Rand Fishkin Just Dropped a Marketing Cheat Code
I saw a post from Rand Fishkin (founder of SparkToro and former CEO of Moz) that stopped me mid-scroll. It’s one of those ideas that’s so simple you wonder why you’re not already doing it.
Here’s the gist:
- Export all your brand mentions — every review, comment, forum post, press mention
- Upload them to Claude with a prompt asking it to compare what people are saying vs. what your site actually addresses
- Find the gaps — questions you don’t answer, concerns you haven’t addressed, skepticism you’re ignoring
- Fix your content to close those gaps
- PROFIT
That’s it. Four steps. But here’s why this hits different.
Why This Works Better Than Keyword Research
Most of us do SEO by finding keywords, checking volume, and writing content to match search intent. That works — I do it every day. But there’s a blind spot.
Keyword research tells you what people search for. Brand mentions tell you what people actually think.
When someone writes a review of your product, comments on a forum thread about your service, or tweets about their experience — that’s raw, unfiltered feedback. It’s not sanitized by search intent or filtered through keyword tools. It’s the truth.
And if your website doesn’t address that truth, you’re leaving conversions on the table.
The Real-World Application
Let me give you a concrete example. Say you’re a contractor in Orlando. You set up brand monitoring and find these patterns in your mentions:
- “They were great but showed up 2 hours late”
- “Good work but the quote was way higher than the final bill” (inconsistent pricing perception)
- “Wish I knew they also did plumbing” (people don’t know your full service list)
- “Their Google reviews are great but my neighbor had a bad experience” (word-of-mouth counter-narrative)
Now compare that to your website. If your site says “We’re reliable, affordable, and offer full-service contracting” — but your mentions are full of lateness complaints and pricing confusion — there’s a disconnect.
The fix isn’t to delete the bad reviews. It’s to address them in your content.
Write a blog post: “Why We Guarantee Arrival Windows (and What Happens If We Miss One).” Update your pricing page to explain how quotes work. Add a services page that makes it crystal clear what you do.
The Claude Angle
The reason this workflow is so powerful in 2026 is that AI can do the analysis in minutes. You don’t need a team of analysts reading through hundreds of mentions and categorizing themes. You export, upload, and ask.
The prompt I’d use:
Here are all the online mentions of [BRAND] from the past 6 months. Compare what people are saying vs. what our website currently addresses. Identify: (1) Questions people ask that we don’t answer, (2) Concerns or skepticism we haven’t addressed, (3) Gaps between our messaging and what the market actually thinks, (4) Content opportunities based on what people want to know. Then create a prioritized content plan to close those gaps.
That prompt plus a CSV of mentions is worth more than most SEO audits I’ve seen.
Where to Get the Data
Rand’s tool of choice is Alertmouse (SparkToro’s brand monitoring product). But you can start with free sources:
- Google Reviews (export via Google Business Profile)
- Reddit and forum mentions (search your brand name)
- Social media comments and replies
- Google Search Console queries (what people search before landing on your site)
- Support tickets and email feedback
- Trustpilot, Yelp, BBB complaints
Any of these work. The key is getting the raw voice of your market and comparing it against your website’s messaging.
The Bottom Line
Rand’s been in the SEO game for 20 years. When he shares a workflow, I pay attention. This one is free to start, takes about 30 minutes to set up, and can fundamentally change how you approach content strategy.
Stop guessing what your audience wants to know. Read what they’re already saying about you — and then answer them.
Hat tip to Rand Fishkin and Scott Heimendinger for the idea. Original post on LinkedIn.
