Startups For the Rest of Us
Episode 853 | How to Become the SaaS That AI Recommends
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Show notes
How do you get LLMs to actually recommend your SaaS?
In this episode, Rob Walling talks with Ross Hudgens, founder of Siege Media and author of the new book Generative Engine Optimization, about how SaaS companies get recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini, and the AI tools customers now use to shop. They cover why "best X" roundups and versus articles outperform, how much Reddit actually matters, and what a bootstrapped founder should do first to start showing up in AI search.
Topics we cover:
- (1:28) – SEO's evolution into GEO
- (3:01) – Why Ross wrote his new AI SEO book
- (3:58) – An S&P 100 client's SEO team gets laid off
- (5:29) – Is GEO separate from traditional SEO?
- (6:33) – Why publish "best category" roundup articles
- (11:06) – Versus articles: an underrated GEO tactic
- (14:14) – Handling competitor pushback on comparison pages
- (16:57) – Recruiting YouTubers and using affiliate listings
- (21:47) – Reddit's real influence on AI search
- (25:38) – First GEO steps and how to measure visibility
Links from the show:
- MicroConf US | April 18–20, 2027 · Austin, TX | Promocode: ROB50
- TinySeed
- Siege Media
- Generative Engine Optimization: The Definitive Guide to AI SEO
- Peec AI
- G2
- Capterra
- PartnerStack
- SelectSoftwareReviews
- Technology Advice
- SelectSoftware Reviews
- Limelight
- Passionfroot
If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!