TL;DR: The Easy Summary
James Norquay, founder of an Australian SEO agency, shared insights on leveraging AI for digital marketing at a summit. He discussed his experience with AI tools like ChatGPT and RunwayML since 2020, focusing on enhancing SEO, affiliate marketing, and content creation. Key strategies include using AI for generating SEO-friendly content, identifying affiliate growth opportunities, automating digital PR and link building, analyzing data, and personalizing ecommerce experiences. Actionable takeaways involve testing AI content prompts, creating video content, leveraging AI for media pitches, prospecting with AI, and utilizing ChatGPT for data analysis and email automation.
In the rapidly evolving digital marketing landscape, James Norquay, a seasoned SEO expert and the founder of a leading Australian SEO agency, shared valuable insights at the 2024 SEO Reborn summit. With a rich background in driving growth through affiliate sites and organizing the country’s largest SEO conference, Norquay’s presentation was a deep dive into the practical application of AI in SEO and affiliate marketing.
Introduction to AI in Digital Marketing
The journey into AI-powered digital marketing strategies began for Norquay back in 2020, exploring tools like Jarvis, Jasper, and ChatGPT. His quest was to find efficient ways to enhance content creation, SEO strategies, and overall digital marketing efforts. The initial experimentation led to a pivotal focus on ChatGPT, courtesy of its unparalleled ability to streamline content ideation and creation processes.
AI for Creative Content and Videos
Norquay’s talk delved into the innovative use of AI tools, including ChatGPT and RunwayML, to automate the generation of SEO-friendly content and engaging videos. He discussed tactics for sourcing ideas from paywall-protected sites and improving content quality through tailored prompts. Additionally, the creation of personalized video spokespeople and the manipulation of real video clips were highlighted as groundbreaking approaches to content marketing.
Exploring Affiliate SEO Growth
A significant portion of the presentation was dedicated to uncovering affiliate SEO opportunities. Norquay showcased how AI, particularly ChatGPT, could be leveraged to prospect affiliate tracking codes and design unique landing page graphics at scale, opening new avenues for affiliate marketing growth.
Digital PR and Link Building Strategies
The power of AI extends into the realm of digital PR and link building, with tools like Google’s Gemini and ChatGPT at the forefront. Norquay shared strategies for ideating digital PR campaigns tied to current events, creating emotionally resonant outreach for link building, and developing viral promotions.
Leveraging Data Analysis and Email Automation
Another key aspect of Norquay’s presentation was the use of ChatGPT for data analysis and email automation. He explained how AI could filter through data to uncover new link-building domains, analyze private blog networks (PBNs), and automate email outreach efforts, significantly enhancing efficiency and effectiveness.
Ecommerce Personalization and Innovation
The talk concluded with forward-thinking ideas for ecommerce, such as implementing dynamic pricing in product titles and creating AI-generated, customizable landing pages for promotional campaigns. These strategies emphasize the potential of AI to personalize the ecommerce experience and drive sales.
My Take: What This Means for Solo Publishers
Norquay’s talk was delivered at the 2024 SEO Reborn summit, but a lot of it has aged better than expected. The tactics around AI content generation and affiliate prospecting are more relevant now than when he delivered them — the competitive landscape has accelerated dramatically since.
What to implement right now: The affiliate prospecting angle — using ChatGPT to mine affiliate tracking codes and identify new programs at scale — is still massively underutilized. Peter Macinkovic’s SEO strategy for affiliates goes deeper on this and is worth reading alongside Norquay’s talk. The core insight: AI flips the prospecting effort from manual network browsing to automated discovery.
The bigger story Norquay didn’t see coming: Impact.com’s 2025 Global State of Affiliate Marketing report found content and review partners are projected for +11% growth in brand collaborations — specifically because AI search engines pull heavily from third-party sources. McKinsey’s 2025 research is even blunter: a brand’s own website accounts for just 5–10% of what AI engines draw from; publishers and affiliate sites make up the rest. That’s real leverage for solo publishers that didn’t exist at scale two years ago. Running a GEO audit on your own site is now table stakes if you want visibility in AI-generated answers, not just traditional SERPs.
What I’d deprioritize: The RunwayML spokesperson video approach feels dated — AI video spokespeople have become commodity noise. I’d redirect that effort toward programmatic SEO using AI instead: content at scale that earns citations and compounds over time is a far better ROI for a solo operation.
The link building play: Norquay’s point about automating email outreach with ChatGPT maps directly to passive link building systems — high setup cost, but once running, it compounds passively. This is the piece worth stealing from his presentation if you only take one thing.
One angle he glossed over: the data analysis use case is underrated specifically for affiliates. Parasite SEO and LLM domination tactics show how that same ChatGPT data-filtering approach applies directly to finding low-competition placement opportunities — which is where affiliate traffic is actually won right now.
Actionable Takeaways
Norquay provided a roadmap for digital marketers to harness AI in their strategies:
- Experiment with AI-generated content and human editing to mimic high-value paywall content.
- Utilize RunwayML to create short spokesperson videos for enhanced link-building outreach.
- Employ Gemini for targeted media pitch ideas centered around upcoming events.
- Generate prospect lists with ChatGPT for affiliate marketing and festive promotions.
- Utilize ChatGPT for data filtering and to identify new link-building opportunities.
- Investigate AI applications in customizing ecommerce promotion pages for holiday seasons.
James Norquay’s presentation at the SEO Reborn summit serves as a compelling blueprint for integrating AI into digital marketing strategies. His insights offer a glimpse into the future of SEO, affiliate marketing, and ecommerce, highlighting the transformative potential of AI in driving growth and innovation.
Sources: James Norquay presentation at the 2024 SEO Reborn summit; impact.com 2025 Global State of Affiliate Marketing report; McKinsey 2025 research on AI-powered search. Related reading on RankingHacks: SEO Strategy for Affiliates in 2025/26, GEO Audit on My Own Site, Programmatic SEO Using AI.