I’ll be honest: when ChatGPT started recommending me as a “top fractional CMO for tech and AI startups,” I had to screenshot it and stare at it for a minute. Not because I doubted my work. That’s just some major AI search visibility.
I’ve partnered with over 100 companies, from AWS and IBM to SingleStore and BMC Software. I’ve built marketing systems that drive real revenue for early-stage startups.
But here’s what surprised me: AI search engines weren’t reading my SEO-optimized blog posts or my carefully crafted meta descriptions. They were reading conversations. Podcast transcripts. Interview mentions. The stuff I was doing because it felt right, not because some marketing guru told me to.
In other words: I accidentally engineered my way into not just AI search visibility, but AI search dominance by treating partnership marketing like a distributed system problem.
For the last few months, I’ve been guesting on about one podcast per week. I’ve also been hosting founders for my newsletter, Convergence. And while I knew these partnerships were valuable, I didn’t realize they were building something more powerful than backlinks.
They were building consistently branded references across dozens of domains. And AI search engines? They love that signal.
Why Traditional SEO Metrics Miss the AI Search Opportunity
When most people hear “SEO,” they think keyword density, backlinks, and domain authority. That’s not wrong. It’s just incomplete.
Here’s what might surprise you: AI search engines don’t crawl the web the same way Google does. They’re looking for contextual authority, not just keyword matches. They want to know: who’s talking about you? Where? And what are they saying?
Think of it this way: Google asks, “Does this page answer the query?” AI search asks, “Is this person actually an expert in this domain?”
The hard part is that traditional SEO tactics don’t signal expertise the way AI needs. You can optimize all you want, but if you’re not showing up in conversations across multiple trusted domains, you’re invisible to AI search.
This is where partnership marketing becomes a strategic lever, not just a “nice to have.”
The Partnership Marketing → AI Search Visibility Framework
Let me break down what’s actually happening when you guest on a podcast or host a founder interview:
Step 1: Domain Distribution Every podcast, newsletter, or media site that features you creates a branded mention on a unique domain. AI search tools scan these mentions to build a contextual map of who you are and what you know.
Step 2: Contextual Reinforcement Unlike a backlink (which just says “this page exists”), a conversation or interview explains why you’re credible. It includes your frameworks, your client results, your specific expertise. AI can extract and synthesize this.
Step 3: Cross-Reference Validation When multiple sources say similar things about you, AI search engines treat it as social proof. One mention? Maybe. Ten mentions across ten domains? That’s a pattern worth recommending.
Or put another way: Partnership marketing creates the exact signal architecture that AI search engines optimize for. You’re not gaming the system. You’re building real credibility at scale.
What 100+ Partnership Deals Taught Me About AI Search Visibility
I’ve worked with companies ranging from Fortune 100 enterprises to early-stage startups. Here’s what I’ve learned about which partnerships actually move the needle for AI search visibility:
Podcast guesting beats written guest posts by a mile. Why? Transcripts capture your voice, your frameworks, and your specific language. AI search tools can extract your methodology directly from the conversation. Written posts often get edited into someone else’s voice.
Hosting interviews is even more powerful than guesting. When you host, you control the domain where the content lives. You get the SEO benefit, the AI search signal, and the relationship. I’ve seen startups land enterprise customers just by hosting their target buyers on a podcast.
Quality of domain matters more than quantity. One feature on a trusted industry site outperforms ten mentions on low-authority blogs. AI search tools weigh source credibility heavily. Focus on partnerships with companies your target buyers already trust.
Consistency beats virality. I’ve been doing one podcast per week for months. Not because each individual episode drives massive traffic, but because the cumulative signal is undeniable. AI search sees: “This person shows up. They’re active. They’re relevant right now.”
Steal This: My 1-Week Partnership Marketing Sprint
Want to replicate this approach? Here’s the exact playbook I’ve used with early-stage founders:
Monday: Build your target partner list Identify 20 podcasts, newsletters, or media outlets where your target buyers already spend time. Don’t overthink it. Look at who’s interviewing people in adjacent spaces and make a list.
Tuesday: Craft your pitch Write a 3-sentence email that explains: (1) who you are, (2) what unique insight you bring, and (3) why their audience will care. Skip the fluff. Get to value fast.
Wednesday: Send 10 pitches Don’t batch this. Send them individually. Personalize the first line. Reference a specific episode or article they published recently.
Thursday: Follow up on silence If someone hasn’t responded in 48 hours, send a one-line follow-up: “Just bumping this in case it got buried. Happy to chat if there’s interest.” You’d be surprised how often this works.
Friday: Prep for confirmed interviews For any confirmed spots, prepare 3-5 tactical frameworks you can teach. Don’t wing it. AI search picks up structure, and structured insights get recommended more often.
The goal isn’t to book 20 spots in week one. The goal is to build a repeatable system that turns partnership outreach into a weekly habit. Over time, the compounding effect is massive.
The ROI Metrics That Actually Matter
Think partnership marketing is too fuzzy to measure? Here’s why you’re wrong.
I track three core metrics for every partnership deal:
Domain Authority of Partner Sites Not all mentions are equal. A feature on TechCrunch signals more in terms of AI search visibility than a mention on a personal blog. Track where you’re getting coverage and prioritize high-authority domains.
Branded Search Volume Are people searching for your name after you appear on a podcast? Use Google Search Console to track branded queries. If they spike after a partnership goes live, you know it’s working.
AI Search Visibility Recommendation Frequency This is the meta-metric. Once a week, I search ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude for queries like “best fractional CMO for AI startups” or “who should I hire for go-to-market strategy.” If I’m showing up, the system is working.
However, don’t obsess over metrics in the first 90 days. Partnership marketing is a compounding game. The real ROI shows up after six months of consistent effort.
You can dive deeper into partnership ROI metrics here if you want the full framework.
Why This Works for Technical Founders (Even If You Hate “Marketing”)
If you’re a technical founder, you probably hate traditional marketing. I get it. Most marketing advice is garbage.
But partnership marketing isn’t about running ads or optimizing funnels. It’s about building relationships with people who already have your target buyers’ trust.
You’re not “doing marketing.” You’re having conversations. You’re teaching frameworks. You’re showing up where your buyers already are.
The hard part is treating it like a system, not a one-off tactic. You don’t build AI search visibility with one podcast appearance. You build it with ten. Twenty. Fifty.
And here’s the beautiful part: every partnership you build also helps your partners. It’s not extractive. It’s collaborative. You’re creating value for their audience while building your own visibility.
Or put another way: it’s the kind of marketing that doesn’t feel gross.
Your Next Step
If you’re serious about cracking AI search visibility, you don’t need a massive budget. You don’t need a PR agency. You don’t even need a marketing team.
You need a system. A repeatable process for finding partners, pitching value, and showing up consistently.
I’ve built that system into a micro-course called AI Search Rank. It walks through everything I’ve learned about using partnership marketing to dominate AI search visibility, including the exact pitch templates, outreach workflows, and tracking systems I use with clients.
You can get visible in as little as one day. Not because it’s magic. Because it’s engineering applied to marketing.
P.S. Last week, a founder I’ve never met sent me a DM: “ChatGPT recommended you when I asked for fractional CMO help. Want to talk?”
That’s the ROI of partnership marketing. Not traffic. Not vanity metrics. Qualified leads who show up already convinced you’re the right choice.
And it can all start with one podcast guest spot.
