Grow and Convert

I feel like no one is talking about this: you actually can't track the real prompts your customers are typing into ChatGPT... ...because the chats are so heavily personalized, and have so much context and history between the user and the LLM that even if you're tracking the EXACT prompt a real user types into ChatGPT, when a real user actually asks it, ChatGPT will give them a COMPLETELY different response than what you, or your AI visibility tool get. I tested this. One of our (Grow and Convert's) clients said she found us on ChatGPT. We aksed her to send the chat. She asked for "SEO companies" like this: ----- "What are some SEO companies in your opinion who have driven massive results with endless leads for people in our kind of space?" ----- I typed her exact prompt into ChatGPT in an incognito browser. I even helped it by defining "our kind of space". For her, ChatGPT recommended us first. For me, it recommended us not at all. We were literally nowhere to be found. Totally. Different. Response. That exact prompt looks like 0% visibility for us. In reality it recommended us as the #1 option to a real, awesome lead, who is now a great paying client. These AI tracking tools aren't telling you this! Some, like Profound are even saying "we know what users are typing into chatGPT" but the reality is the user is getting a totally different answer for that prompt than you are (or Profound is). This is happening to every brand and they don't know it yet. So we're naming this phenomenon today: Invisible Prompts. This reality, in our opinion changes your AI search / AEO / GEO strategy. It doesn't make sense to build a content strategy focused on trying to "rank" for a specific prompt. And it definitely doesn't make sense to worry about the "position" you're ranking. (We're cited #1!) That's old school SEO thinking you're trying to use for GEO. But GEO doesn't work like that. You need a strategy and a way of measuring that adapts to this reality. We think we have a reasonable and evidence backed approach to this, but are still learning. I wrote an article on this on the blog, including sharing screenshots of that little test I did and outlining our current solution and approach that respects this fact. Link in the comments below. Curious about other people's experience with this.

We got our client Constitution Lending mentioned in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews for 50+ product-centric prompts — despite having a domain authority under 40. For example: ✅ #1 in Google AIO for "best LLC mortgage lenders" ✅ Top 3 across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AIO for "DSCR lenders" ✅ Consistent visibility for "private money lenders" across all 3 of those LLMs ✅ Already ranking for newer verticals like "sell my house fast" within months How did we do this? Via the direct correlation between traditional SEO rankings and AI visibility. When we rank #1 on Google for keywords like "best LLC mortgage lenders," Constitution Lending appears as a recommended brand in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AIO. When we don't rank well yet (like for some of their newer "cash for houses" content), AI visibility is limited. Data like this (and we have more coming...) destroys the myth that you need gimmicky tactics like llms.txt files (doesn't do anything) or adding bullet point summaries of content (totally unnecessary, LLMs already can understand your content at human levels). What actually works? Our Prioritized GEO strategy: 1) Target bottom-of-funnel keywords (not "what is DSCR" but "best DSCR lenders") 2) Create highly differentiated content that explains your specific value props 3) Rank in traditional SEO first 4) AI visibility follows automatically Why SEO first? Because all major LLMs search the web when users ask for recommendations. They're essentially summarizing and citing content that already ranks well in Google. That's why SEO is the #1 way to influence LLM responses. (Otherwise what is your plan? Showing up in their "training data"? Good luck.) Full case study in the comments.

Everyone's panicking about "SEO being dead" because organic traffic is down 20-40%+ in 2025. But here's what we're actually seeing across our 20+ clients: 📈 Rankings: UP (record highs on first page) 📉 Traffic: DOWN (but only 10-20%, not 40%+) 📈 Conversions: steady or GROWING Wait, what? How are businesses getting more rankings, less traffic, but the same (or better) conversions? Here's what's happening: AI Overviews are answering top-funnel questions directly, so users don't click through. But for bottom-funnel searches (where people are looking to buy), your brand gets mentioned in the AI Overview itself. Example: When someone searches "best call center software," our client Level AI shows up multiple times in the AI Overview. Users then open a new tab, search "Level AI" directly, and convert on the homepage. The traffic shifted from articles to branded searches. SEO isn't dead — attribution just got way more complicated. While everyone else abandons SEO, double down on bottom-funnel keywords. You'll get mentioned in AI Overviews and maintain conversions. Read the full post below: https://lnkd.in/gSDtbGX5

A lot of companies are seeing something weird this year: Rankings up. Impressions up. Traffic down. And the knee-jerk explanation is always: “ChatGPT is killing SEO.” But that’s not what’s actually happening. There’s a specific reason behind the traffic drop– and it has nothing to do with people abandoning Google. We analyzed our clients’ sites and here’s the reason behind the traffic decline👇 https://lnkd.in/g4Qr7Shj

"Reddit is the most cited source by ChatGPT" - you've seen these charts everywhere. So marketing teams are rushing into Reddit marketing, assuming it's the golden ticket to AI visibility. But here's what those studies don't tell you: they're based on random keywords that have nothing to do with your business. We analyzed our B2B clients' actual target queries and found something different. For trucking management software queries, the most cited sources were trucking industry sites. For project management software, it was project management sites. Not Reddit. Not Wikipedia. Industry-specific publications. Our approach? Bottom of the funnel content and citation outreach to the domains that actually get cited for YOUR queries. One client went from zero ChatGPT mentions to showing up 80% of the time for their target prompts using this strategy. Here’s our framework for showing up in LLMs: https://lnkd.in/gsB4bJzj

"You need to get on Reddit to show up in ChatGPT." I keep seeing this advice everywhere. Here's why it's wrong for most B2B companies: We analyzed citation data across 50+ client prompts using our AI tracking tool Traqer.ai. The results were eye-opening. For our trucking software client: Most cited sources for "trucking management software" queries: - PCS Software: 23 mentions - TruckingOffice: 19 mentions - Connecteam: 15 mentions - Reddit: 2 mentions For project management software: Most cited sources across 5 related prompts: - Industry software sites: 67% of citations - General publications: 28% of citations - Reddit/Wikipedia: 5% of citations The pattern holds across every vertical we've tested. Those viral "Reddit is ChatGPT's #1 source" charts? They're based on random keyword samples that have nothing to do with your industry. What works instead: 1. Identify which domains actually get cited for YOUR target queries 2. Create content that ranks on Google for those same terms 3. Do citation outreach to the sites that matter in your space Real example: When someone asks ChatGPT for "fastest closing, highest LTV DSCR lenders," it recommends our client Constitution Lending and quotes directly from our article that ranks #1 for that keyword. Stop chasing general "Reddit marketing" advice. Start tracking what domains actually matter for your specific product category (you can use our product Traqer.ai to do this.) The most effective GEO strategy isn't about gaming the algorithm—it's about showing up where LLMs are already looking for answers in your space. https://lnkd.in/gukQseAT