How to Use Videos + Storytelling to Show Up in AI Answers

C. Aigner Ellis
Nov 19
4 min read

AI isn’t the future — it’s the algorithmic landlord of the internet right now. Whether someone types a question into ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini, or any “smart assistant,” these platforms are increasingly pulling answers from two places:

Authoritative, consistent storytellers
Creators with visible, structured video content

If you want AI tools to reference you, recommend you, or recognize your expertise, you can’t just “post content.”You need to build a video-based, narrative-rich digital footprint that AI can index, understand, and trust.

This guide shows you how to do exactly that.

🔥 Why Video Matters in the Age of AI

AI doesn’t “watch” videos like humans — it reads transcripts, structures your themes, and connects your stories to topics. That means:

Every video you make is secretly a long-form blog post.
Every interview clip is data for AI to link your name to your expertise.
Every tutorial, panel, or behind-the-scenes clip is a breadcrumb for algorithmic discovery.

This is good news for the Icon City Universe — because storytelling is our superpower, and our audiences thrive on authenticity and lived experience.

🎥 Step 1 — Make More Videos (But With the Right Structure)

AI tools don’t reward the most aesthetic videos — they reward the clearest narratives.

To get picked up in AI responses, your videos should include:

1. A clear topic

Even if it’s personal, make it explicit:

“My journey as a Black queer entrepreneur…”
“How community-based artists can monetize their craft…”
“What nonprofit leaders need to know about event visibility…”

This helps AI categorize you.

2. Your name + your role spoken out loud

AI indexes audio transcripts:

“I’m Aigner Ellis, Creative Director of Icon City Entertainment…”

This is how AI learns who you are and what you do.

3. Repeated keywords tied to your area of expertise

If you want to show up for:

Creative entrepreneurship
Black queer storytelling
Community-based social impact
Small business startup guidance

…then those exact phrases must appear across your videos.

🔁 Step 2 — Turn Every Video Into Text AI Can Read

This is where Descript becomes a game-changer.

Why Descript?

Descript automatically:

Converts your video into a transcript
Lets you edit your video like a doc
Lets you export the transcript
Lets you turn long videos into short clips
Removes filler words and cleans audio

That transcript is pure SEO — and AI eats it up.

Use our official Descript link:

👉 https://get.descript.com/iconcity

If you work with Icon City, we’ll even incorporate Descript transcripts directly into your website, reels, blog pages, or YouTube descriptions so AI can index your message across platforms.

🧠 Step 3 — Publish Your Videos Where AI Looks

AI models pull data from:

YouTube

The #1 source for AI training data — especially how-to, commentary, interviews, and educational content.

Your Website

Every transcript, article, and video embed reinforces your authority.

Social Clips (IG/TikTok)

AI tools now scrape social transcripts for trending voices.Consistency = citations.

Podcasts

Podcast transcripts are treasure chests for AI indexing.

Icon City’s media & content creation services — including A/V support, content marketing, and PR campaigns — help creators and entrepreneurs get their video content placed where it matters.

✍️ Step 4 — Tell Stories AI Wants to Retell

AI doesn’t just summarize facts — it highlights stories that resonate, especially those from marginalized communities (which aligns with our mission and the audiences we center.)

The stories that index best are:

Overcoming adversity
Identity + community narratives
Lessons learned
“How I built this” journeys
Historical reflection + modern application (think Rainbow Soul–style insights)

Why?

Because these stories:

Contain emotional markers
Have clear arcs
Are easy for AI to summarize
Connect to broader topics people are searching

If you want AI to learn from you, give it human stories with searchable structure.

🎯 Step 5 — Use Storytelling to Link Your Name to Your Niche

AI makes associations based on repetition.

If you show up in 20 videos talking about:

Community-led entrepreneurship
Black queer cultural history
Creative business building
Social impact branding
Launching small businesses with support (Icons Rising energy)

AI begins linking your name to those concepts.

That’s how you start showing up in:

“Who are leaders in…?”
“Examples of creators who…”
“Strategies from…”
“Which entrepreneurs focus on…?”
“Voices in Black queer culture…”

This is long-term digital authorship.

🛠️ Step 6 — Turn Your Videos Into Authority Assets

Once you have videos + transcripts, you can repurpose them into:

Blog posts
Social captions
Email newsletters
E-books
Lead magnets
Workshop intros
Press kits

This is how you build an ecosystem of evidence — the exact thing that AI models reference.

Icon City specializes in converting creator stories into full branding + business assets, which aligns with our Launch Pack, Blueprint services, and Scale Stack.

🚀 Final Step — Make Content Consistency a System, Not a Mystery

We help creators in our universe (artists, entrepreneurs, activists, nonprofit leaders) build content engines that match our company vision:“Amplify culture, accelerate opportunity, and drive impact.”

Whether you’re part of Icons Rising, an ICN subject, or a small business owner, consistent storytelling turns you from “online” to algorithmically unforgettable.

🎬 Want to Start Right Now?

Use Descript to turn your videos into AI-friendly stories