In the mid-2000s, Nate Tower was a high school English teacher moonlighting as a freelance blogger writing about everything from software reviews to dating websites. He didn't know it yet, but he was teaching himself SEO. That accidental start eventually led him to Perrill thirteen years ago, and today he leads the agency as President.

In this conversation with Ranmay, Nate Tower, President at Perrill, traces that journey and talks about why he still believes link building and brand mentions matter more than ever in an AI-driven search world, even as everyone insists organic reach is dying. He shares why a client's website remains its hardest-working employee, and why the real answer to "how much should we hold back" is almost always: you have to give away knowledge to build trust that lasts.

They also dig into what Nate has learned building an in-house AI visibility tool, including why raw visibility percentages look great in a sales deck but matter far less to clients than actual leads and revenue, and how Perrill has stayed relevant by tying its identity to outcomes instead of fixed methods across three decades of industry shifts.

The conversation closes with an honest rapid-fire round, including the one thing Nate wishes he'd done differently as a new president: making decisions faster.

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In this episode, we discuss:

00:00 - 01:33: Introduction

01:33 - 03:22: From English Teacher to Agency President

03:22 - 04:36: The Google Update That Changed His Approach

04:36 - 05:36: Why Links Still Matter for AI Search

05:36 - 08:26: Scaling Systems and Agency Processes

08:26 - 10:27: Keeping Marketing Functions Connected

10:27 - 12:33: Your Website as Your Hardest Employee

12:33 - 14:03: Building Trust Through Public Speaking

14:03 - 15:28: Three Decades of Reinventing Perrill

15:28 - 18:05: Metrics That Actually Matter in AI Visibility

18:05 - 20:18: Rethinking Content Strategy for AI Search

20:18 - 21:15: Nate's Take on Claude vs. ChatGPT

21:15 - 24:29: Closing Thoughts

 Connect with Nate Tower

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-tower

 perrill.com

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