Phase 3 of 6

Demand generation engine

Teams optimise for the number of leads and ask people who aren't buying yet to convert.

Goal

Build demand among accounts that aren't buying yet and capture it when they are: be on the shortlist before the first sales call, and fund the channels that produce pipeline.

Key metric

Pipeline and cost per opportunity by channel; share of the buyer's questions where search and AI answers name you.

Common mistake

All the budget goes to capturing demand that already exists, and nothing works on getting onto the shortlist, which buyers now often draw up with search engines and AI assistants before they talk to anyone.

Who owns it

Demand generation

Topics in this phase

Each topic has its own page: the problem, what to do, where AI fits in, how to measure it, and the resources.

Capture · 2 resourcesUses AI

SEO and GEO

Be found on Google and named in AI answers when buyers look for suppliers

Open the topic →

Next in this phase: Content and thought leadership · LinkedIn Ads · Events, webinars and community · Paid search · Landing pages and demo requests · ABM plays · Plan and budget by channel · Partner marketing.

Where AI fits in

One AI workflow for each topic, described step by step on its page.

How it works

  1. Start from the buyer's questions, by buying job and role: from the ICP, sales calls and reviewsProduct marketing and demand gen
  2. Split the budget between creating and capturing demand, with a payback threshold for each channelHead of demand gen
  3. Create demand: original research, ungated content, events, community and partnersDemand gen and content
  4. Get onto the shortlist: pages that answer the buyer's questions, and a presence on the sites that search engines and AI assistants citeContent and SEO, with PR
  5. Capture demand: high-intent search, review sites, retargeting, demo requestsDemand gen
  6. Optimise for opportunities, not leads: bids, audiences and contentDemand gen with marketing ops
  7. Check every month where you appear for the buyer's questions, on Google and in AI answersMarketing ops

Resources

Claude skill or pluginUses AI

AI shortlist test (GEO)

Checks whether ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini name you when a buyer asks for suppliers: turns your ICP into the buyer's questions and reads the answers

Skill · ClaudeDownloadTopic · SEO and GEO
Checklist

SEO and GEO page checklist

Ten checks before publishing a page, so search engines and AI assistants can read and cite it

Checklist page · Google Search ConsoleOpenTopic · SEO and GEO

Building AI into your demand gen?

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