Jake Ward

Rank #1 in ChatGPT and AI Search: My next LIVE SEO session on 8th April. Co-Founder at Contact (and 3x SaaS companies).

I've spent 10 years in SEO and 8 years working with SaaS companies, from high-growth startups like beehiiv to billion-dollar platforms like Kajabi. Launched multiple SEO products like Byword.ai (2 weeks before ChatGPT) to scale SEO programmatically, and Mentions.so to win AI visibility. Ran high-profile experiments like the world's largest AI SEO case study, SEO speedruns, and the infamous SEO heist.

I'm leading product and SEO innovation at Contact.so across 25+ active clients and a 20-person SEO and content team. And building and growing Kleo.so to help entrepreneurs scale their personal brand and turn LinkedIn into a lead generation machine (like I have).

Most of my work today focuses on one question:

"How can SaaS companies win marketing (and SEO) in this AI era?"

Founder

We help software companies get more qualified traffic, sales and revenue through conversion-focused SEO and content marketing. Turn your blog into a 6 figure sales channel.

"I don't know how to do SEO in 2026"

Start from level 1 in The New SEO Game:

SEO isn't just Google rankings anymore.

It's now "Search Everywhere Optimisation".

Reframe your “New SEO” project as a game, and you'll become addicted to levelling up.

Level 1: Traditional SEO

- Fix technical problems killing your rankings
- Research keywords and target quick wins
- Optimise on-page elements (titles, content)
- Earn quality backlinks through outreach and PR

Level 2: AI Search Optimisation

- Format content so AI can parse it easily
- Build pages that AI platforms want to cite
- Structure information for machine consumption
- Test how your brand appears in AI search results

Level 3: Paid Search Visibility

- Run Google Ads for high-intent keywords
- Target competitor terms with YouTube Search Ads
- Capture Bing traffic through Microsoft Ads
- Measure paid performance across every platform

Level 4: LLM Answer SEO

- Produce authoritative content LLMs trust
- Build a knowledge base for AI training data
- Position your brand as the definitive source
- Monitor brand mentions in LLMs with Mentions

Level 5: Brand Authority SEO

- Get unlinked brand mentions across the web
- Feature in industry roundups and expert lists
- Build brand recognition without traditional backlinks
- Track brand mention volume and sentiment

Level 6: Community SEO

- Provide value in relevant Reddit threads
- Share expertise on Quora in your space
- Engage in Slack communities and Discord servers
- Build reputation in industry forums and groups

Level 7: Parasite SEO

- Repurpose content on Medium and LinkedIn Pulse
- Publish beehiiv newsletters to rank in Google
- Guest post on high-authority platforms/websites
- Leverage existing domain authority for quick rankings

Level 8: Platform-Specific SEO

- Optimise for Amazon search if selling products
- Focus on YouTube SEO for video content
- Master TikTok's algorithm for short-form content
- Optimise App Store listings for apps/extensions

Level 9: Topic Domination

- Own conversations across ALL channels
- Create content ecosystems to reinforce each platform
- Become the go-to expert mentioned everywhere
- Monitor and maintain authority across all channels

Completed all levels?

SEO is constantly evolving in 2026.

Stay ahead or get left behind.

PS. Need help levelling up? We'll help build and execute your “New SEO” domination strategy.

Book a call: https://www.contact.so/

SEO has been dying since 1997.

Some notable "deaths" include:

- Web 3.0
- Google Ads
- Social media
- TikTok search
- Voice assistants
- Featured snippets
- Zero-click searches
- Every Google update
- AI Overviews in Google
- GEO/AEO as the new SEO
- ChatGPT replacing Google

And now... AI agents?

Here’s the reality:

- SEO will always evolve
- People will always use search
- Search habits take time to change
- Google handles 14B+ daily searches
- Sends 190x more traffic than ChatGPT
- SEO is a $100B+ industry (growing ~12% YoY)

Even the newest "SEO killer" (GEO/AEO) is literally built on SEO fundamentals.

Richard Hoy said this in 1997:

"I’m beginning to believe that search engines are a dead-end technology and fretting over where your site comes up is a big waste of time."

Don’t be him in 2026.

SEO is very much alive.

I can’t stop thinking about this Tweet.

ChatGPT now handles over 2.5 billion queries per day and Google is eventually defaulting to "AI Mode."

This is the future of SEO.

6 tips you need to rank in AI platforms:

1. Win brand mentions

- Get your brand mentioned on high-authority websites
- Contribute to industry publications
- Be featured in news outlets
- Engage in forums and community discussions
- Encourage authentic UGC and word-of-mouth mentions

2. Build brand equity

- Monitor online reviews and brand sentiment
- Respond to feedback and address complaints
- Build a consistent, trustworthy public image
- Use tools like Mentions.so to track visibility, sentiment, and competitors

3. Be the source

- Publish authoritative, reference-style content
- Use neutral, factual, data-backed tone
- Avoid excessive personal takes or fluff
- Regularly update key content for accuracy
- Include credible citations and external data sources

4. Embrace passage-level SEO

- Structure content into short, focused paragraphs
- Use clear subheadings for logical segmentation
- Include concise, standalone answers
- Avoid burying insights in long text block
- Add structured data (e.g. schema markup)
- Make each paragraph extractable and cite-ready

5. Cover the conversation

- Use tools like Semrush for question research
- Monitor forums/socials for emerging questions
- Identify and answer sub-questions users ask
- Add relevant FAQs and support content
- Internally link related topic clusters

6. Optimise for crawlability

- Ensure AI crawlers are allowed in robots.txt
- Verify CDN settings aren't blocking crawlers
- Submit up-to-date XML sitemaps in GSC
- Optimise for fast page speed and clean HTML
- Review server logs for GPTBot, BingBot, etc. behaviour

But first, start with an audit:

- Your current visibility across all LLMs
- Prompt and content gaps vs your competitors
- Technical issues preventing AI from citing your site

Use a tool like Mentions.so to find this information.

Don’t regret not starting AI SEO sooner.

SaaS SEO in 2026: Join my (free) LIVE session on 4th March. Co-Founder and Head of Strategy & Innovation at Contact (and 3x SaaS companies).

A single "Competitor Alternatives" blog post made $1M+ in revenue for my SaaS client over 3 years.

They are ALWAYS the highest converting articles.

Alternative articles help users discover a better alternative (i.e. your product) to what they're currently using or considering buying.

For example:

You might target the following keywords if you're a team communication platform.

- Microsoft Teams Alternatives
- Discord Alternatives
- Slack Alternatives

= 16.5K/mo Google searches

These searchers are the most ready-to-buy AND they’re highly cited by LLMs once ranking in Google.

Here’s how to write your own:

PS. I’m hosting my very first SaaS SEO in 2026 LIVE session on March 4th. Register for free: https://lnkd.in/eherWr2a

I built 13,000+ pages with AI in 3 hours and grew my SEO traffic by +466% 60 days later.

- No template spam
- No city-name swaps
- No thin AI content

Instead, I built a system where content isn’t written page by page...

It’s built like software.

13,000+ useful pages generated in under 3 hours.

Weekly organic clicks went from 971 to 5,500 (~50% of pages aren't even indexed yet).

And the curve is still going up.

Read my LinkedIn article below:

60 days ago, the pages driving most of our SEO traffic didn't exist. Today: 13,000+ programmatic pages live Weekly organic clicks went from 971 to 5,5

Open article: Programmatic SEO in 2026: How I built 13,000+ pages in 3 hours and grew SEO traffic +466% in 60 days by Jake Ward • 9 min read

Programmatic SEO in 2026: How I built 13,000+ pages in 3 hours and grew SEO traffic +466% in 60 days

I just built SEO strategies for beehiiv and Kleo.

A ~$300M newsletter platform and my own 7-figure SaaS we launched 43 days ago.

(Sadly I didn't make this pic with Tyler Denk)

Completely different products, audiences, and business stages. But I'm using the same playbook.

SaaS SEO in 2026 isn't what it was 2-3 years ago.

The old playbook:

- Target high volume keywords
- Build comparison pages
- Rank in Google and get clicks

But in 2026:

1. Search is as fragmented as ever across Google, LLMs, socials, and other platforms.

2. Even if you rank, SERPs are busy with AI Overviews and ads making position 1 less valuable.

3. Zero-click searches mean AI is answering queries before any clicks to your website.

4. AI has commoditised average content and the quality bar is much higher.

I'm breaking down how I built the strategies for beehiiv and Kleo in a live session tomorrow at 12PM EST.

You'll see:

- What 20% of SEO to focus on in 2026
- How to rank across Google AND AI platforms
- The exact playbook for turning SEO into revenue

Register for free: https://lnkd.in/eherWr2a

PS. The next 20 SaaS companies that register and comment below get a free AI visibility report from my team (normally only for our clients like beehiiv).

I've been doing SEO for 10 years and AI search is making me rethink everything I know, here are 10 changes I’m seeing:

PS. Join my (free) SaaS SEO in 2026 live session on Wednesday, March 4th @ 12pm EST.

Add it to your calendar: https://lnkd.in/eherWr2a

SEO vs AI SEO/AEO/GEO...

I’m the dream SEO content-writing guy for your website’s blog or business/brand. I write reader-centric + rank-worthy SEO articles & blogs. | SEO Content Writer | Website copywriter. 💱

If you don’t have a website for your business or hate organic growth…DON’T read this about section, there’s nothing for you. 

And if you have one, you’re my kind of people, and I love you.

So…you own a business/website, and after trying so many paid stuff, you finally realize that you need sustainable organic growth.

You have two options; 
1. Hire an SEO specialist from Fiverr for keyword research & strategy, and then hire someone from Upwork to write the content, and then find someone who can upload and manage all the website headaches. 

2. You hire Saiqic. And meet a Saiqo who knows all of this shit on a bigger-picture level. Got an SEO specialist and a website developer/manager in one place. You communicate everything to one person (that’s me; Saiqo). It’s smooth. You will get SEO (on-page, off-page, technical) + content strategy + writing + website management in one place. 

The problem with option #1? You waste a lot of time (you’ll be talking to 4 different people)  and money (yes, paying individuals is costly). And it really takes longer to get the results.

The problem with the 2nd one? I can’t think of any ATM. Can you? 
Worst thing that can happen is you won’t get the results we promise you in the first 2-3 months. And that’s when Saiqoz (Me & my little team) work for free UNTIL you get the promised results. 

And I don’t promise something I can’t deliver. 

So…
Win-win. 

Now, if you have any questions about the Saiqic process (or why the name’s Saiqic) or even why your website impressions/traffic is down since last month…talk to me. I love talking about this stuff.

Shafiq Saiq(o)

I refused to go for a 9-5 ‘stable’ job & chose freelancing in 2021. 
I now work almost every waking hr haha. 


Do I regret it? Sometimes. 

Will I go for a stable 9-5 if I get a chance? No.
Even when I think about it, it gives me a shudder. An ick.  

This freelance/writing/content is my identity. 
Mere gaon waly mujhe ‘laptop wala lrka’ kehty. 
And Saiqic is my dream. Im working on it. 

And these days, sch btaun tw mein kangla hun clients k mamly m. 

There’s so much new stuff I’m learning while building Saiqic. 
& TBH, money for now is not my worry. 

Jaib m dhela nai lkn mn kam k nashy mein hu, haha. 

Sometimes, I feel so uncertain about everything going on in our SEO content industry. AI, AGI, ASI…who knows, in 2030, there’d be ASI (artificial super intelligence) and no one would need websites, content SEO…tw kia hoga hmri Saiqic ka?

But my gut feelings…got good vibes about it. 
Khwab dekhne wali ankhen veeran nai rehti hyn. 

Bss itna e kehna tha..ptaa nai q. 

Remember me in your prayers. 
+ If you have any question rltd to SEO/content, feel free to drop me a DM.

#mrsaiqo
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you've tried GPTs; now try Saiqic

Saiqo running Saiqic. I grow businesses with SEO/AISEO + content & get results across Google & LLMs in 60-90 days using my Saiqic method. If not, I keep working for FREE until it does.

Traditional SEO has died. And they say, apparently, no one reads your website these days. 

So, should you abandon SEO content/site? 
And invest that money/time somewhere else?

These are my own thoughts when working on Saiqic. 

Growing businesses via SEO content/websites is my bread & butter. 
& That’s the ‘manjan’ I sell, haha. 

But I can’t be biased and say; 
‘Hey, nothing has changed/died, you just pay me.’

Bcz the truth is, the industry is changing/evolving. 
& it’s fast, brutal, uncertain & full of hype. 

So, if you think you DO have a better alternative than investing time/money in your SEO(or GEO whatever u call)/content/site, then go ahead. Tell me, too. Cuz I can’t see any viable alternative for now for long-term organic growth. 

So I’m putting my time + resources into building Saiqic that way. 
Trying to implement all & any new things I learn. 

& if this year I fail to build Saiqic (& grow my business)...
I’ll probably leave this industry & grow vegetables & build a dairy farm haha. 

#mrsaiqo
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You've tried GPTs; now try Saiqic

BOFu content on your blog is the FASTEST way to generate leads

(We’re implementing this on Saiqic, too)

Even if your site is brand new & you’re done with the homepage + service pages, and now you're thinking about what to publish on your blog to get leads. Go for BOFu content. 

I love to cover these 5 categories in BOFu.
1. problem -solution content 
2. Service intent blogs 
3. Comparison & alternatives
4. Case studies + proof content  
4. Pricing, ROI, etc. 

This is what I call a prospect-first content strategy. 
And I’ve tried it so many times & it worked wonders every single time. 

But there’s much to think & consider when you’re devising a prospect-first content strategy. 

& I’ve covered every damn thing in this 2k+ words blog post
https://lnkd.in/dys5h6gU

Give it a read if you want to. 
& share it if you like. 

#mrsaiqo
---
You've tried GPTs; now try Saiqic

I hate to admit this…but when a client asks how much traffic/leads they’ll get in a certain time span…
I usually don’t have any answer. 

I can’t promise traffic/leads. 
Not bcz I don’t know my thing. 
But bcz there’s no exact parameter to measure both. 

So what do I usually answer when a client asks this question?

I become transparent & admit there are no pet-guaranteed numbers… but based on the goals & industry, & how I’m going to approach the content strategy, here are the ‘expected results’. We’ll get this much around this time period.

But no fixed ranking positionpromise. No exact number of leads.
We're sure move the needle within 90 days.
Improvements start coming in the first month. 
But can’t predict how much. 

Because that's how it works. 
You gotta trust. 
#mrsaiqo
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You've tried GPTs; now try Saiqic

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The Battle

Jake Ward

Shafiq Saiq(o)

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jake Ward's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreJake Ward's LinkedIn Performance