Sergiu describes investing heavily in content and backlinks and optimizing his sites for organic search as the channel that mattered most over time, more recently extending the same approach to visibility in AI-powered search and assistants.

“I invest heavily in creating useful content, building high-quality backlinks, and optimizing my sites for organic search.”

He calls organic traffic his most durable acquisition channel across his whole portfolio, AI Directories included.

“Organic traffic, whether from traditional search or AI-powered search, has become the most sustainable source of customers across my portfolio.”

The public launch went out as a single X post linking to the new landing page, offering free submission to a curated list of 130+ directories.

“Submit you AI tool to a curated list with more than 130 directories for FREE.”

He attributes ongoing traction on X less to any single launch tactic than to a habit of repeatedly sharing progress and milestones with the same community.

“I share my journey on X and Reddit. I post product updates, lessons learned, milestones, and engage with founders in communities where my target audience already spends time.”

Alongside X, he posts progress updates and engages directly in communities where founders looking for distribution already spend time, including Reddit.

“Beyond directories, I share my journey on X and Reddit.”

He also runs targeted cold email outreach to introduce AI Directories directly to startups that could use the service.

“I also conduct targeted cold email outreach to introduce AI Directories to startups that could benefit from it.”

By mid-2024 he was pleasantly surprised at how little effort the outreach took to keep bringing in leads on its own.

“It runs in stealth mode, doesn't require any kind of work and brings in potential customers.”