$20k MRR as a solo developer is not a marketing budget problem.
It is a distribution discipline problem.
I spent the last few weeks reverse-engineering three founders who figured this out in the AI SEO / AI visibility space:
↳ Nevo David grew Postiz (open-source social scheduler) to ~$17K MRR by treating GitHub as a landing page.
↳ John Rice grew Peekaboo AI (AI search visibility tracker) past $20K MRR by posting the same direct pitch hundreds of times on X.
↳ Borja Obeso built Distribb into an AI SEO tool by wrapping every SEO tactic into a Claude Skill people share.
They sell different products. Their playbooks overlap more than you'd think.
Here is the combined distribution engine I would run for Fulcru, and what you should steal if you are building any AI/SaaS product in 2026.
1. Build in public aggressively
Nevo's blunt advice: developers rarely pay, but they amplify. John Rice's entire X strategy is a masterclass in public building.
What to share:
↳ Exact MRR and user counts.
↳ Token costs and API performance.
↳ Feature launches and UI iterations.
↳ The one question you answered this week that moved the product.
↳ The question you got wrong.
People do not buy products from press releases. They buy from founders they watched figure it out.
For Fulcru, this looks like:
"We ran our own visibility report this week. Result: Fulcru is named in 0 of 12 buyer questions for AI visibility trackers. Here is the exact list of pages we need to get onto."
That is not a brag. That is a story with a number.
2. Post the same pitch repeatedly
John Rice posts multiple times per day. The formula is simple:
Short problem statement + immediate solution + direct link.
No placeholders. Always attach a visual (dashboard screenshot, metric, or video clip).
Examples for Fulcru:
↳ "Most founders have no idea if ChatGPT recommends them. Fulcru tracks your brand visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. Try it free: https://fulcru.app"
↳ "Just crossed [X] visibility reports generated. Still early. Would love feedback on the new GSC integration: https://fulcru.app"
↳ "Who here has a SaaS that needs to show up in AI answers? Drop your site and I'll tell you if ChatGPT names you. I'll go first. Fulcru: https://fulcru.app"
Consistency beats polish. The 50th post is not spam. It is the one someone finally sees.
3. Treat your free tool as the funnel
Peekaboo's homepage is not a brochure. It is a lead magnet.
Every piece of organic traffic lands on a free AI visibility report wizard. The wizard captures an email, shows real value, and only then presents pricing.
This is the funnel:
Organic traffic → Landing page → Free report wizard → Free dashboard snapshot → Upgrade prompt → Stripe trial → App
For Fulcru, the free report already exists. The job is to make every post, article and comment point to it.
Your call to action is never "read more". It is "run the free report".
4. Open source your distribution edge
Nevo's core insight: in a market where AI can generate code, code is commoditized. What matters is reach and trust.
Postiz is open source because GitHub functions as a landing page, a SEO signal, a developer community and a trust validator all at once.
Fulcru already has a Claude Skill and an MCP server. These are not features. They are distribution assets.
What to do:
↳ Make the Fulcru Skill standalone and free (no account, no API key).
↳ List it in every skill directory and awesome-* repo.
↳ Make the MCP server easy to install with one command.
↳ Treat the README as a landing page: one gif, one sentence, one install command.
↳ Seed GitHub issues with good-first-issue labels.
Developers self-host. Agencies and enterprises pay for the hosted version. That is the open-source revenue logic.
5. Launch everywhere at once
Nevo's launch sequence concentrates traffic into the same 7-day window:
↳ Show HN linking to the repo or product.
↳ /r/selfhosted, /r/saas, /r/marketing, /r/SEO, wherever the product fits.
↳ Dev.to, Medium, HackerNoon long-form articles.
↳ X threads and LinkedIn posts.
↳ Niche newsletters and Slack communities.
The concentrated velocity moves algorithms and human attention.
For Fulcru, the launch angle is not "new feature". It is "we dogfooded our own product and here is what we learned about AI search visibility".
6. Turn every SEO tactic into a shareable article
Distribb's entire content strategy is: take a complex SEO workflow, show how to automate it with Claude, and end with a soft product pitch.
The articles are useful enough to stand alone. The product is the punchline.
For Fulcru, the article list writes itself:
↳ "8 AI Search Visibility Tactics Automated With Claude"
↳ "Claude Just Killed Slow AEO (Automated Newsjacking)"
↳ "How to Get Cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity: The Fulcru Playbook"
↳ "Why Your Brand Is Invisible in AI Answers (And How to Fix It)"
↳ "The Distribution Playbook for AI SEO SaaS"
Each article ends with the free report. Not the paid plan. The free report.
7. Own Reddit and the AI answer layer
Reddit is now a top retrieval source for AI assistants. A helpful answer on a relevant subreddit can become a citation source for ChatGPT and Perplexity.
The rule is: give value first, mention the product only when it is genuinely relevant.
For Fulcru, target:
↳ /r/SEO
↳ /r/saas
↳ /r/marketing
↳ /r/GrowthHacking
↳ /r/GEO_AI_SEO
↳ /r/GenerativeSEOstrategy
Good engagement:
"We faced the same problem. We built a small internal tool to track whether ChatGPT mentions our brand. It turned into Fulcru. Happy to share the free report if anyone wants to check their own visibility."
Bad engagement:
"Try Fulcru, the best AI visibility tool."
One gets upvoted. The other gets banned.
8. Make the product its own marketing proof
The most important distribution move for Fulcru is the dogfood rule: if Fulcru is not named when someone asks ChatGPT for an AI visibility tracker, the product disproves itself.
Every listing, article and backlink is a bet. The tracking number is the scoreboard.
Run the Fulcru report weekly. Share the number in public. Show the gap closing.
This is the ultimate build-in-public story: a product that measures its own marketing success.
90-Day Action Checklist
Week 1–2: Set up the distribution foundation
- [ ] Write a razor-sharp X bio with a link to the free report.
- [ ] Set up a LinkedIn company page and founder page.
- [ ] Publish the Fulcru Skill to ClawHub and awesome-claude-skills.
- [ ] Submit the MCP server to mcp.so, Smithery, Glama and PulseMCP.
- [ ] Ensure the homepage wizard is the primary CTA everywhere.
Week 3–4: Launch content and community
- [ ] Publish one long-form article per week on the Fulcru blog.
- [ ] Cross-post each article to Dev.to, Medium and HackerNoon.
- [ ] Post one direct pitch per day on X.
- [ ] Reply meaningfully in 5 relevant Reddit threads per week.
- [ ] Start a Discord or community hub for users and contributors.
Week 5–8: Accelerate with public metrics
- [ ] Share weekly MRR, report count and visibility metrics on X.
- [ ] Run a Show HN or Product Hunt launch tied to a major content asset.
- [ ] Pitch 3 listicles that currently rank for AI visibility tracker queries.
- [ ] Publish a founder story: "How we dogfooded our own AI visibility tool".
Week 9–12: Optimize and repeat
- [ ] Track which posts and articles drive free report signups.
- [ ] Double down on the top 2 formats.
- [ ] Automate the weekly report and share it publicly.
- [ ] Launch an affiliate or partner program for agencies.
Distribution is not a department. It is a product loop.
The same week you ship a feature, you ship the story about why you shipped it. The same week you fix a bug, you share the lesson. The same week you move your own visibility number, you show the screenshot.
That is the playbook. Steal it.
[Your Name]
Want to see which questions ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity already answer with your competitor's name? Run the free Fulcru visibility report at fulcru.app.
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