Community | University 

Feb 16, 2026

Hello, GrowthHackers! 

Welcome to your daily unfair advantage.

Every morning, we cut through the noise to bring you sharp insights, fast news, and fresh sparks to light up your brain and fuel your hustle. From scrappy hacks to big tech moves, AI shifts to culture flips this is your intel to stay ahead, move fast, and break boring.

Think of it as your growth-fueled espresso shot.
Short. Smart. Addictive.

Let’s dive in.👇

Quick Hits

1. Google Shows How To Check Passage Indexing
   (It’s not the page ranking. It’s the paragraph)

2. Bing Now Shows Which Pages Get Cited in AI Answers
   (Finally, receipts for AI answers)

3. From Performance SEO To Demand SEO
   (Demand SEO = make them look for you)

The Growth joke of the day

Why did the marketer stop obsessing over page rankings?
Because Google started ranking the paragraph instead.

What's New in Growth Hacking/Growth Marketing?

Strategies

• AI ROI confidence is slipping, and that’s not a bad thing
  As confidence in AI ROI slips, it’s a sign marketers are raising the barand getting serious about real business value.

• Shopping Ads Testing In AI Mode, Microsoft’s AI Search Guide & Keyword Strategy Shift
  Google tests Shopping ads in AI Mode, Microsoft explains AI search visibility, and Google reframes keywords. What PPC advertisers should understand now.

• OpenAI removes access to sycophancy-prone GPT-4o model

  OpenAI will cease providing access to five legacy ChatGPT models, including the popular but controversial GPT-4o model.

• Why customer service determines the ROI of your marketing spend
  Marketing creates expectations that customer service must fulfill. When they don’t, acquisition gains turn into retention losses.

• Longtime NPR host David Greene sues Google over NotebookLM voice
  David Greene, the longtime host of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” is suing Google, alleging that the male podcast voice in the company’s NotebookLM tool is based on Greene

  ____________________________________________________________

People

• OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger joins OpenAI
  Peter Steinberger, who created the AI personal assistant now known as OpenClaw, has joined OpenAI.

Did you hear?
The GrowthHackers New Podcast is live!🎙️

A Founder’s Journey in Microscope

In this episode, we sit down with Jack, the 22-year-old founder of ARK-STEM — the global community and marketplace built by STEM lovers, for STEM lovers.

ARK-STEM is a dedicated platform where makers, engineers, and innovators can share projects, collaborate, sell inventions, and preserve what they build in a way that’s deeper and more enduring than fleeting social posts or video snippets.

Jack opens up about his journey from a young tinkerer to launching a platform that bridges community, creativity, and commerce.

Are you ready?

What's New in Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

• Google Search Hits $63B, Details AI Mode Ad Tests

  Alphabet reported Q4 2025 revenue of $113.8 billion, beating Wall Street estimates and marking the company’s first year above $400 billion in annual revenue. Google Search grew 17% to $63.07 billion.

• As AI data centers hit power limits, Peak XV backs Indian startup C2i to fix the bottleneck
  Power, rather than compute, is fast becoming the limiting factor in scaling AI data centers. That shift has prompted Peak XV Partners to back C2i Semiconductors.

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