Isn't writing my own 'best of' list a bit self-serving?

Only if it's dishonest. A genuinely useful guide — one that even points people elsewhere when that's the right answer — makes you the trusted source, which is worth far more than a plug. When you publish it on your website it lands as a draft you approve first, so you stay in control of every word.

Why does this help AI recommend me?

AI assistants quote definitive, trustworthy pages. If you wrote the clearest guide to your corner of the world, you become the thing they quote — the source, not a name on someone else's list.

How do I write the guides that make me the go-to expert?

There are two ways to end up on a "best of" list. You can spend months hoping someone else adds you — or you can write the definitive one yourself. The second is faster, more honest, and far more powerful for getting known: you become the source, not a mention.

Be the source, not a mention

AI assistants and search engines reward the page that answers a question best. If you're a potter, "the honest guide to choosing your first wheel" or "the best clays for beginners, and why" is a page only someone who really does this can write well — and it's exactly the kind of thing that gets quoted. You're not asking to be recommended; you're being the reference that gets recommended.

What makes a guide get cited

Three things. Honest — recommend what's actually good, even a competitor, because trust is the whole asset. Specific — real detail from real experience, not what anyone could paste from the internet. Complete — genuinely answer the question so nobody needs to look further. That's the opposite of thin, salesy filler, and it's why this ties straight back to How do I build the authority that makes AI trust me?.

Publish it home

The guide lives on your own website, where it counts as your authority and where AI can read it. Ask your AI to draft it from your outline, rewrite it in your voice, and publish — it arrives as a draft you approve. For the ideas themselves, see What should I actually write about?; for the plan around it, Your first six weeks: a starter plan.

The prompt

“You're my editor. I'm a [what you do] in [town]. Suggest three definitive guides only someone with my hands-on experience could write well — the honest 'guide to X' or 'the best Y for Z' that people and AI would quote as the source. Pick the strongest, then draft an outline I fill with real expertise. No fluff, no sales, no fake authority.”

The [bracketed] parts are yours to fill in. First time? Connect bernard to your AI over MCP — a one-time setup in bernard → your site → Use your own AI — then paste the prompt above.

Questions people ask

Isn't writing my own 'best of' list a bit self-serving?: Only if it's dishonest. A genuinely useful guide — one that even points people elsewhere when that's the right answer — makes you the trusted source, which is worth far more than a plug. When you publish it on your website it lands as a draft you approve first, so you stay in control of every word.
Why does this help AI recommend me?: AI assistants quote definitive, trustworthy pages. If you wrote the clearest guide to your corner of the world, you become the thing they quote — the source, not a name on someone else's list.