I thought SEO would be enough. I was wrong
I thought SEO would be enough. I was wrong.
When I started building my SaaS, I did everything "right" with SEO. Keyword research, backlinks, optimized meta tags—the whole playbook.
But then I noticed something strange. My traffic wasn't converting like it should. And when I dug into it, I realized: people weren't even clicking through anymore.
⇨ They were just asking ChatGPT.
The problem nobody's talking about
Here's what's actually happening: tons of searches now end with an AI-generated answer. No website visit. No click. Just... an answer.
Which means if AI doesn't know about you, a huge chunk of your potential users will never find you. Even if you're ranking #1 on Google.
I've started thinking about this as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). It's not about gaming rankings—it's about making sure AI actually mentions your product when people ask questions you can solve.
⇨ What's actually worked for me
- Answer the questions people really ask
Instead of writing broad "ultimate guide" posts, I started getting specific. Like, really specific.
For example, instead of "project management tips," I wrote "How to track async work when your team's spread across 8 timezones." Guess which one AI actually references? - Write like you're explaining to a friend, not a search engine
Short paragraphs. Clear headers. Real examples. FAQs that people actually ask.
Turns out, what makes content good for humans also makes it easy for AI to parse and cite. Who knew? - Show up where conversations happen
Reddit threads. Discord communities. Quora. Hacker News.
AI doesn't just scrape official documentation—it learns from real discussions. When I started genuinely helping people in these spaces (not spamming, actually helping), my product started appearing in AI responses more often. - Track what actually matters
Page views are nice, but they don't tell the full story anymore.
I started monitoring:
⇨ How often AI tools mention my brand when asked about my category
Whether the mentions are accurate (sometimes AI hallucinates features you don't have)
How people describe the sentiment
Signups that come from AI-influenced research
⇨ Why I'm sharing this
Look, SEO isn't dead. But it's not the whole game anymore.
If you're building in 2025 and ignoring how AI surfaces information, you're basically invisible to a growing segment of users who never even open a browser tab.
⇨ Start small. Answer real questions. Hang out where your users are asking them. Make your content clear enough that a machine can understand it.
Your brand needs to be part of the conversation AI is having about your space. Because that's where the discovery is happening now.
Anyone else noticing this shift? Would love to hear if you're experimenting with anything similar.
Follow me on LinkedIn for more insights like this: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonu-goswami-6209a3146/
Local Python scripts have a structural advantage in the current market: they're immune to the SaaS subscription backlash. No recurring costs, no vendor risk, no data concerns.
The positioning challenge is that 'script' sounds less polished than 'platform.' Worth double down on the positioning: 'the tool you own, not the subscription you rent.'
For example, even if I have created a great product and perfected SEO like you, the conversion rate is still quite 'underwhelming'. I have to post on various social media platforms to increase my product's exposure, detailing every feature and advantage of my product. This is truly a very challenging task!
SEO lays the foundation, but turning traffic into awareness, engagement, and conversions is where marketing expertise shines. Crafting the right messages, being present in communities, and shaping how both humans and AI perceive a product… that’s the part that separates “just another product” from one people actually notice and use.