act · playbook library
Be-where-they-look plays
Directories, comparison pages, AI answers.
In Playbook library
Being findable at the moment someone looks: in search, in AI answers, in directories, and inside what your users already share. Slow to start, then it brings people without a daily effort.
lead → playbook → be-where-they-look plays → campaign
Answer the exact search — One page or tool per question a buyer types, answered in the first two sentences.
Honest comparisons win — The line where the competitor does better is what makes the rest believable. Date every fact.
Judge it in months — Search and AI answers move slowly. These plays' kill rules run three to six months.
what it is, in industry terms
Be-where-they-look plays: the motion in one paragraph.
Being findable at the moment someone looks: in search, in AI answers, in directories, and inside what your users already share. Slow to start, then it brings people without a daily effort.
Bottom-of-funnel SEO — also: BOFU pages, comparison pages · Pages for people already choosing: alternatives to, vs, best tool for.
Generative engine optimization — GEO, AI answer visibility · Getting named when someone asks an AI assistant for the best tool.
Marketplace presence — directories, integration listings · Being listed where buyers browse: launch sites, app stores, MCP and skill directories.
Product-led loops — viral loops, powered-by · The product carries your name to new people every time it's used or shared.
how it works
The loop every play in this motion runs.
List the searches and prompts
the questions buyers type into search and AI assistants
Check who's named today
which sources and competitors appear for each
Publish one answer per question
comparison page, free tool, tutorial, listing
Get onto the cited pages
listicles, directories and threads the answers already quote
Trace the visits
a traced link and the how-did-you-hear answer at signup
Re-check on a schedule
the same prompt panel every week, so the numbers compare
- List the searches and prompts — the questions buyers type into search and AI assistants
- Check who's named today — which sources and competitors appear for each
- Publish one answer per question — comparison page, free tool, tutorial, listing
- Get onto the cited pages — listicles, directories and threads the answers already quote
- Trace the visits — a traced link and the how-did-you-hear answer at signup
- Re-check on a schedule — the same prompt panel every week, so the numbers compare
the catalog
Every play in this motion.
Library cards summarize each step (when, channel, what).
Directory listings
List your product on the directories and marketplaces your buyers already browse.
- channels
- launch sites, marketplaces
- time
- 2 hours once
- triggers
- none in particular: runs on a schedule
- steps
- week 1 · notes · Write the copy once
- week 1 · PeerPush, Uneed, BetaList, integration marketplaces · Submit
- metric
- visits from each listing
- kill
- A listing with 0 visits after 30 days: leave it, don't chase it.
- offer
- Your listing.
Comparison pages
The 'alternative to' and 'X vs Y' pages people search when they're about to switch.
- channels
- your site
- time
- 3 hours per page
- triggers
- Unhappy with their current tool
- steps
- draft · your site · Alternative page
- draft · your site · Comparison page
- metric
- signups from search
- kill
- None. Check rankings monthly.
- offer
- Switching with your setup intact.
Get named by AI assistants
Track which prompts your buyers type into AI assistants, then get onto the pages those assistants cite and publish answer-first pages they can quote.
- channels
- ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity
- time
- 2 hours a week
- triggers
- Unhappy with their current tool
- steps
- week 1 · notes · Write the prompt panel
- weekly · ChatGPT · Claude · Gemini · Perplexity · Run it on four assistants
- week 1 · your site, bios, listings · One line that says what it is
- week 2 on · your site · An answer-first page per prompt
- weekly · lists, review sites, Reddit · Get onto the pages they cite
- once · robots.txt, your site · Let the crawlers in
- metric
- share of prompts that name you
- kill
- 8 weeks with no movement on your target prompts: get onto the sources named instead before writing more pages.
- offer
- An honest answer, with your product named where it fits.
Founder swap
Find a founder who sells to the same people with a product that doesn't compete, and introduce each other's products to your audiences.
- channels
- X, newsletters, DMs
- time
- 1 hour a week
- triggers
- none in particular: runs on a schedule
- steps
- week 1 · DM · The ask
- swap day · X or newsletter · Your post about them
- a week later · DM · Compare notes
- metric
- signups from each swap
- kill
- A swap that brings under 3 signups: thank them and don't repeat it.
- offer
- An even trade: one post or newsletter mention each.
Powered-by badge
A small badge on what your customers publish with your product, linking back to you.
- channels
- your product
- time
- half a day once
- triggers
- none in particular: runs on a schedule
- steps
- setup · customer pages · Badge text
- metric
- badge clicks to signups
- kill
- None.
- offer
- Customers can remove it.
Affiliates who already advise your buyer
Pay the coaches and consultants your buyers already listen to, for as long as the customer stays.
- channels
- coaches, agencies, creators
- cadence
- weekly
- metric
- the share of revenue from affiliate links
- kill
- Three months and ten affiliates signed, under 5% of revenue from them
Agent-ready distribution
Make the product something an AI agent can use, and list it everywhere agents look.
- channels
- MCP and skill directories, workflow templates, your docs
- cadence
- one time
- metric
- signups from agent directories and shared workflows
- kill
- Three months listed, no signup from any directory
Get recommended by AI assistants
Be on the pages AI assistants quote when someone asks for the best tool in your category.
- channels
- ChatGPT and Claude answers, third-party listicles, your help centre
- cadence
- weekly
- metric
- signups that name an AI assistant as where they found you
- kill
- Three months on, no signup names an AI assistant
Comparison, alternative and use-case pages
Buying-intent pages for people already choosing between you and a rival.
- channels
- Google search, your blog
- cadence
- weekly
- metric
- signups per page, from a traced link
- kill
- No page has produced a traced signup after 6 months
A creator program at volume
Once one format works, hire creators to run it on fresh accounts every day.
- channels
- TikTok and Instagram through hired creators
- cadence
- weekly
- metric
- downloads per creator
- kill
- Four weeks in, no creator covers their own fee
A distribution partner
Find the one person who already holds your buyers' attention, and build for them first.
- channels
- a partner's audience
- cadence
- one time
- metric
- MRR added in the 30 days after the launch
- kill
- Five partners approached and none replies, or one launch adds no paying customer
Free tools as search pages
Split the core job into small free tools, one per search, each leading into the product.
- channels
- Google search
- cadence
- one time
- metric
- trial starts from tool pages
- kill
- Six months and ten tools, none bringing a trial
Paid micro-creator deals with guaranteed views
Pay small creators per thousand views, below what a thousand views earns you.
- channels
- TikTok and Instagram creators, LinkedIn creators for business buyers
- cadence
- weekly
- metric
- revenue per video against what the video cost
- kill
- Five videos in, revenue has not covered what they cost
A product that spreads itself
Put your name on what users make and share, and give enough away free to reach the moment it clicks.
- channels
- the product itself
- cadence
- one time
- metric
- the share of signups arriving from a user's shared output
- kill
- Three months on, under 5% of signups arrive from shared output
Search ads on high-intent keywords
Pay only for the searches where someone needs it now.
- channels
- Google Ads
- cadence
- weekly
- metric
- cost to acquire a customer, as a share of what one is worth
- kill
- Two months in, a customer costs more than 40% of what one is worth
YouTube search tutorials
Short screen recordings that answer an exact search almost nobody has answered.
- channels
- YouTube search
- cadence
- weekly
- metric
- views per paying customer
- kill
- Ten videos published and none has brought a paying customer
failure modes
Four ways this motion goes wrong.
Thin pages — Twenty near-identical alternative pages that answer nothing. · catch itone page per real question, answered in two sentences, with a dated comparison table
Undated competitor facts — A wrong price on a comparison page costs trust and can be a legal problem. · catch itevery competitor fact carries a checked-on date and a source
Unmeasurable — No way to tell whether a visitor came from AI answers or a listing. · catch ittraced links per page and a how-did-you-hear question at signup
Quitting too early — A page judged after two weeks. · catch ituse the play's own window: comparison pages are judged at six months
data to capture
What every play in this motion records.
Same data rules as everywhere in this guide: log every move with the play id and version, the plays that were eligible, and the odds of the one chosen.
record
- each page, tool or listing with its target query or prompt and publish date
- the weekly prompt panel: which assistants named you, linked you, or named someone else
- traced visits and signups per page
- how-did-you-hear answers at signup
label
- signup per page, per listing and per assistant
- named or not named, per prompt, per week
trains
- which query types are worth a page
- a prompt-panel trend you can attribute changes to
test
- page variants are slow to test; use before/after with a pre-set window and the weekly panel
- one listing or page at a time, judged on the play's own kill window
Library playbooks are the 22 on the Playbook Library page. A person always sends the first message to a stranger.