Welcome to Day 7 of the Substack SEO Challenge.
Here’ what we covered so far:
When I had just 220 free subscribes on Substack and while I was figuring things out around here, I landed my first paid brand deal.
I shared a full breakdown here.
![How I Landed a $450 Brand Deal on Substack as a Small Creator [The Complete Breakdown]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!EhDf!,w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2d33dec0-4468-402b-a98d-07342222ad4c_1200x630.png)
At the end of the collaboration, I asked the woman how she found me (as I was still a new Substack creator). She said it was through Claude, by searching using a few relevant keywords. She liked my content, so she reached out.
Back then I had a few articles about blogging. Which means that at such an early stage, Claude was already recommending me.
The reasons can be many. Maybe there’s not much blogging content around here, I gained the trust of search engines and AI tools quickly because I have online presence on my blog and other platforms too and linked to one another, or else. I can’t know the exact reason.
But this just shows why being cited by AI is important, and will only become more important as people now search directly in ChatGPT and other AI tools instead of in Google.
Here’s another example from an email I got related to my blog:
I didn’t say Yes to this opportunity as it didn’t feel aligned, but it’s just another example of how AI search visibility can bring you business in different ways.
Luckily, there are things we can do to increase our chances of being cited by AI tools. That’s what we’re getting into today.
Now, many of the things I’m about to share can sound pretty general to you. But that’s the point.
Don’t try to manipulate AI tools or search engines into citing you. The goal is to gain their trust so they can naturally mention you to the right readers. That means growing a personal brand, being seen as an expert in what you write about, and posting content that’s genuinely worth citing.
Keep in mind that what I’m sharing here is not guaranteed to get you cited by AI tools, but it can increase your chances. See these as signals that contribute to the overall trust and relevance of your content (plus, that’s what search engines are looking for too).
It comes down to 3 main things:
Make yourself discoverable - via SEO, links, mentions, and connected platforms.
Make your expertise clear - personal brand, author information, consistent niche, first-hand experience.
Make your content worth citing - specific answers, depth, original insights, examples, data, case studies, useful explanations.
And here are some more specific tips and examples on how to optimize for AI SEO:
What AI Tools Look For
Relevance to the user’s question.
Your posts need to closely answer what the person asked.
I just posted a Note about this yesterday:
In the beginning, you might not know what questions your audience has. But as you keep talking about your subject, you’ll start getting some (via comments and messages), and that’s when you need to take action.
You can also study other creators in your niche and see what their readers are asking them. Then write the content that answers the most burning questions.
Add depth.
A post that thoroughly answers a question can also be more useful than a short, generic answer. So go deep. That’s what evokes emotions in others and makes a difference in the ocean of low-quality content out there.
Clear topical expertise.
AI systems need signals that you know your subject and talk about it consistently. That means you cover different angles, write about it weekly, maybe in different content formats (written posts and a podcast, for example) and on different platforms (Substack + Pinterest/Instagram/LinkedIn/etc.)
That’s why guest features are valuable too. You get exposure to someone else’s audience but also get to talk about your expertise and become known as the go-to person on that topic.
Structure your articles so AI tools can easily extract information from them.
One way to do this is to answer the question early, in the first few paragraphs, before diving into the details.
Define important terms clearly. You can’t assume the reader already understands your terminology. You need to explain it all, in simple terms.
Keep your paragraphs short and use clear heading hierarchy. Use H2s and H3s in the right order to clearly signal what each section is about.
Direct questions as headings can do well here.
Make the key takeaways obvious. You can have a list with them in the beginning or at the end of the post.
First-hand experience.
People can ask AI for anything and get what they need in 5 seconds. How do you stand out? Thanks to your unique experience and perspective.
Share personal results, experiments, case studies, screenshots, and original observations. All this can make your content more useful, and thus more worthy of being cited.
Original information.
Another way to bring something unique to the table is to add your own data, frameworks, opinions, and examples, or findings. That gives AI original information that can’t be found anywhere else. And in a world where AI content is prevalent, that’s one of the best things you can do.
Clear structure.
The next factor is clarity. And by that I mean descriptive headings, concise sections, lists, and direct answers that make your content easier to understand.
If you ever want my eyes on your Substack, that’s what The Substack Growth Audit is for. I review every element on your publication as well as your content and monetization strategy. SEO is part of that too.
Author credibility.
You bio, profile links, presence on other platforms (such as social media), an author bio, professional background, and having your work recognized beyond your own publication (by external references and links, for example).
All this makes you credible in the eyes of others, including AI tools.
A strong match between the post and the query.
This is probably one of the key factor and it’s why you can get cited even as a small creator. Your post simply needs to be a particularly useful source for that specific question.
And last but not least…
💡 Become the source instead of copying everyone else.
The more original your content is, the more valuable it becomes.
In conclusion, I’ll copy what I said to a reader in the comments when she asked how to get cited by AI:
SEO is about optimizing so you can rank your content in search engines and get found when people search for specific keywords. It’s about having good content, writing for user intent, being helpful and trusted by both people and search engines.
Becoming AI citable also means building a trusted platform + brand, and having good content that answers the questions people are searching for, but this time with the goal of getting cited by tools like ChatGPT when people search for information there.
You can see the similarities. Also, one leads to the other. If you gained the trust of search engines, it’s quite likely that AI tools will start citing you too. This happened to me with my blog.
🎯 ACTION ITEMS
#1: Pick one question your audience is asking.
Look through comments, Notes, emails, and DMs for questions you can answer in depth.
#2: Answer it in detail in your next post.
Make the answer the main purpose of the article.
#3: Answer the question early.
Give readers a clear answer within the first few paragraphs. Then expand with examples and details.
What’s one thing you’ll change about your content after reading this?
On Day 8 of the challenge, I’m sharing a specific strategy to create a clear question → answer structure. It’s super easy, and I think you’ll love it. See you then!
Congratulations on Claude citing you Lydia and also thank you for the tips you shared.
Thanks for the insights, Lidiya, will definitely follow, and congrats on Claude citing ya.