Search Engine Land published a buyer’s framework this week for vetting the wave of AI marketing tools flooding inboxes. Contributor Laura Schiele condenses years of vendor calls into four checkpoints: does the tool map to a real business outcome rather than a feature list, does the team behind it understand the actual workflow it claims to fix, can it produce case studies from operators of similar size and vertical (with honesty from early-stage vendors about being a first client), and who owns the resulting data, spelled out in the contract rather than a verbal promise.
The piece also flags implementation cost, meaning integration time, training, and disruption to an existing stack, as the line item buyers most often skip. Schiele treats contract rigidity from an unproven vendor as a warning sign, not a negotiating quirk.
Teams fielding AI vendor pitches should turn these four checks into a standing intake checklist before any procurement conversation starts.
Search Engine Land published this contributor column by Laura Schiele on July 8, 2026.
