Wingert became a business strategist, coach, and mentor after a 20-year career as a psychotherapist. Her mission is to help ambitious outliers with big ideas and busy brains get focused, fired up, and flame retardant. Diann is the creator of The Boss Up Breakthrough, host of The Driven Woman Entrepreneur Podcast, and an expert on creative female entrepreneurs with ADHD traits. In this episode, we talk about: Therapy vs. coaching: What's the difference, and which one should you seek out?Why the shift from a social media-based marketing strategy to an SEO-based marketing strategy may be the exact thing you need and why many female solopreneurs are afraid to make this switchRejection sensitivity, confidence, and fear of failureSocial media and mental healthHow ADHD and giftedness in women can be both challenges and advantages in self-employment Connect with Diann: Learn more about Diann WingertConnect with Diann on LinkedInListen to The Driven Woman Entrepreneur Podcast Support the Show. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit loveatfirstsearch.substack.com

    The Challenges and Advantages of Entrepreneurship with Diann Wingert

  7. 08/24/2023

    All Things Social Media, Neurodiversity, and Accessibility With Briar Harvey (Part 2)

    This is the second part of my 2-part conversation with Briar Harvey about all things social media, online marketing, neurodiversity, mental illness, and accessibility. If you haven't already listened to Part 1, you can listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1887252/13429205 We also talk about our ability to focus, the importance of our choice of words, and how the average attention span has decreased significantly over the past decade. About Briar Harvey: Briar Harvey is a storyteller and systems witch. She believes that everything has a story and exists within a system. The trick then, is figuring out how to change the rules and tell a better story. She is an IDEA Consultant (that's Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) with a focus on Neurodivergence (that's ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, etc). She helps companies create and implement accessibility plans that increase employee retention by at least 50%. In her free time, she writes stuff and records podcasts. She’s the founder of The Neurodiversity Media Network, a collaborative and accessible media company that is hosting and curating all the news that is relevant to neurodivergent folks. Find her at briarharvey.com and neurodiversitymedianetwork.com Support the Show. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit loveatfirstsearch.substack.com

    All Things Social Media, Neurodiversity, and Accessibility With Briar Harvey (Part 2)

  8. 08/22/2023

    All Things Social Media, Neurodiversity, and Accessibility With Briar Harvey (Part 1)

    Buckle up for Part 1 of a 2-part episode with Briar Harvey about all things social media, online marketing, neurodiversity, mental illness, and accessibility. We talk about the fear of missing out on social media, what it's like to run an online business AND consume content as someone who is neurodivergent, and more. Listen to Part 2 here. About Briar Harvey: Briar Harvey is a storyteller and systems witch. She believes that everything has a story and exists within a system. The trick then, is figuring out how to change the rules and tell a better story. She is an IDEA Consultant (that's Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) with a focus on Neurodivergence (that's ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, etc). She helps companies create and implement accessibility plans that increase employee retention by at least 50%. In her free time, she writes stuff and records podcasts. She’s the founder of The Neurodiversity Media Network, a collaborative and accessible media company that is hosting and curating all the news that is relevant to neurodivergent folks. Find her at briarharvey.com and neurodiversitymedianetwork.com Support the Show. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit loveatfirstsearch.substack.com

    All Things Social Media, Neurodiversity, and Accessibility With Briar Harvey (Part 1)
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About

Love at First Search is a podcast about expert authority, discoverability, and the future of search. Hosted by Meg Casebolt, it explores how experts become easier to recognize, understand, recommend, and find across search engines, AI tools, websites, podcasts, and other public platforms. Episodes dig into authority architecture, expertise legibility, positioning, narrative differentiation, semantic territory, omnichannel distribution, and the changing mechanics of search—without reducing the work to keywords, content volume, or platform hacks. This is the audio layer of a larger body of work from Love at First Search: the same core ideas may also appear in video, written articles, LinkedIn posts, frameworks, and case studies, each adapted to the format rather than simply duplicated. If your expertise is strong but your public signals are scattered, vague, outdated, or hard for humans and machines to connect, this show is about making that expertise clearer, sharper, and easier to trust.

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