The Ross Simmonds Show

A deep dive into why nearly half of B2B thought leadership fails to earn backlinks. A large-scale study of 12,154 pages exposes a hidden performance gap and format pitfalls. Hear which three content formats consistently attract links, plus why data, glossaries, and practical how-to pieces outperform opinion. Practical prompts to audit and reallocate content resources for compounding authority.

Discussion of why showing up in LLMs is the next big marketing shift and why old SEO tactics will fail. Strategies for building citation authority with original research and making data quotable. How to win by planting flags in communities like Reddit and engineering a coherent entity graph. Techniques for structuring content for extraction and using distribution to create lasting visibility.

A deep dive into why recent tech media buys are about controlling distribution, not content. Examples show companies buying audiences instead of fleeting ads. Discussion covers how Google’s AI and multimedia shifts change visibility. Argues AI-driven citations demand real brand authority. Offers ways to find and build distribution without a billion-dollar budget.

In this episode of The Ross Simmonds Show, Ross drops new research across 8,566 high-priority B2B SaaS keywords that reveals how Reddit is quietly dominating bottom-of-funnel search, including the most expensive CPC terms in your Google Ads account. He breaks down what the data actually means for your pipeline and the exact playbook operators need to respond before the gap widens further. Key Takeaways and Insights: 1. How Reddit Changed the SEO Game -Google elevated user-generated content after seeing demand for people-first answers, and Reddit threads now outrank product and category pages across B2B SaaS. -Traditional SEO playbooks built on volume and backlinks are losing ground. The shift is not theoretical. It is happening in your highest-value queries right now. 2. The Scoreboard: Reddit's Share of the Top 3 -Reddit commands 40 to 45 percent of top-three rankings across most B2B SaaS verticals. In three of four industries analyzed, Reddit consistently beat all competitors. -Even established review sites are losing ground to subreddit threads. The brands still ignoring this are handing over pipeline. 3. Myth: Reddit Only Wins on Review Terms -Reddit wins 94 percent of the time for "best software" queries, but 77 percent of Reddit's wins come from non-review, demand-gen keywords. -Reddit is not just stealing review traffic. It is influencing pipeline at every stage of the buyer journey. 4. The CPC Paradox -At $15 to $20 CPC, Reddit wins 45 percent of the time. At $50-plus CPC, that number hits 67 percent. -You are paying $50 per click while a two-year-old Reddit thread captures the organic click above you. 5. Authority Alone Does Not Win Anymore -High domain authority no longer guarantees rankings. Brands that win build long-tail infrastructure aligned to real customer queries. -Long-tail blog content consistently outperforms thin category pages. The edge goes to operators who build depth, not just links. 6. Subreddits Are the Real Competitors -It is not Reddit as a monolith. It is specific communities. The CRM subreddit showed a 49 percent win rate. r/EmailMarketing hit 68 percent. r/SmallBusiness drove nearly 141K monthly searches across tracked queries. -One subreddit can dominate an entire B2B category. These are your real competitors. 7. Long-Tail Is Where Reddit Dominates -For keywords with six or more words, Reddit's win rate hits 87 percent. Years of user questions created a library of hyper-specific content that is nearly impossible to replicate overnight. -That long-tail depth fuels both Google rankings and LLM citations. If you are not building long-tail assets, you are invisible in AI search. 8. Reddit Now Shapes LLM Visibility -B2B buyers use peers, communities, and LLMs to validate decisions, and LLMs are citing Reddit more than ever. -If you are absent from key subreddits, you likely do not exist in AI-generated answers either. Reddit presence influences both the SERP and the model. 9. The Operator Playbook for Winning on Reddit -Run a keyword gap analysis against reddit.com. Identify three to five subreddits consistently outranking you. Engage with value, not pitches. Earn credibility first. -Invest in high-quality educational content and measure sentiment and LLM visibility as part of your growth system. This is how you build presence that compounds. Resources & Tools: 🔗 Reddit 🔗 Google — 👋🏾 Let's stay connected — ╰ Subscribe to my channel: @RossSimmondsTV ╰ Instagram: @thecoolestcool ╰ Twitter / X: https://x.com/TheCoolestCool ╰ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rosssimmonds

A solo marketer’s climb from basement projects to a $270K consulting practice. What a fractional CMO actually does and why it is high-leverage. How to build a personal brand that controls your narrative. Practical quick wins for publishing and repurposing content across platforms. Layering AI with human talent to scale capacity. Using public speaking and referral flywheels to drive pipeline.

A look at why long-term distribution, not sudden AI hype, drives visibility in AI-powered search. Discussion of replacing old content-first thinking with distribution-first tactics. Exploration of how Google, Reddit, YouTube and review sites shape AI citations. A practical stack of channels and strategies that feed AI discovery and influence what large models cite.

Brittany Muller, AI educator and founder of Orange Labs, teaches marketers to use large language models practically. She explains why LLMs are probabilistic word predictors, how retrieval-augmented setups and brand mentions drive visibility, why reverse-engineering models is futile, and how teams can build simple internal tools and workflows to measure AI behavior.

Stop scrolling through fantasies about moving to big cities... this episode will hit different. Matt Paulson joined me to break down how he created roughly $200 million in wealth through MarketBeat while based in Sioux Falls (population ~200k). We go in on the non-negotiable principles that drove his 20-year compounding success... why location independence + community roots beat the coastal grind... exactly how he'd start over in today's world... and the inspiring ways he's poured that success back into his local ecosystem. If you're building something meaningful and want real, grounded inspiration instead of hype, drop everything and listen to this one. Trust me... you don't want to miss it. Key Takeaways and Insights: 1. Distribution Is the Real Moat - Great content loses to average content with better distribution. - Google algorithm updates forced MarketBeat to diversify early. - Matt dominated the Google Finance tab when everyone else fought over blue links. - Lesson: Find underpriced attention. Capture it. Convert it to owned channels. 2. Email as the Core Asset (Not Social) - 200,000+ daily pageviews were converted into email subscribers via smart opt-ins. - Daily emails for engaged users. Weekly for cooling segments. - Reactivation campaigns target 30–270 day inactive subscribers. - Engagement is measured by purchases, not just opens and clicks. 3. Scaling to $60M with a 19-Person Team -$50M in revenue with 19 employees (40 including contractors). -Media is leverage-heavy — subscriber growth doesn’t require proportional headcount. -Belief: $100M revenue with ~30 people is realistic. -Systems > staffing. 4. Paid Acquisition as the Growth Engine - 80% of new leads now come from paid channels. - $1.4M/month in ad spend with plans to test up to 10 new channels this year. - Each channel has a profitability ceiling ,you find it by testing. - Three-month lag to break even on new paid cohorts. 5. Backend Data > Cheap Leads - Cheap leads are often unprofitable leads. - Channel-level tracking determines which subscribers buy, not just open. - SparkLoop drove engagement but not purchase intent. It was cut. - Principle: Optimize for lifetime value, not cost per subscriber. 6. AI as Leverage, Not Strategy - Three content types: human-written, templated automation, pure generative AI. - AI summarizes earnings transcripts into publishable articles. - “Molti” (Claude workflows) writes daily tweets, manages calendar buffers, flags performance anomalies. - AI augments operators. It doesn’t replace judgment. 7. Why YouTube Is the Next Growth Bet - 620K subscribers in ~3 years. - Built around a professional host and expert interviews. - Investing in a full studio buildout to scale production quality. - Organic is stable. Paid drives scale. Video builds future-proof attention. 8. Building a $50M Company from South Dakota - Sioux Falls. Population ~250K metro. - No VC distractions. No “next hot thing” syndrome. - Fewer peers. Fewer temptations. More focus. - Bootstrapped. 100% ownership retained. 9. Venture Investing Lessons (What Fails) - Every idea-stage investment with zero revenue failed. - Now requires ~$20–25K MRR before investing. - Avoids biotech/FDA-heavy businesses due to capital intensity. - Watches burn rate closely: $500K/month burn kills startups fast. 10. Success Redefined: Enjoyable Days in a Row - No desire to sell MarketBeat. - Cash flow over exit multiples. - Defines success by how many enjoyable days he stacks consecutively. - Business as leverage for impact: philanthropy, community, and ownership. Resources & Tools: 🔗 MarketBeat.com 🔗 Distribution.ai 🔗 SparkLoop — 👋🏾 Let's stay connected — ╰ Subscribe to my channel:  @RossSimmondsTV  ╰ Instagram:  @thecoolestcool   ╰ Twitter / X: @thecoolestcool   ╰ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rosssimmonds — Connect with Matt — ╰ Twitter / X: @MediaKing ╰ Instagram: @MattPaulsonOfficial ╰ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matthewpaulson

Mike King, founder of iPullRank and AEO/AEO expert who blends SEO, AI, and music background. He explains why AI search is not “just SEO.” He breaks down RAG and query fan‑out. He argues video and cross‑format consensus win citations. He outlines metrics, tooling, and first steps teams should take to show value and avoid being sidelined.

Practical moves for long-term career growth are explored in short, tactical segments. Advice includes investing in your own learning without permission and volunteering for messy, high-visibility projects. Building an external body of work and finding brutally honest mentors get attention. The conversation pushes thinking in decades, not quarters, and outlines five repeatable career habits.