“More and more AI products are using hybrid monetization models where you've got a subscription but then you also have to purchase additional AI credits. That leads to an opportunity around incentivizing referral programs where now if I invite a friend or colleague I get additional AI credits.”

PLG loops and AEO are the cheapest acquisition as paid channels get more crowded and expensive

As Meta and Google CPMs rise, product-led growth loops become the highest-leverage acquisition channel. Carter identifies four loop types: personal viral (invite friends), social viral (shareables like Tolen's personality infographic), financial viral (AI credits for referrals), and content-driven (SEO and AEO from crawlable output). AI apps have a structural advantage — their outputs are inherently shareable. He also highlights Reddit as an early AEO tactic: products with a Reddit community show up more often in LLM prompt responses.