Building GhostAI: ATS Checker Live, Stripe Working, Now Trying To Get My First 100 ATS Checks
I’ve been building GhostAI alongside my full-time consulting job and wanted to share where things are at.
The idea started because I kept seeing people apply to dozens (sometimes hundreds) of jobs without getting interviews. A lot of the time the issue wasn’t qualifications — it was CVs not matching job descriptions closely enough.
Over the last few months I’ve built:
A free ATS CV Checker
Missing keyword detection
ATS match scoring
CV improvement suggestions
AI interview coaching
Pro and Ultimate plans with Stripe subscriptions
This week I finally got Stripe working properly and launched the ATS checker publicly.
One thing that’s been really interesting is watching real user recordings through Microsoft Clarity.
A few insights:
People are actively using the ATS checker
Some visitors are going straight to pricing
Several users were bouncing between signup and login, which highlighted a conversion issue I wouldn’t have spotted otherwise
Mobile users seem to progress through the ATS flow surprisingly smoothly
Right now my goal isn’t revenue.
My goal is:
100 ATS checks in the next 30 days.
Current acquisition plan:
Reddit (contributing to resume and job-search discussions)
SEO around ATS and CV-related searches
Indie Hackers build-in-public updates
AI directories and startup listings
Continuous conversion improvements based on Clarity recordings
For founders who’ve gone from 0 users to their first meaningful traction:
What channel ended up working far better than you expected?
And if you were in my position today, what would you focus on next?
the signup-login bounce clarity flagged is worth chasing before you pour in more traffic. that one bit me too, turned out people forgot they'd already made an account and bounced confused. an ATS checker is also such a 'use once while job hunting' thing ngl, the retention shape worries me more than the top of funnel. are the checks coming back or one-and-done?
for an ATS checker the channel that maps is wherever people are mid-job-hunt and panicking, r/resumes and the jobs subs way more than generic IH or reddit imo. those people have acute timed pain and will try anything that says 'will this pass the bot'. the allinoneai traffic is probably tire-kickers, the resume subs convert because the pain has a deadline. idk how strict their self-promo rules are though
That second person is also the one who'll actually pay. The casual explorer might try a free tool and move on. Someone at 20 applications with no replies is frustrated enough to pay for anything that removes doubt. Go find them exactly where they're broadcasting that frustration: Reddit threads about job searching, LinkedIn posts complaining about ghosting. They're not looking for tools, they're looking for relief. That's your acquisition channel.
If I were picking the next focus, I would do one trust pass before pushing volume.
For a resume/ATS product, the boring checks matter a lot:
That is not as fun as another acquisition channel, but it removes the "can I trust this with my job history?" objection before the first 100 checks turn into a support problem.
That’s a fair point. I’ve been focused on getting the product live and validating demand, but trust is especially important when people are uploading CVs and personal career history.
The signup/login confusion is already showing up in Clarity recordings, so that’s definitely something I’m planning to address. I agree that fixing trust and friction before pushing larger volumes of traffic probably makes sense
How are you handling the "ATS score" expectation? Also a high key word match doesn't necessarily correlate with call backs so how do you frame it without over promising? Also congrats on stripe working.
That’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently.
I’m trying to position GhostAI less as a guarantee of interviews and more as a way to identify alignment gaps between a CV and a specific job description before applying.
A higher match score doesn’t automatically mean more interviews, but understanding missing keywords, requirements, and positioning issues can help candidates make better decisions before sending another application.
I had the same Stripe-is-live, now-can-strangers-trust-the-flow moment on a small SaaS. Clarity or Hotjar will show the signup wobble, I built PrivacyForge because once Stripe, resume uploads, and analytics are in the stack the trust page usually lags behind the product and that quietly hits conversion too. I'd fix the signup and login confusion first, then add one blunt line near pricing about how CV data is stored and who sees it, thats the kind of thing nervous job seekers actually check.
That’s a really good point.
The signup/login confusion is actually something that’s showing up in my Clarity recordings already, so it’s becoming pretty clear that’s one of the first conversion leaks I need to fix.
I also think you’re right about trust. As a founder it’s easy to focus on features, but job seekers are uploading personal information and career history, so a simple explanation of how CV data is handled probably removes a lot of uncertainty.
Appreciate the feedback.
The Clarity finding about users bouncing between signup and login is worth chasing. That specific pattern usually means one of two things: people are trying to sign up but think they already have an account (check if your signup CTA says 'Create account' or something ambiguous), or the flows are close enough to each other that people are clicking the wrong one. Small copy or UI fix, big conversion impact.
On channels — at your stage I'd focus on the ones where you find people who are already frustrated, not people who are curious. Reddit works, but specifically the threads where someone posts "I've sent 60 applications and heard nothing back." That person is in active pain right now. Showing up in that thread with useful advice (not a pitch) and mentioning GhostAI only when it's the direct solution to what they're asking builds trust and converts at a completely different rate than any promotional post.
Someone who just hit their 50th rejection is a different buyer from someone browsing AI tools. Find the frustrated ones first.
I think you’re right. One thing I’ve learned from this discussion is that there’s a big difference between someone casually exploring AI tools and someone who’s sent dozens of applications without hearing back.
The second person is actively looking for answers right now, which is probably why the “20 applications and no replies” theme keeps coming up. I’m going to spend more time engaging in those communities and understanding that specific problem.
That pattern is worth leaning into. Someone posting "I've sent 20 applications and heard nothing" has already decided they need a fix. They're not browsing anymore, they're actively looking for help right now. That's the highest-intent version of your user. Showing up with useful advice in those threads is a completely different quality of traffic than any promotional post. Good luck finding more of them.
Congrats on getting it live.
Getting the first users always seems harder than building the product itself.
What's been your most successful acquisition channel so far?
Honestly, it’s still early, but AllInOneAI has probably driven the most traffic so far, followed by Reddit and Indie Hackers.
What’s surprised me is that some users are already going beyond the ATS checker to visit the pricing page, suggesting the problem resonates more than I expected. The challenge now is figuring out which audience segment is getting the most value and doubling down on that.
That's really encouraging.
The pricing page visits seem like a strong signal that you're solving a real problem. It'll be interesting to see which audience segment ends up converting best.
Good luck with the next 100 users.
The raw demand signal is better than it looks: people are already running checks and some are jumping straight to pricing. I would narrow the first 100 around segments, not just channels.
Build separate pages for ATS check for software engineers, ATS check for product managers, match your CV to a specific job description, and fix why your resume gets filtered out before a recruiter sees it. Then every Reddit contribution or founder update points to the exact situation someone is in instead of one all-purpose ATS page. That usually lifts qualified traffic and completed checks much faster.
I'm giving away free acquisition clusters right now. If you want, drop GhostAI here and I'll send 5 conversion page ideas within 24h: https://clustra.nanocorp.app/#cluster-gratuit
This is a really interesting point. I’ve been thinking mostly in terms of channels, but you’re right that segments might matter more than channels at this stage.
The idea of creating pages for specific situations (software engineers, graduates, career switchers, ‘why am I not getting interviews?’) makes a lot of sense because the intent is much stronger than that of a generic ATS page.
I’m going to add this to my roadmap and start looking at which segment appears most frequently in the communities I’m already engaging with.
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Huge congrats on getting GhostAI live and Stripe working, especially while juggling a full-time role. That's some serious dedication.
Your plan with Reddit, SEO, and IH updates makes sense, and it's great you're already digging into Clarity recordings. For those first 100 checks, instead of trying to optimize multiple channels at once, what if you focused on those users you already see actively using the ATS checker? Sending a quick email or DM to ask 'how was your experience?' or 'what brought you here?' could give you gold. It's often the quickest way to figure out which channels are already whispering about you, and what needs fixing to convert them.
Thanks, that’s a great point. At the moment a lot of ATS checker usage is happening before signup, so I don’t always have a way to contact users directly. I’m using Clarity recordings to understand behaviour, but I agree that getting actual feedback from users is probably the fastest way to understand what’s working and what’s causing drop-off. I’m also considering adding a simple feedback prompt after ATS results.
The 100 ATS checks goal is the right target because it forces usage, not vanity traffic.
I’d probably narrow the acquisition plan more. Reddit, SEO, directories, IH updates, and Clarity improvements are all useful, but for the next 30 days I’d focus on the fastest path to people who already have urgent job-search pain.
The strongest wedge might be specific job-search situations, not generic “ATS checker” traffic.
For example:
people applying to 20+ jobs with no replies
students applying for internships
career switchers rewriting CVs for a new role
people posting “roast my resume” in communities
LinkedIn users openly asking why they are not getting interviews
The message should not be “check your ATS score.” It should be closer to:
“Before you send another 20 applications, check if your CV actually matches the job description.”
That feels much more urgent.
For the next 100 checks, I’d probably pick one segment, write 2 or 3 direct messages/posts for that segment, and push hard there before spreading across too many channels.
Thanks, this is really useful. I think you’re right that I’m probably trying to speak to too many job seekers at once. The “20 applications and no replies” angle is particularly interesting because it’s a very specific pain point and something I’ve seen repeatedly in resume communities. I’m going to look at narrowing the messaging and tracking ATS checks as the primary metric over the next few weeks.
That “20 applications and no replies” segment is probably the strongest one because the pain is immediate and emotional, not theoretical.
Most people do not wake up wanting an ATS score. They wake up frustrated that they are applying everywhere and hearing nothing back.
I’d probably pressure-test messaging closer to:
“Before sending another 20 applications, check whether your resume actually matches the role.”
That feels much more urgent than “optimize your ATS score.”
If you want, share your email and I can send a few more specific thoughts privately around positioning and early acquisition for this segment.
That’s a really good way of framing it. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about ATS scores and keyword matching, but ultimately users care about getting interviews, not the score itself. I’ll definitely test some messaging around the “20 applications and no replies” problem because that’s the pain I’m seeing repeatedly in job-seeker communities. Thanks for the offer as well - I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on positioning and acquisition.
That “20 applications and no replies” pain is probably the real category here.
People are not emotionally buying ATS optimization. They are trying to understand why the job search feels broken even after sending dozens of applications.
I think there’s a much sharper positioning layer around that frustration, especially for internship seekers and career switchers.
Share your email — I can send a few more focused thoughts privately around positioning, messaging, and how I’d pressure-test the first acquisition channels for that segment.
Appreciate that. The internship seeker and career switcher angle is particularly interesting because those are the groups I’m seeing struggle most with getting interviews despite sending lots of applications.
I’d definitely be interested in hearing your thoughts on positioning and acquisition.
You can reach me at: [email protected]
Also, if you get a chance, I’d be curious to hear your honest thoughts on GhostAI itself from a positioning perspective since that’s clearly an area you’ve spent a lot of time thinking about.
Just sent you a note.
Kept it focused on GhostAI’s positioning, the “20 applications and no replies” angle, and the first acquisition tests worth pressure-testing.