5 ways to make content that ranks on Google
and gets cited by AI
in 2026

The single best source of content ideas you'll ever have is the questions your buyers ask you before they sign. Every objection, every "wait, how does that work?", every "we tried this before and it didn't work because..." — is a content brief.

The challenge is that most people forget 80% of what was said the moment the call ends. And, to be honest, it's almost impossible (and even rude) to be present on the meeting and think about making content on their questions.

But that's what Granola is for. I can't count how many times I've gotten back to Granola after the call and had the lightbulb moment of "oh, that's a good question I could answer with my content."

Granola is an AI meeting notes tool that runs in the background during your calls (both in-person and online) and captures everything, then organizes it for you. You don't type anything (unless you want to take custom notes). You just talk and Granola handles the note-taking. My brain is literally relieved from the pressure of remembering everything or taking notes.

One of my favorite ways to access what people are struggling with in my industry is going into the Reddit rabbit hole. I use it every single time I outline a long-form article. And I use it a lot when I'm writing LinkedIn posts.

And this is especially helpful if you don't have an established audience yet, or you're not talking to your customers directly.

Reddit is still one of the most underused research tools in content marketing. It's where people talk about your category when they're not talking to salespeople — which means it's brutally honest.

People are asking questions, seeking advice, recommending or reviewing tools. It's basically a goldmine you can tap in and build your content around the pain points or struggles you see on the platform.

Search for subreddits in your niche and look for threads where people ask "what's the best tool for X" or "has anyone dealt with Y problem." The comments are basically your content brief.

Then build an article that answers that Reddit thread better than any existing answer does. Use headers that match the sub-questions in the thread. Remember, your goal is to be a genuinely helpful source in your industry, which is exactly what AI search rewards.

Most companies only know about brand mentions when someone tags them. But people talk about your category, your competitors, and your problems all the time without tagging anyone.

Brand24 is a social listening tool that monitors mentions across the web — Reddit, news sites, forums, social — and surfaces them in real time. I use it to:

• Track conversations happening around keywords in my client's niche, not just their brand name
• Find competitors' weaker points — what are people complaining about in reviews or threads?
• Identify emerging questions in my target space before they become high-competition keywords
• Spot PR opportunities and partnership angles

Most people know to check People Also Ask (PAA) section in Google. That's fine. But it's surface-level. The better move is to understand why someone is searching that query: what stage of the buying journey they're in, and what would make them trust you enough to take action.

When you write to that third layer, you're creating content that search engines and AI tools cite, because you're saying something more specific and more accurate than what's already out there.

For AI search specifically: AI tools pull answers from content that directly and clearly addresses a specific question. Vague, keyword-stuffed articles don't get cited. Articles that say "here's the exact thing, here's why, here's what to do" do.

You've done the research. Now the content itself has to earn trust, fast. Buyers (and AI models) are pattern-matching for credibility signals the moment they land on your page.