Liza Adams

Published on 2025-07-18 13:09

Yesterday I posted how AI judges companies by how they treat employees. With layoffs making the job market increasingly tough, does AI also evaluate how companies treat candidates?

Try this prompt: “I’m considering applying for a [role] at [company]. What’s their hiring process like and how do they treat candidates? Are there any red flags?” Test it for your company, too.

Below is an example of what I got when I asked about a major company’s hiring process.

AI pulled from 20+ sources to build a hiring reputation profile. No marketing team controlled this narrative.

Your hiring process IS your brand experience. Every ghosted candidate, every unpaid “project” disguised as an interview, every fake job posting creates digital breadcrumbs. AI finds them.

Think about it from a GTM perspective. When AI tells a prospect your company has “disorganized processes” and “poor communication,” what does that signal about how you treat customers?

That mistreated candidate could be your next buyer. That person who spent hours on free work might be at a company evaluating your solution. AI is connecting these dots for them.

Your employer brand and customer brand aren’t separate. Every hiring touchpoint shapes market perception.

Marketing teams obsess over customer journey mapping. But most don’t realize the candidate experience directly impacts brand perception. AI is making this blind spot visible to everyone.

You can’t build trust in the market while breaking it in hiring.

Remember that this was just casual AI chat. Imagine what deep research AI tools could dig up.

We’re in the messy middle with AI with layoffs, job uncertainty, companies claiming to be “AI-first.” But what does AI-first really mean when AI is watching how you treat people?

Share if others should know. See link to yesterday’s post in the comments.

Newsletter on “When AI Judges Your Brand Before Humans Do”

While you’re tweaking your website for AI, your employees are telling AI who you really are.

Most companies are focused on customer-facing content… polishing case studies, updating messaging, crafting the perfect positioning. But AI can dig much deeper.

It can find Glassdoor reviews, Indeed ratings, and LinkedIn posts from former employees. Community discussions where people share what it’s really like to work with you.

Here’s what happened when I asked AI about a directory company that reached out to me: It found employee reviews calling them “as close to a scam as you can get” and uncovered concerning business practices from multiple sources. See attached screenshot.

AI connects the dots between how you treat employees and how you serve customers. They’re the same thing.

That “culture-first” company with terrible Glassdoor ratings gets noticed by AI. The startup claiming to “transform customer experience” while burning through talent every 8 months shows a clear pattern to systems trained to spot what doesn’t add up.

Marketing and HR aren’t separate anymore. They’re two sides of the same coin. AI doesn’t care which department owns what. It shows what’s actually there.

This isn’t just an HR problem to fix. It’s about the choices leadership makes every day.

You can’t fake your way to good AI recommendations. You can’t SEO your way out of a toxic culture. You can’t polish content to hide how you really operate.

The companies winning AI recommendations aren’t the ones with the best positioning. They’re the ones that are actually good—to everyone.

AI is forcing us to be better, not just market better.

To win in the era of AI, be an amazing human being first, then be an amazing business person.

Share and give others a heads up if you think they should know.

See original post here

Published on 2025-07-16 13:41

Most companies are afraid to say who they’re NOT for. They think it shrinks their market. But it actually expands your qualified prospects by making the right buyers feel seen and understood.

Stop explaining what makes you different. Start explaining what makes you right for specific situations.

• ➡︎ Bad positioning –  “AI-powered workflow automation solution for agile teams”

• ➡︎ Good positioning: “Best for 50-500 person companies needing custom workflows. Not ideal for startups under 10 people or enterprises requiring strict compliance.”

The clear approach does three things:

• ➡︎ Builds instant trust – Buyers think “Finally, someone being honest”

• ➡︎ Enables self-selection – Wrong-fit prospects move on before wasting time

• ➡︎ Guides AI recommendations – AI can now confidently suggest you for the right scenarios

This doesn’t guarantee AI will position you perfectly, but you’re giving it direction instead of letting it guess. More importantly, not all customers are created equal. Non-ideal customers tank profitability. They churn faster, cost more to serve, and can damage your reputation.

Lead customers to where they’ll be served best, even if it’s not you. That builds trust. And trust is the new currency when AI is making recommendations.

The companies that master transparent positioning and truly live it in everything they do will own the market narrative. Everyone else will let AI write their story using random reviews, social comments, and competitor claims.

Pick one piece of your marketing content. Does it clearly say who you serve best and when? If buyers have to guess, so does AI.

Check the comments for my latest newsletter on the five changes that help AI understand and recommend your brand correctly.