The transcript does not describe how Tanya acquired her first clients for RankingOnAI.com specifically. She references having previously built and sold a bootstrapped SaaS (an AI photography tool with a one-time $30 fee and ~17% conversion rate), which gave her credibility and domain expertise in SEO. She mentions that SEO "changed her life" as a bootstrap founder, which motivated her to serve that segment — implying she drew on personal experience and reputation rather than detailing a specific outreach campaign. Her agency onboarded clients like Quistley, Edit GPT, cal.com, and Suno, and also works with YC-backed companies. No specific first-client acquisition story or cold outreach sequence is described in the transcript.
RankingOnAI.com
SEO and AI visibility agency exclusively for SaaS companies
9 moves, in order
- Client onboarding – Quistley (Month 1–2)Seo content pipeline
Built an end-to-end SEO pipeline for Quistley (AI quiz generator) that had previously relied only on cold outreach. Focused on bottom-of-funnel keyword content, published via a CMS, with full strategy, execution, and monitoring handled by the agency.
Daily signups tripled from 30 to 98 per day within 2 months - Client growth – Edit GPTSEO — blog content
Ran SEO content strategy for Edit GPT (AI proofreader), targeting bottom-of-funnel keywords like 'best AI proofreader'. Enabled the blog to become the dominant traffic and paid user acquisition source despite competing against Grammarly.
~70% of all traffic now comes through the blog; Edit GPT ranks alongside Grammarly for key queries - Ongoing – All clientsBottom of funnel content
Identify BOFU keywords by pasting a client's landing page into Claude and asking for comparison/listicle/buying-guide keywords. Turn those into content briefs and publish on a CMS (Ghost or Payload recommended). Focus on listicles, comparisons, and 'best of' queries that overlap between Google and LLM citations.
Cited as core tactic driving LLM recommendations and Google rankings across all client accounts - Ongoing – Digital PR / backlink acquisitionCold email to listicle owners
Query ChatGPT for 'best tools in [industry]', scrape the source listicles cited, export URLs to a Google Sheet, then cold email webmasters requesting inclusion. Negotiate paid placements (~$150 typical) down to free via backlink exchanges, or offer affiliate commission upgrades (e.g., 30% → 40%) for top placement.
Response rates of 3–7% on cold outreach; successful backlink exchanges secured at $0 cost when own listicle ranks well - Ongoing – Affiliate blogger outreachAffiliate blogger partnerships
Identify affiliate bloggers writing in the niche, offer free premium tier access (1 year+), give them product walkthroughs and GIFs. Sweeten the deal with co-promotion (tweets, LinkedIn posts, backlinks to their blog) to avoid cash payments.
Described as 'really really helpful' for securing placements; some affiliate bloggers generate $1M+ revenue/year and are high-value placement partners - Quick win – AI visibility in 72 hoursMedium and linkedin articles
Post a listicle on Medium and as a LinkedIn Article (not a post — use 'Create Article' to get meta title/description control). Include product screenshots, GIFs, and embedded video. Host's own test: a listicle ranked on Google and was cited in AI Overview within 72 hours.
Cited in Google AI Overview within 72 hours in a non-competitive niche - Quick win – YouTube for AI/Google surface areaYoutube seo
Create a YouTube video (AI-generated acceptable) targeting a BOFU keyword. Design a thumbnail with the company logo, main keyword, and company name prominently displayed. Google and AI tools are now surfacing YouTube results prominently in search for these queries.
Agency reports this is 'one of the fastest wins' currently available; videos on new channels with keyword-optimized thumbnails can surface quickly - Ongoing – Review platformsG2 and capterra listings
Create and optimize G2 and Capterra profiles to accumulate customer reviews. ChatGPT pulls from these review platforms when recommending tools, so reviews on these sites directly feed into LLM recommendations.
Reviews cited as getting 'picked up by ChatGPT'; described as essential for SaaS AI visibility - Ongoing – Tracking and iterationGoogle analytics seo tracking
Set up Google Analytics with source/medium tracking, Google Tag Manager for paid conversion and signup events, and Google Search Console for indexing. Use SEOgets.com (free) to monitor clicks/impressions per article. Double down on articles that convert to paid users, not just clicks.
Enables identification of highest-converting blog articles to guide content doubling strategy
Prior experience building and selling a bootstrapped SaaS with strong SEO results (AI photography tool). Deep firsthand knowledge of SEO and AI visibility as both a practitioner and founder. Notable brand-name clients (Suno, cal.com, YC-backed companies) used as social proof and authority signals.
seo_and_ai_visibility_content
Exact-match review domains (e.g., saasname-review.com) flagged as a short-term gray/black-hat tactic that Google tends to penalize within ~3 months. Informational query SEO described as no longer effective since LLMs now answer those queries directly without driving clicks. Vanity metrics (impressions/clicks without conversion tracking) explicitly called out as a trap to avoid.