⚡£23M revenue from Organic Growth for SaaS with Content Marketing Sprints | Storytelling, SEO and Content Marketing ⚡️

Your AI content sucks.
Your competitors' AI content sucks.
Everyone's AI content sucks.

And you know what's worse? You're all paying through the nose for it.

While you're sitting there wrestling with prompts like a cat trying to open a doorknob, we've built something that actually works. Because unlike every other "revolutionary AI tool" (looking at you, [REDACTED]), we know it takes more than 10 prompts and a prayer to write content that doesn't sound like it was outsourced to a drunk toddler.

We use 450+ prompts. Overkill? Maybe. But at least our stuff doesn't read like it was written by an AI having an existential crisis.

Some receipts for the skeptics:
↳ Slapped 400 blogs on our site = 10x traffic in 3 months
↳ Halved content budgets while 5x-ing output (yeah, your Content Manager's been lying about costs)
↳ Helped tiny startups pimp-slap Fortune 500s right off page 1

After a decade watching the B2B content circus, I've seen every "game-changing" tool and "revolutionary" AI writer. Most of them belong in the same trash bin as your last strategic plan.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: Your investors aren't buying your "we're playing the long game" BS anymore. They want to see organic traction, and your three LinkedIn posts from 2023 aren't cutting it.

You need Penfriend.ai if:
✓ Your competitors are living rent-free at the top of Google while you're still "building awareness"
✓ VCs are ghosting you because your "organic presence" looks like a digital ghost town
✓ You're burning cash on content that reads like it was plagiarized from a terms of service agreement
✓ You're ready to stop being the industry's wallflower and start being its problem child

Sound familiar? Then you're exactly who we're looking for.

The hard truth? You suck at AI. But it's not your fault. You've been sold a lie by companies who think "AI writing" means letting GPT go wild after a two-prompt foreplay.

We fixed it. Because someone had to.

DM me "PAGE ONE" and I'll show you how we're helping companies terrorize their competition online.

P.S. If you're happy with generic, soulless AI content that sounds like everyone else's, this probably isn't for you. And that's okay. Someone has to keep the internet boring.

Tim Hanson

Connor Gillivan

Scaling my 4 B2B companies w/ SEO. Daily posts about the process. 7x Founder (Exit in 2019).

Hey hey! Thanks for stopping by my profile. Here's a quick tl;dr: 

I've been an entrepreneur since 2009. I've scaled multiple businesses to 6, 7, & 8 figures in ARR and I exited one, FreeUp, in 2019. Today, I run a portfolio of companies, teach SEO, and scale B2B and SaaS businesses with SEO.

A little bit more about me:

Over the last decade, I've built 5 businesses to 6, 7, & 8 figures in yearly revenue. 

In 2019, I exited one of them, FreeUp, to The HOTH after 4 years of growth to 40+ team members and $12M+ in ARR.

Today, I'm building a portfolio of 10+ B2B companies. 

→ TrioSEO: SEO growth services for B2B and SaaS businesses. 
→ Outsource School: Teaching business owners how to build affordable teams in the Philippines.
→ EcomBalance: Monthly bookkeeping for eCommerce companies.
→ AccountsBalance: Bookkeeping for agencies, SAAS, and service providers. 
→ ConnorGillivan.com: Teaching SEO & marketing strategies, processes, & know-how. 
→ HG Media: Social media growth agency for LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Youtube, and more.

My business partner is Nathan Hirsch. We met in college and have been working together ever since.

Our mission is to build businesses in areas where we struggled while growing our first companies and we wished there had been better solutions...hiring, outsourcing, bookkeeping, accounting, billing, legal, SEO, growth, etc. 

If you need help growing your business, I'd love to help. Here's how...

TRIOSEO

I'll work with you on keyword research, building an SEO content plan, writing SEO content, and publishing it on your website to drive more organic traffic, leads, and revenue. 

→ Get an SEO Audit here: https://trioseo.com/audit

THE SEO SYSTEM

In this 4 hour video course, I'll teach you the 4 Pillars of SEO and give you my exact SOPs that I've used to scale multiple companies to millions in ARR with SEO. Packed with value and loved by hundreds. 

→ Purchase Access: https://connorgillivan.com/seo

BOOKKEEPING & OUTSOURCING

Need help with your bookkeeping? Or hiring a virtual assistant? I've got you covered. Get a Pricing Quote for our monthly bookkeeping services. And check out the exact Hiring System we've used to build remote teams for our companies.  

→ Go here: https://ecombalance.com and here: https://outsourceschool.com

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. 

I'm committed every day to making SEO & marketing simpler for millions. 

See you out there!

Best,
Connor

Email: Connor@ConnorGillivan.com

Founder and Owner

ConnorGillivan.com is the home to my personal brand where I make SEO simpler for millions. It hosts my weekly newsletter, The Savvy SEO, and my SEO course, The SEO System. Come learn SEO from my 10+ years of experience scaling my own companies to 6, 7, and 8 figures with an exit in 2019.

My ChatGPT Cheat Sheet for SEO Backlinks:

(How I use ChatGPT to help in building backlinks.) 

I've found that ChatGPT is best for ideation. 

When you're stuck, it helps you through. 

- Ideas for better HARO answers
- Processes to analyze competition
- Backlink strategies I didn't know
- Email templates for outreach
- Local backlink ideas to build
- Digital PR story inspiration

Building backlinks isn't easy. 

ChatGPT doesn't do it for you. 

But man is it a great sparring partner. 

Don't underestimate it. 

& find ways to incorporate it. 

It'll feel weird at first, but then you'll love it. 

---

You agree with me? 

Repost ♻️ if you think it will help others.

P.S. I drop a weekly newsletter every Sunday. Tomorrow, I'm sharing insights on building an SEO strategy. Grab a copy: https://lnkd.in/gs3iPKMA

Connor  Gillivan

I scale companies w/ SEO & content. Book a call & let's talk SEO. 7x Founder (Exit in 2019).

My Proven SEO Keyword Research Cheat Sheet:

(7 steps to DOMINATE keyword research in 2026)

1/ Brainstorm like your ICP
2/ Analyze KD & Volume
3/ Look at "Suggested" Keywords 
4/ Steal from your competitors
5/ Shortlist 100+ Keywords
6/ Label Intent & Prioritize
7/ Repeat Quarterly

---

Keyword research is the backbone of your SEO. 

It will make or break whether you rank top of Google. 

AND whether you'll rank in ChatGPT and LLMs.

Don't overlook it bc you don't know how. 

Follow my proven SOP & start dominating.

---

Find this helpful? 

♻️ REPOST so others can learn too. 

P.S. My company, TrioSEO, will take keyword research off your plate. And form an unbreakable SEO strategy. Download my SEO eBook to learn more: https://lnkd.in/gJ8pJ7dz

My Technical SEO Checklist to Rank on Google & LLMs (no tech skills needed):  

Technical SEO is just “making it easy for bots to crawl, understand, and trust your site.”

If you can click around in WordPress, Wix, Webflow, or Shopify, you can do 80% of it.

1/ Make sure Google can index you

- Google “site:yourdomain.com” and see pages show up
- In Google Search Console, check Indexing → Pages for errors
- If pages aren’t showing, they may be “noindexed” accidentally

2/ Submit your sitemap

- In your SEO plugin, find your sitemap URL (usually /sitemap.xml)
- Add it in Search Console → Sitemaps
- This helps Google find new pages faster

3/ Fix broken pages and redirects

- Install a broken link checker plugin or use a free crawler tool
- Redirect old URLs to the closest matching new page
- Don’t leave 404s for money pages or top traffic posts

4/ Get your titles + meta descriptions under control

- Every important page needs a unique title tag
- Include the main keyword, keep it readable
- Write a meta description that matches search intent

5/ Make your site fast enough

- Run PageSpeed Insights on your homepage + a blog post
- Compress images (biggest easy win)
- Use caching and remove bloated plugins/apps

6/ Make your site mobile-friendly

- Check your pages on your phone
- Fix text that’s too small and buttons too close
- Make sure menus and forms work cleanly

7/ Clean up your URL structure

- Use short, clear URLs: /service-name/ not /p=123/
- Avoid dates unless news-based content
- Keep one “canonical” version (no duplicates)

8/ Add internal links like a librarian

- Link from related posts → your main money pages
- Add 3–5 internal links on every new post
- Use descriptive anchor text, not “click here”

9/ Add basic schema (no coding)

- Turn on FAQ schema for FAQs (only if visible on page)
- Use Organization/Website schema via your SEO plugin
- This helps search engines + LLMs understand entities

10/ Make your pages easy for LLMs to extract

- Use clear headings (H2s that match questions people ask)
- Add a quick TL;DR and definitions near the top
- Use bullet lists, steps, and short sections

---

Most people overthink technical SEO.

You don’t need perfection, you need clean basics.

Speed, indexability, and clarity beat fancy tricks.

Do this once, then maintain monthly.

Technical SEO is reputation insurance for your site.

---

Whatcha think?

Repost ♻️ to help others learn too.

P.S. Do you want more LEADS from your SEO? I have the solution. Read the entire SOP here: https://lnkd.in/gJ8pJ7dz

Top 21 SEO Creators Helping You Rank on ChatGPT & LLMs:

1. Aleyda Solís
2. Jake Ward 
3. Anna York 
4. Louis Smith 
5. Lily Ray 
6. Sarvesh Shrivastava 
7. Artur Perrella Glukhovskyy
8. Steven Schneider 
9. Connor  Gillivan 
10. Ume Laila 
11. Britney Muller
12. Tom Winter 
13. Amanpreet Singh 
14. Liam Quirk 
15. Nick Zviadadze 
16. Jairo Guerrero 
17. Fery Kaszoni 
18. Nick Eubanks 
19. Brodie Clark
20. Neil Patel
21. Rob Hoffman 

---

You learning from this squad yet?

♻️ REPOST if you're interested in what GEO is becoming. 

P.S. GEO is rapidly evolving. SEO is becoming more about LEADS than traffic. Read my "SEO Lead Magnet Project" ebook here: https://lnkd.in/gJ8pJ7dz

P.P.S. Want to chat about your GEO w/ me? Book a call: https://lnkd.in/gYccSVY8

SEO teams don’t have a data problem.

They have a decision-speed problem.

Most teams sit on incredible data.

They just can’t access it fast enough when it matters.

Board asks:
“Why did traffic drop?”

CMO asks:
“Where are competitors gaining ground?”

Content team asks:
“What should we build next?”

And someone has to go:
“Give me 30 minutes.”

That’s the old workflow.

Semrush MCP inside Semrush One quietly changes this.

Instead of navigating dashboards,
you prompt the question directly.

Here’s how I think about it.

1. Stop navigating and start asking
→ “Show me keywords competitors rank for that we don’t”
→ “Find pages that lost positions in the last 30 days”

2. MCP pulls structured Semrush data
→ Live keyword datasets
→ Position changes
→ Competitive domain gaps

3. Get analysis-ready outputs
→ Tables, rankings, clear comparisons
→ Turn answers into action immediately
→ Adjust content briefs, update internal pages

The shift is subtle but important.

SEO used to be:
Pull data → Analyze → Decide.

Now it’s:
Ask → Decide.

That compression matters at scale.

Especially for agencies.
Especially for in-house teams reporting up.
Especially when time-to-decision is a competitive advantage.

Semrush didn’t just add another feature.

They reduced friction between question and insight.
And in SEO, speed compounds.

Start with Semrush MCP with Semrush One here: https://bit.ly/4kr4jlM

♻️ Repost if you think SEO tools should help you think faster, not click more.

P.S. I'm Connor Gillivan. Follow me for daily SEO tips & SOPs.

(Thanks to Semrush for teaming up w/ me on this post)

How to win the modern SEO game

My ChatGPT Cheat Sheet for Digital Marketing (40 Free Prompts):

Prompts to apply TODAY for your marketing:

1/ Content Marketing Strategy
2/ Social Media Marketing
3/ SEO & Web Traffic
4/ Email Marketing
5/ PPC Advertising
6/ Analytics & Reporting
7/ Marketing Automation
8/ Content Personalization

---

Digital marketing isn’t a guessing game...it’s a system.

Smart marketers don’t work harder, they work smarter.

This cheat sheet is your shortcut to great results.

Master these prompts, dominate your strategy.

Start marketing like it's 2026. 

---

What would you add? 

Repost ♻️ to help others work smarter too. 

P.S. I am Connor Gillivan. Follow me for SEO, Marketing, & AI advice.

The Anatomy of a Winning SEO Campaign: 

No, it's not just "blogging". 

In 2026, it's comprehensive. 

1/ Technical SEO

First, you set a foundation for success.

- Optimize speed
- Robots.txt
- Mobile optimized
- Modern UX + design
- URL structure
- Use of CDN
- HTTPS set up
- Schema markup
- Redirect rules

2/ Link Building

Second, you build trust w/ Google. 

- Partnerships
- Custom outreach
- HARO + Featured
- Podcasts
- Guest articles
- Digital PR
- 30+ DR
- 1,000+ traffic
- 10+ backlinks/mo
- Linkable assets
- Directories
- Expert Quotes
- Anchor text

3/ SEO Content

Third, you write content to attract your ICP. 

- Keyword research
- BoFu vs MoFu vs ToFu
- 90 Day Content Plans
- Specialized Writers
- SERP Research
- Competitor Analysis
- In-depth Outlines
- Editing + Optimization
- Internal linking
- CTAs in content
- Images + Videos
- Infographics
- Monthly analytics
- Keyword tracking
- Content upgrades
- Measuring RoT
- Calculators + Tools
- Easy to read + nav

---

Are you winning in SEO? 

♻️ REPOST if this made you think.

👋  Speak with me about your SEO: https://lnkd.in/gYccSVY8

Your competitors are ranking on ChatGPT.

You're not and you don't even know why.

Most founders have zero clue who's winning in AI search results.

No visibility into which prompts matter. 

No idea what content is getting cited.

Semrush One is built for this shift.

It unifies traditional SEO + AI search visibility in one place.

And the AI Visibility Toolkit shows where AI platforms mention your competitors, but not you.

Here’s my competitor gap workflow for AI search:

1/ Start in Competitor Research
→ Benchmark visibility vs your actual AI competitors
→ Filter by platform (ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode)

2/ Find topic gaps first
→ Use the Topics & Prompts section
→ Apply the Missing filter to see where competitors appear and you don’t

3/ Drop to prompt-level gaps
→ Switch to Prompt view
→ Pull the exact questions users ask where you’re absent

4/ Identify citation gaps
→ Open the Sources tab
→ Use Missing to find domains cited for competitors but not you

5/ Track the fixes
→ Add the highest-value prompts to Prompt Tracking
→ Watch daily movement after updates

This is the shift.

Not “rank higher.”

Get mentioned where AI is answering.

The brands winning in AI search aren't doing anything magical. 

They have structured content, clear answers, and authority. 

The brands losing don't even know what prompts to track.

I use Semrush One to run this process. 

It tracks AI visibility, prompt mentions, competitor gaps, and sentiment across LLMs. 

All in one dashboard alongside traditional SEO. 

It's become essential for how I do competitive analysis in 2026.

Try Semrush one for Free here: https://bit.ly/473eyr0

---

What you think? 

♻️ Repost if you think this can help someone stay ahead of AI search.

P.S. I talk about AI's impact on SEO & marketing every week. Follow me for more.  

#Semrushpartner

What is EEAT? Is it still important for SEO in 2026? 

Yes, more important than ever. Let me explain: 

E = Expertise
• Google wants subject-matter experts, not surface-level summaries.
• LLMs reference creators with deep topical footprints.
• If you can’t prove expertise, search engines will sniff it out.

E = Experience
• First-hand stories, real examples, behind-the-scenes details.
• AI can’t fake lived experience (yet). Humans still win.
• Google and ChatGPT both trust content tied to real operators.

A = Authoritativeness
• Backlinks, mentions, citations, and recognition in your niche.
• The more others reference you, the more LLMs surface you.
• Authority compounds. It's a MUST in today's search.

T = Trustworthiness
• Clean design, transparent authorship, sources, accuracy.
• Google penalizes low-trust pages. It's just a fact.
• LLMs reduce hallucinations by leaning on trusted publishers.

Why It Matters More in 2026:
• AI writing flooded the internet with low-quality noise.
• Google shifts ranking weight to real expertise signals.
• ChatGPT & other LLMs cite brands & creators they trust most.
• Your E-E-A-T becomes your competitive moat.

---

AI didn’t kill SEO...it raised the bar.

Real operators stand out more than ever.

E-E-A-T is your brand identity online.

Invest in it now. It's KEY to search success.

---

Agree or disagree?

Repost ♻️+ Follow me for daily takes on SEO & GEO

P.S. I drive SEO traffic and leads for fast-growing brands. Steal my SOP on how I do it: https://lnkd.in/gJ8pJ7dz

AI won't replace SEO. But you MUST learn how to use it. Here's 5 AI + SEO examples: 

1/ AI for Keyword Research

- Use AI to expand seed keywords into 100+ variations.
- Identify high, medium, and low intent faster.
- Validate with tools like Ahrefs and Google Keyword Planner.
- Resource: https://lnkd.in/gJGyj_2g

2/ AI for Content Outlines

- Analyze top ranking pages in seconds.
- Generate H1s, H2s, FAQs, and “People Also Ask” ideas.
- Build drafts that align with search intent.
- Resource: https://lnkd.in/gKdQx2Bc

3/ AI for Keyword Clustering

- Group related keywords into topic clusters fast.
- Identify pillar pages and supporting blog content.
- Build stronger internal linking structures.
- Resource: https://lnkd.in/guYp-aDT

4/ AI for Optimization

- Refresh posts ranking 5–20.
- Add missing entities, FAQs, and internal links.
- Improve CTR with better titles and meta descriptions.
- Resource: https://lnkd.in/gkFJKdzb

5/ AI for Repurposing

- Turn blogs into LinkedIn posts, threads, emails.
- Extract snippets for short form content.
- Multiply distribution without rewriting from scratch.
- Resource: https://lnkd.in/gyT5-ui6

---

I still don't recommend using AI to write your content. 

But I absolutely encourage you to use it for other areas of SEO. 

AI tooling is becoming too smart to ignore. 

If you're not using AI somewhere in SEO, you're showing your age. 

Adjust to the times and level up with AI. 

---

Find this useful?

Repost ♻️ to help others learn too.

P.S. Want my guide on using AI to create SEO Lead Magnets? Download it here: https://lnkd.in/gJ8pJ7dz

My SEO Internal Linking Strategy:

Most websites treat internal linking like an afterthought.

That's not the way to gain likeness w/ Google & ChatGPT. 

1/ Map Your Topical Hubs
• Create 3–5 core hubs around your main offers.
• Each hub gets 10–20 supporting articles.
• Google sees topical authority. ChatGPT sees depth.

2/ Use 1 Clear Primary Link Per Post
• Every article should push authority to ONE key page.
• No guessing. No clutter. Decide and link.
• Helps Google and LLMs understand hierarchy.

3/ Add 3–5 Contextual Links Naturally
• Place them inside the content, not just at the bottom.
• Anchor text should match search intent, not exact-match spam.
• LLMs use these connections to learn how concepts relate.

4/ Link “Up, Down, and Across”
• Up = link to your hub page.
• Down = link to deep, niche articles.
• Across = link between related articles.
• Google crawls deeper. ChatGPT builds a knowledge graph.

5/ Refresh Links Every 6 Months
• Update old posts with new internal links to fresh content.
• Keeps your whole site “alive” in Google’s eyes.
• LLMs benefit from a fully connected content ecosystem.

6/ Prioritize High-Intent Pages
• Link aggressively to service pages, comparison posts, and category pages.
• Drives conversions and strengthens the pages you actually want ranking.
• ChatGPT tends to surface pages that have clear depth and strong relationships.

---

Internal links are your quietest SEO power move.

Few people do them consistently.

They compound over years, not weeks.

The more connected your site is, the harder it is to beat.

---

What did I miss?

Repost ♻️ to help others master internal linking as well. 

P.S. Want to turn more SEO traffic into real leads? Download my SEO Lead Magnet SOP ebook: https://lnkd.in/gJ8pJ7dz

Which is best? SEO vs Ads vs Email:

Let's break each down...

SEO:

- Cost effective long term
- Drives organic traffic
- Depends on Google
- Higher conversions
- Long term investment
- Helps rank on ChatGPT
- In a phase of transformation

Ads:

- Costs for every click
- Paid traffic in search 
- Paid traffic from social
- Pay until you stop
- High CRO potential
- Targeting is unique
- Works then doesn't

Email Marketing:

- Low cost, high ROI
- Turns traffic to leads
- Turns leads to revenue
- Full control over it
- Fast acting (if done right)
- Takes time to build list
- Fighting w/ lots of noise

---

I'd rank them:

1) SEO
2) Ads
3) Email

SEO still takes the crown. 

When done right, it drives leads for years. 

I used to be an ads "hater", but that's changed. 

I now get 100s of leads from it every month. 

It's a great complement to SEO for instant leads. 

Then email nurtures & warms leads up. 

It's very much a symbiotic relationship..

....when you execute it properly. 

---

What's your favorite? Post it below. 

♻️ REPOST to encourage this conversation. 

P.S. Follow me + slap my 🔔 for daily Marketing tips & advice.

This cold email is satisfying on multiple levels.

Not because of the copy.

Because of the proof.

Here is the context:

Warmy sent me this email.

It landed in my primary inbox.

Not promotions. Not spam. Primary.

That is their entire product in action.

Think about that for a second.

The email itself is the case study.

No PDF needed. No testimonial screenshot.

Just open your inbox and see it working.

Here is what makes this smart:
1/ The value prop is proven before you read it.
2/ The messaging is simple and direct.
3/ It reframes what cold email can be.

Cold email has a bad reputation for a reason.

Most of it is noise that never gets seen.

Warmy makes sure yours actually arrives.

This is one of the smartest product demos I have seen. No call needed.

♻️ Repost if this made you rethink your cold email setup.

P.S. Check out Warmy
here: https://lnkd.in/gheuYKEc

taplio

The Battle

Tim Hanson

Connor Gillivan

Followers

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taplio

The Battle

Tim Hanson

Connor Gillivan

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);}Connor Gillivan's LinkedIn Performance

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