Writing

Field notes on growth & AI search

Essays built on original data — what actually moves growth, and how to stay visible as AI rewrites search.

Field Guide · Start hereUpdated June 202614 min read

AI Search Optimization (GEO), mapped

The field guide: what GEO actually is, how AI answers get built, GEO vs SEO vs AEO, and a working glossary — from an operator with 192,924 AI citations of proof.

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Generative Engine OptimizationJune 202611 min read

Most “GEO” advice is wrong. I ran 87 experiments to prove it.

Twelve weeks, 192,924 AI citations, one real website. What actually makes ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI cite you — and why most of what the new “GEO experts” are selling didn't survive contact with the data.

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Generative Engine OptimizationJune 20268 min + checklist

How to show up in AI search: an operator's playbook

The nine moves that actually earn citations from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI — with an interactive readiness checklist that scores your page as you tick them off.

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Field Guide · ChatGPTJune 202610 min read

How to get cited by ChatGPT

The one thing nobody tells you — ChatGPT reads Bing, not Google — the six moves that earn citations, and how to check if it cites you.

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Comparison · FundamentalsJune 202610 min read

GEO vs SEO: what actually changes

Same foundation, different unit of competition — SEO earns a ranking, GEO earns a citation. What transfers, what breaks, and how to split your effort.

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Mechanics · Glossary Deep-DiveJune 20267 min read

What is query fan-out?

The retrieval mechanic that quietly runs every AI search engine: one prompt becomes 8–16 hidden sub-queries — and you get cited for searches nobody ever types.

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Comparison · ToolsJune 20269 min read

GEO tools in 2026: what's worth paying for

The three jobs a GEO tool actually does, what each tier honestly costs — Otterly, Peec, Profound, LumenGEO & the suites — and the $0 stack that covers most teams.

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Case Study · GEOJune 202610 min read

How GrantCompass earned 192,924 AI citations

The first-party case study: 87 experiments, 25,000+ users in 4 months, zero ads or PR — what on-site GEO actually did, and the honest caveats about what the data does and doesn't prove.

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Data · ReferenceUpdated June 2026Sourced stats

AI search statistics 2026

The numbers that matter for GEO — AI Overviews reach, citation patterns, what actually moves visibility — every stat attributed and linked. Built to be cited.

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Field Guide · MeasurementJune 20269 min read

How to measure marketing in 2026

MMM, attribution, and incrementality each answer a different question and carry a different bias. The operator's move isn't picking one — it's giving each a job and letting them calibrate each other. With an interactive measurement triangle.

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Method · MeasurementJune 20268 min read

Scrappy MMM: a directional read between the outputs

You don't need a six-figure vendor — or the quarterly refresh — to know which way budget should move. How to model the mix scrappily, fast, and without fooling yourself. With the rigor ladder.

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Method · MeasurementJune 20268 min read

Forecast a range, not a number

A point forecast is a wish with a decimal. Triangulate three models that should disagree — bottoms-up funnel, top-down trend, and cohort/LTV — into a defensible range, then track your error so it compounds.

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Method · MeasurementJune 20268 min read

You can run six clean tests a year

Real incrementality tests are scarce. Choose them like a portfolio — scored by decision value × uncertainty ÷ cost — and run the agenda as the maintenance schedule for your whole measurement stack.

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Pillar · MeasurementJune 202614 min read

Measuring growth across a mobile + desktop app

One user is three identities — web, iOS, Android — measured by three systems that never agree, under privacy rules that keep moving. The 5-layer stack that holds cross-platform attribution together, with an interactive channel × platform matrix of what's actually measurable.

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Field Guide · Early-Stage GrowthJuly 202611 min read

Zero to your first 25,000 users

0→1 isn't scaled-down 1→n: no budget, no brand, no team. The honest sequence for finding the one channel that works — with GrantCompass (25,000+ users, $0 ads) as the measured-not-caused case, and a first-90-days plan.

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Field Guide · AI-Native MarketingJuly 202610 min read

How marketing teams actually use AI

Everyone has the same models — the gap between teams isn't access to AI, it's whether they build with it. The 5-level AI-native maturity ladder, where AI really creates leverage, and what it still can't fix.

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Field Guide · Positioning & GTMJuly 202610 min read

Positioning: the part most founders skip

Positioning isn't a tagline — it's the upstream choice that makes every channel and message easy or impossible. A startup positioning framework, the wedge, and a live positioning-statement builder.

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🎛️ Free ToolInstantResponse-curve optimizer

Marketing Budget Allocator

Set a saturation curve per channel and watch the optimizer split a fixed budget to maximize output — the same logic an MMM uses to allocate spend. Interactive, illustrative, free.

Open the tool →
🔍 Free ToolInstant14-signal scan

GEO Readiness Scanner

Paste any URL and get a 0–100 score for how likely ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI are to cite it — with the exact fixes, ranked. The automated companion to the playbook checklist.

Scan your page →
More field notes on growth & AI search are in the works.