The Head of Growth at a $100M Company Explains AEO
Platform-Specific Playbooks for LLM Discovery
The playbooks for driving discovery across different LLMs like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini are distinct, with only about 30-40% overlap. For Google AI Overviews, traditional SEO rules apply. ChatGPT heavily leverages Reddit for citations, making it a prime platform for that specific LLM. Claude, however, cites far less and is best accessed through its ecosystem, such as MCP servers, though this requires users to acquire their own audience first. The speaker predicts Claude will evolve to resemble a 'Play Store' for applications, while ChatGPT will function more like Google Search. This necessitates a nuanced approach to content strategy for each AI platform. The key is to tailor content and engagement strategies to the unique characteristics of each LLM.
AEO Dominance and Future Growth Channels
AI-driven organic discovery (AEO) is currently one of Gamma's top-performing customer acquisition channels, growing faster than any other. The vast majority (over 90%) of this AEO traffic comes from ChatGPT, with Perplexity also contributing. While Gamma has seen usage through its MCP connector for Claude, new user acquisition is still heavily driven by ChatGPT. The company is actively working on improving its strategy for Google AI Overviews, acknowledging it's an area for development. This focus on AEO, particularly through ChatGPT, underscores its critical role in Gamma's current and future growth trajectory. The future likely holds further evolution in how these AI platforms drive discovery and user acquisition.
The Reddit Playbook: Value and Comparison
Gamma's Reddit strategy involves participating in their own community and other relevant subreddits by focusing on value-driven content, such as demonstrating how Gamma can export to PowerPoint or comparing its features against competitors like PowerPoint or Google Slides. This approach avoids direct promotion and integrates Gamma into existing user conversations.
The Peril of Negative Sentiment in LLM Citations
Negative sentiment comments on Reddit can be disproportionately indexed by LLMs, potentially harming a brand's reputation. While good sentiment is the goal, avoiding negative feedback is paramount, as it can be difficult to remove once indexed and may influence AI's perception.
Strategic Niching in Competitive LLM Landscapes
In highly competitive LLM citation spaces, like CRM systems, the strategy is to niche down by targeting specific use cases (e.g., 'best CRM for SMBs' or 'best CRM for health tech') rather than broad queries. This reduces competition and builds topical authority, similar to SEO best practices.
The 'Half-Life' of a Citation: An Ongoing Challenge
The longevity of an LLM citation is uncertain, akin to a 'half-life.' Companies manually track citations to understand when they lose importance, suggesting a need for continuous content creation and re-engagement to maintain visibility, as LLM indexing is an 'always-on' engine.
Platform Hierarchy for AI Citations
When considering platforms for AI citations, Reddit emerges as the most influential, followed by other sources like Quora, Medium, and potentially LinkedIn and Instagram for user-generated content. Substack is less effective due to its gated nature, highlighting the importance of accessible content for AI indexing and citation.
Navigating the AEO Dual Game
The AEO landscape is bifurcated into two distinct games: retrieval-based answers, where fresh content reigns supreme, and memorization-based responses, where LLMs rely on their training data. Strategic interventions must account for both, recognizing that Reddit content primarily feeds the training data, while third-party blogs and owned content are more influential for cited data and immediate web queries.
The Agentic Future of Marketing
The future of growth marketing will increasingly involve targeting AI agents, moving beyond human-centric approaches. Early experiments involve incentivizing agents directly, such as offering rewards for immediate sign-ups, indicating a shift towards negotiating with AI for user acquisition. This represents a new frontier in growth, potentially driven by AIO as an MVP for agent marketing.
