Run the Google Test on yourself: put your name and your expertise into Google, then do the same for a published competitor. Your results probably show a LinkedIn profile buried on page two, or nothing at all. Theirs fill the whole first page with book listings, media interviews, podcast appearances and speaking bureau profiles.
The result of this test is so often unfair. Skilled people lose work every week to competitors who know less and simply show up in the results, and a search engine has no interest in which of them is better at the job.
The Harsh Reality
If you’re not on page one of Google, you don’t exist.Share on X
A book is how you become findable.
Seventy-five percent of people never scroll past the first page of search results. If you’re not on page one, you don’t exist.
Maria and Carlos both run executive coaching practices in Denver. Same credentials from the same program. Same track record. Same years of experience.
Google “executive coaching Denver.” Carlos owns the first page. His book “Leadership in Crisis” appears in multiple results. Articles quote him. His speaking bureau profile lists $25,000 keynote fees. A podcast interview with 50,000 downloads positions him as the authority on CEO mindset.
Maria appears nowhere. Her LinkedIn profile shows up on page three, sandwiched between directory listings and generic coaching websites.
They have the same expertise in the same market, down to the ZIP code, and completely different visibility. Guess who commands premium rates. The difference between them has nothing to do with how good either one is at coaching. That’s backwards.
What does one book create in search results?
A single book generates multiple search result entries: Amazon listing, Google Books preview, publisher page, media coverage, podcast interviews, speaking bureau profile, LinkedIn articles referencing the book, industry publication quotes.
Eight different search results from one book. Meanwhile, unpublished experts struggle to get one meaningful result. Each result reinforces the others. This authority spiral becomes impossible for unpublished competitors to match. If you want a professional to take it on, there’s my executive ghostwriting.
Why Don’t Visibility Substitutes Work?
LinkedIn profiles are professional business cards. Every consultant has one. Most look identical: headshot, headline claiming expertise, experience list, skill endorsements from colleagues. Nothing distinguishes your profile from thousands of other experts making identical claims. It’s wallpaper.
Directory listings create the illusion of progress while maintaining invisibility. You appear alongside hundreds of other experts in alphabetical lists that prospects rarely use for selection. Directories don’t differentiate expertise levels or explain why anyone should choose you. A paid directory slot is money set on fire.
Social media followers don’t appear in Google searches. When prospects research experts, they don’t check Instagram follower counts. A consultant with 50,000 LinkedIn followers still loses to a published expert with 500 followers when prospects search for solutions.
A paid directory slot is money set on fire.
Social media builds audiences and books build authority, and prospects hire authority. I think experts who pour years into follower counts are being sold a substitute by platforms that profit from every post they write.
| Channel | What it offers | Why it falls short |
|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn profile | A professional business card | Every consultant has one making identical claims |
| Directory listings | An illusion of progress | Alphabetical lists prospects rarely use to choose |
| Social media followers | An audience | Followers don’t appear in Google searches |
| Published book | Amazon, Google Books, media, podcast and speaker results | Not a substitute: it builds authority prospects hire |
The Published Expert Bias
When journalists need expert commentary, they search for published authorities.
Deadlines drive that more than laziness does, because a book works as instant pre-qualification. It proves deep enough knowledge to write thoroughly about a topic, professional enough execution to complete a major project, and sufficient credibility to justify the investment. Unpublished experts might have superior knowledge, but journalists under deadline pressure choose the expert who offers immediate credibility verification.
Published experts get quoted. Invisible experts get ignored. More quotes create more search results. They reinforce the authority advantage. It’s a rigged game, and the book is how you get on the right side of it.
Speaking bureaus follow the same logic. Their clients pay $25,000 to $100,000 for keynote speakers who guarantee audience engagement.
For more on what authorship really earns you, hear this conversation.
A published book eliminates the risk. It shows market validation, provides speaking topics, and offers promotional materials. Without published proof of audience interest, even gifted speakers remain invisible to the lucrative speaking market.
The Feedback Loop
The client selection process is brutally simple: Google the problem, evaluate the first page, contact the most credible expert. That creates a feedback loop I find cruel to unpublished experts. Lack of search visibility leads to fewer inquiries, lower revenue, and no investment in authority building, and that keeps them invisible.
Published experts enjoy the opposite cycle: visibility generates inquiries, revenue funds more authority building, and search dominance grows. AI-driven search will amplify this by prioritizing credible sources with published expertise, and the invisibility gap keeps widening.
Published experts ride a loop where visibility brings inquiries, revenue funds authority, and search dominance grows.
How Do You Pass the Google Test?
One published book transforms search results from invisible to dominant. Within six months of publication, your Google results shift from generic listings to authority signals across multiple platforms.
Media coverage generates additional results. Speaking opportunities create more signals. Podcast interviews expand your digital presence. Every day you remain invisible is another day prospects hire published competitors they found through Google. The Google Test doesn’t lie. It reveals exactly how prospects see you compared to everyone else in your space. Ready to transform your search results? Let’s talk about your book.
I’d rather see a capable expert write one solid book than spend another five years polishing a LinkedIn profile nobody finds. Search engines won’t reward effort poured into invisible channels, and every year spent there hands your market to someone less qualified who got into print first. That’s a stupid way to lose.
My take
Google yourself before you spend another hour on your LinkedIn profile. If prospects can’t find you, your expertise doesn’t exist to them. Published competitors fill page one with book listings, media and speaker pages, and a polished profile on page two loses to that every time. One solid book changes those results within months. I’d much prefer you write it this year than lose five more to someone less qualified who got into print first.
People Also Ask
Invisible in Google is half the problem now. The Day Your Website Died is my book on optimizing for AI search, the shift I watched change my own traffic.
