Product Hunt is a hub of builders and high karma hunters. Your end users aren't there.

I'm going to say something that might be unpopular here.
Product Hunt is not a distribution channel. It's a networking event for people who launch products.
The person upvoting your tool at midnight on launch day is another founder, a maker, or someone who collects interesting products they'll never pay for. They're not your customer. They're not going to subscribe, pay, or refer anyone who will.
I've watched 65+ AI tool launches over the last 65 days running AIToolsRecap.com. The pattern is painfully consistent:
→ Founder spends weeks preparing PH launch
→ Launch day hits — 200 upvotes, 50 comments, traffic spike
→ Week 2 — traffic drops 80%
→ Month 2 — the tool is invisible everywhere that matters
Meanwhile the tools quietly growing past month one all did the same thing:
→ Showed up in Google when someone searched "best AI tool for X"
→ Got cited in a ChatGPT answer when a founder asked "what should I use for Y"
→ Had a comparison page ranking before they ever launched publicly
Your real customer isn't browsing Product Hunt at midnight.
They're Googling at 2pm with a specific problem.
They're asking ChatGPT which tool to use.
They're reading a comparison article before they open their wallet.
Product Hunt gives you a spike and a badge.
Google and AI search give you a floor — the baseline traffic that keeps coming after everyone stops upvoting.
The builders who survive past month one treat PH as one afternoon of visibility, not a distribution strategy.
The ones who don't — are still waiting for the next launch to fix what the first one didn't.
Where are you actually finding customers that convert? Genuinely curious.