SaaS Distribution for Solo Founders: Reddit, Product Hunt, GEO and Cold Outbound

SaaS distribution in 2026 is a technical problem, not a marketing problem - and this episode is the execution manual, not the philosophy. It opens with the tool → smart recommendations → AI agent sequence that every breakout SaaS follows (and why skipping straight to agents is commercially suicidal). Then: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) — why AI crawlers treat your landing page like a JSON payload, why semantic HTML and JSON-LD schema markup are now mandatory, and the Princeton study showing LLMs cite earned media over owned content. The Hacker News architecture: 69 points triggers a 10-hour spike of ~60,000 visitors, and post-surge up to 50% of sustained referral traffic now comes from ChatGPT at 2x the conversion rate of Google. The 14-day Reddit ramp protocol with the 3:1 non-promotional ratio rule and subreddit-specific tactics for r/SaaS, r/startups, and r/marketing. The 2026 Product Hunt algorithm changes (upvote rings now actively penalize you), the Tuesday vs Monday launch day debate with data for both sides, and the 8–15% visitor-to-signup benchmark that tells you if your landing page is broken. The G2 monopoly after acquiring Capterra — G2 now holds 93% of bottom-of-funnel AI citations for software reviews. Intent-based cold outbound with Clay (trigger: Series B announcement, new CCO hire, technographic competitor data). And the 60-day launch calendar with the month-one benchmark: 847 median users, $127 CAC, 8.2 months to break even.