If you're building in crypto, you've probably noticed something frustrating: the marketing channels that work everywhere else don't work for you in crypto. You're shouting into the void on Twitter, burning cash on ads that get rejected, and keep trying new SEO playbooks without any results.
Here's why and what you can do about it.
The problem: Most channels don't work in crypto
Organic social, paid social, and traditional SEO all fail in crypto.
Crypto Twitter has a built-in audience, sure. But it's also saturated, tribal, and honestly, pretty small when you zoom out. Your potential users aren't all chronically online debating which perp DEX is better.
Other social platforms? Even worse. Try building a crypto community on Instagram or Facebook. The audiences are microscopic, and the platforms actively suppress crypto content.
But it gets worse: social media algorithms are designed to keep users on the platform. They don't want people clicking your links, visiting your app, or going anywhere else. Your posts get buried unless they generate engagement that keeps eyeballs scrolling.
Paid ads should be the answer, right? Except most platforms won't even let you run them.
Want to advertise your DeFi protocol on Facebook? You'll need licenses. Want to promote your NFT marketplace? Rejected. Even legitimate projects that don't require licenses get caught in blanket bans because platforms lump all crypto together with scams.
And when you can run ads, the costs are brutal. You're competing in auctions against deep-pocketed players who can afford to overpay.
Traditional SEO is dominated by big companies
Google's algorithm trusts established brands. CoinDesk, Coinbase, Binance—they own the first page for almost every crypto term that has volume.
New projects? You're fighting an uphill battle. Google wants proof you're trustworthy, and that takes time, backlinks, and domain authority you simply don't have yet.
The real problem nobody talks about
Here's what's actually killing your marketing efforts: you're competing with maxx extractors.
Centralized exchanges. Crypto casinos. High-leverage trading platforms. Pump-and-dump tokens disguised to fit the latest narrative.
These businesses have insanely high lifetime value (LTV), and they extract it fast. A gambler might lose thousands in a weekend. A degen trader might pay hundreds in fees in a single session. This means they can afford sky-high customer acquisition costs (CAC).
So they throw money everywhere:
They buy every ad placement
They game SEO with massive content farms and paid backlinks
They pay KOLs six figures to shill to their followers
They dominate organic social with coordinated engagement
You can't outspend them. And if you try to compete on the same channels, you'll bleed money acquiring users at unsustainable costs.
The solution: AI SEO
Instead of trying to reach everyone everywhere, focus on reaching the right people at the right moment: when they're actively looking for solutions to their problems.
This is where AEO, GEO, or AI SEO comes in.
You create content that answers the specific questions your target users are asking. Not generic "what is blockchain" articles, but deep, useful content that solves real problems:
"How do I bridge USDC from Arbitrum to Base?"
"What's the safest way to stake ETH as a beginner?"
"How do multisig wallets work for DAOs?"
Instead of googling, users now ask their AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. In turn, AI assistants find your content, synthesize it, and present personalized answers.
The AI becomes your representative—advising users, building trust, and guiding them toward your solution.
Why AI SEO works for crypto
The beauty of AI SEO is that it doesn't put you in direct competition with the big extractors.
They're buying attention. You're earning it.
They're interrupting users. You're helping them.
They're optimizing for volume. You're optimizing for relevance.
AI assistants don't care about your ad budget. They care about the quality and relevance of your content. If you genuinely solve a user's problem better than anyone else, the AI will surface your answer.
This levels the playing field. A small team with deep expertise can outperform a massive competitor with shallow content.
What's next
AI SEO is still early. Most crypto projects haven't figured this out yet. That's your window.
The teams that start building high-quality, answer-driven content now will own the top results in AI assistants for years to come.
Want to learn exactly how to make this work for your project? Subscribe to my free newsletter at aiseoforcrypto.com and get practical strategies for AI SEO that actually work in crypto.