Jake Ward

Rank #1 in ChatGPT and AI Search: My next LIVE SEO session on 8th April. Co-Founder at Contact (and 3x SaaS companies).

I've spent 10 years in SEO and 8 years working with SaaS companies, from high-growth startups like beehiiv to billion-dollar platforms like Kajabi. Launched multiple SEO products like Byword.ai (2 weeks before ChatGPT) to scale SEO programmatically, and Mentions.so to win AI visibility. Ran high-profile experiments like the world's largest AI SEO case study, SEO speedruns, and the infamous SEO heist.

I'm leading product and SEO innovation at Contact.so across 25+ active clients and a 20-person SEO and content team. And building and growing Kleo.so to help entrepreneurs scale their personal brand and turn LinkedIn into a lead generation machine (like I have).

Most of my work today focuses on one question:

"How can SaaS companies win marketing (and SEO) in this AI era?"

Founder

We help software companies get more qualified traffic, sales and revenue through conversion-focused SEO and content marketing. Turn your blog into a 6 figure sales channel.

"I don't know how to do SEO in 2026"

Start from level 1 in The New SEO Game:

SEO isn't just Google rankings anymore.

It's now "Search Everywhere Optimisation".

Reframe your “New SEO” project as a game, and you'll become addicted to levelling up.

Level 1: Traditional SEO

- Fix technical problems killing your rankings
- Research keywords and target quick wins
- Optimise on-page elements (titles, content)
- Earn quality backlinks through outreach and PR

Level 2: AI Search Optimisation

- Format content so AI can parse it easily
- Build pages that AI platforms want to cite
- Structure information for machine consumption
- Test how your brand appears in AI search results

Level 3: Paid Search Visibility

- Run Google Ads for high-intent keywords
- Target competitor terms with YouTube Search Ads
- Capture Bing traffic through Microsoft Ads
- Measure paid performance across every platform

Level 4: LLM Answer SEO

- Produce authoritative content LLMs trust
- Build a knowledge base for AI training data
- Position your brand as the definitive source
- Monitor brand mentions in LLMs with Mentions

Level 5: Brand Authority SEO

- Get unlinked brand mentions across the web
- Feature in industry roundups and expert lists
- Build brand recognition without traditional backlinks
- Track brand mention volume and sentiment

Level 6: Community SEO

- Provide value in relevant Reddit threads
- Share expertise on Quora in your space
- Engage in Slack communities and Discord servers
- Build reputation in industry forums and groups

Level 7: Parasite SEO

- Repurpose content on Medium and LinkedIn Pulse
- Publish beehiiv newsletters to rank in Google
- Guest post on high-authority platforms/websites
- Leverage existing domain authority for quick rankings

Level 8: Platform-Specific SEO

- Optimise for Amazon search if selling products
- Focus on YouTube SEO for video content
- Master TikTok's algorithm for short-form content
- Optimise App Store listings for apps/extensions

Level 9: Topic Domination

- Own conversations across ALL channels
- Create content ecosystems to reinforce each platform
- Become the go-to expert mentioned everywhere
- Monitor and maintain authority across all channels

Completed all levels?

SEO is constantly evolving in 2026.

Stay ahead or get left behind.

PS. Need help levelling up? We'll help build and execute your “New SEO” domination strategy.

Book a call: https://www.contact.so/

SEO has been dying since 1997.

Some notable "deaths" include:

- Web 3.0
- Google Ads
- Social media
- TikTok search
- Voice assistants
- Featured snippets
- Zero-click searches
- Every Google update
- AI Overviews in Google
- GEO/AEO as the new SEO
- ChatGPT replacing Google

And now... AI agents?

Here’s the reality:

- SEO will always evolve
- People will always use search
- Search habits take time to change
- Google handles 14B+ daily searches
- Sends 190x more traffic than ChatGPT
- SEO is a $100B+ industry (growing ~12% YoY)

Even the newest "SEO killer" (GEO/AEO) is literally built on SEO fundamentals.

Richard Hoy said this in 1997:

"I’m beginning to believe that search engines are a dead-end technology and fretting over where your site comes up is a big waste of time."

Don’t be him in 2026.

SEO is very much alive.

SEO?
“Just add some keywords”
”Get green lights on Yoast”
”Let’s write a blog and rank #1?”
”Can’t we just buy some backlinks?”

But SEO in 2026 is a totally different beast.

Here’s what it actually involves:

- Total Addressable Search Market
- Google Search Console
- “Don’t change URLs”
- Quick win keywords
- Customer research
- Programmatic SEO
- Entity optimization
- LLM optimization
- Keyword Insights
- Topical authority
- Site architecture
- Schema markup
- Core Web Vitals
- Monthly reports
- Log file analysis
- Google updates
- Brand mentions
- Screaming Frog
- Technical audit
- Content decay
- Internal linking
- XML Sitemaps
- Topic clusters
- “llms.txt file?”
- Search intent
- Link building
- “It depends”
- Crawlability
- Canonicals
- Robots.txt
- Digital PR
- Mentions
- Semrush
- E-E-A-T

Just adding keywords or getting green lights on Yoast doesn't get SEO results.

True SEO and holistic marketing does.

I can’t stop thinking about this Tweet.

ChatGPT now handles over 2.5 billion queries per day and Google is eventually defaulting to "AI Mode."

This is the future of SEO.

6 tips you need to rank in AI platforms:

1. Win brand mentions

- Get your brand mentioned on high-authority websites
- Contribute to industry publications
- Be featured in news outlets
- Engage in forums and community discussions
- Encourage authentic UGC and word-of-mouth mentions

2. Build brand equity

- Monitor online reviews and brand sentiment
- Respond to feedback and address complaints
- Build a consistent, trustworthy public image
- Use tools like Mentions.so to track visibility, sentiment, and competitors

3. Be the source

- Publish authoritative, reference-style content
- Use neutral, factual, data-backed tone
- Avoid excessive personal takes or fluff
- Regularly update key content for accuracy
- Include credible citations and external data sources

4. Embrace passage-level SEO

- Structure content into short, focused paragraphs
- Use clear subheadings for logical segmentation
- Include concise, standalone answers
- Avoid burying insights in long text block
- Add structured data (e.g. schema markup)
- Make each paragraph extractable and cite-ready

5. Cover the conversation

- Use tools like Semrush for question research
- Monitor forums/socials for emerging questions
- Identify and answer sub-questions users ask
- Add relevant FAQs and support content
- Internally link related topic clusters

6. Optimise for crawlability

- Ensure AI crawlers are allowed in robots.txt
- Verify CDN settings aren't blocking crawlers
- Submit up-to-date XML sitemaps in GSC
- Optimise for fast page speed and clean HTML
- Review server logs for GPTBot, BingBot, etc. behaviour

But first, start with an audit:

- Your current visibility across all LLMs
- Prompt and content gaps vs your competitors
- Technical issues preventing AI from citing your site

Use a tool like Mentions.so to find this information.

Don’t regret not starting AI SEO sooner.

SaaS SEO in 2026: Join my (free) LIVE session on 4th March. Co-Founder and Head of Strategy & Innovation at Contact (and 3x SaaS companies).

I literally live and breathe this SEO framework.

5 years ago, I watched a SaaS company burn through 6 months of content budget. 60 blog posts on topics like "what is email marketing" and "benefits of newsletters."

Their traffic skyrocketed, but their revenue flatlined.

Their entire content game was backwards.

So that's when I built my "SEO Content Pyramid" to flip it completely and start at the top.

Here's how it works:

1. Convert (Top of Pyramid)

High-intent content for people ready to buy.

A. Competitor Comparisons
↳ "beehiiv vs Kit"
↳ "Kit alternatives"

B. Product Reviews
↳ "beehiiv reviews" (brand)
↳ "Kit review" (competitor)

C. Buyer Guides
↳ "Best newsletter platforms in 2026"
↳ "Best newsletter tools for beginners"

D. Product Pages
↳ "Email newsletter software"
↳ "Newsletter platform pricing"

2. Discover (Middle of Pyramid)

Solution content for people exploring options.

A. Solve Pain Points
↳ "How to start a newsletter"
↳ "Newsletter best practises"

B. Case Studies
↳ "Email marketing case studies"
↳ "How [Brand] grew to 100k subscribers"

C. Data Studies
↳ "Open rate benchmarks 2026"
↳ "Email marketing statistics"

D. Templates and Tools
↳ "Newsletter templates"
↳ "Email subject line generator"

3. Awareness (Bottom of Pyramid)

Educational content for people learning and exploring.

A. Definitions
↳ "What is open rate"
↳ "Email deliverability explained"

B. Educational Guides
↳ "How to increase email open rate"
↳ "How to write engaging emails"

C. Industry Trends and News
↳ "Gmail manage subscriptions feature"
↳ "Email marketing trends 2026"

D. Ideas
↳ "Newsletter content ideas"
↳ "Email campaign ideas for holidays"

Start at the top with Convert content. Only move to Discover once you've covered every competitor comparison, product review, and buyer guide. Then tackle Awareness last.

This framework will 10x your SEO results.

A single "Competitor Alternatives" blog post made $1M+ in revenue for my SaaS client over 3 years.

They are ALWAYS the highest converting articles.

Alternative articles help users discover a better alternative (i.e. your product) to what they're currently using or considering buying.

For example:

You might target the following keywords if you're a team communication platform.

- Microsoft Teams Alternatives
- Discord Alternatives
- Slack Alternatives

= 16.5K/mo Google searches

These searchers are the most ready-to-buy AND they’re highly cited by LLMs once ranking in Google.

Here’s how to write your own:

PS. I’m hosting my very first SaaS SEO in 2026 LIVE session on March 4th. Register for free: https://lnkd.in/eherWr2a

I've been doing SEO for 10 years and AI search is making me rethink everything I know, here are 10 changes I’m seeing:

PS. Join my (free) SaaS SEO in 2026 live session on Wednesday, March 4th @ 12pm EST.

Add it to your calendar: https://lnkd.in/eherWr2a

SEO vs AI SEO/AEO/GEO...

I just built SEO strategies for beehiiv and Kleo.

A ~$300M newsletter platform and my own 7-figure SaaS we launched 43 days ago.

(Sadly I didn't make this pic with Tyler Denk)

Completely different products, audiences, and business stages. But I'm using the same playbook.

SaaS SEO in 2026 isn't what it was 2-3 years ago.

The old playbook:

- Target high volume keywords
- Build comparison pages
- Rank in Google and get clicks

But in 2026:

1. Search is as fragmented as ever across Google, LLMs, socials, and other platforms.

2. Even if you rank, SERPs are busy with AI Overviews and ads making position 1 less valuable.

3. Zero-click searches mean AI is answering queries before any clicks to your website.

4. AI has commoditised average content and the quality bar is much higher.

I'm breaking down how I built the strategies for beehiiv and Kleo in a live session tomorrow at 12PM EST.

You'll see:

- What 20% of SEO to focus on in 2026
- How to rank across Google AND AI platforms
- The exact playbook for turning SEO into revenue

Register for free: https://lnkd.in/eherWr2a

PS. The next 20 SaaS companies that register and comment below get a free AI visibility report from my team (normally only for our clients like beehiiv).

Transforming LinkedIn Profiles into High-Converting Landing Pages | Visual Strategist | Design Consultant | 270+ Happy Clients | Google Certified UXer | EU Aspirant ✈️

Eat. Sleep. Design. Repeat.

Scroll to my recommendations to see the proof.

Currently open to working student roles inside Germany.

Ubaid Ur Rehman

In 2025, I got a stage invite in Denmark.

The stage shared by the top LinkedIn names.

My host got everything sorted for me.

Tickets. Formal invite. Hotel stay.

Ubaid was ready to travel for the first time out of Pakistan.

First time to be on a plane.

"Finally, a dream coming true..."

I booked my appointment for immigration.

3 days in a row. One document after the other.

From fingerprints to financial proofs.

I did everything I could have done.

Result? Visa rejected.

Reason? My Pakistani passport.

I was holding the yellow paper and reading the clause. An invalid perception about my passport.

(All this while I submitted a whole sack of papers.)

But there is "Khayr" in every delay.

Life continued.

A few months later, I got my visa for Germany.

Since then, I have traveled to 7 countries. Met my favorite LinkedIn humans. Attended the coolest Link Up meetup in Bosnia.

What I thought was a rejection. 

Allah knew it was a redirection.

Keep pushing. 

The right doors will open for you.

At the right time.

- With love, Ubaid. ❤️

Ubaid Ur Rehman 

My last client "signed" for this 1 single reason.

Resonance.

They saw themselves in me. 12,400 KMs away.

The question is.

Would it have been the same if I never showed up?

Might be Not. Right?

If you are waiting for a sign to start posting.

Here is one.

"What do you think of my banner?"
"Do you like my banner in general?"
"Any chance you can look at my profile?"

The most asked Qs since last week in my DMs.

I’ll give you two routes. You decide how serious you are.

(Save this. You’ll need it later.)
______

Route 1:

1. Duplicate your banner file.
2. Remove everything. Clean page.
3. Bring the "headline" first.
4. Social proof after it.
5. CTA at the very end.

Adjust your 3 elements in a way that the reader sees them in the following order.

Headline --> Proof --> CTA

Note: Your headshot, after everything is done.
______

Route 2:

1. Click on my profile. Link in Bio.
2. Access "Banner Ninja" training (free).
3. See me doing it all on runtime for you.
______

Your banner is the hero section of your profile.

You either get ignored or explored.

PS. Drop your banner below. If it’s unclear, I’ll tell you.

LinkedIn Profile Masterclass. 60 seconds.

(Save this before you change anything.)
 
1) Banner → Core offer, CTA, proof.
2) Headline → What + Who + How
3) Bio Link → 1 primary CTA for leads
4) Featured → 1-3 core offerings in order
5) About → Problem. Agitate. Solution.
6) Projects → Your result-driven case studies
7) Recommendations → Authenticity always wins.

Fact: Your banner alone drives ~50% of retention time.

PS. Comment "profile". If you want me to rate yours.

60 seconds colors masterclass.

(you'll never find colors difficult after this)

🔴 All you have to stop:

- Ignoring the psychology of colors.
- Using bad contrast colors together.
- Excessive use of neon (bright) colors.
- Using more than 3 colors in one design.
- Picking random colors for every design.

🟢 Here's what to do instead:

- Understand color meanings and associations.
- Make sure colors are aligned with your brand.
- Test color choices on WCAG standards.
- Ask your friend for 2nd brain feedback.
- Limit color palette to max 3-5 colors.

Good colors blow emotions in your design.

Bad colors make people skip.

Choice is yours.

PS. Ever imagined life without colors? Scary, right?

You will never see your profile the same way again.

(A shift that changed how I use LinkedIn.)

Imagine this.

You DM someone for the first time.
What happens next? They check your profile.

Your comment on a post goes viral.
What happens next? They check your profile.

Your post starts taking off by chance.
What happens next? They check your profile.

LinkedIn puts you in search results.
What happens next? They check your profile.

LinkedIn will never tell you "leads are waiting" for you.

It will give you signs.

Profile views. Connection requests. Silent lurkers.

Take the signs and optimize for them.

If your profile is not sorted in the first place, you have already lost them.

Simple as that.

PS. How many average "profile views" do you get?

I have audited 17+ profiles in the last 2 weeks.

(What I found will make you rethink yours.)

1. Mobile-first profiles win. 70%+ users are on mobile.
2. Mismatched CTAs across profile confuse buyers.
3. Poor color contrast makes the content invisible.
4. Visitors spend 7 of 15 seconds on the banner.
5. Featured order matters more than you think.
6. The About section is "about them", not you.
7. Complex jargon kills strong positioning.
8. Visual cues beat copy in 0.1 seconds.
9. Featured isn’t for pins. Link offers.
   
I can keep going ...

Enough data points for you today.

Bonus: Keep your profile up to date always. People love meeting the evolved version of you.

(Repost ♻️ if helpful.)

PS. Which one from 1-9 surprised you? or not at all 👀

The "Black Box" test for design.

(Check your next post today.)

1. Pick the carousel or post you want to test.
2. Show it to your peer or a family member.
3. Ask them what they see.

If they paused to "figure out", or they couldn’t answer it properly. The design needs to be iterated.

Simple as that.

If it's not functional, it’s not even a design.

Design class over.

PS. Whom would you pick to show your design?

7 out of 15 seconds users scan your banner.

(The easy guide for you all.)

LinkedIn Banner Framework

AI: I can design for you now.

Me: Wait… really? That’s insane.

AI: What do you want then?

Me: An infographic. Something clean.

AI: 
*takes the text, 
*puts it in a grid 
*adds 3 random icons

AI: Here you go. Designed.

Me: That’s… formatting. Not design. 🥴

AI: Faaaaaaaaa

You spend hours to draft a post.

You hit “Publish”. It tanks.

Does this means your content was not good?

Or is it just a bad day for posting?

50/50. Sometimes mix of both.

Here’s the way I see it.

Each of us know their average engagement.

Let’s say, 10 reactions in first 7 minutes.

If you’re getting 2 or less, bad day. 

Keep the content for another day.

If not, let the fish swim in th water for a while.

PS. Curious to know your mindset around it.

No alternative text description for this image

"You send the Stripe link and people pay up?"

Monday. 8:50 AM. He asked curiously.

Yes. Works all the time.

I don’t have a complex process at all.

1. A design inquiry happens.
2. I ask for your current brand state.
3. Ask if your offer and positioning are sorted.
4. Check my availability status for the matching offer.
5. I share the offer breakdown document.
6. If it aligns, the Stripe link is next.
7. Onboarding and getting started.

No time urgency in the offer. 

Works only if it's a priority for you.

Not just "exploring the options."

My process is designed as a collaborator, not another fiverr service seller.

Need an expert peer by your side? Welcome.

If not, plenty of options out there.

Peace out ✌️ .

Letting it speak itself. 

No long captions.

(The profile upgrade feedback.)

PS. If this resonates, I'm taking 2+1 new coaches or creators until 28 Feb. The last time I opened it was in 2025. Drop me a DM for details.

Tricky things about the featured section and fixes.

In 5-7 seconds, a visitor on your profile decides.

To stay or say goodbye.

The best way to start is to sort your offer first.

Copy and design come next in the row.

Need my help with the same? 

2 simple steps:

1. Click on my profile
2. DM me "Upgrade".

See you on the other side.

LinkedIn Branding - CaseStudy

If you’re opening Canva without knowing exactly what you’re trying to communicate, you’re designing blind.

Design is less about the tool.

And more about approaching the problem with the right mindset.

I assembled a system that helps you think before you design.

PS. It may not be the kind of thing you're into. It's a different kind of approach. If you’re curious, send me a DM, and I’ll share more.

taplio

The Battle

Jake Ward

Ubaid Ur Rehman

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreJake Ward's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreUbaid Ur Rehman's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Jake Ward

Ubaid Ur Rehman

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jake Ward's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreUbaid Ur Rehman's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJake Ward's LinkedIn Performance