Tally’s story offers a useful example of a business being discovered through AI tools. It also raises a practical question: where can someone find a credible explanation of what your business does?
What Tally reported
In a June 10, 2025 update, co-founder Marie Martens said ChatGPT had become Tally’s number one referral source. Tally reported more than 2,000 new users signing up through AI tools in the preceding months, with additional discovery reported through its onboarding survey.
Martens also described years of answering questions and participating in public conversations. Her explanation of why AI referrals increased was a theory, rather than a demonstrated cause.
These were company-reported signups for a form-building product. The post doesn’t establish how many became paying customers or give an exact date range for the AI signup total. This is an independent example, not STIR client work.
STIR’s perspective
We see this as a reason to examine your business’s public footprint. Your website matters, but so do the places where people discuss your work, explain your service, or compare their options.
For a service business, our recommendation is to begin with a specific customer question. Can someone find an accurate answer on your website? Does the answer explain who you help and when your service is a good fit? Is there credible supporting information elsewhere?
A useful place to start
Choose one question a prospect asks before contacting you. Publish a clear answer with enough detail to support a decision. When a relevant community welcomes that discussion, contribute what you know and disclose your connection to the business.
Treat the content as help for a person making a choice. Then measure whether it earns attention, referrals, or inquiries. Tally’s results are a reason to investigate this path, not a forecast for your business.
Talk with STIR
Wondering where customers could be discovering your business? Contact STIR to set up an appointment and discuss your visibility questions.
Sources
Marie Martens, Tally, From 2 to $3M ARR: How We Bootstrapped Tally With a Tiny Team, June 10, 2025.