Field notes on AI search
Research and plain-English explainers on Generative Engine Optimization, Reddit's role in AI citations, and how AI search engines decide which brands to recommend.
Subreddit Selection for GEO: Which Communities Feed AI Overviews
Reddit powers roughly 21% of Google AI Overview citations, but not every subreddit gets pulled. Here's how to identify the 3-5 communities that actually feed AI Overviews in your category, and how to earn a place in them.
Find the Exact Reddit Threads Google AI Overviews Cite
A practical method for locating the specific Reddit threads Google AI Overviews cite in your niche — using fan-out logic, Community Perspectives, and citation tracking. From Cory Maki, creator of the ARC Method.
Measuring AI Search ROI: Why AI Traffic Converts 5x Higher
AI-referred traffic converts roughly 4-5x higher than organic search because visitors arrive pre-qualified. Here's the data, the mechanism, and how to measure AI search ROI in GA4 without fooling yourself.
Gemini's Split Brain: Informational vs. Recommendation Queries
Gemini treats 'what is X' and 'best X for Y' as two different problems with two different source pools. Here's how the split works — and what SaaS founders should do about it for GEO.
Why Your Facts Must Match Everywhere for AI Search
AI search engines resolve conflicts by counting independent sources that agree. When your founding date, pricing, or positioning drifts across the web, AI hedges or skips you. Here's how to make your brand facts match everywhere — and why it's now a citation requirement.
Building Your Entity: Schema and the Knowledge Graph for SaaS
How SaaS brands become recognized entities in Google's Knowledge Graph using Organization schema, sameAs, and Wikidata — and why entity clarity now drives AI citations more than rankings.
How Perplexity Picks Its Sources — And How to Get Cited
Perplexity reads roughly ten pages per query but cites only three to five. Here's how its retrieval-and-rerank pipeline chooses sources, what the citation data actually shows, and a concrete playbook for SaaS founders who want to be the source it quotes.
How Google AI Overviews Choose Citations: Query Fan-Out
Google AI Overviews don't pick citations from the top 10 anymore. They run query fan-out — one prompt becomes dozens of sub-queries — then filter 200-500 documents down to a handful of cited passages. Here's the mechanics and what SaaS founders should do about it.
AI Reputation Management: When AI Describes Your Brand Wrong
AI assistants describe brands before buyers ever reach your site — and they get it wrong often. Here's why it happens, why you can't just call OpenAI, and the source-level correction process that actually moves the answer.
The 90-Day GEO Roadmap for SaaS Founders
A 90-day Generative Engine Optimization plan for SaaS founders, built on the ARC Method: audit your AI visibility, engineer your off-domain citation surface, and make your content citable. Grounded in 2026 data.
How to Make Your Content Citable by AI: Structure, Schema, Passages
AI engines cite passages, not pages. Learn how structure, schema, and self-contained passages make your content the source ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews quote — grounded in current research.
How to Audit Your Brand's AI Search Visibility (the ARC Method)
The Audit step of the ARC Method, explained. A practical framework to measure how ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Perplexity see your SaaS brand — share of voice, citation sources, accuracy, and the gaps to fix first.
Why ChatGPT Can't See Your Website (And How to Fix It)
ChatGPT Search runs on Bing's index, not Google's. If your site isn't in Bing, ChatGPT can't cite you — no matter how well you rank on Google. Here's how to check and fix it.
The “GEO Is Just SEO” Debate — Where I Stand
Two camps formed around GEO. After a year of research, here's why both are partly right — and why it matters for your budget.
Why Reddit Dominates AI Search Citations
Reddit is the most cited domain across major AI platforms. The data behind it — and what SaaS founders should do.
What Is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
A plain-English definition, how it differs from SEO, and how each AI platform chooses its sources.