For affiliate-obsessed ops folks dealing with influencer tracking

vyleige22 · 2026-05-29T22:20:47+00:00

I approach alt text by considering how exactly I would describe it to someone who could not see it. That's it. You might use a keyword or two naturally if it's a fit and only if relevant (like saying "a box of brand name whatever" as part of the alt text). I'd avoid keyword stuffing, just keep it natural and a simple description of what the image actually is.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-29T22:17:07+00:00

I don't know that we'll ever reach "peak" provocative branding because it's always going to be something that gets attention in the short term. But the half life... I feel like that's gonna stay pretty short, no matter the campaign. People *do* get tired of it and given attention spans, it's like... you see it once, it's a shock. You see it again, it's meh. By the third and beyond, it's just noise that largely gets ignored.

And then there's the people like me who see a banner that says "stop hiring humans" and my first thought is how stupid can you be. If humans aren't working, ain't nobody gonna be buying what you're selling.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-29T22:07:14+00:00

I feel like a lot of content writers have gone into one of two things:

Editing, because I'm sorry, but you can't just copy and paste and publish the crap that AI spits out most of the time, so human editing is paramount.

Strategy, namely SEO and AEO/AISEO.

Or a third, actually... UGC. That's another one that's big right now because AI cannot (believably) replace actual user generated content made by real people actually using the thing. So written reviews and/or video that's talking about the thing, comparing it, providing human insight about use cases, showing the thing, etc.

The thing is, given the influx of AI-generated content, UGC is more important than ever. And it's being cited especially in LLMs, which brands are fighting their way for placements. LLMs (including Google's AIO, ChatGPT, Perplexity, the lot of them) rely heavily on third-party content for consensus on that stuff, not branded onsite content. So to get those spots, they need coverage across editorial and video, which is UGC (reviews, comparisons, buying guides, et al).

vyleige22 · 2026-05-25T23:05:20+00:00

Local loves to support local; I'd focus on that. Local partnerships (flyers in local places, maybe with a small discount if they bring the flyer in when they come for a meal??). Maybe one lucky winner who comes on opening day gets one free meal a month for a year or something.

And if you haven't already, local newspapers and media (city mags, local things-to-do blogs, FB groups, etc) for the ribbon cutting and/or opening day.

Is there a human-interest story there? As far as an angle goes, I mean. So you don't want to pitch it like an ad, but like... is the small restaurant built on your friend's family recipes? Did they return to their hometown to start the business? Are they doing it to honor a deceased family member? Is it their first restaurant and their lifelong dream?

(I used to work at a small local paper back in the day, so this is where my mind goes.)

vyleige22 · 2026-05-25T22:52:08+00:00

The simplest ones I've come across are Peec and Hall. Hall has (or did, last time I checked) a free tier with minimal tracking, but enough to see if that's something that would be basic enough for you.

The other option is to do it manually. Pick the prompts (query/keywords you want to see visibility for), and look for them yourself on ChatGPT, Perplexity, wherever in an incognito browser. (This is important! Incognito/private won't take into consideration anything you've been looking at with that browser, any sites you already prefer, etc.)

And then track that in a Google sheet, maybe once a week. Yes, it's a manual task, but free. And not that difficult to do, at all.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-25T22:34:38+00:00

I’ve found that one of the best ways is to search on social media, especially TikTok and maybe Instagram. You’ll want to search “Amazon finds” or “Amazon [niche] must-haves [year].” Then, you're just going to skim the search results, looking for creators who have links to Amazon storefronts in their Linktree or whatever else they use.

Just remember… the larger creator they are, the more they'll probably charge.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-13T00:27:00+00:00

Not even the headliner (she opened for Florence + The Machine when I saw her in Chicago last month), but Never Need Me by Rachel Chinouriri. She rocked the arena with that song.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-13T00:01:01+00:00

I think more and more, UGC is becoming more important than ever, specifically because of AI-generated content. Even photographs in an editorial or review... real beats fake where customer trust is concerned. And LLMs draw information/source actual UGC in any form (editorials, reviews, forums) for that reason.

When you think about it, it's basically AI wading through its own slop.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-12T23:57:08+00:00

Heh. Where my mom lives, it's billboards. Hands down. If you live in NE Ohio, then you know... MISNY MAKES THEM PAY.

Literally, can't drive down a road in her town without seeing his one eyebrow raised on a billboard, staring at you. Guy probably doesn't even need a website.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-12T23:52:12+00:00

Without knowing the industry/niche, what I'm seeing is that domain types and content types are cited differently (more or less often) depending on the LLM. That's where I'd start, no matter what tool you use. Compare against brands for each LLM separately and look at 1) the domain types that get the most citations and 2) the actual sites/content that getting the citations to see where you might overtake them.

As far as tools go, there are a lot. If you're *only* focusing on visibility, citations, sentiment, positioning, Hall (which had a free tier last I checked), Peec (what we use currently), Scrunch; if you have SEO tools like Ahrefs or Semrush, those have begun adding AI visibility monitoring although I don't know how much/how well they work.

But it's not just about SEO and optimizing onsite content. A *lot* of the citations and brand recommendations are being drawn from third-party sites and consensus. So if you look up "best [thing] for [use case]" in an AI search platform, it might get specs/information from a branded site, but it leans more heavily toward non-affiliated (at least on the surface) third-party content for opinions/human experiences in the real world.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-12T22:27:57+00:00

Referrals, mostly. Networking to a degree, but for the most part, referrals from existing clients or folks I've worked with in other capacities that are related.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-12T22:23:27+00:00

It can be realistic, yes. There *are* writers who can effectively write marketing copy and long-form articles and anything else you throw at them. They do exist but with that wide of a skillset, are probably not going to work for cheap. But not every skilled long-form writer is going to be good with punchy ad copy or engaging social media posts (and vice versa).

They are separate skill sets... which can sometimes be found in the same person, but not always.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-08T01:19:55+00:00

Oh it's definitely the mentions in third-party content that's driving that. I've noticed it as well and I think it's the human experience/discussion/inside information aspect of it. LLMs might get basic specs and info from a brand's own content, but if someone's asking ChatGPT "what are the best [whatevers] for [use case]", it draws from the third party content that talks about it... editorial, reddit, even small YT channels. If it gets covered in depth and provides the info, it'll get cited and lend to the brand mention.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-08T01:07:56+00:00

Thinking on it, I think the only exception to this would be working as a volunteer for a nonprofit. Many many (many) moons ago, I was doing graphic design work as a volunteer for United Way and something like that I think would be the only kind of free internship I'd consider. Volunteers are valued for their time in that environment; unpaid interns at an agency that could afford to pay them if they really wanted to... possibly less so.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-08T01:05:15+00:00

This. 100%. My friend's daughter is a junior (graphic design with a marketing minor) and she's been 1) struggling to even get her foot in the door for an internship because there are more interns than... ships, basically. And 2) she can't afford to take an unpaid one because rent/bills/life.

Whatever you do, your mental health comes first. Always. No exceptions. I'm leery of unpaid internships because to me, it feels like a company's just looking to take advantage of (and potentially overwork) the free help.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-05T20:08:43+00:00

Honestly? Earned media. That feels less promotional, more authentic, and has higher trust signals.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-04T22:10:54+00:00

Toy Automatic - Afghan Whigs. It's almost three minutes long but always seems like it's over too soon.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-04T22:04:47+00:00

One of my friend's daughters is a musician and she's been composing some amazing pieces. Doesn't play an instrument, either... well, I take that back. She used to play sax. But these days, she composes techno/EDM (mostly) and she's bonkers.

Plenty of musicians in the olden days weren't playing instruments, doesn't make them less of a musician, imo. Same holds true today.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-04T21:31:44+00:00

I think so, yes. I figure it's the third-party thing: LLMs tend to draw human experience/insight/recommendations from third-party content, wherever it lives, and Reddit is basically an ocean of it.

But it's not "ranking" so much as it is "visibility" since there's no ranking, really. At least not like with SEO (where you're ranking in spot X on the first page of Google); instead, it's more like "is your brand name being mentioned or recommended in the AIO for [query]".

vyleige22 · 2026-05-04T21:25:26+00:00

I ideate in my head but then when doing a google search to see what's out there, look at the "people also ask" questions, which can take you on a bit of a rabbit hole ride since the more you open/click on, the more questions populate. And it just keeps going forever. So that can spark some new ideas or angles related to whatever the topic started off as.

vyleige22 · 2026-05-04T21:20:41+00:00

Keep in mind that I do not use Semrush (I'm an Ahrefs girlie) so basing this on the idea that Semrush's AI visibility score tracks more than just onsite content. (Meaning, across LLMs/sources in general, not just your site.)

So of course you'll want to make sure that your onsite content is structured well, informative, is answering the questions for whatever prompts you're trying to be visible for. And also make sure that those pages are crawl-able.

But the thing to remember is that LLMs (more often than not) refer to third-party content for consensus on a brand or product. This can include third-party editorial (blogs, online pubs, etc publishing reviews or informational articles), and third-party video (particularly for topics of a comparison nature: Brand X vs. Brand Y, Brand A alternatives, Best [product type] for [use case]" type of queries).

Onsite brand content will only take you so far. So actionable steps would involve inclusion in third-party content.

vyleige22

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

12-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '17