Pearpop vs Viral Nation

Creator Marketing as Paid Media Asset: Insights from AdSpeak Podcast

In this Adweek podcast episode, host Zoë Ruderman speaks with four business leaders about treating creator content as a core paid media asset. The conversation covers how Microsoft scaled a campaign to 42 creators and 69 assets in six weeks, maintaining authenticity and performance. The guests discuss measuring impact through search lift, foot traffic, and brand lift studies, the 'Familiar Faces' framework for long-term creator relationships, and replacing traditional creative briefs with creator-led market research. They also highlight the untapped potential of extending creator content into retail media and CTV, and emphasize looking beyond typical creator demographics like Gen Z. The episode features insights from Marie-Laure De Veyt (Microsoft), Beth Everhart (AntiSocial), Christopher Franco and Cole Mason (Pearpop).

• Microsoft scaled a creator campaign to 42 creators and 69 assets in six weeks.
• The AdSpeak podcast episode features leaders from Microsoft, Pearpop, and AntiSocial.
• Discussion includes measuring creator impact via search lift, foot traffic, and brand lift studies.

Usage Rights Fees Drive Up Creator Partnership Costs

Usage rights have become a major cost driver in creator partnerships, adding complexity and expense beyond the initial post fee. Marketers report inconsistent pricing structures from creators, with usage duration, exclusivity, and syndication all often costing extra. This lack of standardization leads to friction and higher overall campaign costs. The article discusses varying perspectives from industry executives on how to address the issue, including clear early communication, contract clarity, and creative solutions like non-concurrent usage. The rising demand for content, reinforced by platform data showing creator content's effectiveness, further complicates usage rights negotiations, as brands seek more flexible and cost-effective arrangements.

• Usage rights are a major cost factor in creator partnerships, often adding 20-50% to the total cost.
• There is no industry-standard pricing model for usage rights, with some creators charging by the day or not including paid usage at all.
• Brands and creators often have differing interpretations of usage rights due to vague shorthand in contracts.

Viral Nation launches AI Discovery a social-first GEO offering

Viral Nation launches AI Discovery, a social-first GEO offering, on August 20, 2026.

Creators Power Brands’ AI Search Visibility

Brands and agencies are increasingly asking creators to help surface brand mentions inside AI chatbots and LLM-powered search results, a practice referred to as AI visibility. Agencies like Trevant and Crispin are auditing creator content and tracking citations in LLM outputs to optimize campaigns, while creators are building AEO (answer engine optimization) sites and making captions machine-readable so models can ingest them. Measurement linking creator-driven content to sales remains immature, but marketers view correlation with AI citations as a strategic reason to invest in creator-led AEO approaches. Examples include Zoom testing creator-led storytelling with journalist Nayeema Raza.

• Marketers are asking creators to improve brand visibility in AI chatbots and LLM-powered search (termed “AI visibility”).
• Zoom tested a creator-driven campaign featuring creator-journalist Nayeema Raza to build authority and credibility in AI search results.
• Agencies such as Trevant and Crispin audit creator content and track LLM citations to optimize creator campaigns.

Viral Nation Launches AI Discovery GEO Service

Viral Nation, a social-first agency and technology company, announced AI Discovery, a Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) service that helps brands shape the signals AI systems use to understand, trust and recommend them. The offering combines technical optimization, content strategy, creator ecosystems, community engagement, authority building and measurement into a five-module operating model (Diagnostic, Foundation, Signal, Measurement, Integration). Viral Nation tested the methodology internally for 18 months and reported improvements including 84% prompt visibility, 52% share of voice in mentions, 256% growth in AI referral traffic and $17 million in directly attributed pipeline. The service is positioned to address the shift toward answer-led AI discovery where brands must be accurately represented within AI-generated answers.

• Viral Nation announced AI Discovery, a social-first Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) offering.
• AI Discovery is structured around five modules: Diagnostic, Foundation, Signal, Measurement, and Integration.
• Viral Nation tested the AI Discovery methodology on itself for approximately 18 months.