DAVE PYE

Chief Executive Officer

The Captain. Loves one-eyed dogs and The Tragically Hip

Dave Pye’s digital marketing career began in 1998 at Boston’s first dedicated agency.
With over 25 years of experience he was the Director of SEO at Cox Automotive, spearheading all work on Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.

At Dealer.com, he was part of a 2-man team who recruited and then managed the largest in-house SEO team in the country. Dave also toured the country as a company SME, and created a revenue stream which remains one of the company’s most profitable.

Most recently, Dave was Director of Search at Widewail.com – a visionary startup focused on online review and reputation management solutions. He was instrumental in multiple capacities, including: building algorithmic entity authority, all things paid search and technical SEO, content team management, and …doubling organic traffic 4 years in a row. Widewail was acquired in July, 2024.

Today, Dave helps businesses navigate the complexities of online marketing to deliver impactful results through tailored, and innovative, strategies – as CEO, Founder, and Principal Client Partner at Fast Frigate. Secretly Canadian, Dave enjoys hockey, 70’s films, Frank Sinatra, and spending time with his one-eyed Boston Terrier, “Goose”. He is also, kinda, dedicated to helping businesses achieve measurable results via task transparency, clear communication, content strategy – and elbow grease.

Dave Pye’s Articles

Local SEO for Dispensaries: How to Rank on Maps and Get Cited by AI

Cannabis retailers can't buy their way into search. Here's the local SEO and AI-search tactics that can work for your dispensary instead.

A pirate frustrated by his LLM's use of em dashes.

How the Em Dash Became an AI Writing Cliche

The em dash is legitimate punctuation, but its frequent use by LLMs has become an AI writing cliche. Learn why the association formed, why it cannot prove authorship, and how editors can use prompts, alternatives, and final release checks to keep AI-assisted copy on brand.

Antique nautical chart on a ship's deck table inscribed 'No clicks? No queries?' with a pen-and-ink giant squid attacking a pirate ship

Google Search Console’s New Generative AI Report: First Week Impressions

Google Search Console’s new Generative AI report shows AI Overview and AI Mode impressions. Here is what first-week data can, and cannot, tell you.

A Pirate Who Wonders What It's Like to Drive A Car

How to Optimize VDPs (Vehicle Detail Pages) For AI Visibility

Automotive vehicle detail pages earn AI citations when they give search engines and answer engines a clear, current, VIN-specific source of truth for your price, mileage, availability, vehicle features, location, and buyer fit. For dealership marketers and inventory teams, Fast Frigate treats AI-ready VDP optimization as turning thin inventory templates into crawlable, structured, locally grounded …

Infographic About Schema FAQs in Google Search Results.

Google Just Killed FAQ Rich Results: What It Means for Your Schema

Google removed FAQ rich results in 2026. See what valid FAQPage markup still does, what the evidence says about AI citations, and what to do next.

How to Track AI Search Visibility: A 7-Step B2B Framework

Tracking AI search visibility means measuring how often, how accurately, and in what context generative AI systems like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Claude reference your brand in their answers. For B2B marketers, this matters since pipeline is starting to come from conversations you never see in Google Analytics. This guide from Fast Frigate …

Why Our “Fathom” Tool Changes the SEO Quality Conversation

Fathom Rater by Fast Frigate rates any URL against Google's September 2025 Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines, scoring E-E-A-T, YMYL compliance, content quality, and spam signals across 7 weighted categories.

Using Screenshots with AI: Why Showing Beats Telling

When you need AI help with something visible on your screen, a screenshot is often more efficient than trying to describe it in text. Screenshots give the model context it cannot reliably infer from a written summary, including an error’s location, an interface state, a layout issue, a chart’s shape, or the settings currently selected. …

Interpreting the Last Three Google Core Algorithm Tweaks

Google's explosive 2024-2025 core updates - December's content cull, March's E-E-A-T enforcement, June's satisfaction surge - slashed some thin site's traffic by 80%. Reclaim dominance: Infuse real evidence, expert bios, and intent-deep guides with videos & schema.

How to Track Your AI Search Visibility: Tools, Metrics, and Provenance

Is your brand invisible in AI search results? This guide decodes "AI provenance" and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help you take control. Discover essential tools to track mention rates, secure authoritative citations, and convert AI visibility into real revenue. Future-proof your strategy and start dominating generative answers today.

Stop Using One AI for Everything: Match LLM Models to Tasks

LLM model selection for digital marketing is the practice of matching specific large language models to distinct content and campaign tasks based on each model’s measurable output characteristics – rather than defaulting to a single AI tool for all work. Dave Pye, CEO of Fast Frigate Digital Marketing in Burlington, Vermont, ran a controlled experiment …

Update old articles for SEO and traffic.

How to Turn Old Articles into High-Performing SEO Assets

In terms of SEO strategies, is the updating / redevelopment of older content worthwhile? YES! In fact, it's one of our very favorite. Once a blog post ages, it isn't a write-off. It's part of your invaluable library of opportunity. Let us show you how a new coat of paint will do wonders.