How SoftwareFinder Grew 300% While Other Directories Died (The AI Search Playbook) with Adnan Malik, CEO of Software Finder

Hey there, and welcome to an episode of the Supermarketers Podcast, where marketers level up with AI in this LLM-verse world. And today we have Adnan Malik, who is the co-founder and CEO of Software Finder. Adnan, how's it going today? I'm doing great.

Thanks again for having me on the show. Yeah, I am really excited to learn more about you and what you're doing with Software Finder. So if we could get a brief overview and specifically the growth trajectory that you've had, which I think is remarkable considering how sites have been impacted with AI overview and LLMs. Yeah, so Software Finder, we found it back in 2019.

Since last five years, we have seen 100% growth year on year, which is great. I know a lot of websites or I would say marketplaces has suffered a lot organically in the last few years. But we have seen the other side. So we've been taking advantage of that drop and we grew about 300, more than 300 percent in terms of organic traffic in the last few years.

So, yeah, I mean, what SoftwareFinder does is we connect buyers and sellers in the B2B software space. So if a company is looking for a software, they come to us and then we connect them with the top three or top five software vendors that they should be looking at. In a nutshell, this is what we do. Got it.

Yeah. So it is in the realm of G2, Capterra, Gartner Digital, where you are ultimately shortlisting and then recommending. Yeah. So most of these companies, I mean, they are a competition.

They are in the marketplace for B2B software, but they don't do what we do, which is we actually speak to the buyer. And then after speaking to them, we then recommend them the top three or top five that they should be looking at. So there is a huge human element in the middle that most of the other marketplaces don't offer. Got it.

Okay. And then in terms of revenue model, are we talking affiliate and then maybe paid placement? Yes, so we do affiliate paid placement, but most of our revenue comes from pay per lead model. So every lead that we generate for software vendors, they pay us for the lead that we generate.

So I would say our majority of our revenue comes from pay per lead model. Got it. Okay. Yeah, so now let's get into the nitty gritty where things have changed a lot.

You know, I'm sure a lot of your queries where you end up capturing those leads are related to a prompt or a search term, like in best category software, then they end up on your site and you are capturing that lead. But what parts of that loop might have changed with AI overviews or AI mode? What's been the same? And then how have you continued to grow at such a rapid clip?

Yeah, so that's a really good question. So what we have seen is about 35 to 40% of the searches are now consuming some sort of AI element. Either it's AI overview or they're starting their search on LLMs like ChatGPT, Cloud, Gemini. We are also getting about 30% of our traffic now through LLMs or AI overviews.

So it's a huge shift. I mean, a couple of years ago, I think it was not even 5%. So it's growing quite quickly and it's a dynamic space. The good thing is that when it all started happening a few years ago, we were ready and prepared and we shifted our entire SEO strategy towards more LLM friendly so that our website content content can be consumed by these large language models, which has been very beneficial.

I think we did really good when it comes to how analysts will be consuming our content. We took some risk which paid off in terms of strategy. So we were very aggressive in the last few years in order to make sure that we capture this new demand of search and the way users are consuming content. Yeah.

So if we look at the site or like a page, for example, like if we're looking at a active campaign, like what on the page is different in terms of the structure that we might see as a user and what might be on the backend, for example, like the JSON-LD or llms.txt, like what are those changes and what's been most impactful? I mean it's a whole SEO strategy so there are multiple elements. I mean apart from JSON changes I think there was a lot of semantic level changes that we had to make on the front end.

And plus there is the content strategy was different when it comes to LLMs. There were a lot of signals that Google didn't care about before that, you know, a lot of these LLMs care about. So it was not only like development changes, there was a lot of strategical changes when it comes to the content in terms of the overall, you know, content map that you create around an article so that the article gets a push on LLMs as well as SEO. But yeah it was like a mix of multiple things which has really paid off Yeah one thing that I learned and this is from like some people at Microsoft at SEO week a conference around AEO and SEO is that it no longer about focusing on ranking a page of course but it really like at a passage level And I think that that's maybe where your content really excels is the pages for an active campaign are very detailed and robust.

Also pull in some proprietary data or customer reviews. And then it seems to be catering specifically to different prompts. And then, of course, you have the supporting pages beyond, you know, so maybe it's like a category or alternatives to or competitors to. So it seems like you're doing a good job of surrounding active campaign related queries with other content.

Yeah, I mean, you're right. I mean, I think review is obviously one of the major drivers as well. LLMs like user generated content and reviews. So, I mean, we've been collecting reviews for the last seven years.

It is a review based platform and you know our review team do a phenomenal job in order to collect those reviews. So yeah reviews, the overall website structure, how you structure the category level, alternatives, reviews and pricing and you know. And overall, like how authentic the content is. So, you know, you have to give a lot of multiple signals to AEOs as well as SEOs in terms of authenticity of the content.

And we, because we are into so many different categories, you know, it's not only one category. So we hire experts in all of those categories who basically proofread our content, add their own angle to different articles, which goes a long way. Yeah. Have you identified any interesting behavioral changes of how people interact?

For example, like we can see to a certain extent, like from search console, what people are typing in or prompt trackers, what people are prompting. But in terms of what they're asking an LLM versus what they're actually asking your representatives on a call, like where an LLM can answer a question. And so people are looking for that human element to actually answer these questions. Yeah.

So in software discovery space, LLMs play like an initial search sort of a role from what we see at the moment. For example, if your company is looking for HR software, you'll be putting in, you know, top 10 HR software or, you know, most user-friendly HR software or whatever you're the, you know, the problem you're trying to solve. So and then LLMs display them, you know, top 10 or top 11 or top 20 as per their search. And what we see is most of those searches are consuming our content.

because, you know, we have category level pages that shows, you know, the top HR software. We also write a lot of best of articles that explain, you know, which software is best for what type of feature, what sort of company size. So initial search is coming from LLMs. And then they, after refining few searches, then they move to the second level of research, which is, you know, getting to know more details in terms of, you know, they want to see demo now, they want to compare pricing, they want to read user reviews.

And then, you know, because B2B software decision making is complex. It's not as easy as, you know, you search for, you know, I'm looking for a new computer or laptop, you search and then, you know, decide through Charger GPT. and why it is complex is because only few people are making decisions for the entire organization so there are a lot of different elements in terms of you know how easy a software is to implement how many integration how easy is to integrate and there are you know multiple complexities that that comes in terms of software decision if you make a wrong decision it takes six months to a before you can rectify and then you know then you have to switch again it's like a whole process so software license is the you know is the cheapest cost when it comes to implementing a wrong software i always say because you know the amount of money you're investing in terms of training people and you know making the software ready is a lot more than you know a hundred dollar per user license so it's it's an important decision and human element is the key from what we have seen and And that was our mission in the start because we felt that software discovery is broken because by doing just online searches, you will not end up choosing the top three that you should be looking at.

Because whoever is paying more will show top on the Google and you will end up doing demos and making a decision. That's what happened. I mean, unfortunately, it's still happening. LLM show you top 10 and then you end up contacting maybe three or four and then you make a decision.

whereas our team is trained in terms of hundreds of software in that category they know which software is best for which requirement what company size and that's where you know I would I'd say step three comes in where they come to our website fill up fill up a form in order to be contacted by one of our consultants it a completely free service for the buyer We then reach out to them and then we ask them a series of questions that they not even thinking that they should be asking That the most important thing during their research And then as per their questions, we recommend them top three or top five as per how many they want to see.

And then step four, we share their information with the vendors and then they reach down to them. Next. Got it. One of the things that you were kind of vocal or adamant about is that you turned down VC money, which is, you know, seems like a prescient move right now where agents are becoming so much more capable and maybe what you need a team for, which would be, you know, funded by VC growth maybe or VC funding is now maybe could be done by agents or AI.

But I'd love to learn more about how you see that in terms of manning your team with humans versus how you're actually implementing and using AI to do this because it is very hard to train, understand hundreds of softwares, then train the people to do this, to have that deep expertise where you're adding value to prospective buyers? Yeah, so that's a really good question. And I mean, in today's world, you must be thinking, I mean, why these guys are relying on human for so much information.

And so the answer is no, we are not relying only on humans. Our system at the back end is, you know, so we've prepared our own internal system. Basically, all of the information goes in our system. And then when our, you know, team member or consultant is on the phone with the prospective buyer, they enter their requirements in the system and the system starts recommending as per their needs that what they should be looking at, plus asking the right questions, you know, while they're doing this discovery.

So it's not only human dependent, there's a, you know, AI element at the back end when this conversation is happening, because, you know, you cannot really rely on human to remember 200 different software, it's not humanly possible. So there is an AI element at the back end but that human touch that conversation is so important because that's goes a long way we we have tried building you know human a like ai agent who will speak to the buyer but that doesn't we work we feel is it doesn't really work well because that human touch is so important in that discovery uh and that relationship that you know you form and then you know you know humans open up and then they they're more comfortable sharing their organizational information because You know, it's not, you can't just pick up a phone and start telling about your organization straight away to someone.

So I think that that connection goes a long way. And it's just that human touch is so important in today's world where everything is happening on AI. So in that sense, you're using AI to do like the prospect discovery. and then also just to inform the database of the different tools so that the reps on the call are fully informed of what they're actually talking about.

That's right. You got it. Let's hear more about, you know, you have this interesting bird's eye view of both how software companies are acquiring customers and then how buyers are evaluating software companies. If you were to see, for example, a SaaS company that is suddenly seeing their directory-related leads dry up, what would you recommend to them in order to reactivate or get more leads from channels like what you're doing or G2, Capterra?

Yeah, so I always say that leads that you get from the directory, especially someone you know, like us, software finder, they're far more superior than, you know, your regular PPC or your email SMS or, you know, whatever campaigns that you're running or your content marketing. The reason being because when you're running, you know, PPC or any sort of marketing campaign, most of the time you're getting all sort of buyers. Buyers that are, you know, as per UICP and buyers that are not as per UICP.

like if I mean keeping HR software example in mind you know not all HR software made for all sides of companies or all industries I mean HR I mean most of the time is built for all industries but there's so many different tools like some of the project management tools are only good for construction some are only good for architecture engineering as an example then it's so hard to you know just focus on those industries or companies through PPC or your other ads whereas leads that you'll be getting from software finder they're thoroughly qualified ask for your true ICP every time you know there's a new vendor who wants more leads from us we spend you know good amount of time onboarding them we are trying to understand their ICP you know where their products are best fit at and then when we are doing that qualification we keep that in mind and we only qualify prospect that are suitable for what they have built what really happens is that now they're selling it to or their pipeline is filled with the buyers that they should be selling to rather than you know all random leads um and at the end of the day if you're selling it to the right buyer your churn rate will be a lot lower and your customers will be a lot happier because they're buying something that is built for them whereas on the other hand if you selling to anyone that is coming through to your website per se I mean sale is sale at the end they will end up selling right It doesn matter if it as per your ICP or they slightly off your ICP because they have their targets, because that's what they're getting in their pipeline.

So the targeting with marketplaces, especially with Software Finder, because we are speaking to the prospect, is so high and, you know, you get leads that you should be selling to. So even if you're paying 10, 20% extra to marketplaces, you know, it's worth it because at the end, you will see better retention, which makes up for that 20% that you're paying. For sure, yeah. Lifetime value is much higher if they stay longer.

Exactly. And SaaS company makes through lifetime value, not through, you know, in the start. Yeah, yeah. So obviously things are changing so rapidly with these LLMs and the access that we have in terms of information and making these discovery, software discovery and decisions.

What's a prediction that you're willing to make of how things are changing in terms of software discovery in the next, say 12 to 18 months? I mean, the shift is already happening. I would, I mean, I can only think that, you know, right now the searches are happening 35, 40% on AI, then it will probably be another 30, 40%. So most likely in 12 months, 60, 70% of your searches will be consumed through either AI overview, AI mode, or your LLMs.

So that's the first thing that I see a big shift that's already happening and will happen at a much rapid pace in the next 12 months as people are getting used to LLMs. I mean, few other things that will happen, will be that people would like to make better decision now that there's more data available than three years ago. And there's more advanced intelligence systems out there to make better decisions. The other thing that will happen is how quickly they can get to the demos and how quickly they can get pricing for these vendors as per their needs.

I think that will be another big step because right now there's still a huge gap where someone looking for demo, it takes days for them to speak to someone, set up an appointment with sales, and get to the demos. So I would say there is definitely going to be speed to demo and then speed to closing, because right now it takes two to three months for people to make decisions from start to finish when they're purchasing a SaaS tool. I would say in 12 months or 24 months, People would expect that to be happening within weeks rather than months, which is right now is a big problem.

So I think vendors will get more efficient and to reduce their time, contracting negotiation will happen at a rapid pace using AI and other tools. And research to demo time will decrease, I would say, by weeks at least. Yeah, I think you're spot on. In addition to maybe some downward pressure on pricing as things are getting more competitive, as speed to demo is increased, or maybe as people are saying, hey, maybe I could bibecode this, something similar for, maybe those are the smaller parts of the software where they're spending.

But maybe, you know, proprietary custom software is an option or a competitive alternative at that point. Yeah, I mean, that will be an option where people will start writing their own tools through Cloud, you know, and other LLMs that they will start to write their own tools. But as you grow, that model I don't see will work. I mean, for a small organization, for a small task, it will work.

But if you're trying to implement something organizational-wide, then I don't see that happening. We were not there yet. Yeah. In the next 12 months, I don't think so.

Totally fair. Anand, anything else that we should cover or that you wanted to mention? I mean, in terms of this topic, I would say we've covered pretty much everything. If you would like to know more, then you know I'm here.

Yeah. And so what's the best place to find you or connect with you online? so you can reach out to us on softwarefinder.com and you can reach out to us through linkedin that if you want to reach out to me personally linkedin is the best route but you know if you're a vendor or you are a prospect go to softwarefinder.

com our team can help you narrow down options in 10 minutes whereas it takes you weeks today to research. Even if you're researching, you will only end up researching maybe 10 or 15 different software. Whereas us, we can do it all in 10 minutes out of the 200 software that is available per se. If you're a vendor, reach out to us again through softwarefinder.

com and we can really help you fill up your pipeline with some solid leads. I appreciate that. I mean, I just think it's such remarkable growth trajectory, especially in the context of LLMs out and how some of these sites, you know, of the nature of a stack overflow are totally getting hammered with these updates. So keep up the great work and thanks so much for joining.

Thank you. Pleasure to be here.