Rethinking discoverability: It's not just SEO anymore

I had a conversation with a founder last week that really stuck with me.

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His company has been around for years, built a solid product, has happy customers. But when I asked him to Google their core offering, they were ranking 68th. Companies that launched 18 months ago were sitting in the top 5.

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"We just don't understand SEO," he said with frustration. "It feels like dark magic."

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Here's the thing: he's asking the wrong question.

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Stop thinking about SEO. Start thinking about discoverability

We've become obsessed with "SEO" as this separate, technical thing that sits in a corner of our marketing strategy. But that's outdated thinking.

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Your potential customers aren't just searching on Google anymore. They're:

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• Asking ChatGPT and Claude for recommendations
• Searching on LinkedIn for solution providers
• Looking for answers on TikTok and YouTube
• Asking Perplexity for comparisons
• Scrolling through Reddit threads

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If you're only optimising for traditional search engines, you're missing the majority of places where your audience is looking for solutions.

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The new reality of search

Think about your own behaviour. When was the last time you:

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• Asked an LLM to suggest tools or services?
• Searched LinkedIn for a specific type of company or solution?
• Looked for "how to" content on YouTube or TikTok?
• Checked recommendations in a Slack community or Reddit?

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Your customers are doing the same thing.

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We've seen a growing trend: users initiate their search on social media or with an LLM when defining a problem, and transition to Google once they have identified the specific product they need.

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The implications?

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• Zero-click searches are increasing - people make decisions based on AI-generated summaries at the top of search results
• Content credibility matters more than ever - LLMs rely on the quality and accessibility of your content
• Your brand reputation is being shaped by what these tools can find about you

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What this means for your content strategy

Here's where this gets interesting (and actually quite liberating).

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You don't need to become an SEO expert. You need to focus on being genuinely helpful and discoverable wherever your audience is searching.

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Start with these principles:

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Understand how your customers actually search

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Forget vanity keywords. Focus on the questions your customers are really asking:

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• Instead of targeting "project management software", target "how to keep remote teams aligned on deadlines"
• Instead of "payment processing", target "why do recurring payments fail and how to fix it"
• Instead of "HR software", target "how to reduce time spent on employee onboarding"

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These longer-tail, question-based searches show real intent and are easier to rank for across multiple channels

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Create content that works across platforms

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When you create a piece of content, think about how it can be optimised for different discovery channels:

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• Traditional search engines: Use clear headings, answer specific questions, include relevant keywords naturally
• LLMs: Make your content easy to scan with clear problem → solution structures, include statistics and credible sources
• LinkedIn search: Use relevant hashtags, post regularly, engage with comments to boost visibility
• YouTube/TikTok: Create video versions that answer common questions
• Communities: Share genuinely helpful insights in relevant Slack groups, Reddit threads, or industry forums

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The key is that you're not creating entirely different content for each channel - you're adapting your core valuable content to work across them all (hello, content repurposing from last week!)

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Make it easy for AI to understand and recommend you

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LLMs are increasingly becoming the gatekeepers to customer discovery. To make sure they're recommending you:

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• Create clear, comprehensive content that explains what you do and who you help
• Include customer success stories and specific outcomes
• Make sure your website has clear, scannable information architecture
• Keep your content updated - outdated information will hurt your credibility

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Build genuine authority

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This is where traditional SEO and modern discoverability converge. The best way to show up across all channels is to genuinely be helpful and build a reputation:

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• Contribute to industry conversations on LinkedIn
• Share insights in communities where your audience hangs out
• Create content that people want to reference and link to
• Build relationships with others in your space who might mention or recommend you

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The quick wins

If you're starting from scratch (or like that founder, realising you're barely visible), here's where to start:

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Audit where you currently show up

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• Google your main service offering - where do you rank?
• Ask ChatGPT or Claude to recommend solutions in your category - are you mentioned?
• Search LinkedIn for your key terms - do you appear?
• Check YouTube and TikTok for your topic - is there content about problems you solve?

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Identify the gaps

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Where are you completely missing? That's your opportunity

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Start with one channel where your audience is most active

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Don't try to dominate everywhere at once. Pick the channel where your customers are most likely to be searching and focus there first

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Create genuinely helpful content

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Stop thinking about keywords and start thinking about questions. What are your customers struggling with? What questions do they ask in sales calls? What problems are they trying to solve?

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Make it a habit

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Discoverability isn't a one-off project. It's about consistently showing up and being helpful over time

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The bottom line

SEO isn't dead - it's just evolved beyond Google.

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Your customers are searching for solutions across multiple channels, and you need to be discoverable on all of them. The good news? The fundamentals are the same: create genuinely helpful content that answers real questions, make it easy to find and understand, and show up consistently.

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Stop thinking about SEO as a technical dark art and start thinking about it as: "How can I make it easier for my customers to find me when they're looking for a solution to their problem?"

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That's a question worth answering.

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What's your biggest challenge with being discoverable? Drop me a line and let me know!

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P.S. If you're wondering how to identify what your customers are actually searching for, that's where customer conversations (from week 1!) become gold. Ask them: "How did you first search for a solution to this problem?" or "Where do you typically go to find recommendations for tools like ours?"

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Their answers will tell you exactly where you need to show up.