Gaetano DiNardi
The AI Hype Machine
Key Takeaways
AI Rank & Tank: Gaetano argues that using AI to generate hundreds or thousands of pages is a classic “rank & tank” strategy used by SEOs for over two decades. People like Peec AI, Lily Ray, and others have exposed this ineffective strategy, but the false narrative that it works persists.
Prompt Volume: Gaetano argues that tools that show prompt volume (impressions for a given prompt) are inaccurate.
Fanout Queries: He uses Chrome developer tools (or Firefox) to look at the network tab or inspect element to see the fanout queries that ChatGPT uses. This is then used to inform prompt research.
Value-Led Content: Rather than focusing on search volume to find topics, start with problems that your product solves. Work with product marketing and sales to identify those problems and solutions. Then, refine with search volume. This avoids low-intent, high-search-volume topics.
Dark SEO: User journeys have many touchpoints, and much of the B2B conversion decision occurs before the final touchpoint. Often, users form intent in the middle of their journey on SEO pages, and when they convert, they search Google for the brand name and convert on the homepage. Gaetano calls this “Dark SEO.”
Summary
Ethan Smith, CEO of Graphite, joins growth advisor Gaetano DiNardi to identify the 5% of SEO & AEO work that produces outsized business impact.
A lot of marketers use the dark funnel as a crutch for when things are not working well. That doesn't mean you can just get away with bad performance.
Gaetano DiNardi, Growth Advisor
Gaetano shares that a small share of growth work tends to drive most of the impact. B2B buyers often build their shortlist in AI chats, check options on Google, and convert on a few key pages, so much of the journey can be estimated but not fully attributed. To decide what to create, he uses AI to analyze Search Console data and reviews the gaps with product marketing, prioritizing relevance over search volume.
