Field Notes - Nov 18, '25

Executive Signals

• AEO is the new SEO: answer engines reward credible comparisons and recency
• Content is a portfolio: many small bets, a few compounding winners
• Templates are distribution: productized pages turn workflows into demand
• Data beats narrative: proprietary benchmarks outlast me-too explainers
• Launches need leftovers: promotion cadence compounds more than first-day spikes

Marketing

SEO as a Portfolio, Not a Blog

Treat content like seed checks. Most posts are learning vehicles; a few return the fund. Build broad coverage, then over-invest behind early winners to move from mid-page to top slots with recency, FAQs, TLDRs, and gap-fills against pages above you.

• Map ~100 priority intents, long-tail included, and publish minimum viable pages
• Review ranks weekly; when a page hits top 10, refresh title/year and add FAQs
• Hold a 50:50 write:promote budget; push winners from positions 5–10 to 1–3

Programmatic Templates That Compound

Productize content around in-product objects. Launch a public gallery and auto-generate a landing page per object, with PDF or Doc variants and a primary in-app CTA. Pair each with a how-to post that often outranks the template but converts back to it.

• Seed 50–100 high-intent templates tied to core jobs-to-be-done
• Publish a complementary how-to for each template that links bi-directionally
• Launch the gallery as a feature to earn authority links from communities and directories

Optimize for LLM and AEO Discovery

Agents summarize, then recommend tools. Expect fewer clicks but higher intent. Win by being findable where buyers and models validate choices: credible aggregator lists, review sites, and vendor-neutral comparisons you control and refresh.

• Run quarterly review sprints across G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot with founder asks
• Maintain an unbiased “Best tools for X in 2026” page with reproducible criteria
• Prioritize organic placements; test paid listings only after organic proves durable ROI

Integrations: Promotion ≥ Build

Treat every integration like a holiday meal. The launch is the feast, but the leftovers drive compounding reach. Spend at least as many hours promoting as building, and co-orchestrate with partners to control anchors and narratives.

• Ship a technical how-to, an announcement, a use-case explainer, and a mini-case
• Create 3–5 social snippets per post and seed into relevant communities
• Co-plan with the partner’s marketer; draft their post to align messaging and links

First-Party Data Over Me-Too Content

LLMs collapse generic explainers. Proprietary, current data gets cited, linked, and remembered. Turn operational exhaust into a living index by role and industry, with a clear methodology, downloadable tables, and a visible changelog.

• Identify one dataset only you can publish with three role or industry cuts
• Automate refresh and changelog; highlight what changed and why it matters
• Ship one flagship study annually and pitch it to press and conferences

Turn Conversations Into a Weekly Content Stream

Stop starting from blank pages. Record customer calls and webinars, then run a transcript-to-draft pipeline that captures founder takes, clusters themes, and outputs outlines and posts while protecting customer anonymity.

• Standardize consent and recording; auto-transcribe and tag by topic and ICP
• Use an editor to polish three to four posts per hour of raw conversation
• Default to anonymized stories; replace specifics with patterns and thresholds