Guest Posts Are Back (for AI): How to Write Ones That Tell ChatGPT Who You Are

Remember guest posts? "10 Tips for Better Productivity" on a random blog, with your plumbing company's link jammed in paragraph four?

Yeah. That died. Good riddance.

But on Oct 29, 2026, Semrush said guest posting is useful again, for a totally different reason: AI. A day earlier, Kasra Dash laid out the same idea from his side. Two sources, one method. Here it is.

Quick words (one line each):

• Guest post: an article you write that gets published on someone else's website.

• Anchor text: the clickable words in a link.

• Branded mention: another site naming your business, with or without a link.

• Off-page consensus: lots of other sites repeating the same facts about you. Kasra's term.

• Correlation: two things show up together. It doesn't prove one causes the other.

Why this works now

When AI tools answer questions about brands or products, they look past your own site, at the articles, lists and comparisons where your brand shows up (Semrush, 0:00:40).

Kasra showed an Ahrefs study of 75,000 brands: the thing that lined up best with being mentioned in Google's AI Overviews was branded web mentions, then branded anchors. Raw backlink count sat far down the list (0:00:00, 0:03:00-0:03:20). He's clear that's correlation, and so are we.

So the new guest post's job isn't the link. It's to say, clearly, who you are.

Step 1: Write your facts down once

Before you pitch anything, make a fact card (Kasra, 0:04:00-0:04:40):

1. Exact registered business name.

2. Founder.

3. Year you started.

4. Where you're based.

5. Who you serve (one line).

6. What you do (one line).

7. Proof: awards, accreditations, customer count. Only real, checkable stuff.

Every pitch, article and profile pulls from this card, word for word.

Step 2: Find the sites AI already reads

Ask ChatGPT the questions your buyers ask. Semrush's example: "best running shoes for flat feet." Write down every source that keeps showing up in the answers. That's your outreach list (0:02:20-0:03:40).

Then add Kasra's list of places that talk about businesses: industry interviews, podcast guest pages, industry directories, award or shortlist pages, local business features, and partner or supplier pages (0:06:40-0:07:00).

Step 3: Run the fit test

Don't sort by "site strength" and pitch from the top. Fit beats authority (Semrush, 0:03:40-0:04:40).

Their example: Underfit, an undershirt brand, wrote for Black Lapel, a suit site, about what to wear under a dress shirt. It drove 150+ sales.

The test, word for word: "Would this article still belong on their site if your brand wasn't in it?" (0:05:00-0:05:20). If no, the placement is forced. Next.

Step 4: Pitch with three answers and one proof

Your pitch answers three things fast (Semrush, 0:05:20-0:06:00):

1. Why it fits their readers.

2. Why now.

3. Why you're credible.

Make the topic specific. "10 benefits of running" is dead on arrival. Add one proof point, like "our team tested 20 pairs" or a customer survey (0:06:00-0:06:20).

Step 5: Open with who you are

Kasra's template for the article itself (0:07:40-0:08:20):

1. First paragraph: your business name, what it does, who it serves.

2. One true line of proof.

3. The founder, with one line of background.

4. Then the genuinely useful part of the article.

5. Same facts as your fact card, word for word where you can.

Step 6: Make every section quotable

Each main section gets one clear point that stands on its own: a specific claim, real proof, and your brand mentioned close to that point (Semrush, 0:06:40-0:08:00). That's the bit AI lifts into answers.

Step 7: Use your name as the link

Anchor text = your brand name, your web address, or your founder's name, pointing to your homepage or About page. A few keyword anchors are fine. All keyword anchors is "a pattern" (Kasra, 0:05:20-0:05:40).

Step 8: Get one page that ranks for your name

Aim for an interview or feature about you that shows up when someone searches your business name. Then do the same for the founder (Kasra, 0:06:00-0:06:40).

Step 9: Track mentions, not just links

Keep a simple sheet: site, topic, linked yes/no, which of your pages it points to, date (Semrush, 0:08:20-0:09:20). Once a month:

1. Ask your topic questions in ChatGPT and note whether your brand, the article or the publisher shows up.

2. Search your business name and count how much of page one is about you (Kasra, 0:07:00-0:07:40).

Semrush is upfront: you can't credit every AI gain to guest posts. Rising mentions plus AI starting to cite those pages is "stronger evidence" (0:09:20-0:09:40). Track it and you'll see the trend.

Do this today

1. Write your 7-line fact card.

2. Ask ChatGPT 5 questions your buyers ask. List every site it cites.

3. Run the fit test on each one. Cross off the forced ones.

4. Draft one pitch: fits, why now, why you, one proof point.

5. Start a mentions sheet.

Related reading

• Make your business facts match everywhere AI checks

• Get your business on the best-of lists AI reads

• Find sites that mention competitors but not you

Sources

• Semrush - This SEO Tactic Was Dead. AI Brought It Back (2026-10-29)

• Kasra Dash - I Stopped Building Links Without This Metric (2026-10-28)

Don't worry if this seems like it's a pain in the ass for someone who doesn't build websites. That's because it is. The good news: just click the link below, pull the trigger, and we'll take care of the rest.