Pure SEO and US AI expert aim to shape the future of AI-integrated digital marketing in NZ

AUCKLAND, Today: Indy digital marketing agency Pure SEO is taking a step into the future of AI-integrated digital marketing with assistance from New York-based AI specialist Britney Muller.

Auckland-based Pure SEO ceo Richard Conway said: “This calculated move is designed to help us continue to pioneer digital marketing advancements within New Zealand.

“Muller, recognised for her significant contributions to the field of AI and digital marketing at Moz and Hugging Face, is helping Pure SEO harness the power of AI. With her expertise, they aim to streamline business operations while facilitating their experts in creating exceptional quality work, highly personalised for clients.

“The decision to collaborate with Muller followed a comprehensive international search and was endorsed by industry luminary Rand Fishkin (founder of Moz and SparkToro). Fishkin previously worked with Muller at Moz and asserted that Muller’s exceptional expertise and leadership made her an ideal asset for Pure SEO’s innovative aspirations.

“We are excited to welcome Britney to the Pure SEO family. While working from her home in New York and visiting the team in New Zealand, Britney has accelerated and helped define how we can assist our clients in utilising AI in a safe, profitable, and effective manner. A lot of the work we are now doing is AI-first. At the moment, we are being really selective with the companies we work with. Because there has been so much interest from the market, we are only taking on businesses that are ready to really engage with this technology.”

“As Pure SEO embraces AI-integrated digital marketing, the company acknowledges the importance of backing any AI incorporation with thorough research and human expertise. As an aficionado in digital marketing and AI, Muller was a perfect match for the Pure SEO family, securing a successful pathway for the company’s AI integration journey.

Digital Day Out NZ
During her recent visit to New Zealand, Muller spoke at the popular Digital Day Out conference for 2023, dazzling attendees with her keynote speech on AI. During her presentation, Muller emphasised the importance of marketers and businesses discerning when AI use is appropriate, cautioning that over-reliance on AI can lead to complications. 

“The decision to collaborate with Muller followed a comprehensive international search.”

Muller urged that, while the future of AI in marketing is very promising, businesses incorporating AI into their processes should only do so after careful consideration.

She stated that, for businesses to use AI responsibly, ethically, and equitably, they must first be aware of its capabilities and limitations. This is particularly important in sectors like the legal and medical spaces, where data misinterpretations can have serious consequences. Citing an example, Muller explained how an AI model trained to identify the difference between cancerous and non-cancerous lesions mistakenly associated a ruler’s presence with cancer (because medical photos of cancerous lesions are often taken in a doctor’s office and include a ruler for scale). The model learned to identify the presence of a ruler as a cancer marker, showcasing that AI models are foolish in ways we can’t predict and require thorough testing before deployment.

Britney stated, “A model is only as good as its training data”. And as the above study shows, training data can often be biased in potentially harmful ways.

The Question Everyone is Wondering: Is AI Replacing Marketers?

“No, AI won’t and can’t replace marketers”, Britney iterates, “Businesses and agencies should view AI as a tool to enhance, not replace, creative and strategic marketers”. Some of the top advice Muller offers those looking to succeed in using AI is to maintain a willingness to learn and know how to analyse datasets while staying sceptical of AI performance.

This advice encapsulates Pure SEO’s strategy for AI integration, underlining their rationale for bringing an industry expert on board to facilitate this transition. Ultimately, Pure SEO is driven by a fundamental commitment to clients, striving to deliver superior work powered by a seasoned team and enhanced by the capabilities of AI.

About Pure SEO
The Pure SEO group was founded by Richard Conway in 2009, shortly after he arrived in New Zealand from the UK, and consists of several different brands; Digital Popcorn (enterprise), This Side Up (e-commerce), The Conversion Surgeons (analytics and CRO), and Pure SEO (mid-market).

• pureseo.com/nz

About Britney Muller
Britney is an international keynote speaker, writer, and SEO consultant. She’s passionate about original research, machine learning, and automating workflows.

You can often find Britney hard at play (she truly loves this stuff), deepening her data science knowledge, reading, or exploring the great outdoors.

• linkedin.com/britneymuller