what if most of the stuff we’re trying to optimize AI for are dead ends?
I was on my way to pick up my kids from school yesterday, ruminating on an idea I couldn't quite articulate.
I was at a red light when it finally hit. I recorded a quick voice memo and said three words:
“No-click queries.”
The thought I kept circling back to was, “what if most of the stuff we’re trying to optimize AI for are dead ends?”
My friend Amanda Natividad gave us “zero-click content” a few years back. Content that delivers value in the feed without forcing a click. It’s more relevant today than ever.
But I wanted to flip perspectives. What about the searcher?
When people ask ChatGPT or Gemini things like “what is X?” or “how do I do Y?” they increasingly have no intent to click because the answer is right there on the platform.
Those are No-Click Queries. Dead ends. People go into the query with no intent to click anywhere.
Click-Through Queries
IMO, the better opportunity is in the queries that do require a click. Where the user has intent to click after the query. Click-through queries.
Stuff like:
What are the best resources for founders to learn sales?
What are some good podcasts for founders like me who are new to sales?
What blogs should I be reading to learn sales for my startup?
Who are the best people to follow to learn startup sales?
When people search for those, they’re looking for resources and recommendations they can actually go consume. They want to click.
But here’s the most important thing: these aren’t keywords to optimize for. They’re positions to own.
If we want to show up for click-through queries, we can’t just optimize harder or publish more content. We have to actually be the resource worth citing.
That means:
Owning our narrative in our own content.
Showing up with clarity in appearances, podcasts, and partnerships.
Creating material so original, specific, and valuable that others reference it in their work.
It’s less about chasing search intent and more about making sure your brand is the obvious answer when intent shows up.
What This Means
This changes how we approach content. We need to get clear on:
Problem: What’s our unique framing of the problem?
(Not “startups struggling to grow sales,” but “founders in the sales seat for the first time struggling to build a sales process to get them to their first sales hire.”)Positioning: How do we uniquely position ourselves around the solution?
(Not “we help startups grow revenue,” but “we help founders form a process early and build confidence in their sales conversations.”)Principles: What specific beliefs, rules, or observations guide how we solve it?
(Not “startups need a better sales process to grow revenue,” but “founders are often selling for the first time and don’t know how to build the process.”)Premise: What’s the unique angle or format of our content?
(Not “a sales podcast,” but “a sales podcast for founder-led sales.”)
Click-through queries are specific.
“What is a sales process?” is a no-click query.
“What are some resources to help me build a sales process for the first time at my startup?” is a click-through query.
If we’re not equally specific in our problem, positioning, principles, and premise, we might never be the resource people (or AI) point to.
