In the fast-paced world of digital marketing and online reputation management, few names stand out quite like Uri Samet. As the Founder and CEO of Buzz Dealer, Uri has built a global agency that helps brands and individuals shape their online presence through strategic digital PR, organic traffic optimization, and reputation management.
With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Uri has led groundbreaking campaigns, advised Fortune 500 companies, and co-founded Qroud, a marketing agency specializing in LGBTQ+ audiences.
Today, we dive into Uri’s journey—his insights on navigating online perception, the future of digital branding, and the strategies brands need to thrive in an era where reputation is everything.
What inspired you to venture into entrepreneurship in ORM and SEO? What specific gap or need did you see in the market?
I’ve been in the SEO landscape for nearly 20 years, and what’s always fascinated me is the ability to bring in traffic organically, creating a flow of relevant, high-intent traffic that finds a brand naturally, not through direct-response paid media. Early on, I believe I was among the first to recognize the growing importance of what we now call online reputation management (ORM), back when it was just starting to take shape. I realized that before anyone makes a decision – whether it’s choosing a brand to work with, applying for a job, hiring a freelancer, going on a date, or buying a product – more and more people Google it first, and their first impression is shaped by what’s on that first page of search results.
Search engines have served for years as the digital gatekeepers to first impressions. That shifted my perspective from seeing search results purely through an SEO lens to understanding how they define perceptions. That’s when I founded Buzz Dealer to offer unique solutions that manage online reputations effectively, resolve reputational challenges, and ensure a brand’s digital image matches its true identity.
How critical is online reputation for a brand?
Online reputation is absolutely critical for a brand, and that’s even more so now in the age of AI. It’s no longer just about the first page of Google search results; features like rich snippets, automated answers, Q&A sections, and Knowledge Panels are often the first things people encounter, shaping their perceptions with what’s displayed. On top of that, conversational AI tools like ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, and Copilot are increasingly where people turn for answers, and the responses these tools provide can further define how a brand is seen. Managing your digital reputation across organic content, reviews, and social media is essential to address both layers. A strong online reputation not only ensures your brand appears in the right light but also helps influence AI-driven technologies, boosting visibility and trustworthiness. Through proper ORM, brands can control their narrative and positively guide these digital elements – whether in search or conversation – creating a consistent, credible first impression that aligns with their
values and goals.
How do you help fintech brands manage and enhance their reputation?
At Buzz Dealer, we offer a comprehensive range of services to help fintech brands build and maintain a strong online reputation and optimize their organic traffic. One of our key offerings is Digital PR, where we produce and publish press announcements, news pieces, review articles, video walkthroughs, and additional content types in multiple languages for different markets, using local and global
websites to increase exposure and visibility. This work bolsters a brand’s reputation by ensuring that when people search for a financial brand, they find credible, predominantly positive sources that reflect its strengths and trustworthiness. Additionally, we tackle indexability and visibility issues, ensuring online profiles are optimized and up-to-date. We also bring specialized capabilities in organic optimization services like SEO and ASO, which draw on our Digital PR expertise to help fintech brands rank for their most desirable keywords and drive a steady flow of organic traffic, working closely with their SEO departments over the long term. Together, these services position fintech brands strongly in the market, enhancing both their digital reputation and discoverability to their target audience.
SEO tactics keep changing. How can brands keep up with the changes and how much time do they need to invest in it?
To stay ahead of SEO changes, brands need to invest in continuous learning and adaptation. The digital landscape is always evolving—algorithms, trends, and user behavior shift constantly. To maintain a strong online presence, it’s crucial to monitor these factors and keep strategies effective and up-to-date. This includes keeping a close eye on Google’s updates, which are pivotal for understanding how changes will affect SEO efforts. By staying informed about upcoming updates, brands can adapt their strategies ahead of time, ensuring they aren’t caught off guard by algorithm shifts or new ranking factors. Regular audits and adjustments are key to staying competitive. Brands should dedicate at least a few hours per week to staying informed on industry news, tracking algorithm changes, and tweaking tactics as needed. This effort keeps content relevant, discoverable, and well-optimized in an ever-changing digital environment.
By continuously refining strategies and leveraging insights from Google’s updates and user behavior, brands can align their SEO efforts with current best practices and maintain strong visibility across search engines.
What’s Buzz Dealer’s competitive advantage?
Buzz Dealer’s competitive advantage lies in our deep expertise in fintech, honed over 17 years and with more than 200 fintech brands under our belt. While we serve a range of clients and industries, our work in fintech stands out, especially in addressing the unique reputational challenges this industry faces. We have a unique reach, publishing content across news and finance websites in over 20 languages, which enables us to connect with diverse global audiences. Our ability to craft tailored strategies for fintech companies, combined with our capacity to produce native content, allows us to effectively enhance brand visibility and reputation on a global scale. This mix of fintech-focused experience, specialized insight, and multilingual capabilities positions us as a leader in ORM and SEO services for fintech brands.
What’s coming up next for Buzz Dealer?
Buzz Dealer is heading into 2025 with big plans to grow and deepen our impact. We’re rolling out more personalized ORM solutions for C-level executives and entrepreneurs, with a sharp focus on fintech leaders who need to stand out online. For the cryptocurrency sector, we’re enhancing our reach by partnering with a wide range of high-authority crypto websites to amplify Digital PR, while also crafting
unique ORM and organic traffic optimization solutions tailored to crypto brands. This will help boost their visibility, credibility, and search performance in a market that’s heating up fast.
Meanwhile, we’ve been running extensive experiments to crack the differences between optimizing for traditional search engines and optimizing for AI engines – both in terms of ORM for brand or people-related queries and SEO for key phrases that drive traffic. In 2025, we’ll adapt our ORM and SEO services to this shifting search landscape, delivering cutting-edge solutions that tackle AI-driven challenges head-on. These moves will solidify our edge, equipping fintech leaders, crypto brands, and clients across various industries with the strategies they need to excel in a rapidly shifting digital landscape.
Our continued focus on expanding our offerings will be pivotal in driving our next phase of growth and strengthening our position as an industry leader in ORM and SEO services for fintech brands.
Who is Who
Uri Samet is the CEO and Founder of Buzz Dealer, a leading agency specializing in Online Reputation Management (ORM), Digital PR, and organic traffic optimization (SEO, ASO). With nearly 20 years of experience in digital marketing, Uri has a proven track record of helping brands across fintech and other industries enhance their online presence and credibility. Under his leadership, Buzz Dealer has assisted over 200 fintech brands, using tailored strategies and multilingual content to build lasting digital reputations. Uri’s pioneering work in ORM and passion for problem-solving have made Buzz Dealer a trusted partner for both companies and high-profile individuals aiming to shape their digital narratives.