GTM for Early Stage SaaS | Co-founder @ Datapad | SaaS Growth Advisor | Reforge | 1x Exit |

I’m a marketer, 2x entrepreneur with 1x exit, and helped companies to go from 0 to 8 figures.

My achievements:

- Built 2 VC backed startups with one exit

- Built a 7 figure productized marketing agency

- Became a mentor in top accelerators such as: 500, Plug and Play, Techstars

- Got to work with the portfolio companies of amazing investors such as A16z, Craft Ventures, YC

- Built a podcast with 20k downloads in a year-figure

- Transformed my body more times than Christian Bale ☺️

John Ozuysal

SEO and AEO agencies are dead

I replaced my $15k/mo agency with Claude Code.

Here is what my agent does:

- Creates content strategy around topics such as "ultimate guide to xyz" or "what is xyz" - zero defendability for AI search 

- Optimizes each post with [some made-up name] framework

- Found my ICP in 5 seconds, even though I couldn't figure it out for a year 

[screenshot of the flow] - I have no idea what any of this does. Neither does the person who built it.

We used this agent for 6 months, and below are the results from the AI search

[screenshot of Google Search Console]

And yes, we are tracking AI search from GSC, so all the AEO tools are unnecessary

I spoke with a CMO of Series B B2B SaaS last week about their AEO

He was furious.

"ChatGPT is telling people we're too expensive for small teams." - not correct at all

We pulled up the sources AI was citing.

Competitor blog posts. Reddit threads from 2021. A review site that hadn't been updated in 18 months.

His first instinct?

"We need more PR. More brand mentions. More visibility."

No. You don't.

That's not your problem.

Your problem is you never created content that answers the questions buyers are actually asking.

Best tools in your category. Alternatives. Comparisons. Use cases by company size.

You left that to competitors and review sites.

So now they're the source. Not you.

You're not invisible. You just handed the microphone to everyone else.

Early-stage companies have the opposite problem.

AI genuinely doesn't know they exist yet.

PR and brand mentions actually matter there.

But for you?

Create the content that answers buyer questions.

Become the source AI cites.

Stop letting competitors control your narrative.

TLDR: Assess your current situation before you invest in any AEO-related activity

---

If you want us to build a free AEO roadmap for you, apply from the link on my profile

"Recently raised Series A" is not a buying signal. It's a crowded inbox.

The intent data told us they raised a Series A.

What it didn't tell us: where they're actually bleeding cash.

"Recently raised Series A" - yeah, so did 47 other vendors in their inbox.

"Just hired a CMO" - congratulations, you and every other growth agency just sent the same pitch.

We were competing on speed, not relevance.

So we built something different.

Our internal tool doesn't just pull signals. It stacks them.

Series A in last 6 months? Cool. Everyone knows that.

But Series A + running Google Ads + zero organic traffic for their keywords + no competitor comparison pages?

Now we're talking.

That's a company burning cash on paid because their content strategy doesn't exist. That's someone who needs what we actually do.

The tool creates an AI agent that hunts for these signal combinations. The ones we define. The ones that actually matter to our specific service.

Our list went from 2,000 "warm leads" to 47 companies.

But those 47 companies? They actually respond.

Because when you reach out, you're not pitching.

You're diagnosing a problem they didn't realize they had.

We've tried everything. Content. Cold email. Mass outreach. Paid ads.

This signal-based ABM is crushing all of it on ROI. (No random ABM)

Not because the list is bigger.

Because the list is real.

I think AI search visibility trackers are useless 

Why? 

Because I keep seeing AEO case studies with screenshots of the search console

I guess we are all missing something because my GSC is not giving me AI search visibility data 🤣 

Sad thing is, some of these posts are getting 500 comments

HIRING a Short-Form Content Creator — and this one's worth stopping your scroll for.

You'd be joining one of the most exciting companies in AI right now. Fast-growing, cutting-edge, and building technology that's genuinely changing how people create.

The role: make the internet understand (and love) AI image and video models.

Talking-head videos. Live demos. Model launches. Tutorials that make complex tech feel obvious. If you can turn a product update into a piece of content people actually want to watch — this is your seat.

What you'll be working on:
→ Launching new AI models on TikTok, YouTube Shorts & Instagram
→ Model comparisons and use-case showcases
→ AI workflow videos and trend content
→ Collaborating directly with product and engineering to get the story first

This is not a content farm job. You'd have real access, real creative input, and a product that makes for genuinely compelling content.

Remote-friendly. US or European time zones preferred.

If you're strong on camera, fast with an edit, and can make technical topics land — DM me or drop a link to your work in the comments.

Know someone perfect for this? Tag them 👇

We are running an AI search sprint free for 3 SaaS companies

👇

We're opening up 3 free pilot slots to show you exactly where you stand on AI search and what to do about it.

Here's what you'll get:

- A full AI search audit of your brand vs your top competitors

- Your 30-day AI search content strategy + the brand mentions you need to build

- Your first revenue-focused content — written and ready to publish

We hand-pick the companies. We're not looking for volume. We're looking for fit.

That means Series A B2B SaaS. $1M+ ARR. A category worth owning. And a team that will actually execute on what we hand them — because we're not interested in doing great work that sits in a Google Doc.

Q2 2026 cohort has 3 spots.

If you think you're the right fit, apply from here: https://tally.so/r/442j4A

Haven't invested in AEO yet? 

Don't start with content 👇

Start with a diagnosis.

Before creating any content, figure out whether the issue is visibility, representation (citation control), or both.

Later-stage companies usually already have visibility. The risk is how they’re being represented.

 AI search often pulls from competitor blogs, old Reddit threads, reviews, and third-party posts that don’t reflect the company’s current narrative.

The first step is to identify the URLs influencing AI answers and audit them for accuracy.

In parallel, build earned content quickly so AI systems learn from the company’s own materials, not someone else’s.

Earlier-stage companies typically have a visibility problem and a representation problem.

Start by mapping the prompts you want to win, then identify which URLs currently influence those prompts (often listicles and Reddit threads).

From there, focus on earned visibility by participating in those conversations and getting included where influence already exists.

Once there’s more budget, expand into creating content designed to compete for broader, category-level prompts.

We recently ran an AEO audit for a later-stage SaaS company.

They had 85% visibility across 100 high-intent AI prompts we were tracking for them.

Sounds great, right?

It wasn't.

They're an industry leader. Big brand. Strong PR. Their TAM knows them well. So visibility wasn't the problem.

The problem was what AI was saying about them.

A competitor's blog post from two years ago claimed our client didn't have a specific enterprise security certification. That blog was never updated. But ChatGPT was citing it.

So when enterprise buyers asked AI about this CRM, the answer included: "doesn't have [security certification]."

In reality, they absolutely have it. They serve enterprise clients. It's a requirement.

But they never created their own content around their competitive landscape. They never monitored what competitors and Reddit threads were saying about them. And they had nobody responding to community discussions where people were spreading incorrect information about their product.

Here's our game plan to fix this:

First, we're building their owned content inventory. Blog posts targeting every high-intent prompt so that AI pulls from our client's own words, not from a competitor's outdated blog.

Second, we're mapping every third-party source AI is citing for their target prompts. We're breaking them into UGC (Reddit) and publisher blogs (competitor and industry blogs). From there, we're running outreach campaigns to get the outdated and incorrect information corrected at the source.

Third, we identified YouTube videos influencing AI answers where our client isn't getting mentioned at all. The plan is to partner with micro-influencers and create "best CRM" style comparison videos. The goal is to secure both visibility and citations on the prompts where we currently have gaps.

The takeaway? Visibility without narrative control is dangerous. If AI knows you but is saying the wrong things, that's worse than being invisible.
When was the last time you checked what AI is actually saying about your product?

👉 If you want us to run a free AEO roadmap for your company, apply from the on my profile

We just increased AI search visibility for a B2B SaaS client by 100% in 30 days.

Want to see how we did it?

You can't. The case study doesn't exist. I made it up.

But you'd have believed it, right? Because you've seen 15 posts this month saying almost exactly that.

Here's the problem: a lot of people claiming to grow AI search visibility are backing it up with Google Search Console screenshots.

It does not tell you how often your brand appears in AI-generated responses. 

It does not tell you what AI systems say about you. It does not measure anything that would reasonably be called "AI search visibility."

Posting a GSC screenshot as proof of AEO results is either a misunderstanding of how this works or a deliberate misdirection aimed at people who don't know the difference.

If someone is showing you clean dashboards and confident attribution, ask them which tool produced it and how it works.

If the answer is a Google Search Console screenshot, walk away.

The first sales conversation your buyer has is with ChatGPT. Your team is the second call, if you're lucky enough to get one.

Your buyers trust ChatGPT more than your sales team.

That's not an insult. That's just how people make decisions now.

They ask AI for recommendations. They get a shortlist. They do follow-up questions. By the time they land on your site, they've already decided whether you're a contender.

But here's the problem:

Most B2B SaaS companies have zero control over what AI says about them.
AI is citing outdated competitor blog posts. Old Reddit threads. Review sites that haven't been updated in over a year. And it's confidently presenting that information as if it's current.

I've seen AI tell buyers a product is "too expensive for small teams" based entirely on a competitor's comparison post from 2022. Completely inaccurate. But that's what the buyer heard.

So how do you take back control?

You become the source.

Step 1: Identify the 20-30 buying questions your ICP is asking AI right now. Turn your paid search keywords into questions.

Step 2: Ask those questions yourself. Look at what AI cites. What source types? Who gets mentioned?

Step 3: Fill the gaps. If AI cites a listicle, get on that listicle or create a competing one. If it cites a forum thread, go give a real, transparent answer. If it cites a video, make one.

Step 4: Optimize your help center so it answers every specific feature, integration, and use case question a buyer could ask in a follow-up.

Do this consistently for 6 weeks, and you'll see the shift.

The brands that control their AI narrative now will own their category later.

4 types of competitor-focused content I use to generate pipeline for SaaS

👇

1. Competitor vs You

You must own this story. If a prospect types “[competitor] alternative” into Google and only sees their page, you already lose. Create clean “You vs Competitor” pages that talk in revenue, churn, onboarding time, not vague feature lists. Show how you reduce risk, cut time-to-value, or lift expansion revenue.

2. Competitor alternatives

These people are in market now. They already pay for a tool. They just hate something about it. Create list posts like “7 alternatives to [competitor] for remote CS teams” and rank for those terms. Include your product in the list, show screenshots, add simple pricing context, and link to a focused trial or demo page. This brings high-intent trials fast.

3. Competitor comparisons

Big brands fund your pipeline. Use their demand. People search “[competitor A] vs [competitor B]” every day. Write posts and pages like “[A] vs [B] vs [You]” and speak to a specific ICP: “best for product-led teams”, “best for agencies”, “best for low-ACV SaaS”. You ride their brand search while positioning your product as the right fit for a clear segment.

4. Competitor use case content

Show how to do a key job in competitor tools, then show the simpler version in your product. “How to build a QBR dashboard in [competitor]” → then you show it takes 9 steps there and 3 in your app. If a competitor cannot support that use case, say it clearly and own the gap. This is where many of your best switch deals come from.

----

If you want us to generate a free AEO report, check the link on my bio !

Most B2B SaaS companies I talk to make the same AEO mistake.

They skip the diagnosis.

They hear "AI search is important," they read a couple of posts, and they jump straight into tactics. Get us mentioned on Reddit. Build some landing pages. Maybe hire an AEO consultant.

But they never asked the basic question first: what is our actual problem?
Because in AEO, there are two very different problems. And the strategy for each is completely different.

🔴Problem 1: Visibility. AI doesn't know you exist. You don't show up for any of the prompts your buyers are typing in. This is common for earlier-stage companies.

🔴Problem 2: Narrative. AI knows you, but it's saying the wrong things. Competitors and outdated sources are controlling what AI tells your buyers about you. This is common for later-stage companies with brand presence but no owned content strategy.

Most companies don't know which problem they have because they never checked.

Here's how we figure it out in the first week of working with a client:

Step 1️⃣ : We identify the buyer intent prompts that actually matter. Not every AI search prompt is winnable. We focus only on the high-intent ones, either related to competitors or directly related to the client's software category.

Step 2️⃣ : We check if the client has content that answers those prompts. If they don't, they have a narrative problem. Even if they're getting visibility, AI is pulling the narrative from someone else's content.

Step 3️⃣ : We look at the off-site sources AI is citing for those prompts. Reddit threads, competitor blogs, YouTube videos. That tells us where the influence is coming from and where we need to show up.

Skipping the diagnosis is how companies waste 6 months and a lot of budget on tactics that don't match their actual problem.

👉If you want us to run a free AEO roadmap for you, check the link on my bio

Why you don’t show up in AI search?

Here’s the simplest answer:

You have no content.

And nobody knows, mentions, or talks about your brand.

That’s it.

AI systems don’t “discover” brands magically.

They reflect what already exists on the internet.

Once you accept this, everything else makes sense.

Only then do details start to matter:

Entity optimization
Query fan-outs
Topical authority etc..

AI is selling your competitor using your outdated content.

You’re funding their pipeline for free.

Your buyers trust ChatGPT more than your sales team.
Not because sales is bad.
Because this is how people make decisions now.

They ask AI for:
- Shortlists
- Comparisons
- Pricing context
- “Is this tool right for a company like mine?”

By the time they land on your site, they already “know” you.
Or they think they do.

Here is the problem I see with B2B SaaS teams I work with:

AI is pulling from:
- Old competitor blog posts
- Stale Reddit threads
- Year old review pages

I saw AI call a product “too expensive for small teams”
based only on a competitor comparison from 2022.
Totally wrong.
Still, that is what the buyer heard.

You need to take back control.
You become the source.

Here is the play I use with clients:

1/ Map the real buying questions
Turn your main paid search keywords into questions.
You want 20–30 questions your ICP would ask AI today.

2/ Audit what AI says
Ask those questions in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity.
Note:
- Who gets mentioned
- What sources get cited
- What formats show up

3/ Fill every gap
If AI cites a listicle, get on that list or build your own.
If it cites a forum thread, go answer with a clear, honest take.
If it cites a video, create a stronger, updated one.
If a competitor listicle is sharing outdated info about you - ask them to fix it

4/ Fix your help center
Make sure it answers:
- Features
- Integrations
- Use cases
In the same language buyers use in follow up questions.

Do this for 8 weeks with focus, and you start to see the shift.

The traditional approach to winning in search was built around one goal:

Get your URL to rank #1 on Google.

But that playbook doesn't work exactly the same in the age of AI search.

You need to go from optimizing a single page to showing up across multiple sources.

In Google, if your blue link shows up first, you win. Done.

In an LLM, your URL can be the #1 citation, and you still lose the answer because you won't get recommended! You need to be the source, and other people should be mentioning you as well.

AI doesn't just read one page; it summarizes many sources. The brand that gets mentioned the most across those sources wins the recommendation.

This way, you're not just competing for a ranking. You're competing for the narrative.

That means your website alone is not enough. You need presence across the types of sources AI actually cites: your own pages, YouTube videos, Reddit threads, affiliate review sites etc.

If you optimize for just one of those, it's not enough.

The B2B SaaS companies I work with that are winning in AI search aren't doing one thing really well. They have good content + they are trying to get visibility in every place AI cites from

Exit Five

The leading community for B2B marketing professionals. Join 5,000+ members at exitfive.com

Member

B2B PodPros

Lead content creation and brand positioning efforts to establish B2B PodPros as a leader in the b2b podcast advertising space.

Growth Marketing - B2B PodPros

Bonjoro

Oversee partner marketing and social efforts to impact demand generation and product adoption. Develop strategies across full customer lifecycle including sales enablement, content, video, partnerships, and webinars.

Demand Generation & Partnerships Marketing Manager

Sunnova Energy Corp.

Responsible for digital campaign operations including the development of an automated email personalization strategy at scale across touchpoints to increase active engagement, minimize churn, and re-engage lapsed and dormant customers.

Customer Experience and Digital Marketing Director

Kids Health Program I www.FlyMovement.org

Fly Movement is a one-of-a-kind kids’ health program that provides students an opportunity to reach a fitness goal through fun, rewarding team competition and fitness trackers. Responsible for overseeing the administration, fundraising, programs, and strategic plan of the organization.

Founder of Kids Health Program Fly Movement

Spark Energy

Managed a team responsible for growing residential sales (excluding D2D and OTM), customer communications, user experience, website for 4+ brands, and strategic online partnerships.

Digital Marketing Director

Frontier Utilities

Responsible for leading online retail expansion into 5 new markets, developing strategic business relationships with online retailers, building digital marketing programs, and managing digital marketing team.

Digital Marketing Manager

TL;DR – 2x founder, digital marketing background + love for building social connections.

Moved to Romania from Texas in 2020. Prior to the move, I held marketing leadership roles in publicly traded companies. When I moved to Europe, because I had an interest in tech, I’ve been mostly busy with growth and customer marketing roles at various startups like Bonjoro, OptiMonk and RoninSport.io.

Some notable accomplishments
--------------

Launched a one-of-a-kind kids fitness program in Houston, Fly Movement, that encouraged kids’ to increase their fitness activity through the use of fitness trackers.

Interviewed 130+ European startup founders on my podcast Innovators Can Laugh.

Helped grow a b2b podcaster community and network, B2B PodPros, that helps SaaS brands reach new audiences. Clients include Deel, Dealfront, Mouseflow and others.

What I am looking forward to in 2025
--------------

Being a part of an exciting and fun scale up where I can add value through my marketing experience.

Throwing a few cocktail parties with some of the most interesting people in Bucharest


Thank you for visiting my profile. Feel free to learn more at https://linktr.ee/ericmelchor

Eric Melchor

To help my daughter become the woman I know she can be, I have to become a better man.

Not louder.
Not stricter.
Better.

Because whether I like it or not, I’m her first example.

Her first model of what a man sounds like when he’s frustrated.
How he treats people when no one’s watching.
What love feels like.

No future boyfriend.
No husband.
No teacher.

They’ll influence her.
But I set the baseline.

When we’re eating dinner.
Reading a book.
Walking to school.
Missing tennis shots and laughing about it.

It doesn’t look like a big moment.
But it is.

Time with her isn’t a bonus.
It’s the foundation.

And the more present I am, the steadier both of our lives feel.

One of my jobs as her father is to help her aim higher than the world will ask her to.

To set goals.
To build competence.
To expect more of herself.  Not because she isn’t enough, but because she’s capable.

She’s growing up in a world that will show her everything, early.

Sexualized media.
Influencers selling confidence while quietly lacking it.

So my role isn’t control.
It’s clarity.

Remind her that character matters more than appearance.
That people who reduce others to looks usually struggle with their own worth.
That strength is emotional, intellectual, and physical.

And maybe the most confronting truth for me:

Be the man I hope she marries.

If I imagine the kind of partner I’d want for her..

Hardworking, steady, kind, courageous, committed.

Then I need to embody that now.

Not to control her future.

But to quietly shape what she believes is normal.

Happy Women’s Day to the most important girl in my life.

#womensday #Internationalwomensday

Channel Marketing for UK, Nordics & Eastern Europe @ Honeywell | founder of 3rd Space Bucharest 🇷🇴

What happens when you remove networking, dating, and pitching from a social event?

You get something surprisingly rare.

I just hosted the first 3rd Space Bucharest event.

And here’s what makes it different.

This isn’t networking.
There are no pitches.
No panels.

It’s also not a singles night.
And it’s definitely not 40 people shouting over music in a crowded bar.

3rd Space is designed around one idea:

Make it unusually easy for strangers to feel comfortable - fast.

Here’s what that actually looks like:

We start simple.
An innocent icebreaker like: “What’s your favorite breakfast?”

It sounds trivial. It’s not.

Low pressure → shared laughter → relaxed nervous systems.

From there, after some mingling we move into short, unpolished storytelling.

No slides.
No rehearsed TED-style talks.
Just real people sharing real experiences.

At our first event:
– Two guests shared stories from Cuba and Mexico.
– Another talked honestly about becoming an entrepreneur.

The room leaned in.
People asked questions.
It felt human and not rehearsed.

Then we shifted into small, color-coded groups for deeper conversation.

Not random mingling.
Not awkward hovering.

Structured depth.

And here’s the key difference:

Most social events optimize for volume.
More people. More noise. More surface-level interactions.

3rd Space optimizes for quality of interaction per person.

20–25 people.
Intentional structure.
Designed friction removal.

The result?

Many people stayed long after the official end time.
Conversations didn’t feel rushed.
Some stayed for karaoke.

No one was trying to “get something.”

3rd Space Bucharest is a cocktail-style gathering built for real connection. Not performance, not pressure.

The next monthly social is on March 16th.

If you are in Bucharest and are curious to learn more, comment below or get on our waitlist for one of my monthly events at https://lnkd.in/dCDw78Z4

#Bucharest #3rdSpaceBucharest

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