$109M LinkedIn AI Tool + Yelp's 35 Features Drop

Author

Aleric Heck
October 22, 2025

In partnership with

What a morning it's been in the AI marketing world! I've been tracking some fascinating developments since dawn, including a LinkedIn automation tool that just secured $109 MILLION in funding (yes, you read that right) and Yelp dropping 35+ AI features that are about to change local marketing forever.

But here's the stat that really stopped me in my tracks: we've officially crossed a major milestone. AI marketing isn't just for the early adopters anymore - 88% of marketers worldwide are now using AI tools daily. The market has hit $47.32 billion and is racing toward $107 billion by 2028. The question has shifted from "should we use AI?" to "which AI tools will give us the biggest competitive edge?"

In today's newsletter, you'll discover insights that could transform how you approach marketing in the coming months.

📍 Quick Preview:

  • The $109M LinkedIn automation tool that's booking meetings while you sleep

  • How Yelp's 35+ AI features are revolutionizing local business marketing

  • Why smaller teams are outpacing enterprises in AI adoption (and how you can too)

  • A breakthrough in audience targeting that's cutting research time by 83%

📈 Today's Top AI Marketing Story

Sellinger AI Secures $109M to Revolutionize LinkedIn Outreach

This morning's biggest news has the B2B marketing world buzzing. Sellinger AI just closed a massive $109 million Series B funding round, and after diving into what they're building, I can see why investors are betting big on the future of AI-powered sales.

Here's what makes this a watershed moment: Sellinger isn't just another LinkedIn automation tool sending generic connection requests. They've created autonomous AI agents that conduct deep prospect research, craft genuinely personalized outreach, manage entire conversation threads naturally, and actually book meetings on your calendar - all while you're focused on strategic work.

The platform deploys agents that research leads using 20+ data points, generate hyper-personalized messages based on recent activity, and handle back-and-forth conversations that feel genuinely human. At $228 per agent, it might seem steep until you realize each agent can manage 50-100 conversations simultaneously. Some power users are running 20+ agents, essentially building an AI-powered sales army.

🎯 Quick Action Tip: The era of spray-and-pray LinkedIn outreach is officially over. Start collecting data points about your ideal customers now - their interests, recent posts, company news. The more context you can feed AI tools, the better your results will be.

🚀 AI Marketing Quick Hits

• $47.32 Billion Market Milestone Reached

The global AI marketing market just hit $47.32 billion in 2025 and is projected to exceed $107 billion by 2028. With 92% of companies planning AI investments in the next three years, the adoption curve is going vertical. Why This Matters: If you're still on the fence about AI adoption, you're already behind. Your competitors are actively investing and seeing results. ✅ Action Item: Audit your current tech stack and identify one area where AI could create immediate efficiency gains this week.

• Yelp Unleashes 35+ AI Features in Massive Update

Yelp's comprehensive fall release is a masterclass in AI integration. New features include Menu Vision (scan menus for dish-specific reviews), AI-powered Yelp Assistant, and Yelp Host/Receptionist for automated call handling. They're essentially turning every local business into an AI-powered operation. Why This Matters: Customer expectations for instant, intelligent responses are becoming the baseline. Local businesses without AI assistance will struggle to compete. ✅ Action Item: If you work with local businesses, explore AI call handling and chat features - they're now table stakes for customer service.

• The Marketing Cloud Launches Agent Cloud Platform

Unveiled at today's ANA Masters of Marketing conference, this unified platform provides access to GPT-5, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and Claude through a single secure interface. No more juggling multiple AI subscriptions or switching between platforms. Why This Matters: Enterprise-grade AI is becoming accessible to teams of all sizes. You can now test multiple AI models without separate accounts or complex integrations. ✅ Action Item: Calculate your current AI tool costs across platforms - unified solutions might save you significant budget.

• Google's Nano Banana AI Expands Across Ecosystem

This uniquely-named image editing AI is now being tested in Google Messages and has been integrated into marketing workflows for product photography and creative campaigns. Why This Matters: AI-generated product images are becoming indistinguishable from professional photography at a fraction of the cost and time. ✅ Action Item: Test AI product photography for your next campaign - you could save thousands on photo shoots while speeding up time-to-market.

The Marketing Cloud's Agent Cloud - Your All-in-One AI Command Center

Launched just hours ago at the ANA Masters conference, Agent Cloud is addressing a problem I hear about constantly: AI tool fragmentation. Instead of managing separate subscriptions for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, this platform unifies everything under one roof with enterprise-grade security.

What You Can Do With It:

  • Access GPT-5, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and Claude from one interface

  • Create customizable AI assistants specifically for marketing tasks

  • Maintain consistent brand voice across all AI interactions

  • Ensure enterprise-level security and compliance

  • Switch between AI models based on task requirements

What's particularly interesting is the focus on marketing-specific use cases. The platform includes pre-built marketing assistants for content creation, campaign planning, audience research, and competitive analysis. You're not starting from scratch - you're building on proven templates.

The unified billing and usage tracking alone could save hours of administrative work for agencies managing multiple client accounts. Plus, with all major AI models in one place, you can quickly test which performs best for specific marketing tasks.

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💡 Pro Tip of the Day

The "AI Readiness Audit" for Beating Larger Competitors

Research from MAICON 2025 revealed something fascinating: smaller, agile organizations are consistently ahead of larger companies in AI adoption. Here's how to leverage this advantage:

Step-by-Step Implementation:

  1. Map Your Competitive Advantages (20 minutes)

    • List processes where you can move faster than large competitors

    • Identify decisions that take them weeks but you can make in days

    • Find areas where your size allows for rapid experimentation

  2. Create "AI Sprint Weeks" (Planning: 30 minutes)

    • Dedicate one week per month to testing new AI tools

    • Set clear success metrics before each sprint

    • Document results and share learnings with the team

  3. Build Your AI Playbook (Ongoing)

    • Create templates for successful AI implementations

    • Document prompts that deliver consistent results

    • Build a library of use cases specific to your industry

  4. Measure Speed-to-Implementation (Weekly)

    • Track how quickly you go from AI tool discovery to deployment

    • Compare your implementation speed to industry averages

    • Use this metric as a competitive differentiator

Success Metric: Aim to implement new AI tools 3x faster than your larger competitors. While they're still in committee meetings, you should be seeing results.

One agency I work with used this approach to win three major accounts from Fortune 500 agencies. Their secret? They could test and implement AI solutions in days while competitors were still writing proposals.

💡 MARKETING BREAKTHROUGH

Struggling with audience targeting? You're not alone. The average marketer spends 5+ hours per week on audience research.

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🔮 What's Coming Next

The integration of AI into marketing is entering a new phase. We're moving from "AI as a novelty" to "AI as necessity." What excites me most is seeing how smaller teams are using AI to level the playing field against much larger competitors.

The $109M investment in Sellinger AI signals something important: investors believe AI-powered B2B marketing is about to explode. The tools launching today will be industry standard by next year.

Next week, I'll be diving deep into AI search optimization strategies. Healthcare sites are seeing 70% overlap with organic results in AI-generated responses - I'll show you exactly how they're doing it.

Until then, remember: your competitors are already using AI. The question isn't whether to adopt it, but how quickly you can implement it effectively.

Keep innovating,

Aleric & Greg
KeywordSearch.com

P.S. Don't let manual audience research hold you back. Start your unlimited 5-day free trial of KeywordSearch today and join the AI marketing revolution.

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