This AI search optimization case study is proof that you don’t need to be a big brand to get cited or recommended by AI. About three weeks ago, I published a podcast and posted a guide I made from it. Today, AI recommends that guide when you ask about fractional CTO marketing.
It started with a meaty conversation, not an article. In article, I’ll break down our methodical human+AI workflow to get such stellar results in under three weeks. (You might want to save this or share it with your team.)
Table of Contents
The Value of Getting AI Recommendations
No matter what you sell, getting AI to recommend you carries a lot of weight today. In April, G2 surveyed over 1,000 software buyers and found that 51% start their vendor research inside an AI chatbot instead of Google, up from 29% a year ago.
There’s more. Once buyers are in a chat, 69% end up choosing a different vendor than the one they originally planned to buy from. Their vendor shortlist gets built before your website ever sees a visit. This is scary, especially if you write content that AI is ignoring.
The good news is that you can shape the narrative that recommends you and you can build your authority. The screenshot below shows our guide next to two sites that have been publishing in this space for years. This AI search optimization case study shows you how we got there fast.
AI Search Optimization Case Study
AI isn’t ranking pages. It’s providing answers. A page earns a recommendation when it contains something specific enough to quote and structured clearly enough for AI models to ingest.
Generic advice, recycled talking points, and broad overviews don’t reach the bar because there’s nothing in it that AI can’t already generate on its own. That’s the key step in this AI search optimization case study. Original means more than word choice. It’s sharing your unique thoughts and experiences.
💡 Our entire workflow was built around extracting unique information that no AI could reproduce.
Creating Something AI Never Could
Here’s what we did step-by-step:
Step 1 – Record the Podcast
- I interviewed an expert, J Nicholas Tolson, using questions designed to help him share real stories rather than basic talking points. I used an AI workflow to research his background and expertise, then create questions that aligned with my goals.
- Without extensive thinking, he was able to describe the exact failure mode fractional technology consultants run into, how he’s niching down and finding word-of-mouth spreading, and a lot more. He shared original thoughts easily because the questions pulled the stories out of him rather than wallowing in high-level overviews.
- That’s the kind of detail that AI can’t produce, because it only exists inside a real conversation. You can build your own AI workflows for this, or use MakeMEDIA’s, which have been fine-tuned to create rich interview dockets.
- After some quick editing with Descript, I posted the episode on our Executive Signal podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Step 2 – Turn That Conversation Into a Guide
There’s a step in this AI search optimization case study that so many companies overlook. When they repurpose video content, the vast majority only create clips.
The downside of video content: most of it has a shelf life. vidIQ reports that 60% of all Youtube views occur within 48 hours of posting, then dramatically taper off. If your repurposing efforts only consist of making clips, those die off even faster.
Yet there’s so much gold inside those conversation transcripts that can be repurposed to carry your message farther without a lot of extra work. This holds true for any recording – webinars, podcasts, Zoom coaching calls. You’re probably sitting on a goldmine of content just waiting to be repurposed. This is the second most important step in this AI search optimization case study:
- I ran the transcript through a detailed workflow designed to find the actual stories and specific claims we discussed, then structure them around the keywords and topics people search for.
- The entire workflow contained over a dozen steps with AI agents that banked portions of content to use later, overlaid AEO and SEO best practices and my personal brand voice, and did the first editorial review.
- Chunked content structure is critically important because it enables AI to grab what you write without too much refinement. Examples of these include: section headings and subheadings, enumerated lists, tables, FAQs, semantically related keywords.
- MakeMEDIA’s well-oiled agents saved me at least a week of effort here (we’re releasing them next month if you want to try them out). If you want to build something like this on your own, make sure you involve experienced writers, brand builders, and AI/SEO experts. Otherwise, AI will convince you its output is good and you won’t know it’s worthless.
Step 3 – Edit Before Publishing
AI never creates 100% ready-to-use content. You absolutely need human intervention, not just to verify hallucinations, but to ensure the word flow works. Don’t skimp on good editing. And remember to embed AI/SEO structure.
Here’s the published guide for this AI search optimization case study:
Fractional CTO Marketing Guide to Land Lucrative Clients
This fractional CTO marketing approach fills your calendar with clients using referrals, real content, and AI strategy positioning – zero cold outreach.
This AI search optimization case study illustrated how quickly we were able to get recommended by AI. All the pieces of the puzzle have to fit seamlessly.
Total time investment:
- Podcast prep: Interview Docket Agent – 8 minutes. My pre-recording prep – 20 minutes.
- Podcast recording: 45 minutes.
- Podcast editing: 30 minutes.
- Guide creation: Recording-to-Content Agent – 23 minutes. My polishing – 30 minutes.
The end result that matters:
- TOTAL: AI – 31 minutes. My time – about 2 hours.
- RESULT: podcast, guide, blog, several LinkedIn posts, and a newsletter – now getting recommended inside buyer’s AI chats. Sweet use of just 2 hours of my time!
AI Search Optimization Strategy: Your Next Step
I can’t tell you how many executives I see complaining about AI slop, yet they keep posting generic AI content as if they’re not contributing to the mess that’s out there. (I’m sure you see it, too. Just read your LinkedIn feed.)
If your team is publishing generic how-tos or broad overview pages, you’re competing for AI attention with brands that have a decade of authority.
The way to overtake their momentum is through original interviews, specific citable stories and analysis, and clean content structure.
How You Can Get Recommended By AI
You can get similar results. The crux of this AI search optimization case study is business storytelling. Ask yourself this simple question:
- What’s a customer success story your company could publish this month?
I say customer story since no competitor or AI can write that – because they didn’t live it.
Only you did.
Use MakeMEDIA’s Agents for AI Search Optimization
Our AI Agents fluidly managed the build out for this AI search optimization case study. They’re fine-tuned for one purpose: creating original content that’s so good AI wants to recommend it.
We can have you onboarded within 20 minutes.
