THE THREE PHASES
● Pre-launch (2 weeks before): Entity setup, assets, directory submissions queued, Product Hunt scheduled
● Launch day: Product Hunt live, social posts, community outreach, founder comment, reply to every comment
● Post-launch (week 1-4): Directory submissions go live, first SEO article published, LLM citation outreach begins
Pre-Launch Checklist (2 Weeks Before)
☐ Write your entity sentence. "[Tool name] is a [category] tool that [specific outcome] for [specific buyer]." Use this verbatim everywhere.
☐ Add SoftwareApplication schema to your landing page with name, description, applicationCategory, offers, and aggregateRating.
☐ Prepare listing assets: Logo (512×512 PNG transparent), 4+ screenshots showing output (not interface), 60-second demo video with captions, short description (50-100 words), long description (150-300 words with honest limitation paragraph), pricing breakdown with specific tier limits.
☐ Submit to TAAFT, Toolify, Dang AI, SaaSHub simultaneously. These take 1-4 weeks to approve — submit now so they go live around launch.
☐ Submit to AIToolsRecap for directory listing and comparison article consideration. Start here →
☐ Schedule Product Hunt launch for Tuesday or Wednesday at 00:01 AM PST. Draft your gallery images, tagline, and founder first comment in advance.
☐ Identify 5-10 listicle pages already ranking for your target queries. Email the authors with a two-line pitch before launch so your outreach is in their inbox during your launch week.
☐ Write one SEO article targeting "[your tool] vs [main competitor]" — publish it the week after launch when Google is already crawling your domain from the Product Hunt backlink.
Launch Day Checklist
☐ Confirm Product Hunt page is live at 00:01 AM PST
☐ Post founder first comment within 5 minutes of launch (origin story + one genuine question)
☐ Post on X with link and origin story — no "please upvote" ask (Product Hunt penalises this)
☐ Email your user list or waitlist with the Product Hunt link
☐ Post in 2-3 Slack/Discord communities where you are a genuine member
☐ Reply to every comment on your Product Hunt page within 30 minutes
☐ Monitor and respond to X mentions throughout the day
☐ Check Google Search Console — confirm your domain is being crawled
Post-Launch Checklist (Week 1-4)
☐ Day 2: Publish "What we learned from our launch" post on X and IndieHackers — generates organic mentions that feed LLM citation pools
☐ Week 1: Publish your comparison article "[your tool] vs [main competitor]" — Google is already crawling your domain
☐ Week 2: Follow up on listicle outreach emails sent pre-launch — this is when most authors respond
☐ Week 2: Confirm directory submissions are approved — Toolify free queue takes 2-4 weeks
☐ Week 3-4: Check GSC for first impressions on comparison article — adjust title/MetaDesc if CTR is below 2%
☐ Month 1: Ask ChatGPT, Copilot, and Perplexity "best [category] tools" — note whether your tool appears. This is your LLM citation baseline.
☐ Once 5K+ monthly visitors: Apply to Futurepedia (paid, DR 62, curated). The quality bar means low-traffic tools are rejected — wait until you have traction.
Related: Complete discovery guide → · Product Hunt launch playbook → · 12 directories compared → · Submit to AIToolsRecap →