GEO Is What SEO Was in 2005 🚀 The Window Is Open Right Now (with Jason Patel from OpenForge AI) | Ep. 4

Traffic is down 10-30% across nearly every B2B company. And yet you still can't afford to stop creating content. That's the paradox at the center of this conversation - and the tension that makes it worth your time.ㅤDavid Walsh sits down with Jason Patel, CEO and co-founder of OpenForge AI, to break down why top-of-funnel content is dying, what to do instead, and why the companies ignoring GEO and AEO right now are going to regret it. This is the SEO-in-2005 moment, and most marketing teams are still asleep.ㅤJason draws from conversations with roughly 2,000 companies, two founder journeys, and a bootstrap exit to lay out a practical, no-fluff framework for getting your brand seen by AI search engines. He also gets personal about the mistakes that cost him money, time, and margin early on - and what he's doing differently this time around.ㅤGuest BioJason Patel is the CEO and co-founder of OpenForge AI, a platform of AI agents that helps businesses grow their brand visibility on AI search engines and outrank the competition. Before OpenForge AI, Jason built and sold an edtech company, running a bootstrapped SEO operation that consistently outranked competitors who had raised $40 to $60 million. He exited that company in August 2023. He's also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt.ㅤWhat We CoverWhy top of funnel content is dying: Jason explains how AI systems like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity have no incentive to cite generic informational content - and what that means for your traffic right now.The content paradox: The top of the funnel is being automated and subsumed by AI, yet you still can't afford to stop creating content. The answer is to shift the focus to commercial and transactional intent queries instead.The BLUF Method and liftable content: Jason breaks down the Animalz Bottom Line Upfront (BLUF) framework and explains why content that teaches AI something new through information gain is what actually gets cited.The SAFE framework for content structure: Straightforward, Actionable, Functional, Executable - a practical system for writing content that works for both human readers and AI systems.How Jason bet on YouTube in 2019 while in debt: With JP Morgan Chase credit cards as his first investor, Jason went all in on YouTube while his venture-backed competitors sat it out - and YouTube became 20 to 30% of his pipeline by acquisition.The real lesson from undercharging: Jason reflects on pricing too low, not paying himself enough, and how trying to be liked cost him margin, flexibility, and optionality for years.Why GEO is the SEO of 2005: The window to get ahead of this is open right now. Jason explains how to start with zero budget - just ChatGPT and the right questions - to find where your industry is getting cited.Creator content and LLM citations: Brands running creator content programs are already seeing their posts cited in LLMs. Jason explains why trust-based, high-conversion audiences matter more than raw reach in the AI era.ㅤResources MentionedOpenForge AI - Jason's platform for GEO and AEOAnimalz - Content marketing company that developed the BLUF (Bottom Line Upfront) methodG2 - B2B software review platform mentioned as a key citation source for SaaS brandsSEMrush - Referenced as a major player in the SEO space, recently acquired for approximately $2 billionChatGPT - Used throughout as the primary example of AI search behaviorGemini - Mentioned alongside ChatGPT as a competing AI search platformPerplexity - Named as one of the AI systems summarizing and replacing top-of-funnel contentCrunchbase - Referenced in the context of investor outreach automationsLovable - Mentioned as an example of how fast competitors can now replicate software featuresBrian Chesky of Airbnb - Quoted on ruthless compassion in business decisionsLimelight - David Walsh's B2B influencer marketplace