AI can’t recognize authority it can’t clearly find, connect, and understand, which means years of real expertise can still leave behind a surprisingly weak digital signal.
I’ve been on a lot of podcasts over the years. Enough that if you asked me exactly how many before a few weeks ago, I probably would’ve given you one of those very scientific answers like, “I don’t know... a lot.” 😂
So our team actually went back and counted them.
We found 104 podcast appearances we could verify with a public link. That’s 104 conversations where I shared ideas, told stories, talked about building businesses, LinkedIn, trust, relationships, leadership, authority, and probably went on a few tangents nobody asked for because apparently that’s part of my charm.
Those conversations happened. The evidence exists. Then we asked AI to find them.
That’s when things got interesting.
What Happens When AI Looks for Evidence of Your Authority?
AI can only understand the authority it can find and connect back to you, no matter how much credibility you’ve earned in the real world.
When we asked Perplexity about my podcast appearances using my full name and company, it found 94 of the 104. Pretty good.
Then we changed the question and searched more like a stranger might if they didn’t already know exactly who I was.
Perplexity found 31.
ChatGPT found 29.
Google’s AI Mode found 6.
And 9 verified appearances didn’t show up in a single one of the
AI engines we tested.
Same person. Same 104 conversations. Same experience behind them.
Very different picture depending on what the machine could find and how somebody asked the question, but the part that really got my attention wasn’t the numbers.
Those 94 appearances Perplexity found when we gave it more context were sitting together on a page on my own website. The 9 appearances no engine found weren’t on that page.
That made something I’ve been talking about for a while suddenly very tangible. The work existed. The authority existed. The structure around it didn’t.
Why Isn’t Doing Great Work Enough Anymore?
Doing great work creates credibility, but that credibility still needs evidence people and AI can discover, understand, and connect to your name.
I want to be careful here because I absolutely do not believe everybody needs to spend their life manufacturing content for machines.
Please don’t.
The internet has enough of that already.
Most of the founders and executives I know built their reputations the old-fashioned way. They solved hard problems.
They took care of clients. They built companies. They developed relationships. They spoke on stages, sat on panels, got interviewed, mentored people, screwed some things up, learned from them, and accumulated the kind of judgment you only get by actually doing the work.
That’s real authority.
But somebody discovering you for the first time wasn’t there for any of it.
They weren’t in the room when you saved the client relationship. They didn’t hear the conversation where you saw the problem everyone else missed. They don’t know that 3 people in your industry call you whenever something goes sideways.
They search your name. They look at LinkedIn. They visit your website. They listen to an interview. They ask somebody they trust.
And now they ask AI.
That creates a pretty important distinction between having authority and making that authority recognizable.
What Is the Authority Gap?
The Authority Gap is the distance between the credibility you’ve actually earned and the authority people and AI can clearly recognize from the signals surrounding your name.
Rachel and I have been thinking about this problem for a long time because we see it constantly.
Someone has 20 years of experience, but their LinkedIn barely communicates it. Someone has been interviewed dozens of times, but those conversations are scattered across the internet without anything connecting them.
Someone speaks at conferences every year, but you’d have a hard time figuring that out by searching their name.
Someone has incredible client results, but almost none of the proof exists somewhere a prospective client can discover it.
Or somebody creates plenty of content, but every piece points in a different direction.
Monday they’re talking about leadership. Tuesday it’s AI. Wednesday it’s entrepreneurship. Then somebody invites them onto a podcast and they spend an hour talking about mindset.
There may be nothing wrong with any of those conversations individually. The problem is what happens when you zoom out.
What clear conclusion should another person be able to draw about what you are the answer for?
And would AI reach the same conclusion? That’s the part I think we’ve underestimated.
Do You Really Need to Create More Content?
Most experienced leaders don’t need more content nearly as much as they need the content, conversations, relationships, and proof they already have to start reinforcing one another.
This is where I think we’ve gotten the whole personal-brand conversation a little backward.
We’re constantly asking people what they’re going to create next.
What are you posting tomorrow?
When is the next podcast?
Should you start a newsletter?
Do you need YouTube?
What about short-form video?
At some point you have to wonder whether we’re building authority or just assigning adults more homework. I’d rather start with what already exists.
What do you actually want to be known for?
What have you already done that proves you belong in that conversation?
Where does that evidence live?
What’s missing?
And when you do create something new, does it strengthen the same story or start another one?
That’s the difference between collecting activity and building something that compounds.
One podcast appearance can disappear into the internet a week after it airs. Or that conversation can become 3rd-party evidence of your expertise, an article, several thoughtful LinkedIn conversations, something your website references, a source another person cites, and another signal connecting your name to a problem you genuinely understand.
Same conversation. Very different authority value.
How Do You Make Your Authority Easier to Recognize?
You make authority easier to recognize by deciding what you want to be the answer for, collecting the evidence that supports it, structuring those signals clearly, and consistently building on them.
This is where Authority Architecture becomes practical instead of theoretical. You don’t start by asking how to game ChatGPT. You start with the human being.
What have you actually earned the right to talk about?
What problem have you solved enough times that your experience means something?
What do clients already trust you for?
What conversations should your name belong in?
Then you look at the evidence. Your results. Your content. Your LinkedIn. Your website. Podcast appearances. Interviews. Speaking. Articles. Recommendations. Relationships. 3rd-party mentions. The things other credible people say about you.
Once those pieces begin reinforcing the same idea, a pattern becomes easier to recognize.
For humans, that makes you easier to remember and recommend. For AI, it creates clearer evidence to work with. And neither requires you to pretend to be something you aren’t.
The goal isn't to convince an AI system you're an authority. The goal is to make the authority you've earned harder to miss.
How Can You Find Your Own Authority Gap?
You find your Authority Gap by comparing what you want to be known for with the evidence someone can discover about you today.
Try this before you publish another piece of content.
Write down the question you wish your ideal client would ask that should naturally lead them to you.
Not your job title.
Not your tagline.
The actual problem.
Then go look at yourself like somebody who has never met you.
Search your name. Look at your LinkedIn profile. Look at your website. Look at your interviews and podcast appearances. Ask a few AI engines questions related to the expertise you believe you own.
Pay attention to what keeps appearing, more importantly, pay attention to what doesn't.
If you've spent 15 years becoming exceptional at something but somebody researching you would need a detective, 3 espressos, and a free afternoon to figure that out, you probably don't have an expertise problem.
You have a gap between what you've earned and what can be seen and that gap is exactly what Rachel, Lee-Anne Scott, and I want to work on with you.
Final Thought
The next era of authority won't belong to the people who simply create the most. It will belong to people whose expertise leaves behind enough clear, credible evidence to be understood.
I don't want that statement to scare experienced people into becoming content machines.
Actually, I want the opposite. You've already done the hard part.
You built the company. Helped the clients. Had the conversations. Made the mistakes. Developed the judgment. Earned the relationships. Built the reputation.
Now we have to make sure all of that work isn't disappearing into a hundred disconnected places.
Because the question is changing. It used to be, “Do people know who you are?”
Now I think we also have to ask: “When you're not in the room to explain yourself, does the evidence make it clear why your name belongs in the conversation?”
That's a much more interesting problem and on October 15th, we're going to work on it together.
Come Close Your Authority Gap With Us
On Thursday, October 15th, Rachel B. Lee, Lee-Anne Scott, and I are hosting a live 2-hour working session to help you find the gap between the authority you've earned and what people and AI can actually see.
I really do mean working session.
This isn't going to be 3 people talking at you about AI for 2 hours while you collect 37 pages of notes you'll never open again.
Bring your laptop. Bring your LinkedIn profile. Bring the topics you want to be known for. Most importantly, bring the question you wish your ideal client were asking AI that should lead them to you.
We're going to look at how AI currently understands authority, how to identify the gaps in your own digital footprint, why the right podcast conversations can create powerful 3rd-party credibility, and how LinkedIn can help those conversations keep working long after the episode ends.
Then we're going to help you turn it into a 1-page Authority Gap Plan for the next 90 days, built around your own name, evidence, and gaps.
Lee-Anne is joining us because podcasting is an important piece people often miss here. This isn't about getting yourself onto every podcast that will have you. It's about choosing conversations that strengthen the reputation you're actually trying to build, then making sure those conversations don't disappear the week after they air.
Rachel brings the credibility and brand-intelligence side. Lee-Anne brings strategic podcast authority. I'll connect it to LinkedIn and the larger Authority Architecture we've been building.
3 pieces that are usually treated separately, in 1 room.
Thursday, October 15th, 2026
11 AM–1 PM Central / 12 PM Eastern / 9 AM Pacific / 5 PM UK
Live on Zoom + replay included
$97 · Limited to 100 seats
One other thing: if you register by Monday, October 5th, 2026, we'll run the AI check on your name before the workshop. That means you can walk into the session with your gap already mapped instead of spending your time finding it live.
And if you can't make it LIVE, register anyway. You'll get the replay and the plan template afterward.
You don't need to come with a perfect personal brand. You don't need hundreds of podcast appearances. And you definitely don't need another strategy for posting 7 days a week.
You need the expertise you've already earned and a laptop. We'll work on the rest together.