Ep. 13 Found in AI: How I Got My Blog Cited in ChatGPT (and What It Means for AI Search)

Bing's New AI Visibility Data, ChatGPT Citation Shifts & the Attribution Problem – Found in AI: AI Search Visibility, SEO, & GEO

Send us Fan Mail📬 You like this podcast? You’ll love the newsletter.Join the weekly The Visibility Report: subscribeAI search measurement is getting more sophisticated, but is the data becoming more reliable?In this week's Found in AI news update, Cassie Clark covers Bing's new Topics Portfolio beta, Ahrefs research showing shifts in ChatGPT citations toward primary sources, and Nozzle's findings about misleading Google results served to rank trackers.She also explores why missing ChatGPT referral tracking data could make AI-driven traffic harder to measure, plus Yahoo's latest AI search experiment.In this episode:Bing Topics Portfolio: What the new AI Performance beta reveals about topic-level citations, grounding queries, and content opportunities.ChatGPT citation trends: Why primary sources may be gaining ground and what the Ahrefs findings mean for brands publishing original content.Google SERP tracking concerns: What Nozzle found in 27.5 million search results pages and why marketers should validate sudden ranking changes.ChatGPT referral attribution: Why missing UTM parameters and referral data could make AI search traffic appear to decline even when visits are still happening.Yahoo's AI search tests: How follow-up questions are becoming part of the search experience.–Cassie Clark is an AI search visibility consultant and a fractional content strategist for startups and enterprise brands. If that sounds like the kind of help you're looking for, email me at cassie@cassieclarkmarketing.com. Join Cassie Clark for a free live training, How to Build an AI Search Visibility Strategy, on November 5, 2026, at 1 PM ET.Learn how to identify relevant AI search opportunities, diagnose visibility gaps, establish a measurement baseline, and prioritize your next steps. Includes live Q&A.Register for free: https://cassieclarkmarketing.com/ai-search-training/

1. Bing's New AI Visibility Data, ChatGPT Citation Shifts & the Attribution Problem 22:44
2. Writing for Humans vs. LLMs: What Actually Needs to Change? 28:25
3. Google Updates Content Guidance as AI Agents Reshape Search 17:43
4. Are AI Visibility Tools Measuring the Wrong Things? 17:12
5. Google AI Mode Monitoring + Why AI Citations Don’t Equal Recommendations 12:59

In today’s episode of Found in AI, I’m not sitting down with a guest — I’m bringing the data.

After months of running quiet GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) experiments, my blog cassieclarkmarketing.com just got cited in ChatGPT — ahead of Semrush. Yes, really.

This episode breaks down exactly how it happened, what I tested, and what it means for marketers trying to figure out how to rank in AI search.

We cover:

• How I structured a blog post that earned a ChatGPT citation (without backlinks or a high domain authority)
• Why clarity, context, and authenticity now beat traditional SEO tactics
• What AI models seem to value most when surfacing content
• Why smaller brands can compete — and win — in generative search
• How to future-proof your content strategy for AI visibility

If you’ve been trying to understand how AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini choose what to cite, this episode (and post) gives you a firsthand look at what’s actually working in the wild — no guesswork, no theory, just results.

Transcript: How I Got My Blog Cited in ChatGPT

Cassie Clark:
Welcome back to Found in AI, the show about getting your brand found in AI search. I’m your host, Cassie Clark, CMO of Scheme and Fractional Content Strategist.

If you’ve been following along, you know we’ve been running experiments every week — testing new strategies to help brands earn those coveted AI citations.

Well, today, I’m bringing the receipts.

My blog, cassieclarkmarketing.com, got cited in ChatGPT — ahead of Semrush. Yes, really. So in this episode, I’m breaking down exactly how that happened, what I tested, and what it means for marketers trying to figure out how to rank in AI search as we plan for Q1 2026.

Everyone wants to know how to rank in AI search right now. Heck, I started this podcast to cut through the noise and LinkedIn bro advice, and actually figure out what’s working. So for the past few months, I’ve been experimenting with GEO — that’s Generative Engine Optimization — on my own website.

Now, full transparency: I haven’t been posting every week. Life happens. But when I have posted, I’ve been intentional. My focus has been building authority (that’s Google’s EEAT principle), making every post scannable, and structuring my writing so both humans and AI models can parse it easily.

That means no keyword stuffing. I write for people, not bots.

Then something wild showed up in my Jetpack stats: traffic from my bestie, ChatGPT. I didn’t know which post it was at first, but a little detective work pointed to a piece I wrote back in July: “Thought Leadership Examples: What Startups Get Wrong and How to Get It Right.”

That post is the one ChatGPT started citing.

This wasn’t some formal SEO experiment. It was more like, what happens when you stay a little consistent and really curious? I wanted to see if structuring content for clarity (not complexity) could help me rank in AI search engines.

Here’s what I focused on:

1. Scannability — Short paragraphs, clear headers, and logical subtopics. Simple, but crucial.
2. Contextual linking — Referencing real experts on LinkedIn instead of faceless corporate blogs. I got their commentary and linked to their pages.
3. Authority signals — Clean sourcing and original commentary. I explained why things mattered instead of just summarizing trends.
4. Freshness — Updating older posts with new examples and revised publish dates.

In short: Write like a human, but format for the algorithm.

When I saw ChatGPT show up as a traffic source, I had to confirm it. So I opened ChatGPT in incognito mode, signed out completely, and tested prompts related to that topic. The one that triggered the citation was: “Show me a blog post on thought leadership examples.”

And there it was — my July article cited above SEMrush and other major publishers.

Seeing my blog surface next to the biggest SEO names was surreal. Picture that Seinfeld scene where Elaine does her little happy dance. That was me.

If you want to check your own citations, here’s a quick tip: always test in incognito mode and signed out of ChatGPT. That gives you a cleaner, more realistic look at what others see from the same prompt.

Now, why does this matter? Because every marketer is asking: How do I get my brand cited in AI search? As teams start mapping out strategies for Q1 2026, this question is more relevant than ever.

The good news? It’s absolutely possible to get your brand cited in AI answers — even if your domain authority is tiny, your backlink profile is weak, or your SEO toolkit is basic.

Here’s what worked for me:

• Structure for context, not keywords. I included direct questions in my posts — the same ones people would ask AI to answer. For example: “Many marketers are asking…” followed by the exact question. You can also do this in an FAQ section.
• Cite credible people, not faceless brands. Get quotes from real experts and link to their LinkedIn profiles. If you don’t know anyone, use platforms like Qwoted to source insights.
• Use fresh, specific examples. Keep your content relevant and evolving.
• Stay consistent. Even if you can’t publish constantly, maintain a steady cadence. I’ve been posting podcast transcripts weekly to help signal freshness to AI engines.

Based on what we know, AI models seem to value clarity, context, and authenticity more than traditional SEO factors. Backlinks and keyword density matter less for AEO and GEO.

And that shift? It’s a massive opportunity for smaller teams and independent marketers.

If your content is structured, helpful, and genuinely insightful, you can show up right beside major publishers in AI-generated results. I know because I did it.

So what’s next? I’ll keep creating valuable content, keep testing it, and keep sharing what I learn about how AI search engines decide who gets cited. From content freshness to entity signals to brand mentions — it all matters.

Because that’s the whole point of this podcast: learning together in real time.

If you’re curious about how to make your own content more visible in AI search, keep following along. And subscribe to my weekly newsletter, The Visibility Report, for every experiment and win.

I’m Cassie Clark, and this is Found in AI.

As always, if you want help future-proofing your content strategy, you know where to find me — on LinkedIn or at cassieclarkmarketing.com

Remember: Keywords got us clicks. Insights get us cited.