Mathias Noyez

The through-line

Across these posts Mathias Noyez keeps returning to one idea: search is being reorganized around AI, and the winners will be the brands and agencies that treat citation and mention behavior as something to actively manage rather than assume. Early posts frame this mostly as a monitoring problem, watching how models cite sources and adjusting strategy [3][7]. Over time the focus shifts from advising clients on this shift to actually rebuilding his own agency, Depends, around AI agents that do the outreach, admin, and content work his team used to do by hand [2][11]. The throughline moves from "here is how AI search works" toward "here is how we now work because of it," culminating in taking full ownership of Depends and pushing it toward AI-native operations [6].

On citation strategy

Noyez treats being cited by AI models as a moving target that needs constant recalibration rather than a fixed SEO tactic. Commenting on a drop in Reddit's citation rate in ChatGPT after a GPT-5.6 rollout, he writes that "your citation strategy should never be static" and that "citation behavior changes. Your strategy should change with it" [3]. He's explicit that citation alone isn't the goal: "There's only one thing that really matters in AI search: being the solution or service that gets mentioned in the answer... A citation alone isn't worth much" [7], pointing to Supabase as an example of a brand that's "clearly winning on that front" [7].

On AI agents running the agency

A big share of his recent posts document turning his own agency operations over to named AI agents. Grokbot's "Denny" has become "Chief of Staff... Knows pretty much everything about me and how I work" and is used to brief other bots and manage time entries [2], while "Mattie, the admin bot" handles invoices and bookkeeping automatically [2]. On the outreach side, he built Denny an independent inbox for linkbuilding: "Never thought I'd give an agent its own inbox (also its own domain), but our agent Denny is growing up fast" [11], explaining the setup exists so "outreach mail" doesn't get flagged as spam and to "keep my inbox clean" [11]. He frames the payoff in blunt terms: "The amount of time this is saving me is pretty crazy" [2].

On AI search as a new discovery channel

Noyez sees AI search moving from novelty to decisive touchpoint, especially in B2B. He notes hearing "van prospects, zelfs corporate en enterprise bedrijven, dat ze ons via AI search tools gevonden hebben. Van Claude tot Copilot" [13], and concludes "AI search wordt niet zomaar een extra kanaal. Het wordt een nieuwe manier waarop mensen oriënteren, vergelijken en beslissen" [13]. He extends this to e-commerce, describing AI as "transforming e-commerce at a rapid pace, from how teams work inside the CMS and optimize the front end to how customers discover online stores and products" [8].

On agency ownership

Taking full control of Depends is framed as a natural extension of his all-in philosophy. Announcing sole ownership after his co-founder's departure, he writes "als je ergens voor gaat, moet je er voor de volle 100% in vliegen" [6], and credits the agency's growth from "twee freelancers met simpelweg te veel opdrachten" to "een gevestigde waarde binnen het Belgische SEO-landschap" [6]. Even during downtime he stays operationally hands-on, listing salary runs, contract finalization, and proposal requests handled "de week voor" a holiday while expressing "full faith" in his team [10].

Takeaways

• Don't treat AI citation sources as fixed: monitor per-model, per-brand citation rates (e.g. Reddit's drop after GPT-5.6) before deciding where to invest [3].
• The real KPI in AI search is being the mentioned solution in the answer, not just appearing as a citation [7].
• Consider giving outreach agents their own inbox/domain to protect deliverability and keep main inboxes clean [11].
• B2B buyers are already discovering vendors through AI tools like Claude and Copilot, so AI search should be treated as a primary research channel, not a side channel [13].
• Every SEO agency should secure a Level 6 Google Maps Local Guide profile to push through changes that stall via normal admin access [9].