He covers who owns the data you give these devices, whether Big Tech should pay us for it, what happens when your AI companion turns salesperson, the right to opt out, and why society may split over devices that record us. He also explains how he uses an AI recorder himself, and why he still encourages people to teach AI what only they know.

Chapters

00:00 The Meta Muse Charm: should we be afraid of it?

00:33 The surveillance Tamagotchi: you are the data

01:26 From Alexa and Siri to an AI assistant in your pocket

02:29 Keywords out, conversational search in

03:40 Where are we on privacy? Social media and how young people vote

05:06 Are we close to a privacy backlash? Glasses, Android and location data

06:55 A generation that has never known life offline

07:31 Should Big Tech pay us for our data?

08:49 When your AI companion becomes a salesperson

09:37 Devices that listen: Pocket, Claude, Grok and OpenAI's Dots

11:04 Do we have the right to opt out?

12:08 A split in society: people who refuse to be recorded

12:56 Can anyone control AI now?

13:32 Teach the AI what only you know

14:33 Should we be worried? Tell me in the comments

Notes on what is said

03:50 Simon says the 2016 UK general election. There wasn't one: 2016 was the EU referendum, and the general elections either side were in 2015 and 2017.

09:54 If you record calls or meetings with a device like Pocket, get everyone's consent first. Pocket notes that phone call transcription requires consent.

10:43 Simon says dots.com. The domain is dot.com: it is held by xAI and redirects to Grok, while dots.com belongs to a long-defunct company (TechCrunch, 29 Sep 2026). The $20 million price is unconfirmed.

11:05 The Charm is tap to talk. Zuckerberg: tap the fingerprint sensor in the corner and you can start talking (TechCrunch, 23 Sep 2026).

13:57 Teaching AI what you know is Simon's experience, not a guarantee of being cited.

On the record

Muse trains on your conversations by default and you can opt out in Muse settings (Meta): https://research.meta.ai/blog/security-and-safety-for-ai-agents-our-approach-with-muse

The Charm reveal (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/23/meta-made-a-tamagotchi-like-wearable-for-its-muse-ai-agent/

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA5X8lJczdM

Full article, five signposts to watch and transcript: https://question.marketing/library/surveillance-tamagotchi-meta-muse-charm-ai-companions-privacy-2026

Previous episode on Muse Charm privacy (25 Sep): https://www.buzzsprout.com/2650282/episodes/19863615

Simon Young, Question.Marketing: https://question.marketing

In this episode Simon Young of Question.Marketing explains how search has turned into a conversation. Google AI Mode, ChatGPT and Gemini take one long question, break it into many hidden searches, and write a single answer from what comes back. He covers what Google's People Also Ask box was telling us for a decade, two worked examples (a Doncaster accountant and a South Yorkshire recruitment agency), why a top 10 ranking is now closer to a raffle ticket, and a practical plan for this week.

Read the full article and transcript: https://question.marketing/library/stop-thinking-about-keywords-conversational-search-2026
Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgOnpI5vxHM

Chapters
00:00 Why stop thinking about keywords?
00:47 From typing keywords to asking questions
01:50 Why so many Google searches are brand new
03:01 What People Also Ask was telling us
04:41 Who writes the People Also Ask answers now?
07:27 Search is now a conversation
08:23 What is a fan-out query?
10:52 Fan-out examples: lawn care and headphones
11:57 Why your keyword tool misses the questions that matter
14:09 Why a top 10 ranking is now a raffle ticket
15:53 How fast is AI Mode growing?
18:10 Longer questions get the machine's answer
19:02 Ad money is following longer searches
20:05 UK searches are getting longer
20:47 How many follow-up questions do people ask?
22:36 Worked example: choosing a recruitment agency
25:44 Is this still just SEO?
28:18 Keywords are no longer the unit of search
28:35 What to do this week: start with questions
30:00 Use People Also Ask as a free map
30:45 One page per conversation
31:15 Say what only you know
32:23 Ask it the long way and check if AI names you
33:07 Sources and wrap-up

Notes on figures as spoken
01:25 Semrush's 23 words is for ChatGPT prompts without web search, against about 3 to 4 words for a Google search (2024 data).
03:41, 06:18 and 32:04 Google's 15% new-searches figure covers Google Search only, not AI platforms or the wider web.
10:57 Google's own lawn example lists herbicides, weeding without chemicals and weed prevention. Grass types and watering are my additions.
11:41 No study shows that queries with a date or statistics get cited more. That's my observation, not a published finding.
15:56 Google's billion is monthly active users of AI Mode, not searches.
27:31 AI referrals were about 1% of traffic on Conductor's 2025 US data and 0.14% on Semrush's 2026 data.

Key sources
Google 15% new searches (Search Engine Journal): https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-revisits-15-unseen-queries-statistic-in-context-of-ai-search/543160/
People Also Ask answers now AI Overviews (Brafton, AlsoAsked data): https://www.brafton.com/blog/seo/google-ai-overviews-are-taking-over-people-also-ask-heres-what-marketers-should-know/
Query fan-out in Google AI Mode (Search Engine Journal): https://www.searchenginejournal.com/query-fan-out-technique-in-ai-mode-new-details-from-google/552532/
Gemini 3 fan-out research (Seer Interactive): https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/gemini-3-query-fan-outs-research
AI Overview citations from top 10 pages (Ahrefs via Search Engine Journal): https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-ai-overview-citations-from-top-ranking-pages-drop-sharply/568637/
Pew Research Center on AI summaries and clicks (The Decoder): https://the-decoder.com/pew-finds-that-only-1-percent-of-users-click-a-source-link-directly-from-googles-ai-overviews/
How AI Mode is changing search (Google): https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/ai-mode-us-insights/
Google's AI search guide and scaled content abuse (TechWyse): https://www.techwyse.com/news/ai-search/google-ai-search-guide-seo-geo-hacks
Semrush ChatGPT prompt length study: https://www.semrush.com/news/379285-new-semrush-study-reveals-chatgpt-search-trends-insights-from-80-million-clickstream-records/
Google Search Central guide to generative AI features: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide
AI referral traffic benchmarks (Conductor): https://www.conductor.com/academy/aeo-geo-benchmarks-report/
Traffic channel mix study (Semrush): https://www.semrush.com/blog/traffic-channel-mix-study/
Peec, what is a query fan-out: https://docs.peec.ai/research/what-is-a-query-fanout
RealityMine, UK search behaviour: https://www.realitymine.com/articles/ai-powered-search-how-google-search-behavior-is-shifting

Question.Marketing: https://question.marketing
Simon Young on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aeo/

People did not want to talk to a speaker in the corner for real search. Weather, timers, radio. That was about it. Smart speakers sold. Ownership is not voice search.

What has changed is the brain behind the microphone. In this episode I cite Google's own August 2026 figure that 63% of Gemini users talk to it, and Gemini past a billion monthly users. Treat those as on-camera cites until we check the primary. Google Assistant is off on Android as of 4 September 2026. Hey Google now means an LLM.

We walk through the recycled "50% voice by 2020" myth, why AEO has been the house category at Question.Marketing since 2019, five guesses I label as opinions, and why every major voice still reads the same web. Publish corroborated niche truth, or none of them will say your name.

Series: Will AI Recommend You?

Full transcript: https://question.marketing/library/voice-search-wrong-on-timing-aeo-2026

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcbtIi04Sas

What is on the record:

- Meta hasn't said Muse Charm is always listening. The demo was tap-to-talk (TechCrunch, 23 Sep 2026).

- Muse uses your interactions to train Meta's AI by default. Meta calls that "a good default" in its Muse safety post (Meta, 8 Sep 2026, https://research.meta.ai/blog/security-and-safety-for-ai-agents-our-approach-with-muse; also quoted by Business Insider, 21 Sep 2026). You can switch it off in Muse under Settings, then Data controls (Meta Help Centre).

- Meta says Muse conversations aren't shared with its ad systems (Meta Newsroom, 8 Sep 2026).

- Muse is 18+ (Muse terms and the Apple App Store listing, via Daily Caller News Foundation, 10 Sep 2026). The UK's under-16 social media ban is expected to come into force in spring 2027 (GOV.UK, 15 Jun 2026).

- Muse has no UK launch date yet (as of 25 Sep 2026).

- Meta has launched camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses alongside its camera models (The Verge, 24 Sep 2026).

- Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in October 2025 that Meta does not use the phone's microphone to eavesdrop on you (The Verge, 1 Oct 2025). That was a general statement, not about Muse. When Simon says his phone is listening, that is his personal view.

The sales agent scenario is Simon's prediction, not a Meta announcement.

Full transcript and receipts: https://question.marketing/library/muse-charm-privacy-should-we-be-worried-2026

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC3vAfGNzXE

Would you want your voice built into a training model for an AI?

Chapters

00:00 Should we be worried about our privacy?

00:48 Muse, Muse Charm and the AI assistant race

01:39 Who owns our data?

02:07 Voice assistants and answer engines

02:54 Should these devices listen to children?

03:42 Living with an AI pocket device

05:05 Who's learning everything?

05:34 Influence, elections and social feeds

06:34 When AI assistants become sales agents

08:27 Opt out, not opt in

08:49 Is the phone listening? (Simon's view)

10:12 Controls for kids

10:35 A knowledge race

11:13 Your voice in a training model?

Question.Marketing: https://question.marketing/