B2B Marketing Expert | Building my own SaaS startup from Zero to Market Leader. Sharing insights and actionable advice.

I transform startups into industry leaders through strategic marketing and brand development.

As CMO at Belkins, I built the brand from scratch and elevated it to become the #1 B2B Lead Generation agency in the US (Clutch-ranked), scaling revenue from $30K to $900K MRR while generating 250+ qualified meetings monthly.

I've successfully launched multiple ventures, including building the strategy, brand and marketing team for Folderly (SaaS), helping develop the business model for Wiseboard (advisory platform), and most recently, co-founding Forecastio, a sales performance management platform for HubSpot users that reached #3 Product Hunt's "Product of the Day" with zero marketing budget.

My approach combines data-driven strategy with creative execution to deliver measurable business impact. I specialize in:

- Brand development and positioning
- Growth marketing for B2B SaaS
- Content strategy that drives qualified leads
- Building high-performing marketing teams

I thrive in fast-paced environments where I can turn marketing challenges into growth opportunities. 

Let's connect if you're looking to scale your startup or need a strategic marketing advisor.

Dmytro Chervonyi

GTM for Early Stage SaaS | Co-founder @ Datapad | SaaS Growth Advisor | Reforge | 1x Exit |

I’m a marketer, 2x entrepreneur with 1x exit, and helped companies to go from 0 to 8 figures.

My achievements:

- Built 2 VC backed startups with one exit

- Built a 7 figure productized marketing agency

- Became a mentor in top accelerators such as: 500, Plug and Play, Techstars

- Got to work with the portfolio companies of amazing investors such as A16z, Craft Ventures, YC

- Built a podcast with 20k downloads in a year-figure

- Transformed my body more times than Christian Bale ☺️

John Ozuysal

🚨 Hiring: Performance marketer (meta-focused)

Location: Dubai or remote

One of the companies I am working with is looking for someone who is really goood at Meta ads, and TikTok is an added bonus.

The company is based in Dubai, but the role can be remote or in person. You will also be working with me :) 

We don't have the official job description yet, but here is TLDR:

- You should have experience working with B2B or the info product space

- Ideally, you have experience in fintech

- You are specialized in Meta ads

- You can own the creative strategy 

- Ability to build funnels (call funnel, VSL, lead magnet etc..)

If you are interested, send me a dm with your best campaigns and why you are a good fit.

SEO and AEO agencies are dead

I replaced my $15k/mo agency with Claude Code.

Here is what my agent does:

- Creates content strategy around topics such as "ultimate guide to xyz" or "what is xyz" - zero defendability for AI search 

- Optimizes each post with [some made-up name] framework

- Found my ICP in 5 seconds, even though I couldn't figure it out for a year 

[screenshot of the flow] - I have no idea what any of this does. Neither does the person who built it.

We used this agent for 6 months, and below are the results from the AI search

[screenshot of Google Search Console]

And yes, we are tracking AI search from GSC, so all the AEO tools are unnecessary

I spoke with a CMO of Series B B2B SaaS last week about their AEO

He was furious.

"ChatGPT is telling people we're too expensive for small teams." - not correct at all

We pulled up the sources AI was citing.

Competitor blog posts. Reddit threads from 2021. A review site that hadn't been updated in 18 months.

His first instinct?

"We need more PR. More brand mentions. More visibility."

No. You don't.

That's not your problem.

Your problem is you never created content that answers the questions buyers are actually asking.

Best tools in your category. Alternatives. Comparisons. Use cases by company size.

You left that to competitors and review sites.

So now they're the source. Not you.

You're not invisible. You just handed the microphone to everyone else.

Early-stage companies have the opposite problem.

AI genuinely doesn't know they exist yet.

PR and brand mentions actually matter there.

But for you?

Create the content that answers buyer questions.

Become the source AI cites.

Stop letting competitors control your narrative.

TLDR: Assess your current situation before you invest in any AEO-related activity

---

If you want us to build a free AEO roadmap for you, apply from the link on my profile

AI usage jumped from 24% to 84% in one year.

68% now start with AI tools before Google.

The shift isn't slowing down. It's accelerating.

This is all according to data released by Wynter

Wynter surveyed 100 CMOs at $50M+ companies.

The results- your entire GTM is outdated.

1. The AI Shift

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is now the #2 investment priority.

It didn't exist 12 months ago.

AI tools are reshaping vendor research.

Your content needs to train AI models. 

Not just rank on Google.

That means structured content, clear differentiation, and showing up when ChatGPT compares your category.

2. What's Happening Before Sales

Here's what actually happens before they talk to sales:

• 84% now use ChatGPT to compare vendors
• 72% ask trusted peers in dark social
• 54% verify on G2/Capterra

They've already done the research. In AI tools. In dark social networks.

48% arrive "very familiar" to sales calls.

That's doubled from 22% last year.

3. What They Want From Your Website

When they finally hit your site (100% do):

They're looking for two things.

1. Clear problem-solution fit.

2. Differentiation from category leaders.

If you can't articulate both in 10 seconds, you're out.

4. How They Arrive to Demos

Then 55% want a guided demo to close.

Not self-serve. Not a 47-page deck.

A human showing them how you solve their problem.

5. The New Strategy

Optimize for two networks:

1. Human networks (dark social, peer recommendations).

2. Machine networks (AI tools, GEO, training data).

If you're still betting on SEO and paid ads to drive pipeline, you're fishing in an empty pond.

Buyers moved but your strategy didn't.

6. Start Here

1. Audit where you show up when ChatGPT searches for tools in your category.

2. Build a customer advocacy program to get recommended in private communities.

3. Optimize your website for AI: structured content, clear differentiation, comparison-ready messaging.

These three moves will put you ahead of 90% of your competitors.

Your buyers trust ChatGPT more than your sales team.

That's not an insult. That's just how people make decisions now.

They ask AI for recommendations. They get a shortlist. They do follow-up questions. By the time they land on your site, they've already decided whether you're a contender.

But here's the problem:

Most B2B SaaS companies have zero control over what AI says about them.
AI is citing outdated competitor blog posts. Old Reddit threads. Review sites that haven't been updated in over a year. And it's confidently presenting that information as if it's current.

I've seen AI tell buyers a product is "too expensive for small teams" based entirely on a competitor's comparison post from 2022. Completely inaccurate. But that's what the buyer heard.

So how do you take back control?

You become the source.

Step 1: Identify the 20-30 buying questions your ICP is asking AI right now. Turn your paid search keywords into questions.

Step 2: Ask those questions yourself. Look at what AI cites. What source types? Who gets mentioned?

Step 3: Fill the gaps. If AI cites a listicle, get on that listicle or create a competing one. If it cites a forum thread, go give a real, transparent answer. If it cites a video, make one.

Step 4: Optimize your help center so it answers every specific feature, integration, and use case question a buyer could ask in a follow-up.

Do this consistently for 6 weeks, and you'll see the shift.

The brands that control their AI narrative now will own their category later.

I think AI search visibility trackers are useless 

Why? 

Because I keep seeing AEO case studies with screenshots of the search console

I guess we are all missing something because my GSC is not giving me AI search visibility data 🤣 

Sad thing is, some of these posts are getting 500 comments

If you're a pre-Series A B2B SaaS founder, I have some uncomfortable news.

Ask ChatGPT about your category right now.

Ask it: "What's the best [your category] tool?"

You're probably not in the answer.

Not because your product is bad.

But because AI literally doesn't know you exist.

Here's the thing most people get wrong about AEO at the early stage:

Established companies have a different problem. AI knows who they are, it just might be saying the wrong things about them. That's a narrative control problem.

Your problem is different. You need to exist in the conversation first.

And here's the good news: you don't need to be a household name to show up.
The content that gets cited in AI answers isn't always from massive brands. It's from whoever answers the question best.

A Reddit thread with 200 upvotes can get cited. A YouTube video with 500 views can show up. A detailed comparison blog on a niche review site can influence the answer.

You don't need millions of views. You need to be present where AI is looking.
Here's what I'd prioritize at the early stage:

→ Identify the 10-20 questions your buyers are asking in ChatGPT  ( it could be around your competitors or your category. Ask your paid team to give you the best converting keywords...)

→ Create content that directly answers those questions better than anyone 

→ Show up authentically on Reddit in threads about your category 

→ Create YouTube content (B2B categories are  uncrowded on video) 

→ Get mentioned on other sites

SEO took at least 3 months to show results, but AEO is faster

The only thing you can't afford to do is wait.

I haven't been to a graveyard in years.

Turns out I didn't need to, I just needed to open LinkedIn.

People here love the Kill Channels:

RIP Email. 

RIP Agencies. 

RIP Content. 

RIP Thought Leadership. 

RIP Ads.

At this point, everything's been declared dead at least 100 times.

And yet... somehow they all keep showing up to work on Monday.

We are running an AI search sprint free for 3 SaaS companies

👇

We're opening up 3 free pilot slots to show you exactly where you stand on AI search and what to do about it.

Here's what you'll get:

- A full AI search audit of your brand vs your top competitors

- Your 30-day AI search content strategy + the brand mentions you need to build

- Your first revenue-focused content — written and ready to publish

We hand-pick the companies. We're not looking for volume. We're looking for fit.

That means Series A B2B SaaS. $1M+ ARR. A category worth owning. And a team that will actually execute on what we hand them — because we're not interested in doing great work that sits in a Google Doc.

Q2 2026 cohort has 3 spots.

If you think you're the right fit, apply from here: https://tally.so/r/442j4A

Prospect came to us last week confident about their search strategy.

"We rank #1 on Google for our main keyword."

Great. Genuinely impressive.

Then we asked ChatGPT: "What's the best tool for [their category]?"

They weren't mentioned once.

Not in the answer. (they were cited, though)

Here's what most founders don't understand about AI search:

In Google, if your blue link is #1, you win.

In ChatGPT, if your URL is the #1 citation but nobody else mentions you, you lose.

AI doesn't just look at one source. It summarizes many.

So what actually wins?

Being mentioned on your own site AND on YouTube AND on Reddit AND on other blogs AND in review sites. You need great content + brand

That's the game now.

The old playbook: Rank #1 on Google. Win.

The new playbook: Show up everywhere AI looks. Own the answer.

If you're only optimizing your own website, you're playing half the game.

We just increased AI search visibility for a B2B SaaS client by 100% in 30 days.

Want to see how we did it?

You can't. The case study doesn't exist. I made it up.

But you'd have believed it, right? Because you've seen 15 posts this month saying almost exactly that.

Here's the problem: a lot of people claiming to grow AI search visibility are backing it up with Google Search Console screenshots.

It does not tell you how often your brand appears in AI-generated responses. 

It does not tell you what AI systems say about you. It does not measure anything that would reasonably be called "AI search visibility."

Posting a GSC screenshot as proof of AEO results is either a misunderstanding of how this works or a deliberate misdirection aimed at people who don't know the difference.

If someone is showing you clean dashboards and confident attribution, ask them which tool produced it and how it works.

If the answer is a Google Search Console screenshot, walk away.

Your competitors keep showing up in ChatGPT.

You don't.

Here's what nobody in the "AI SEO" space is saying clearly enough:

The AI doesn't care that your landing page ranks #1 on Google.

When someone asks "What's the best [your category] tool?" — ChatGPT isn't reading one page and picking a winner. You can be a source, but this is not the same as being "visible."

It's pulling from everywhere. Forums. Video platforms. Review sites. 

Knowledge bases. Third-party articles.

Then it stitches all of that together into a single answer.

Your competitor shows up in a roundup article. They're recommended in a forum thread. Someone made a walkthrough video about them. 

Their knowledge base answers a niche feature question.

That's 4 mentions across 4 different source types.

This is the game now. You have to build citation layers, stacking your brand's presence across the source types that AI models actually pull from.

Here's how to start:

- Take your best converting-value paid search keywords or highest converting organic keywords, or even better, ask your customers how they searched for you.

- Ask Claude to turn this into buyer prompts. For each prompt, check what is being cited, and what kind of sources? Whose mentioned?

- Then build your owned content and earned content strategy based on this information.

- If the AI is pulling from a listicle comparing your competitors, go create your own listicle and also get included in that one. 

- If it's citing a forum thread where someone asks about your category, go give a real, helpful answer from your actual team. If it's referencing a video walkthrough, make one.

Match the source type that's already winning the citation. Don't guess. Mirror what's working.

Treat it like a proper experiment. Pick 10questions to intervene on. Leave 10 untouched. Track the results over 6 weeks.

This is exactly how we run AEO experiments at House of Growth - AI Led Growth Agency

Companies running this playbook are seeing AI-referred traffic convert at dramatically higher rates than traditional search. 

And most of your competitors still think this is "too early" to worry about.

Don't start your AEO strategy by creating content.

Start by diagnosing the actual problem first.

Most founders skip this step entirely. They hear "you need to show up in AI search" and immediately start publishing blog posts, optimizing title tags etc..

But here's the thing: the strategy is completely different depending on your stage.

Later-stage companies usually don't have a visibility problem. AI already knows who they are.

Their real risk? Representation.

AI is pulling from competitor blog posts. Reddit threads from 2022. Review sites that haven't been updated in over a year.

The narrative about your company is being shaped by sources you don't control.

Earlier-stage companies have the opposite challenge. AI doesn't know they exist at all. No visibility. No representation. Nothing.

Same goal. Completely different starting points.

Before you invest a single dollar in AEO:

→ Identify the prompts your buyers are typing into ChatGPT 
→ Pull up the URLs that AI is actually citing in those answers 
→ Audit those sources for accuracy 
→ Then decide: Is this a visibility problem, or a narrative problem, or both?

That diagnosis determines everything that comes next.

Skip it, and you're spending money solving the wrong problem.

👉 If you want House of Growth - AI Led Growth Agency to build your AEO roadmap for free, send me a DM!

I see people bragging about creating blog posts with Claude code for AEO

Sad thing is, they are still creating blog posts such as:

- What is [topic]

- Ultimate guide to [topic]

You clearly have no idea how AEO works, otherwise you wouldn't create these and call them "AEO" focused posts

A company I work with just shared payback period for each channel

Channel A: 12-month payback period Channel B: 4-month payback period

Same customers. Same LTV. Wildly different economics.

Channel A was what their board pushed them to prioritize.

It gave instant feedback. Felt controllable. Made everyone comfortable.

Channel B was what they almost skipped entirely because "it takes too long."

Twelve months later, Channel B is their most profitable acquisition source.
And here's the kicker.

Channel B didn't just acquire customers cheaper.

It changed their competitive position entirely.

Now when prospects research solutions, this company shows up everywhere:

- AI search results for their main category

- Comparison searches against every major competitor

- "Alternative to [competitor]" queries across platforms

They're not chasing attention anymore. They're capturing demand that already exists.

Meanwhile, their competitors who chose the "safe" route?

Still invisible in the places buyers are actually making decisions.

I asked the founder what changed his mind about investing in the slower channel.

He said: "I realized we were optimizing for feeling productive instead of being profitable."

That hit hard.

Your competitors are already showing up in the searches that matter.
They're already on the shortlists being created without you.

And every month you're "not ready" to invest in foundational growth is another month they strengthen their moat.

taplio

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