AI Made Agencies Easy To Ignore. Authority Is How You Stop Blending In.

AI didn’t lower the bar for digital agencies. It removed it.

Today, almost any agency can launch a polished website, publish SEO content, generate social posts, and describe itself as “full service” in a matter of days. From the outside, everything looks professional. From Google’s perspective, however, most agencies look indistinguishable.

This isn’t a theory. It’s a pattern Dennis Yu has seen repeated across decades of digital marketing work, from enterprise brands to local businesses to agencies themselves.

Dennis founded BlitzMetrics and has worked with companies like Nike, Starbucks, Rosetta Stone, and the Golden State Warriors. Across those environments, one principle has remained consistent: when credibility isn’t clearly structured and independently validated, even capable organizations struggle to get chosen.

That same problem is now accelerating in the agency world.

When “Professional” Becomes Invisible

For a long time, agencies could win attention simply by looking competent. Clean design, confident copy, and consistent posting were enough to earn conversations.

AI changed that.

Now that professional-looking assets can be generated instantly, presentation alone no longer signals trust. It signals participation. Google and buyers are no longer asking whether an agency looks legitimate, they’re trying to determine whether an agency is understood.

Understood as:

• A real entity
• A clear focus
• Serving a defined type of client
• Supported by proof that exists outside its own website

When those pieces aren’t obvious, agencies aren’t evaluated carefully and get filtered out.

Why Google Cares Less About Pages and More About Entities

One of the central ideas Dennis emphasizes is that Google doesn’t just rank content, it builds models of people and organizations. It tries to understand who is behind the information, what they’re known for, and whether that reputation is supported elsewhere on the web.

This is why Dennis talks about entities rather than “SEO tactics”.

An entity is not a logo or a homepage. It’s the sum of:

• Who you are
• What you do
• What others say about you
• How consistently those signals align

If those signals are scattered, vague, or self-referential, Google has no reason to treat you as a trusted option.

This is also why Dennis spends so much time helping businesses organize their presence instead of producing more surface-level content. For example, this is the same framework he applies through Local Service Spotlight, where local service business owners are guided to organize their personal brand websites around real stories, consistent entity information, and third-party validation so Google can clearly understand who they are, often to the point where a Knowledge Panel becomes the reality.

The Difference Between Saying You’re Trusted and Being Verifiable

Dennis makes a clear distinction in the video: credibility doesn’t come from what you say about yourself. It comes from what other people can verify.

That shows up in practical ways:

• Detailed client stories instead of one-line testimonials
  
• Interviews and podcasts hosted on sites you don’t control
  
• Speaking pages, partner mentions, and third-party articles
  
• Consistent bios and references across platforms
  

This is why generic testimonials have lost so much power. They lack context. They lack specificity. And specificity is what makes trust real.

When a client’s story explains who was involved, what problem existed, what actions were taken, and what changed as a result, it becomes real and powerful evidence.

Why This Matters at the Moment of Decision

Dennis frames this through a simple scenario: a potential client is deciding whether to work with you, so they Google your name.

What they see determines how much friction exists before a conversation even begins.

When search results show scattered profiles, vague claims, and no structured presence, the burden of proof falls entirely on you. When there is a clear, consistent entity presence (preferably reinforced by a Knowledge Panel), the decision feels safer before a call ever happens.

That’s not because the agency said it was credible. It’s because Google reflected an organized understanding of who they are.

This is why Knowledge Panels matter, not as a status symbol, but as a signal that Google has enough confidence in the entity to summarize it.

Why This Is Taught

Dennis doesn’t treat this as an abstract SEO concept. It’s the same framework he applies when training others who are responsible for real businesses with real consequences.

These principles are also taught inside High Rise Influence, the training program Dennis created to prepare young adults to run the digital marketing for their parents’ businesses. The emphasis isn’t on shortcuts or tools for their own sake, but on learning how to document real outcomes, connect entity information correctly, and prioritize building trust.

The goal is to make a business understandable, not just visible.

That same mindset applies to agencies. Visibility without clarity doesn’t convert. Authority does.

The Live Session at Digital Cut (February 6–8)

This is the context behind the live, step-by-step session Dennis is leading with Penji during Digital Cut.

Rather than treating Knowledge Panels as a mystery or a hack, the session focuses on fundamentals:

• What needs to exist before a panel is possible
  
• How to structure assets so entity relationships make sense
  
• How personal brands and agency brands intersect
  
• What commonly causes Knowledge Panel attempts to fail
  
• How to avoid wasting time on incomplete setups

Dennis is explicit about this: AI can either help you differentiate faster or help you blend in faster. The difference comes down to whether AI is being used to manufacture sameness or to organize real proof.

What Agencies Should Prepare Before Attending

Agencies that get the most out of this session are the ones that show up with raw credibility already in hand:

• Real client stories with details
  
• Third-party mentions they didn’t publish themselves
  
• A clear idea of what they want to be known for
  
• Consistent information about who they are and who they serve
  

These aren’t marketing “extras.” They’re the inputs Google needs to understand an entity, and the same inputs clients use to decide who feels legitimate.

Register for Digital Cut

AI has made it easier than ever to look like an agency. It has also made it easier than ever to be ignored.

During Digital Cut (February 6–8), Dennis Yu and Penji will walk through how agencies can move from a generic presentation to a structured authority, so that Google and prospects understand who they are and why they matter.

Register here