🗂️ 5 Ways I Create Content That Shows Up in AI Search

Hi my friend 👋

There's a question I keep actively getting: From clients. From entrepreneurs I meet. From podcast hosts who invite me to talk about content. From people who DM me after a LinkedIn post.

It's some version of: "How do I actually create content that shows up in AI search?"

And answering it so many times, in so many formats, I realized it was time to just put it all in one place.

So I started working on it a few weeks ago. And today, I can say it’s finally ready. YAY! 🥳

And since you're following along in Content Backstage, you're the first to get access to it.

I built a free playbook called the AI-Ready Content Playbook, and it covers the five methods I actually use (for myself and for the clients I write for) to create content that ranks on Google and gets cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overview.

Why this topic specifically

AI search isn't some future thing to prepare for. It's already shifting how content performs right now.

Yesterday, I posted about this on LinkedIn, specifically about the conversion rate difference between AI search visitors and regular organic visitors. The post got way more traction than I expected. Lots of comments, new followers, and people sharing it.

Which confirmed what I already suspected: this is still top of mind for a lot of people, and most of the advice out there is still pretty surface-level.

Writing AI search-ready content starts at the research stage. I mean, by understanding what your audience is actually asking, in their words, before you write a single sentence. And this is what my playbook is focused on.

What's inside this playbook

1. Mine your sales calls and client meetings. The questions your buyers ask before they sign are your best content briefs. I share the exact workflow I use to capture and extract them — including a ready-to-use prompt you can set up in minutes.

2. Reddit as a research tool. I use this every time I outline a long-form article. It's where people talk about your category when no one's selling to them, which means it's brutally honest and full of angles you'd never think of on your own.

3. Social listening for content ideas. There are conversations happening about your category right now that you're not part of — and don't even know about. This method surfaces them passively, in real time.

4. The 3-layer intent framework. Going beyond "People Also Ask" to understand not just what someone is asking, but why and what gap existing content is missing. This is the layer that gets you cited by AI tools, not just indexed.

5. Credibility signals. The specific structural and content choices that make buyers and AI models trust you fast. Not vague advice, but specific things you can apply to whatever you're writing next.

And as usual, here’s my reminder:

That's the whole philosophy behind the playbook. Hope you find it useful.

If you’re interested in starting a newsletter like this, try out beehiiv (that’s what I use).

See you next week,
Kate 🌟