When AI handles more execution in political consulting it frees up consultants for the work that moves campaigns: judgment, strategy and relationships. Maya Hutchinson (Founder & CEO, Battleground AI) and Trent Wisecup (Partner, FP1 Strategies) talk through what the profession looks like as AI takes the busywork and consultants double down on what only humans can do, ultimately positioning for growth in an AI-enabled future.

In this forward-looking conversation, Julie Sweet, Director of Advocacy & Industry Relations at AAPC interviews Kevin Indig, a well-known growth advisor and SEO strategist to explore how AI is rapidly transforming campaign strategy, voter persuasion, and candidate perception.

Together they discuss how AI systems form “verdicts” about candidates based on the totality of available information, why consistency across media appearances, advertising, research, and messaging matters and how campaigns can begin shaping AI-driven narratives long before Election Day.

You’ll also hear about the growing role of AI-generated voter personas, personalized persuasion strategies, trust and authenticity in the AI era and why responding to misinformation requires a fundamentally different approach when machines are interpreting the conversation.

This episode provides a roadmap for understanding the opportunities, risks, and realities of campaigning in an AI-shaped environment.

This episode explores the emerging world of GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) and what it means for 2026 midterm strategy. Julie Sweet, AAPC’s Director of Advocacy & Industry Relations and Mary Coller Albert, Principal at Dewey Square Group’s digital practice will examine how AI models are trained, why platform authority matters, the role of Wikipedia and Reddit in shaping AI-generated answers, and how paywalled or inaccessible political content may disappear from AI visibility altogether.

The discussion also addresses the “crawler gap,” transparency concerns surrounding AI training data, ideological imbalances in indexed content, and the growing importance of multi-platform authority beyond traditional SEO — offering practical insight into how campaigns, consultants, advocacy organizations, and public affairs firms can adapt their communications strategies for an AI-driven information environment.