Search, as we knew it over the past decade, is changing, especially in the audio industry, which drives more than 300m monthly search queries, and Ranktio is at the center of this change. We enable companies with a modern content ecosystem that fuels growth and visibility, positioning audio startups at the intersection of discovery across every search box their audiences use.

In short, Ranktio is leading the change in discovery in the audio industry, whether that’s podcasting, voice editing, music editing or generating, sound engineering, and music creation. 

This is how we’re preparing the startups, brands, and businesses in this industry for the new search world.

The problem with search in the audio industry

Big companies dominate SERPs for the best keywords in the audio industry. Their positions on the SERP are almost immovable, leaving new startups and existing ones competing for low-intent keywords by adding “free” to their keywords. 

The question now is, do you keep adding “free” to your keywords when the big competitors also have free tiers and can compete against you for the same keywords? This is the question we were out to solve, and we have done it for two separate businesses in the audio industry: Podsqueeze and Xound.

Podsqueeze

Podsqueeze, an AI-powered podcasting co-pilot, needed a working content ecosystem that could keep growing their visibility without everyday tweaks. A solution to this requires partnering with a content marketing partner like Ranktio, who can ensure consistent growth across three core metrics: traffic, domain authority, and LLM citations.

Reach and visibility in an increasingly competitive podcast world

To further bolster Podsqueeze’s authority in this niche and increase visibility within LLM search results, Ranktio produced a variety of blurb content for Podsqueeze to be included in LLM-cited sources.

Additionally, Ranktio conducted a comprehensive bottom-of-funnel audit and delivered actionable recommendations for new pages that directly supported Podsqueeze’s growth and user acquisition objectives. The result of this partnership is evident both on the website and in analytics.

Podsqueeze is cited in 1.8K AI Overviews on Google, proving its content is visible and authoritative in AI-generated summaries. As AI Overviews continue to take the majority of the CTRs, positioning Podsqueeze as an authority is an important step towards getting a piece of the AI pie.

Xound

Ranktio partnered with Xound, an audio cleaner tool, with one goal in mind: to help diversify their website authority across many pages rather than just the homepage. 

With major competitors like Adobe, ElevenLabs, LALAL, and Auphonic, we needed to conduct detailed keyword research for a new money page. Using the KOB, Ranktio developed a strategy for a BoFu keyword to anchor the money page. Ranktio also developed a link-building strategy to increase authority and refine outreach tactics to make everything work.

Clicks, links, and top SERP rankings

We monitored the industry and identified a shoulder niche that can increase the new page's relevance without sacrificing authority. For Xound, a brand in the voice-cleaning niche, we targeted the music industry; specifically, we generated 12 backlinks from “AI music generator” websites, 8k+ clicks on a money page, and #1 Google SERP rankings across 5+ countries.

Democracy of search

In short, these stats are telling us that search and visibility in the audio industry is going to the biggest brands or the ones with the most money. With the right content strategy and frameworks, discovery can now be championed by even small businesses. Nimble teams can now compete against the big companies without spending a fortune.

What’s changing in search in the audio industry?

• Small teams can now look big without the complex overhead required to compete with big companies in the industry. Big companies can reduce their overhead and still get visible. 

• Search is transitioning from traditional methods to AI-powered, agentic experiences, in which visibility depends on being featured in LLM-generated summaries and citations.

• The "free" keyword strategy is becoming less effective as large competitors also offer free tiers. Success now requires more nuanced strategies.

• Content strategies will shift drastically from earning human clicks to owning sizable topical authority for agent citations.

Adebayo Peter, founder of Ranktio, said:

“Search is changing for the audio world. The businesses that adapt are the ones that will remain. We predict that many businesses will stall in growth, visibility, and awareness with the old visibility playbook. Any startup in the audio sector that will remain afloat in this new search world will have to flip the switch from a human-only search experience to a new human-and-AI search experience.”