"What's the best project management tool for a team of five?"
Two years ago, the answer came from Google, where the top results were Capterra roundups, G2 comparisons, and affiliate blog posts. The buyer clicked around, signed up for three free trials, and chose one.
Today, more and more people ask that question to ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini. The AI responds with 3-5 specific tool recommendations, brief descriptions of why each one fits, and sometimes even pricing context. No clicking through ten comparison pages. Just a direct answer.
If your SaaS tool is in that answer, you get a warm lead. If it's not, you don't exist for that buyer.
This guide covers how to get your SaaS tool into those AI recommendations using Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) strategies built specifically for software businesses.
Why SaaS is uniquely positioned for AI recommendations
AI assistants love recommending software tools. The reason? Software is a category where "best for" logic works perfectly.
There's always a "best tool for freelancers" vs "best tool for enterprises." There's always a "most affordable" vs "most feature-rich." AI can neatly categorize and recommend based on specific needs.
This is good news for you. Especially if you're not the biggest player in your category. AI doesn't just recommend the market leader. It recommends the best fit for the specific query. A niche tool that's perfect for freelancers can beat Salesforce in a response about "best CRM for solo consultants."
But you need to give AI the right signals to make that match.
1. Audit your AI visibility across all platforms
Before doing anything, understand your current situation.
Ask each major AI platform the queries your potential customers would use:
- "Best [category] for [your target audience]"
- "What [tool type] do you recommend for [use case]?"
- "[Your tool] vs [Competitor]"
- "Affordable [category] for [business size]"
Test on ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok, and Claude. Each platform sources differently and may give different results.
Write down where you appear, where you don't, who shows up instead, and how the AI describes the tools it recommends. Mentionable automates this across all five LLMs if you want ongoing tracking instead of manual spot-checks.
2. Build comparison and alternative pages
This is the single highest-leverage content type for SaaS GEO.
When someone asks "What's the best X tool?", AI typically pulls from comparison content to form its answer. If you don't have comparison content, you're leaving it to others to define how you compare.
Create "[Your tool] vs [Competitor]" pages. Be honest. Acknowledge where the competitor is strong. Explain where you're different (not necessarily better, different). "They're built for enterprises with 500+ employees. We're built for teams under 20."
Build "[Competitor] alternatives" pages. When someone asks AI for "alternatives to [big competitor]," you want to be in that answer. Create a dedicated page explaining why someone might look beyond the competitor and how your tool fits that need.
Publish "best [category] for [audience]" roundups. Yes, include competitors. An honest roundup where you include your tool alongside others builds more credibility than a page that pretends competitors don't exist. AI can smell bias.
3. Create use-case pages that match buyer queries
AI matches tools to queries based on specific use cases. Generic feature lists don't help.
Build dedicated use-case pages. Not just "Features" but "Project management for marketing teams," "CRM for freelance consultants," "Invoice software for agencies." Each page should address a specific audience and their specific workflow.
Be explicit about who your tool is for. "Built for solopreneurs who need to track client projects without the overhead of enterprise software." This gives AI a clear mapping from query to recommendation.
Include specific examples. "Here's how a freelance designer uses [your tool] to manage client feedback" is more useful to AI than abstract feature descriptions.
Address limitations honestly. "If you need advanced reporting for teams over 50 people, you might want [alternative]. For teams under 20 who want simplicity, that's us." AI respects and uses this nuance.
4. Maximize your presence on review platforms
For SaaS specifically, review platforms are critical signal sources for AI recommendations.
G2 and Capterra are essential. These platforms are heavily referenced by AI assistants when forming tool recommendations. If you have 5 reviews on G2 while competitors have 500, that's a visibility gap you need to close.
Encourage reviews actively. After a customer has a positive experience, ask them to leave a review. Make it easy with direct links. Don't offer incentives (it undermines authenticity), but do make the process frictionless.
Respond to every review. Positive and negative. AI can pick up on how a brand handles feedback. Thoughtful responses to criticism show maturity.
Maintain profiles on multiple platforms. G2, Capterra, Product Hunt, Trustpilot, and industry-specific review sites. Each one is a potential source for AI responses.
5. Develop feature-level content
AI often needs to answer specific feature questions: "Does [your tool] integrate with Slack?" or "Which [category] tools have automated reporting?"
Create dedicated pages for key features. Not just a bullet on your features list. A full page explaining the feature, how it works, who it's for, and what makes your implementation different.
Build integration pages. "[Your tool] + Slack integration" as a standalone page gives AI clear information when someone asks about tools that work with Slack.
Publish changelog content. Regular updates signal to AI that your product is actively developed. A tool that hasn't shipped updates in months looks less recommendable than one shipping improvements weekly.
Comparison tables work well. Feature comparison tables between your tool and alternatives give AI structured data it can easily use in recommendations.
6. Build your brand's topical authority
AI recommends brands it associates with expertise in a given space.
Blog about your category, not just your product. If you sell email marketing software, write about email deliverability, list building, email copywriting, automation strategy. Own the topic.
Publish original data. "We analyzed 10,000 email campaigns and here's what we found" is incredibly citable content. AI loves referencing concrete data.
Contribute to industry conversations. Guest posts, podcast appearances, expert quotes in press articles. Every external mention strengthens the signal that your brand belongs in this category.
Build a resource hub. Templates, guides, calculators. Practical tools that attract links and establish your site as a go-to resource in your niche.
Common mistakes in SaaS GEO
Only talking about yourself. If every page on your site is about your tool and nothing else, AI has limited context. Cover your entire category to build authority.
Ignoring competitor queries. People ask AI "What's better, X or Y?" If you have no content addressing these comparisons, AI uses someone else's take.
Hiding pricing. AI gets asked about pricing frequently. If your pricing page is vague or requires a sales call to discover, AI can't accurately recommend you and might skip you entirely.
Neglecting review platforms. A SaaS tool with no G2 or Capterra presence is at a significant disadvantage. These are primary sources for AI tool recommendations.
Generic positioning. "We're a project management tool" doesn't help AI differentiate you. "We're the simplest project management tool for freelancers and solopreneurs" gives AI a clear reason to recommend you for specific queries.
Feature pages without context. Listing features without explaining who they're for and what problem they solve doesn't help AI make matches.
Realistic timeline for SaaS GEO
Month 1: Audit AI visibility. Fix your positioning to be specific and clear. Create or improve your top 3 comparison pages.
Month 2: Build use-case pages for your top audience segments. Start actively collecting reviews on G2/Capterra.
Month 3-4: Develop feature-level content and integration pages. Publish industry content that builds topical authority.
Month 4-6: Strengthen external presence: guest posts, expert mentions, backlinks. Build original research or data content.
Ongoing: Monitor AI recommendations. Track which queries you're winning and losing. Update content as competitors and your product evolve.
Results are gradual but cumulative. Each piece of content, each review, each mention compounds. SaaS tools that start this work early build a moat that's hard for competitors to cross quickly.
What to do next
Run a full audit of your AI visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok, and Claude. Use your top 10-15 relevant queries.
Then prioritize: comparison pages and review platform presence are your highest-leverage starting points. Follow with use-case pages and feature content.
Mentionable can automate the tracking piece, monitoring your visibility across all five AI platforms and alerting you when things change. That frees you to focus on the content and positioning work that actually moves the needle.
