If you're an early-stage SaaS founder investing heavily in Search Engine Optimisation right now, you’re probably betting on a channel that won’t pay off before you run out of runway.

I know that sounds wrong. But look at what’s actually changed.

Nearly 60% of searches now result in zero clicks. Google answers queries directly with AI Overviews, so people don’t even need to visit your site. 

The old SEO playbook was already slow. Keyword → blog post → backlinks → rankings → traffic → signups. Now it’s slower and less reliable.

If you’ve got 6–12 months of runway and 0–100 users, SEO is unlikely to be your fastest path to traction. This doesn’t mean SEO is dead. It still works, but mostly for companies with authority, existing traffic, and time to wait 12–18 months. That’s not most early-stage founders.

Here is what to do differently.

1. Community-led distribution

Go where your users already are and be useful. Answer real questions, share insights, and help people solve actual problems instead of trying to solely promote your product.

You might not have an audience at the start, what you need is conversations. 20–30 real conversations will get you further than 1,000 passive visitors who land on your site and leave.

Also, build in public. Share what you’re working on, what’s failing, and what’s actually working. That kind of transparency builds trust much faster than polished content ever will.

2. Bottom-of-funnel SEO only

Skip broad content. Focus on what people search when they’re already close to taking action.

Think in terms of specific use cases. “Simple onboarding tool for indie hackers launching a SaaS” converts because it matches a real scenario. “What is user onboarding” doesn’t, because there’s no buying intent.

That’s the difference between traffic and potential users.

3. GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)

The new game is getting mentioned when people ask AI tools questions on platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity AI.

There’s no perfect playbook yet, but there are early wins. Write content that directly answers real questions in a clear and structured way. Use simple formatting, FAQs, and concise explanations so it’s easy for AI machines to interpret. Add schema where possible so your content is easier to understand and reuse.

At the same time, be active in communities where your content and ideas can be referenced. You’re not just trying to rank anymore, you’re trying to be cited.

SEO is a scaling channel, not a starting channel.

If you don’t have clear messaging, proven demand, and a converting funnel. You’re just publishing content and hoping.

Curious, what has worked for your SAAS in SEO? Please share so others can learn.