Content Moat in the AI world

Algorithms change. Better tech emerges. New platforms and channels launch all the time. We stay busy trying to keep up. But step back from the sensationalism, and you’ll see the fundamentals haven’t changed: human motivations, curiosity, desires, and dislikes all remain the same.

As entrepreneurs, we're driven to simplify processes and make them more efficient. We want to stay competitive and avoid falling behind. This fuels the desire to adopt new technologies, like AI, to generate blogs, social posts, web pages, and more.

When it comes to staying informed at work, we prefer speed and ease. Unless we’re deep-diving into something, it’s easier to just ask Perplexity or ChatGPT to scan the internet and return answers with sources. That’s information consumption for immediacy.

But when the goal is deeper understanding, we turn to podcasts, newsletters, and depending on our level of interest, even books and courses.

And on the far end of this spectrum lies pure leisure: binge-worthy shows, endless shorts, passive scrolling.

Somewhere along this spectrum lies a unique opportunity for brands and individuals we trust. We listen to their podcasts. We open their newsletters. Sometimes, we even watch their ads, willingly.

They don’t just inform or entertain. They earn attention by being consistently valuable. They educate, inspire, and subtly shape how we think or act without feeling intrusive.

Signals from the market and two big questions

Creation

A recent study by Ahrefs shows that 87% of content marketers are using AI to create content. It speeds up production, reduces costs, and enables companies to publish 42% more content each month.

Spend just a few minutes on major platforms like YouTube, Reddit, X, or LinkedIn and you’ll see AI-generated content growing by the day.

Whether created by AI or with AI, this content is flooding the market.

And because much of it is commoditized, it all starts to sound the same.

The big question is: how can businesses stand out in this flood?

Searches

A growing share of online searches is shifting to ChatGPT and Perplexity, where users get direct answers along with source links.

At the same time, Google is rolling out AI Overviews across an increasing number of queries.

When AI-generated summaries satisfy questions instantly, website clicks are dropping.

So the second big question is: how do you attract visitors when AI is answering their questions before they ever reach your site?

Insights and genesis of the new playbook

If you observe closely, most AI Overviews on Google appear for informational queries like:

• What is a CRM
• Benefits of CRM for small businesses
• CRM vs spreadsheet

Even mid-funnel queries trigger AI summaries:

• Top CRM tools with WhatsApp integration
• Best CRMs for construction companies

But once the user becomes more informed, starts evaluating specific options, and their intent shifts from learning to buying, AI overviews start to disappear.

Try searching for:

• How to set up Zoho CRM
• HubSpot vs Freshsales pricing comparison
• Zoho CRM implementation for real estate

Bottom-of-funnel (unique prespectives, documentation, integration guides) and transactional (pricing, booking, setting up, or switching) queries still lead to traditional results.

That’s probably because AI overviews aren’t designed to close the sale. When someone is choosing between their final options, they want clarity, trust signals, and nuanced details that only come from actual sites, not abstracted summaries.

Now, let’s talk AI tools: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and others.

There’s growing buzz around AIO, or AI Optimization.

The idea is to optimize the content so that LLMs pick it up and cite it by using techniques likes semantic coverage, entity enrichment, prompt injection, RAG optimization and what not.

Some agencies already sell AIO services.

But here’s the thing:

If your content ranks on Google, there’s a strong chance it will be referenced by AI models. There is a correlation.

That’s what we’ve consistently seen.

In 2023, I published a breakdown of Skool’s growth strategy, long before it became mainstream. The post quickly climbed to the top of Google for relevant queries and still ranks today.

Now, in the AI era, that same post is regularly cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other tools as a source.

Sure, it’s a sample size of one, but our internal data shows a clear pattern:

Content that ranks well on search is more likely to be cited and linked by AI.

Even if LLMs don’t directly consider Google rankings, showing up in search results still signals:

• You have comprehensive content
• You’ve earned backlinks, engagement, and credibility
• Your content is visible to crawlers and data pipelines that train LLMs or power real-time retrieval systems (like Perplexity or RAG models)

As mentioned in Google’s documentation, AI Overviews synthesize information from a range of high-quality, relevant web pages not just the top result. They prioritize accuracy, clarity, and relevance. Citations are attached so users can explore further.

SEO is the Prerequisite for AIO.

What’s shifting

Historically, SEO focused heavily on informational content, explaining what something is, how it works, why it matters. But now, LLMs can answer those questions instantly and accurately.

And since basic informational content is largely commoditized, it no longer creates leverage.

That’s not to say you should ignore it completely. But the strategic edge lies elsewhere.

It’s time to move beyond informational content towards unique and engaging prespectives.

Because now, everyone has access to the same AI tools and information. The playing field is level. Your depth, structure, and strategy is what sets you apart.

The paradox of AI content

Ironically, the rise of AI-generated content has made high-quality, original work more valuable than ever.

As people scroll through more AI-generated noise, they start to tune it out and pay attention to what feels real, prefering clarity, specificity, and human perspective.

This isn’t a call to reject AI..

Use AI as a creative partner, not the creator. Let it help you shape structure, speed up drafts, and push ideas forward. But start with something original, a clear point of view, a real insight, a lived experience.

Because in a sea of sameness, originality isn’t optional. It’s your moat.

The four opportunity spaces

So, where should you focus your content efforts if you actually want to stand out and build a sustainable, defensible moat?

Not just in the areas where AI struggles, but in the spaces where human-guided AI shines, when you're in control and it's your assistant, not the driver.

Remember the content consumption spectrum we talked about? From quick info searches to mindless scrolling. Somewhere along that range live the brands and creators we trust. We open their newsletters. We tune into their podcasts. Sometimes, we even watch their ads, by choice.

They educate, entertain, inspire and influence us. They earn our attention in deeply meaningful ways.

That’s the space worth aiming for.

And to earn your place there, these four content types are your most strategic moves right now. Let’s break them down.

1. Emotionally Resonant Content

People don’t come back for facts. They come back for how it made them feel. Whether you’re inspiring, entertaining, provoking, or connecting, emotion is what drives memory.

• Use AI for: Research, outline drafts and rough narrative structure.
• Human job: Add the personal story, the metaphor, the moment of tension. Bring the emotion.

Think of it like this: AI builds the stage. You deliver the performance.

Example: A founder story that shares the why behind the product, written with AI support and told emotionally in the founder’s own voice.

2. Visually-Rich, Step-by-Step Teaching

If your content walks the reader through something, tool by tool, step by step, with visuals, it forces them to engage. No summary can replace what’s shown.

• Use AI for: Outlining steps, creating explanations, generating quick comparisons.
• Human job: Capture the screenshots, annotate the gifs, narrate the process.

This is tactile learning, not just reading, but seeing and doing.

Example: A SaaS tutorial blog post with real app screenshots, showing how to set up a feature step by step.

3. Original Thinking & Mental Models

Anyone can answer common questions. Few can reframe them.

Creating new mental models, naming frameworks, or offering contrarian lenses turns your content into a reference, not just a result.

• Use AI for: Synthesizing existing perspectives, identifying gaps, organizing drafts.
• Human job: Make the leap. Offer the new frame. Give it a name.

If it’s truly original, AI can’t generate it. But it can help you get there faster.

Example: Instead of SaaS onboarding tips, you coin the Activation Ladder, a fresh model with sticky language and visuals.

4. Narrative with Contrarian Proof

Hot takes are easy. What’s rare is a bold POV backed by real-world teardown logic, metrics, or transformation.

• Use AI for: Gathering benchmarks, summarizing case studies, formatting drafts.
• Human job: Spot the angle. Make the judgment call. Bring the conviction.

The summary skips the tension. Your audience won’t.

Example: Everyone says PLG is dead. But here’s how X startup grew 40% from user-led onboarding, with screenshots.

Use AI to process large data, structured content, and repetitive tasks, but thought leadership, original ideas, stories, and real perspective should still come from you.

Original human ideas × AI execution = scale with soul

Tell the story only you can tell

So what’s the play?

We’re not fighting AI. We’re wielding it.

The content game hasn’t disappeared. It’s just split into two tiers:

• Mass AI content: cheap, fast, interchangeable
• Directed, high-leverage content: emotional, visual, original, strategic

The winners will use AI as leverage, not for more, but for better.

If you’re a SaaS founder or content marketer, here’s the shift:

• Don’t avoid AI. Direct it.
• Don’t write to rank. Write to be remembered.
• Don’t chase traffic. Build a moat.

And you do it by mastering the four opportunity spaces:

• Emotional resonance
• Visual depth
• Original thinking
• Contrarian proof

Your Next Move: Build a Moat, Not Just More Content

Reading about this is one thing. Building it is another.

Most SaaS teams know they need to adapt but when it comes to execution, the how is often fuzzy. They lack a clear, step-by-step plan to turn good ideas into a defensible content moat.

That’s why I created The Content Moat Blueprint, a one-time, hands-on engagement where I build your custom content strategy from the ground up.

This isn’t theory. We’ll map out 3–6 months of high-impact content your competitors can’t copy, AI can’t replicate, and your market can’t ignore. You’ll get:

• Content ideas and strategy to execute right away
• Compelling opportunities to own conversations that matter now
• A deep dive into your business, market, and competitors

Once in place, it runs like a reliable growth engine, quietly compounding your authority and inbound demand, even when you’re not pushing it.

If you’re ready to stop guessing and start winning, secure your spot to get started.

Click here to book your spot →

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That’s all I wanted to discuss in the issue #42 of the Organic SaaS Growth newsletter. Thank you reading!