This Covert Code podcast is in partnership with Forbes Books. Aloha! My name is Anna Covert. In this episode of Authority as a Growth Strategy — a Forbes Books series presented by The Covert Code — the topic is the big picture of authority and brand leadership. My very special guest is Beth LaGuardia Cooper, newly appointed President and long-time CMO for Forbes Books. Beth is best known for building data-driven marketing engines, smart martech strategies, and high-performance teams. Today, we're breaking down how buying behavior has shifted, how trust is earned, and where real leaders are leaning in. Thanks so much for being here today, Beth.

Thank you, Anna, I'm thrilled to be here. And congratulations on the success of your book, The Covert Code, as well as the podcast — terrific success.

Thank you so much. I'm just really thrilled to be here and so blessed to have Forbes Books and to have this special series, because I think my experience was transformative and I hope that others are going to really be able to share their story and mission as well. So to kick us off, can you give us the cliff note version of the Beth story? Because it's such an amazing career — how did you get to where you are now as newly named President?

You bet. Well, the cliff notes — I've been in marketing for 30 years. In my career I've pretty much done it all, from product management and pricing to brand strategy to marketing communications across a variety of industries. Most recently, having been at Advantage for four years, I've had the opportunity to put all of that work into practice with our many CEO authors — like you — who are working to build their brand and make a bigger impact with their purpose, their mission, and the message that they're willing to share. That led to, most recently in January, Adam Witty — our CEO and founder — asking me to take over the role as President. I've been on the promise side of things for the past four years, and now I'm on the delivery side. It's my job to make us better, to grow and scale what we do in the most efficient and innovative way possible. At the end of the day, it really comes down to leading people effectively to open those doors so they can do their best work.

I know that 2026 is the Year of Authority for you guys, and I think that couldn't come at a better or more important time, because behavior is shifting dramatically. People are really scared out there — they're not sure who to trust. What are you seeing? How is AI transforming buying behavior?

You said a big word there — trust. It's something that is really nicely complemented by thought leadership. We all, as buyers and as consumers, are using AI every day, all the time. We're using it to shortcut things we do, to complete routine tasks, and we're asking for information to be compiled that we then have to sift through and figure out if we trust and use in our lives. A big part of the future of AI is going to be finding the trusted guides — finding the experts with citations and reputation behind them that we feel comfortable using. Trust is a big one. We also need to think about how we're being discovered, because all of us are beginning to use answer engines to get information. The information that comes back is going to include advertising, links, and content from a variety of sources — and that is changing how we show up to buyers. As consumers, we're not necessarily visiting a website to compare brands anymore. We're doing it right there in the answer engine, and the information we find there is going to lead us very far down the funnel.

I love that, because there's kind of three waves: there's SEO, which we commonly know about — search engine optimization — going on for about 20 years now. Then AEO, or answer engine optimization, which started to emerge around 2020. And right now we're right in the throes of GEO — generative engine optimization. When you go and Google someone, you're starting to see AI-generated comparison results at the bottom. There's a lot of opportunity here, but also a lot of risk. What are your thoughts on how to navigate this? How are we going to be seen and found in these engines?

I'm really locking in on a few things. One is making sure that you have factual information that is concise and easy for answer engines to pick up — specific, accurate, and consistently used across all platforms you own, like your website, social profiles, and directory sites. I also recommend making sure that you show up in earned media, because about 50% of the content that answer engines surface comes from non-paid sources — blogs, podcasts, trusted third-party media outlets. We want that information to be current, covering trending topics your audience is searching for. And search yourself the way your consumers would — just as we did with SEO, know how you show up and how others do as well. Beyond that, real life matters. We have communities, relationships, and speaking opportunities where you can show up authentically. Those are not going away. You're never going to be replaced by a human telling a story that's relatable and brings emotion and twists wisdom with experience.

I think that's right. A lot of leaders have previously wanted to step back — they didn't want to be in the limelight. But the only way to really be a leader today is to be out front, to be your true self, so people can see you and experience you — through the blogs, through the book, through whatever the outlets are. That's the only way people are really going to trust you.

It's not about having an ego. It's about being committed to getting your message out so other people can experience it. Doing that means adopting a thought leadership mindset over a mindset of being an operator with something to sell. You need to put your message out in a way that reaches people way down the marketing funnel. Be a thought leader, serve something greater, make a bigger impact — and bring people into your funnel who you never would have had the opportunity to talk to before because they were making a decision before you even knew about it.

There are over 250,000 websites that go live every single day worldwide. When you're thinking about whether Google is going to see you — the answer is no, unless you have enough online reputation and authority to make an imprint. What is that combination that you tell a CEO about how to really become a guide and influence the buying decision?

It starts with knowing what ends you have in mind. What are your goals? Who is really your audience? What is your message? Let's crystallize it and make sure it's differentiated and valued by your audience. My bachelor's degree is in economics, and it comes into play every day — you have buyers and sellers and you need to meet where value is shared. Having an ear to the ground, serving your audience, and giving them value without expecting value in return is a part of thought leadership. It allows you to frame your narrative, gets solutions into the marketplace, and the benefits — the return on investment, or return on authority — will come because you're paying attention to the right things. It's like reciprocity: you can't get something unless you give something.

I remember when I first was going to write my book and people were like, "Why would you want to tell people how to do what you do?" I said, "Because then they'll never want to do it on their own." Once someone sees what I do, they realize they could do it themselves — but they don't want to. And I wrote the book because I needed to reach more people faster. I had people crying to me on the phone about how much they'd been losing to digital ad fraud. When my book came out we were at 30% fraud — now just a year later we're at 60% digital fraud. The story is even more important now.

We're talking about thought leadership — original thought from people who are there to make it better until the end. On the other side, we need people to walk us through all this information overload and understand what to trust. Our outputs are only as good as our inputs, and our inputs are biased because we ask questions from our own limited perspective — we don't see everything behind us. We do need those other voices, those trusted circles, those advisors who help us see around corners and challenge us to think bigger.

As a growth leader, in the next 2 to 3 years, what organizational shifts and strategies are you most bullish about investing in?

Honestly, this is the age of thought leadership. Getting out there as a teacher to have an impact — building community in a way that gets us ahead of others in our category. We ourselves do it; we practice what we preach. Having that value-oriented approach where you consider yourself a partner to others — because you believe in your mission and you want people to have this information — being a thought leader gets you the brand you're aiming to build and gets you close to your audience. You see firsthand what their issues are, what their questions are, what they care about. Those are winning solutions. I would also say AI toolset talent and doubling down on the team — people at the top. And focusing on real-life community is a big part.

I think AI can be an equalizer in a lot of cases — and even more reason that you need the agency or the authority or the leader, because if everyone can use AI and everyone can equalize their copy, then everyone kind of looks the same. And if everyone looks the same, how is the AI engine going to compare you to anyone?

The ability to level up, the ability to come with limited resources and act like a much bigger team — amazing leaps and bounds will come from that, especially for solopreneurs. But for bigger organizations: we're not putting our head in the sand. This is very disruptive. We're going to have to remake and rethink what our organizations look like. How are we as leaders going to lead this strategy into the future in a way that brings forward the next generation of workforce? That, I think, is a responsibility we also have.

What should people be thinking about in terms of AI-proofing their business? What else is there besides building up skill sets?

Building up skill sets, working the muscle. Making sure we leave space for innovation, for testing, for an empowering culture where people feel they can be part of the strategy. And this leaves all this space for what we're going to crave — community. In-person opportunities. Talking to a human who can relate to us and really feel what we're feeling. We're absolutely going to appreciate that more — those qualities and skill sets and assets that are, by nature, AI-proof. It's leaning in both ways. And then there are things that are going to be truly disrupted, and we should test them rather than sidestep them.

I think another thing I'd really caution people about — every day clients call me with their new AI thing. There are so many solutions, and it's easy to think you have to do something now. But you don't know who's behind these AI solutions. This is your data — your customers' data — that you're responsible for. You can't just hook in any CRM and try it out. Who is this company? Who backs them? Do they have data protection and privacy in place? What happens if they go under? What about your clients' data?

You're smart, smart, smart and looking out for that. Let's take a deep breath, everyone. We know it's happening and it's going to be fast and furious. And you don't want to be caught up — just like the crypto thing. People are so anxious that they can be taken advantage of quickly. But what you can't be taken advantage of quickly on is writing a book. It's a time-tested improvement strategy that has built authority — the number one way we've built authority for generations.

Right. And when you think about it — a book is 200 pages of you talking about what you believe in, how you do what you do, what makes you different, how to frame the problems and solutions you serve. It's unbeatable. And even if people don't open it — the fact that you've written a book on the topic, how many places do you go where a guest is introduced and the very first statement is that they've written a book? That is a way of saying: highly credible, someone to be listened to, someone who views themselves as a teacher more than a seller. That's what separates you.

Absolutely. The fact that a book can be your biggest accelerant, your number one marketing asset — when you start peeling that back, when you see the ways you can use this as the ultimate business card for you and your business, it's just unbeatable. And it is very doable. When you come out on the other side, you've got this lasting asset that serves you for years and years.

You guys talk about the authority maturity model — tell me about that and how it fits into your framework and overall strategy.

We assess where you are in your authority building and what your strengths are. Where are there gaps? What are your goals? Some people's goals are not to grow their business but simply to inspire generations to come. That begins to set the tone around what makes sense to use as the tools in the toolkit. We'll build a blueprint working with people based upon their unique challenges, strengths, and goals. Most of the time, the book is a centerpiece to that — but not always. We also work with folks who have books already, or who just need to crystallize their message and know what their brand really stands for. We take you with the on-ramp you're on and look to accelerate that in the best way possible. And it's a partnership — we'll constantly strategize to keep up with changes and help you be the first through the corners ahead.

Beth, tell everyone how to get in touch with you and what are the next steps for someone who wants to reach out?

You can find me on LinkedIn. The first step is a complimentary discovery consultation — we talk about what this looks like, answer all your burning questions, and determine together if we'd like to take a very small first step, which is building a book plan together. That's where we talk about what this could look like and bring it to life in a very detailed way — a 40-plus page deliverable. No obligation. The easiest way to get there is to go to the Authority Company dot com, where we house our entire portfolio of brands. You can find the link to contact us in the navigation.

And I will mention that my blueprint was really, really valuable. When I first reached out, I wasn't even done writing — I was at 57,000 words — and Samantha said, "You should stop writing." I said, "But I have more to say!" But one of the things I really appreciated was that my editor Heather told me: no one cares how you got there. We just care that you're here now. That was very liberating. So I think it's a great exercise for anyone to go through. There will be a link on the website and below on YouTube. And the next segments will dive into additional topics, so be sure to stay tuned. Thank you so much, Beth!

Thank you. And I'll see everyone in the pixels. Aloha!