60 days building an AI tools directory — 6,470 impressions, 2 real clicks,3 features I built because every other directory frustrated me
I've been lurking and commenting here for a month. Time to actually post.
I'm Adin — I work full time at an HRMS company in Mumbai and I've been building YourAIFinder on evenings and weekends. It's an AI tools directory. I know, another one. But I built it because I kept hitting the same three walls every time I tried to use the existing ones.
Here's the honest SEO picture first, then the product stuff.
Yes, 6,470 impressions and basically no real clicks. Average position is 35–45 across most queries — deep enough that CTR is near zero regardless of title. The site exists in Google's eyes. It's just not trusted yet.
That's the SEO reality of a brand new domain with zero backlinks. Nothing surprising — just slow.
Now the product part, which is what I actually want feedback on.
The three things that frustrated me about every other AI directory:
Problem 1: You can't search by price properly.
Every directory has a "free" filter. That's it. But "free" means nothing — some free tiers give you 10 requests a month, some give you unlimited. And if you have a $20/month budget, there's no way to see what fits without opening every tool individually.
What I built: a proper price explorer. 412 tools, filter by Free / Freemium / Paid, set a budget slider (e.g. $10–$30/mo), filter by category. You can actually answer the question "what's the best AI writing tool under $20/month" in one page.
https://youraifinder.com/explore-tools-by-price
Problem 2: There's no reason to come back.
Most directories are static. You visit once when you need a tool, then never again. There's no daily pull.
What I built: AI Tool of the Day. Every day, a handpicked set of tools across different categories — ranked, with a countdown to the next day's picks. Today there are 18 tools across 6 categories. It's a small thing but it creates a habit loop that a static directory can't.
youraifinder.com/ai-tool-of-the-day
Problem 3: You still have to open 4 tabs to compare tools.
Someone asks "should I use Buffer or Publer for social media?" Every directory will show you both tools individually. None of them let you put them side by side.
What I built: a comparison page. Pick 2 to 4 tools, see them compared across pricing, features, skill level, Integration Capabilities and category in one view. The feature most people actually need when making a buying decision.
https://youraifinder.com/compare
The honest question I have for this community:
Of these three features — price explorer, tool of the day, side-by-side comparison — which one would actually make you use a directory you'd otherwise ignore?
And the harder question: is "better discovery" even the right problem to solve, or do people just Google "[Tool A] vs [Tool B]" and never visit a directory at all?
Site is youraifinder.com. Genuinely want to hear what's broken.
Interesting split here.
The “price filter” and “comparison view” feel like they solve active intent (someone already searching).
The “tool of the day” feels like it’s trying to create intent that doesn’t exist yet.
Those are two very different bets — discovery vs demand creation — and they usually don’t validate together at the same speed.
Curious which one actually changes user return rate for you first.
Honest answer: I don't expect Tool of the Day to show up in return rate data for a while. You need a baseline of returning visitors before the metric means anything, and I'm not there yet.
The intent-capture features will validate first simply because search traffic is the only real signal I have right now. If "vs" queries and budget queries start converting, that's the price explorer and comparison page doing their job.
Tool of the Day is a longer bet. If it works, it shows up in direct traffic and return rate months from now — not weeks. If those never move, that's the answer.