T. Advisory
Mark Troester · Positioning & AI visibility for B2B software
Be the answer when your buyers ask AI.
Software buyers now ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI to explain a category and build a shortlist before they ever talk to sales. I help B2B technology companies sharpen their positioning and content, so AI describes them accurately and recommends them.
The shift
Your buyer's first conversation now happens with AI.
Before a demo request, before a visit to your pricing page, buyers ask an AI assistant to frame the problem and name the options. Three things follow from that.
AI builds the shortlist
"Best observability platform for a mid-size IT team" now returns three to five names. If you're not one of them, you're not in the deal.
AI explains your category
If you haven't published a clear point of view on how your market is changing, AI repeats your competitors' framing instead.
Everything you publish is evidence
Product pages, docs, comparison pages, review sites, and analyst coverage all shape what AI says about you, whether or not anyone owns that picture.
A clear company gets cited. A vague one gets skipped. The fix starts with what you mean, then how you say it.
Services
Start with a clear picture, then fix what matters.
Most engagements begin with a fixed-scope assessment, so you see exactly where you stand before committing to anything bigger.
AI visibility assessment
How AI assistants and search engines describe your company and products today, and a ranked plan to change it.
- Timeline
- 2–3 weeks
- Pricing
- Fixed fee
- Your team
- ~3 hours
- Share of answer. How often you're named across category, comparison, and problem prompts in ChatGPT, Google's AI, Perplexity, and Copilot.
- Who gets cited instead, and why. The competitors AI recommends, and the sources it leans on: review sites, analysts, docs, community threads.
- Positioning and content gaps. Where your product pages, docs, and comparison content leave AI without a clear answer.
- A prioritized plan. What to change first, ranked by effort and impact, with owners across product marketing, web, and docs.
- An executive readout. A working session with your leadership and marketing team.
Then, depending on what we find
Positioning & strategic narrative
When the real problem is the story itself.
- Market shift and category point of view
- Product or portfolio positioning
- A narrative leadership agrees to use everywhere
Project · 4–8 weeks
AI visibility program
Act on the assessment and keep improving.
- Answer-first rewrites of priority pages
- Comparison, alternatives, and use-case content
- Monthly share-of-answer tracking
Sprint, then monthly
Fractional product marketing
Senior leadership without a full-time hire.
- Positioning, launches, and GTM planning
- Product and marketing alignment
- Analyst and executive communication
Retainer · ongoing
Who it's for
B2B technology companies with complex products.
Especially where the product is technical, the category is shifting, and the buyer has to be convinced the old way no longer works.
Developer & platform tools
App development, DevOps, platform engineering, infrastructure automation
Security
Software supply chain, DevSecOps, application and infrastructure security
IT operations
Network and infrastructure monitoring, observability, application delivery
Data & integration
Connectivity, integration, analytics, and data management
AI products
Conversational AI, AI platforms, and products adding AI to an existing category
Portfolios
Multi-product companies, and product lines brought together through acquisition
How I work
AI-assisted, with judgment at every step.
I've built an AI-assisted process that does in days what used to take weeks of manual review, without handing the thinking over to a chatbot.
Collect
Gather your product pages, docs, comparison content, and third-party coverage, so every decision starts from what buyers and AI assistants actually find today.
Writing is step five of six on purpose. Audit and research surface the gaps first, and strategy decides what's worth changing.
Priorities before pages
AI is used first to find gaps and set priorities. New content is written only where the strategy says it will matter.
Standards built in
Every page is checked for brand, accuracy, trademark, legal, and security concerns before it goes live.
Independent review
Different AI models challenge each other's work for errors and omissions, and I review everything before you see it.
Point of view
What I believe.
Narrative is an operating tool.
A positioning narrative earns its keep in roadmap reviews, retention plans, and sales conversations. If it only lives on the website, it isn't doing its job.
Positioning is product strategy.
Defining why a product matters forces clarity about what it's supposed to accomplish. That work belongs at the start of the product process, with product, marketing, and UX at the same table.
Clarity is the new SEO.
AI assistants cite companies that explain plainly what they do, who it's for, and why it's different. Keyword tactics don't fix a vague message.
Decide before you generate.
AI is most valuable as a decision system first and a writing system second. Find the gaps, set priorities, then generate selectively and have independent models check the result.
Experience
25+ years making complex technology clear.
I started as a developer, and I've spent my career positioning products that are hard to explain, for buyers who are hard to convince.
Developer and development manager
Built software at startups and established enterprises.
Product management and marketing
Product marketing leadership at software companies including SAS and Sonatype.
Strategy and go-to-market leadership
Vice President of Strategy at Progress, leading positioning and go-to-market across product portfolios.
AI-assisted marketing systems
Designing and building AI-assisted workflows for content audit, strategy, and governance.
Products I've helped position
Application development platforms
Tools and platforms for building web, mobile, and business apps.
DevOps and infrastructure automation
Configuration, compliance, and delivery automation.
Software supply chain security
Open source governance and DevSecOps.
Network and infrastructure monitoring
Visibility into networks, servers, and applications.
Application delivery
Load balancing and traffic management.
Data connectivity and integration
Connecting applications to enterprise data sources.
Analytics and data management
Big data, data quality, and information management.
Conversational AI
Chatbot and AI assistant platforms.
I've spoken at industry events hosted by Gartner, Forrester, and TDWI.
Insights
How AI is changing B2B software marketing.
Practical guides for product marketing and growth leaders.
SEO, AEO, and GEO explained for B2B software
What each one means and where to focus first.
GuideHow B2B software gets recommended by AI
A seven-step playbook for product marketing teams.
Point of viewWhy software companies need a strategic narrative
The story behind your positioning, and why AI raises the stakes.
IndustryFor infrastructure, DevOps & security software
Where technical buyers' questions meet AI answers.
GuideWhen fractional product marketing makes sense
Five situations, and what to expect from an engagement.
SampleSee a sample AI visibility assessment
A fictional infrastructure vendor, shown in full format.
Questions
Common questions.
What's the difference between SEO, AEO, and GEO?
SEO is about ranking in search results. AEO (answer engine optimization) is about being the direct answer an assistant or search feature gives. GEO (generative engine optimization) is about being named and described accurately when AI generates a response. They overlap heavily, and all three start with clear positioning and well-structured content.
How do you measure AI visibility?
I run a fixed set of category, comparison, and problem prompts across the major AI assistants and track how often you're named, how you're described, and which sources are cited. Repeating the same set over time shows whether things are improving.
Does this replace our product marketing team or agency?
No. I work alongside your team, usually with product marketing, web, and docs. The assessment gives everyone a shared picture and a ranked plan, and I can lead the work or advise.
Can you guarantee we'll be recommended by ChatGPT?
No one can. AI assistants decide for themselves what to say. What I can do is find what's holding you back, fix it, and measure whether you're mentioned more often and more accurately over time.
What size companies do you work with?
B2B technology companies from growth stage to enterprise product lines, including multi-product portfolios. For small and local businesses, see my sister practice, Well Mentioned.
How does an engagement start?
With a 30-minute conversation about your product, market, and what's changed. If there's a fit, we scope the assessment, usually within a week.
Contact
What are AI assistants saying about you?
Send a note with your company, your category, and what's changed. I'll reply within two business days.