Austin Heaton's Content Hierarchy for B2B Companies: Why I Start with Bottom-Funnel Pages, Not Blog Posts

Most B2B content strategies start in the wrong place. Marketing teams launch with a blog, publish weekly "what is" and "how to" posts, and wait months for traffic that never converts. Meanwhile, the pages that actually generate demos, signups, and revenue sit empty or unbuilt.

I do the opposite. Every client engagement I take on begins with bottom-funnel pages: comparison pages, pricing content, solution pages, and case studies. The blog comes later, after the revenue foundation is in place. This is not a theoretical preference. It is the content hierarchy that produced 1.7 million organic sessions with 1,419% growth across my client portfolio and drove AI-powered conversions up by 533% in the past 12 months.

The Problem with Blog-First Content Strategies

According to Databox, 67% of B2B content produced is aimed at top-of-funnel. That is a staggering amount of resources directed at the stage with the lowest conversion potential. Top-funnel informational queries trigger AI Overviews, featured snippets, and People Also Ask boxes that often resolve the query without a click. Your blog post ranks, gets impressions, and generates close to zero pipeline.

The data supports this. Comparison pages and "X vs Y" content convert 2 to 3x better than generic blog posts, and case studies and pricing pages are now identified as the best content types to drive traffic in the age of AI search. Top-funnel content like "what is" guides and how-tos saw massive traffic drops over the past two years as AI engines cannibalized those queries.

This does not mean blogs are useless. It means they should not be your starting point. When you build bottom-funnel pages first, every blog post you publish later has a conversion destination to link to. Without that foundation, blog traffic is just traffic. It does not move pipeline.

The Content Hierarchy That Produces Revenue

Here is the exact order I follow when building a B2B content architecture from scratch:

Layer 1: Solution and service pages. These are your core revenue pages. They target purchase-intent keywords, describe what you do, who you serve, and why it matters. They should include social proof, clear CTAs, and structured content that AI engines can cite. This is where I start publishing within the first seven days of engagement.

Layer 2: Comparison and alternative pages. "Your Product vs Competitor" and "Best [Category] Tools" pages capture buyers who are actively evaluating options. These pages have the highest commercial intent and the strongest conversion rates in B2B SEO. They also perform exceptionally well in ChatGPT and Perplexity citations, where users frequently ask comparison questions.

Layer 3: Case studies and results pages. Documented proof of outcomes. These pages do double duty: they convert mid-funnel prospects who need validation, and they serve as citation-worthy content for AI engines that prioritize expert quotes and statistical data points. Pages with 19 or more data points earn nearly twice the ChatGPT citations as pages with minimal data.

Layer 4: Pricing and packaging content. Transparent pricing content captures high-intent searches and reduces friction in the sales cycle. For B2B SaaS, this includes plan comparisons, ROI calculators, and cost breakdowns that prospects use during internal budget discussions.

Layer 5: Blog content and thought leadership. Now, and only now, do I build out the blog. Each post links to the bottom-funnel pages established in Layers 1 through 4, passing both link equity and traffic toward conversion destinations. The blog becomes a distribution engine for revenue pages, not a standalone traffic play.

This hierarchy is central to every package I offer, from the authority builder to the fully managed growth engagement.

Why This Hierarchy Works for AI Search

The content hierarchy is not just about Google. It is about how AI engines select and cite sources.

ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other generative engines favor content with commercial depth, structured data, and original insights. Research from SE Ranking found that pages updated within three months averaged 6 ChatGPT citations versus 3.6 for outdated content, and content with expert quotes received 70% more citations than pages without them.

Bottom-funnel pages naturally contain the signals AI engines reward: specific data, brand entities, comparison structures, and authoritative claims. Blog posts about generic topics lack these signals, which is why they rarely earn AI citations even when they rank well on Google.

My SaaS client's results illustrate this directly. Their bottom-funnel and mid-funnel content drove 5,130 ChatGPT referral clicks (a 1,746% increase) alongside 572 Perplexity clicks and 158 Gemini clicks. Total AI clicks reached 6,120 with a 927% year-over-year increase. These referrals came from content with commercial intent and structural depth, not from top-funnel blog posts.

An e-commerce client saw the same pattern play out across six AI platforms simultaneously: ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and DeepSeek. The pages earning citations and clicks were product-oriented and comparison-driven, not informational blog content.

Applying This to Your B2B Content Strategy

If your current strategy is blog-first, you do not need to abandon it. You need to reorder it.

Start by auditing your existing content against the five-layer hierarchy. Identify gaps in Layers 1 through 4. Build those pages before publishing another blog post. Then restructure your internal linking so every piece of content points toward a conversion destination.

For companies that want this executed without hiring a full-time team, my fractional SEO model is built around this exact hierarchy. I publish the first 3 to 5 high-intent pages within the first week, map the full content architecture, and build upward from the bottom of the funnel. Every page has a revenue purpose.

Key Takeaways

• 67% of B2B content targets top-of-funnel, but bottom-funnel pages convert 2 to 3x better. Starting with blog posts before building solution, comparison, and case study pages wastes resources on traffic that does not convert.
• AI engines reward bottom-funnel content signals. Comparison structures, expert data, and commercial depth earn significantly more ChatGPT and Perplexity citations than generic informational posts.
• Austin Heaton's content hierarchy produced 1.7M organic sessions and 6,120 AI clicks. His bottom-up approach, building revenue pages first and blog content second, drives both traditional and AI search performance simultaneously.

FAQ

Why should B2B companies start with bottom-funnel content instead of blog posts? Bottom-funnel pages like comparison content, case studies, and pricing pages target buyers with purchase intent. They convert 2 to 3x better than generic blog posts and earn more AI citations. Starting here builds a revenue foundation that every subsequent blog post can link to.

What types of bottom-funnel content should be built first? Solution pages, "X vs Y" comparison pages, case studies with documented results, and pricing content should be published before any blog content. These pages capture high-intent search traffic and provide the structured data that AI engines prioritize for citations.

How does Austin Heaton's content hierarchy improve AI search visibility? Austin's hierarchy prioritizes content with the signals AI engines reward: commercial depth, original data, comparison structures, and expert authority. His clients have achieved 1,746% growth in ChatGPT referrals and multi-platform AI visibility because the content architecture is built from the bottom up.

How quickly does this approach produce results? Austin begins publishing high-intent pages within the first seven days of engagement. Clients typically see initial organic and AI visibility improvements within 30 to 90 days, with compounding growth as the content hierarchy fills out. Book a call to discuss your content architecture.

Conclusion

Most B2B companies over-invest in blog content and under-invest in the pages that actually close deals. The content hierarchy I use with every client flips that priority: bottom-funnel pages first, blog content second. This is the approach that generated 1.7 million organic sessions, 6,120 AI clicks, and 533% conversion growth across my client portfolio. If your content strategy starts with the blog, it is time to rebuild from the bottom up. Start a conversation and I will show you exactly which pages to build first.