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What Zach Hipes Is Doing Now

Last updated May 2026 · Atlanta metro · Roswell, GA

I'm a digital marketing strategist based in Atlanta — the person behind the Found First methodology for SEO, AEO, GEO, and paid search. This is a live snapshot of what I'm actively building, working on, and thinking about. Updated whenever something meaningful shifts.

Working on

  • Running enterprise SEO/AEO/GEO strategy across 175+ dealerships at Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG)
  • Applying the Found First methodology for small and mid-market clients — productized Audit, Install, and Operate engagements for SEO, AEO, GEO, and paid media
  • Building AI agent systems with Claude, Claude Code, and n8n that replace 15–25 hours/week of manual marketing work
  • AI search visibility — getting businesses cited in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Most companies aren't thinking about this channel yet

Building with

  • Next.js 14, React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS — my stack for everything web
  • Claude (Anthropic) and Claude Code — primary AI for reasoning, coding, and client automation systems
  • OpenAI GPT-4o for embeddings, structured extraction, and specific pipeline tasks
  • n8n for self-hosted workflow automation (replaced Zapier — more flexible, you own your data)
  • GA4 + Tag Manager + CallRail — the measurement trifecta

Thinking about

  • AI Overviews are going to crush organic CTR for informational queries — how do you prepare for that?
  • The businesses that win in 2026 will be the ones that treat AI as infrastructure, not a feature
  • Most small businesses are 18 months behind on search strategy and don't know it yet
  • Why the best marketing hires are generalists who can go deep, not specialists who can't see the full picture

Every Found First engagement starts with an audit that finds what's being missed. If anything here connects with a problem you're trying to solve, let's talk.