In its first two months of launching, ChatGPT reached 100 million active users, making it the fastest-growing app in history. During that initial launch period, an average of 13 million people used ChatGPT daily. Nowadays, it’s likely that number will be a lot higher.
Just think about the promotional potential there for your podcast. Imagine you were able to get ChatGPT to mention your show when someone uses the tool to search for new podcasts?
Unlike Google, ChatGPT isn’t a money game (yet). You don’t need the meatiest Google ads budget or an entire SEO team to keep your podcast appearing in searches.
But how does chatGPT choose which podcasts to recommend to its users? And how do you get it to recommend yours?
There’s only one way to find out.
How Does ChatGPT Recommend Podcasts?
There’s no documentation that tells us the criteria ChatGPT uses when choosing which podcasts to recommend. But the great thing about AI is that when you ask questions, it talks back.
As a test, I asked ChatGPT if it could recommend some nutrition podcasts:
The first thing to note is the bot addressing that its results only go up until September 2021. This has been a major limitation of ChatGPT since it launched earlier this year. The app can only produce results based on the information it was trained with.
However, OpenAI (the company that built ChatGPT) announced that ChatGPT can now browse the internet to give users more up-to-date results. At the moment, results are restricted to premium ChatGPT users (who pay $20/month), but the company say they’ll be rolling the update out to all users “soon”.
The second thing I noticed about the bot’s reply was the claim that it based its results on “popular and reputable nutrition-related podcasts”. But what factors does an AI bot use to determine if a podcast is “popular and reputable”? I came right out and asked it.
And here’s what it told me:
1. Reputation and Credibility
ChatGPT said:
I prioritized podcasts hosted by professionals, such as registered dietitians, doctors, or individuals with relevant qualifications and expertise in the field of nutrition. This helps ensure that the information presented is evidence-based and reliable.
How to address this with your podcast:
ChatGPT listed credibility as a top priority because I used nutrition podcasts in my test. You wouldn’t get this result if you asked it to recommend comedy podcasts, for example. But if you’re running a podcast in any specialised subject, it’s a good idea to make it clear to your readers that you’re qualified to educate on the topic.
Including details on your background and any relevant credentials in your podcast description will give your podcast that instant credibility that ChatGPT will look for as much as your listeners will.
2. Content Quality
ChatGPT said:
I selected podcasts known for producing high-quality content, including accurate information and engaging delivery. Positive listener reviews and ratings are often indicative of content quality.
How to address this with your podcast:
The most obvious (but unhelpful) suggestion I could make here would be: “produce good podcast content!”. So don’t worry, I’m not going to do that. Instead, I probed ChatGPT further by asking which platforms it used to find those positive listener reviews and ratings.
The platforms it returned to me were Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher (now defunct, but remember that these results are pre-September 2021 and Stitcher closed in 2023), Podchaser and Google Podcasts (also now defunct).
So, what this really tells us about gathering reviews and ratings is that you should never limit your podcast to one or two of these platforms. When a listening platform dies (like we’ve seen just this year with Google Podcasts and Stitcher), your listener reviews die along with it. Making your podcast available and able to gather reviews and ratings on as many platforms as possible is key here.
There are also many ways you can encourage listener reviews in your podcast Call-to-Actions too.
3. Diversity of Topics
ChatGPT said:
The list includes podcasts that cover a diverse range of nutrition-related topics, including general nutrition, specialized diets, weight management, and health optimization. This ensures there is something for various interests and needs.
How to address this with your podcast:
Here, we see a bit of a conflict between ChatGPT’s idea of best podcasting practices and our own advice.
“Something for various interests and needs” is an alarm bell for any podcast listener. In podcasting, there’s no need to sit through content that isn’t tailored specifically to you.
That said, there are still ways to diversify your content within your overall podcast topic. For example, you may run a themed season on a particular subtopic. If you were a nutrition podcast for people who follow a keto or low-carb protocol, that might be a series of episodes dedicated to low-GI desserts and sweets.
There are also ways to diversify podcast formats, and you can mix up episodes to try out reviews, lists, comparisons, and other shareable structures.
But keep in mind your target audience and podcast USP, here. Your keto show doesn’t need an episode on baking sourdough so that you have “something for everyone”. Bread enthusiasts will have their own podcasts to listen to.
4. Balance and Science-Based Information
ChatGPT said:
I focused on podcasts that emphasize balanced, science-based nutrition information and steer clear of extreme or unsupported claims.
How to address this with your podcast:
Again, ChatGPT has prioritized science-based information because I specifically asked it about nutrition podcasts. However, I think it’s really interesting that the bot openly said it looked for podcasts that “steer clear of extreme or unsupported claims.”
With this in mind, ChatGPT could prevent podcasts from gaining traction for their controversial or extremist content. It could also help prevent the spread of misinformation (which, unfortunately, podcasts have had a reputation for in the past due to being unregulated).
Substantiating your claims and using reputable sources in your podcast will also reduce the likelihood of your show getting picked up by misinformation-detecting technology. Advertisers are investing in these tools right now to ensure they’re only working with credible and brand-safe podcasts.
Citing credible sources in your podcast description and mentioning sources on-air so they appear in your transcriptions will also tell ChatGPT that your content is informed, well researched, and balanced.
5. Practicality
ChatGPT said:
I considered podcasts that offer practical advice and actionable tips for listeners. This helps individuals apply the information to their daily lives.
How to address this with your podcast:
Again, “practicality” is listed as a priortity for recommending podcasts here due to the genre of show I used in the test. But there is something interesting we can take from this that can apply to other genres too, and that’s having a clear podcast structure.
If your podcast is educational in any way, structuring your content into chapters, including tips and takeaways, will highlight through the transcript that your content is valuable and actionable to listeners.
Better still, group your episodes into seasons to create a linear, step-by-step learning approach for your listeners.
6. Guests and Expertise
ChatGPT said:
Many of the selected podcasts feature interviews with experts in the field of nutrition and related areas, providing valuable insights and diverse perspectives.
How to address this with your podcast:
Regardless of what topic you’re covering, it’s important to make sure any guests you interview on your podcast are qualified to speak on that topic. Include their credentials and background in the episode description or when you’re introducing them on your show so their credentials appear in the transcript.
Not only will this keep your podcast credible amongst listeners and within your niche community, but it also increases the chances of AI tools like ChatGPT recommending it to others.
7. Accessibility
ChatGPT said:
The podcasts I recommended are easily accessible to a wide audience, often available on multiple platforms and with a large backlog of episodes for listeners to explore.
How to address this with your podcast:
Making your podcast accessible to as broad an audience as possible isn’t just good for getting recommended by ChatGPT – it’s good general podcasting practice overall. As the bot says, making your content available across multiple platforms and making your back catalogue easy to access is the right starting point.
This guide also has lots of tips on how to make your podcast more accessible to a diverse audience, including factors like transcription. You might also want to start thinking about ways you can make your content available in other languages, too.
But What About Your Podcast Niche?
Sure, a lot of the factors ChatGPT used to come up with a list of recommended nutrition podcasts are specific to science and educational podcast content. But a lot of it’s transferrable.
If you want a list of focus points specific to your podcast niche, go ahead and repeat the process, replacing ‘nutrition podcasts’ with whichever genre is relevant to your podcast.
And if you uncover anything interesting, let us know in the IndiePod community!
Originally posted on November 1, 2023 @ 3:24 am