The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

Transparency around your AI workflow and protecting your creative voice with Jeremy Carrasco from Jeremy Finds AI. 
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Welcome to episode 585 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jeremy Carrasco, the creator behind Jeremy Finds AI and founder of Riddance. 
Why Trust Matters More Than Detection in the Age of AI with Jeremy Carrasco
Pop quiz! Can you actually spot AI-generated content if you saw it? Jeremy's background in live streaming, encoding, and video production gave him an early edge in identifying synthetic content, but as AI videos get more realistic, he explains why that edge is disappearing fast, and why the old advice to simply "train your eye" isn't enough anymore. In this episode, Jeremy makes the case that the real question isn't "can you spot AI?" but "do you trust the source?"
He and Bjork get into the difference between acceptable and deceptive AI use, why disclosing your AI workflow might actually build more trust with your audience, and what "human-forward" creation looks like in an increasingly synthetic feed. Jeremy also shares candidly how he uses AI in his own work, and why he refuses to let it touch his creative edge. If you create content in any capacity, this conversation gives you a clear-eyed look at where trust is headed next and what it'll take to hold onto yours.
Three episode takeaways:
Spotting AI is basically a coin flip now: The days of "train your eye to catch AI" are over — content's gotten too realistic, and platform algorithms make it even trickier to know what's real. Trust in the source matters way more than trying to detect fakes.
There's a real difference between using AI and hiding AI: Being upfront about your AI workflow can actually build more trust with your audience, not less. It's not about ditching the tools — it's about being honest when you use them.
The smartest move right now is doubling down on being human: As AI gets faster and cheaper, the creators who protect their creative voice and stay unmistakably them are the ones who'll stand out in an increasingly synthetic feed.
Resources:
Jeremy Finds AI
Riddance
Lion's Den
YouTube channel: RocketJump
Zach King's YouTube channel
YouTube star Hank Green apologizes for ChatGPT overuse after fans accuse him of including a prompt by mistake — Fortune
Patreon
Substack
YouTube short from Jeremy Finds AI: This political influencer isn't real
Why Nobody Can Stop AI Art Scams — Jeremy Finds AI on YouTube
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group
Thank you to our sponsors!
This episode is sponsored by Yoast and Clariti. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors.
Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Using AI to run a smarter food blog, understanding the different Claude tools, and moving beyond using AI as a chatbot with Shruthi Baskaran-Makanju from Urban Farmie.
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Welcome to episode 584 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Shruthi Baskaran-Makanju from Urban Farmie.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Claude as a Food Blogger
Shruthi Baskaran-Makanju recently made the leap from a successful career in management consulting to become a full-time content creator with Urban Farmie. Her background in business strategy didn't disappear when she made the switch, and it has become one the most valuable tools in her toolbox, especially when it comes to how she uses AI in her business.
In this episode, Shruthi shares how she's moved well beyond using Claude as a chatbot and has started treating it as a genuine business partner — delegating tasks, building custom skills, and creating systems that let her spend more time on the work only she can do. If you've been curious about AI but aren't sure how to actually integrate it into your workflow in a meaningful way, this episode is a great place to start.
Three episode takeaways:
There are different stages to incorporating AI into your workflow — and most people stop too early — Using Claude to answer a question or draft a caption is just the beginning. Shruthi walks through what it looks like to move from using AI as a chatbot to using it as a true assistant: one that handles mundane, repeatable tasks on your behalf so you can focus on the work that brings you joy.
Custom skills are one of the most powerful AI features for food bloggers — Shruthi has built a library of Claude skills tailored to her business — including one that creates a virtual board of advisors to help her think through decisions. She breaks down what a skill actually is, what makes a good first skill to build, how to workshop and iterate on a skill until it does exactly what you want, and how she uses skills to write and refine standard operating procedures for her team.
Understanding your AI tools makes all the difference — Knowing when to use Claude Chat vs. CoWork vs. Design vs. Code can save you a lot of frustration. Shruthi explains the differences between the tools, walks through how connectors like QuickBooks work, and shares why auditing your AI workflows on a monthly basis is key to getting the most out of the tools available to you.
Resources:
Urban Farmie
TED: The unsung heroes fighting malnutrition
Mise en Claude
TextExpander
Inside Crowded Kitchen's Strategy for Growing to 2.4 Million Followers on Facebook
How Mika Kinney Turned Her 480,000 Instagram Followers into Site Traffic and Revenue
WisprFlow
Airtable
Shruthi's AI Challenge for Food Bloggers — use code "FBP" for $45 off
Follow Shruthi on Instagram
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group
Thank you to our sponsors!
This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors.
Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Building a thriving food blog by putting YouTube first, growing to 2 million subscribers on YouTube, and using social media to drive blog traffic with Jeanelle Castro from Jeanelleats.
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Welcome to episode 583 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jeanelle Castro from JeanellEats.
Why Jeanelle Castro Thinks YouTube Is the Most Powerful Social Platform for Food Creators
Jeanelle started Jeanelleats ten years ago while still working a 9-to–5 — but she knew she had always wanted to be an entrepreneur, and she always loved making videos. In 2016 she started posting on YouTube, got serious about tracking her metrics and posting consistently, and within a few months her channel started taking off. Today she has nearly 2 million subscribers on YouTube!
In this episode, Jeanelle shares how she built a content system where YouTube is the engine that drives everything else — including her blog traffic, her Google rankings, and her brand deals. She explains how she uses YouTube Shorts to drive traffic to her site (her CTA is simple: "head to Jeanelleats for the recipe!"), and why she believes that the success of a social post and the performance of a blog post are more correlated than most creators realize.
Three episode takeaways:
Promoting YouTube videos of your recipes can improve your Google ranking — Jeanelle has noticed a real correlation between pushing a YouTube video of a recipe and that recipe's performance in Google search. Since YouTube is owned by Google, there's a connection between video engagement and search visibility that food bloggers with a YouTube presence can take advantage of. Combined with the branded search that grows when your social content performs well, this is another reason to prioritize video even if SEO has felt out of reach.
What a YouTube first posting strategy looks like — Jeanelle publishes to YouTube first, then reposts to Instagram and TikTok. She explains her posting cadence, why YouTube is her #1 platform from both an audience and revenue perspective, and how she thinks about Instagram differently — it's less important for direct revenue, but it still matters for brand partnerships.
Why Jeanelle is leaning into her blog and how it fits into her overall revenue — While brand deals remain her number one income source, her blog revenue has recently surpassed her YouTube AdSense revenue. The blog has become her priority precisely because it's the most stable and predictable of the three — and she's noticed a direct link between promoting YouTube videos of her recipes and improved Google rankings for those same posts (a win win)!
Resources:
Jeanelleats
LinkDM
Raptive
Clariti
GRO
Manychat
Follow Jeanelle on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group
Thank you to our sponsors!
This episode is sponsored by Yoast and Clariti.
Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Building and positioning your brand through earned media and PR with Lydia Bagarozza from Visibility on Purpose.
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Welcome to episode 582 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lydia Bagarozza. 
Building Brand Authority Through PR with Lydia Bagarozza
Have you ever wondered how food creators and brands land coverage in respected publications, and whether that kind of press is even worth chasing? In this episode, Bjork sits down with PR expert Lydia Bagarozza to demystify proactive PR, showing that it's less about crisis control and more about shaping brand perception and earning credibility through the media. Lydia breaks down how to pitch timely, newsworthy stories to the right editors and producers, and why clear positioning and specific expertise can turn a pitch into a yes.
The conversation also makes the case for PR as a long-term investment. Lydia explains how appearing in respected publications and local news builds social proof, backlinks, and brand signals that feed into SEO, AI visibility, and trust, and she shares go-to tools like Qwoted, Connectively, and Help a Reporter Out for finding real media opportunities. If you've been curious about earning press for your brand, this episode is a great place to start!
Three episode takeaways:
PR is about long-term brand building, not just crisis management: Proactive PR helps shape how your brand is perceived, builds awareness, and earns credibility through the media well before you ever need it for damage control.
Positioning and specificity make pitches easier to say yes to: Editors and producers are more likely to cover you when your pitch is timely, newsworthy, and grounded in clear, specific expertise rather than a generic pitch about your brand.
Earned media pays off beyond just visibility: Appearing in respected publications and local news builds social proof and backlinks that can strengthen SEO, AI visibility, and overall trust — and there are accessible tools like Qwoted, Connectively, and Help a Reporter Out to help you find real opportunities, whether you go the DIY or agency route.
Resources:
Visibility on Purpose
GRAZA
The Minnesota Star Tribune
Food & Wine
Bon Appetit
The New York Times
The Atlantic
Good Morning America
Claude
Martha Stewart
VegNews
The Pioneer Woman
ChatGPT
Entrepeneur
Inc.
Forbes
Qwoted (affiliate link!)
WisprFlow
Featured
Connectively
Help A Reporter Out
Follow Visibility on Purpose on Instagram
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group
Thank you to our sponsors!
This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors.
Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Mitigating risk in search marketing, cleaning up link spam on your site, and getting your technical SEO foundation right with Liane Walker from Foodie Digital.
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Welcome to episode 581 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Liane Walker from Foodie Digital.
What's Actually Holding Your Food Blog Back in Search with Liane Walker from Foodie Digital
Liane Walker has seen just about every SEO mistake a food creator can make. In this episode, she's sharing her expertise about the two things that matter most right now for food blogs — getting your technical SEO foundation right and creating content that's structured to reach the right reader.
One of the biggest issues Liane has noticed time and time again with food bloggers is link spam — something that might seem harmless but can quietly become an SEO success killer. She breaks down exactly what Google considers as spam, when to mark a link as nofollow, and how this is all a part of mitigating risk in search marketing.
Three episode takeaways:
Technical SEO comes first (and link spam is a bigger deal than most food bloggers realize) — Liane sees link spam issues often in her SEO audits, and she's clear that it's a really common barrier to search success. She explains what link spam usually looks like for food bloggers, why Google's spam algorithm targets it, and the practical steps you can take to identify and clean it up on your site — including when to mark a link as nofollow.
Once your technical foundation is solid, content strategy becomes the priority — Liane explains that the real work is in your content strategy: organizing content in a way that signals meaning to search engines and structuring posts to serve both readers and algorithms.
Reader-first and robot-first don't have to be in conflict — One of the most practical takeaways from this episode is Liane's framework for balancing SEO best practices with genuinely useful, readable content. She walks through her tips for writing and formatting posts in a way that serves both audiences — and explains why, in a world of semantic search, these two goals are more aligned than ever.
Resources:
Foodie Digital
Why Search Intent Matters for Food Bloggers with Liane Walker from Foodie Digital
Siftr
Google Search Central Link Spam Policies
A Couple Cooks
Pinch of Yum
Lily Ray's Algorythmic
Follow Liane on Instagram
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group
Thank you to our sponsors!
This episode is sponsored by Yoast.
Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.