Playbook · By stage
SEO & AI search playbook for indie hackers
A solo founder's constraint isn't knowledge, it's hours. You're building, supporting and selling at once, so SEO has to fit into a few hours a week and still compound. That rules out most agency-style playbooks.
It also points to your advantage: you can go after narrow searches that are too small for funded companies to bother with, and you can ship a small free tool in a weekend. We're founders who ran this on our own product, and the lessons (including the mistakes) apply directly.
Updated By the LaunchRanked team3 sources checked
Searches to plan around
Query patterns and the intent behind them. We don’t quote search volumes: check your own Search Console for the ones you already appear for.
Narrow task queries in your niche
Get a specific job doneThe searches big competitors ignore because each one is small. Many small ones add up.
“[big tool] alternative for [small use case]”
Cheaper or simpler optionPeople who find the big tool too much. Say plainly what you don't do.
“free [tool type]”
Try without payingA free tool can bring steady traffic to a paid product.
“[your product]” after a launch
Brand checkLaunch traffic searches your name. Make sure your site, not a directory, answers.
Page families that work
One free tool
/tools/[tool]
A small, useful tool related to your product. It earns links and sends users.
Alternative pages
/alternatives/[big-tool]
Honest pages for the incumbents you're simpler or cheaper than.
Use-case pages
/use-cases/[job]
One page per narrow job, with a real example from your product.
Risky page types
Mass programmatic pages in week one
It's tempting to generate thousands of pages. On our own product, publishing about 2,500 posts in one month got indexing throttled. A new domain needs a slower start.
Buying cheap backlink packages
Buying links for ranking is link spam by Google's definition, and the cheap ones are usually from the sites Google ignores anyway.
Technical pitfalls
No Search Console on day one
It's free and it's where you'll find the queries you almost rank for. Set it up before you publish anything.
A site that's only a sign-up form
Give the homepage enough text to explain the job, the price and who it's for.
Many products on scattered domains
If you run several small products, decide whether they share a domain. Scattering splits the little authority you build.
How AI assistants answer questions in this category
Assistants build shortlists from directories, listicles and launch platforms. A small product rarely appears for broad category questions, but it can appear for narrow ones (“a simple tool to do X for Y”) when its site and listings describe that job in the same plain words.
What tends to earn a citation
- The same one-line description on your site and every listing.
- Plain pricing and what the free plan includes.
- Launch and directory listings on sites that assistants retrieve.
Check whether the AI crawlers you want can reach your site with our AI crawler checker.
Where links come from
Launch platforms
A launch gives you a listing that stays. Launch free on LaunchRanked for a followed link after review, with no badge required.
Directories that fit
Pick a handful from the directory database. If you'd rather not spend the evenings, directory submission does it by hand.
Build in public
Sharing numbers and lessons in founder communities earns links when the story is useful to others.
Directory lists that fit indie hackers
- Product launch platforms
- Startup directories
- SaaS directories
- Where to submit: Indie hackers
- Where to submit: Free dofollow directories
- All directories
Each directory is checked on its own site: price, link type and review process. We never sell links.
A 90-day plan
Days 1–30
Two hours a week: basics
- Set up Search Console.
- Write a homepage that explains job, price and audience.
- Launch on one or two launch platforms.
Days 31–60
Two hours a week: first pages
- Ship one small free tool.
- Write two honest alternative pages.
- Submit to a handful of relevant directories.
Days 61–90
Two hours a week: the loop
- Write use-case pages for the jobs Search Console shows people searching.
- Rewrite titles on pages at positions 5–20.
- Keep publishing at a steady pace, not in bursts.
What to watch in Search Console
The Performance report gives clicks, impressions, CTR and average position by query, page, country, device and date. Traffic from Google's AI features is counted there too, under the Web search type (Google).
- Queries at positions 5–20
- Your cheapest wins. A title rewrite takes minutes.
- Indexed pages
- If Google isn't indexing what you publish, slow down and improve quality.
- Signups from organic
- The only traffic number that pays the bills.
Frequently asked questions
How much time should a solo founder spend on SEO?
A few focused hours a week, every week, beats a big push once a quarter.
Is programmatic SEO a good idea for a new site?
Only with real data behind each page, and at a slow pace. On our own product, publishing too fast got indexing throttled.
Should each product have its own domain?
It depends on whether they share an audience. If they do, one domain builds authority faster.
Are launch platforms worth it?
For a spike, feedback and a permanent listing. Pick ones that give a followed link without strings.
Sources
Checked on September 23, 2026. Search patterns and page advice are our own judgement from running this playbook; we don’t quote search volumes or third-party statistics.