If you’re launching an AI product, searching for “AI influencers” seems like an obvious place to start.
It can give you a list quickly. Whether those creators reach people who might actually use your product is a different question.
Someone who covers new AI tools may have an audience that loves discovering products but rarely sticks with them. A creator who teaches podcast production, accounting, or design might barely mention AI—and still be a much better fit for what you’re building.
Start with the work your product helps people do. Then look for creators who already talk about that work.
Here’s how to turn that into a practical shortlist.
This walkthrough uses ClipFlow, a fictional AI video-editing product. The creator profiles are illustrative, not accounts from a real campaign.
Write a brief you can actually search against
ClipFlow turns long videos into short clips, suggests moments worth using, and adds captions.
A brief like this won’t get you very far:
Find US-based AI creators to promote our video tool.
That could bring back creators who cover coding assistants, image generators, or general tech news. Try something more specific:
We want to reach English-speaking podcasters and small content teams that publish long videos but don’t have a dedicated editor. We’re looking for creators who can use one of their own episodes to demonstrate the product. Our first campaign should help us learn which audiences go on to try the editing workflow.
- Who is the user?
- Independent podcasters and small content teams.
- What are they trying to do?
- Turn full episodes into clips for social channels.
- What makes that difficult?
- Finding moments, editing, and captioning take time.
- What could a creator demonstrate?
- Turning their own episode into clips they would actually publish.
Keep your first test narrow. Podcasters, gaming creators, course instructors, and enterprise teams might use the same features, but they need different reasons to care.
Search in three directions
1. Search for the task, not just the category
Try searches that describe the work your customer already does:
- podcast clips workflow
- repurpose podcast into shorts
- video editing for podcasters
- solo podcast setup
- content repurposing for small teams
Use search engines and the platforms where your customers spend time. Start with useful videos and posts, then look at the people behind them. A creator who shows how they record, edit, and distribute a podcast is worth investigating even if “AI” never appears in their bio.
Watch what they teach and read the questions underneath. Comments can give you clues about audience needs. They aren’t a complete audience profile; keep what you don’t know separate from what you’ve actually observed.
2. Find more creators like a good candidate
When you find someone promising, write down why they fit:
- They publish their own podcast.
- They show their production process.
- Viewers ask about editing and distribution.
- Their sponsored content includes actual product use.
Those criteria are more useful than “another tech creator with a similar follower count.” Use a lookalike search tool, or explore related channels, collaborations, and podcast guests manually. Check each candidate against the reasons you liked the original.
A lookalike search is only as useful as your definition of “alike.”
3. Look at creators discussing related products
Search for reviews, tutorials, and alternatives to products your audience might already use. For example: “[product name] tutorial” or “[product name] podcast workflow.”
Don’t stop at who mentions the brand. Look at how it appears. Is there a useful tutorial? A passing mention in a list of 20 tools? Has the creator used it more than once? Do viewers ask questions about it?
A brand mention doesn’t necessarily mean a paid partnership. And someone who worked with a competitor isn’t automatically a fit for you. Treat these as leads to investigate.
Compare candidates using the same questions
Suppose your search turns up these three types of creators:
An AI tools roundup creator
They cover new software regularly. Check whether their audience makes long videos and whether the format leaves enough room for a useful demonstration.
A podcast production educator
They teach recording, editing, and distribution. Start a conversation, then check whether your product can handle the workflow they would show.
A professional filmmaker
Their work looks excellent. Check whether their audience needs automated clips or more advanced editing, and how relevant that audience is to small content teams.
None is a “bad creator.” Each comes with a different assumption you need to test.
Use the same short checklist for everyone:
- Relevant work
- Does their recent content involve the task your product helps with?
- Audience need
- What do questions, discussions, or creator-provided audience data tell you?
- Ability to demonstrate
- Can they show your product doing useful work?
- Credibility
- Do they explain specifics and show independent judgment?
- Practical fit
- Do rates, timing, format, and product access work for both sides?
You don’t need a precise score for everything. You need evidence. “Unknown” is a useful answer when it tells you what to ask before committing.
Make the first message about a specific collaboration
A creator should be able to picture what you’re proposing. For ClipFlow, the first email could look like this:
Hi Alex,
I watched your video on turning a weekly podcast into short clips.
We’re building ClipFlow for podcasters who handle their own editing. I’d love to explore a paid walkthrough using one of your episodes, from the full recording to a few clips you’d actually publish.
Would that fit your content? If so, could you share your rates and the format you’d recommend?
Thanks,
[Name]
This gives them a concrete starting point while leaving room for their judgment. Before you send it, prepare product access, any materials they’ll need, known limitations, and a way to get help. A promising collaboration can stall if onboarding is a struggle.
Decide what the first campaign should teach you
For ClipFlow, one hypothesis might be: a practical walkthrough by an independent podcaster will bring in people more likely to try editing than a general introduction to a new AI tool.
Track what you can actually observe: visits, signups, a meaningful action such as uploading a recording or exporting a clip, and later usage or payment. Choose the events before the campaign starts.
Tracked links won’t capture everything. Someone may watch a video, search for you later, or switch devices. Keep that uncertainty in your analysis.
If people arrive but don’t use the product, look beyond the creator. Was the demonstration clear? Did the landing page match the promise? Was there a difficult setup step? A small campaign gives you clues; it doesn’t settle whether an entire channel works.
Keep the reasons, not just the names
Your next search should benefit from the first. Record observations you can act on:
We’re prioritizing creators who demonstrate the product with their own recordings.
The general AI roundups brought interest. Next, we want to test an audience that publishes a podcast every week.
In CreoLink, you can start with a brief, creators you like, or relevant brands, then use your selections and feedback to inform later searches. If you manage the process in a spreadsheet, keep two columns: why this creator fits and what we want to learn.
Before you add someone to your shortlist, finish this sentence:
We want to work with this creator because their audience needs ___, and they can demonstrate our product by ___.
If your answer is still “they post about AI,” keep looking.