We Ran a Market Simulation On Our Own Product – Here’s What 19 AI Agents Predicted About visibility.so

Most startups wait until launch to learn if their market is ready.

We’re doing it differently.

Before we build the next major version of visibility.so, we ran a full market simulation on our own product. Nineteen AI agents — each role-playing a different market persona — debated visibility.so across 50 rounds on simulated Twitter and Reddit. We wanted to know:

• Are SEO agencies actually ready to hand over work to AI agents?
• What’s the real objection hiding beneath “I’ll think about it”?
• Does our all-in-one pricing actually compete with Semrush and Ahrefs?
• Which customer segment should we go after first?

Here’s what the simulation told us — and how it’s shaping what we build next.

What this post is: A transparent look at how we’re using AI to validate our product roadmap — before we write the code.

What this post isn’t: A claim that we’ve solved everything. We haven’t. But we now know exactly what to solve — and that’s the most valuable thing a simulation can give you.

The Setup: 19 Agents, 50 Rounds, 2 Platforms

We used MiroFish — an open-source AI market simulation engine — to run the experiment. If you’ve read my MiroFish setup guide or how-to guide, you know how this works: spawn AI agents with distinct personas, motivations, and biases, drop them into a simulated social environment, and watch them debate your product.

Our agent lineup for this simulation:

Each agent was given a detailed persona — background, goals, budget, pain points — and let loose on a simulated social feed for 50 rounds across Twitter and Reddit. The result: 136 actions (posts, replies, debates, and reactions).

3 Things the Simulation Confirmed

1. Agencies Are Ready to Consolidate — And Our All-In-One Pricing Is Perfectly Timed

The simulation repeatedly surfaced a pattern: agencies are tired of managing multiple SEO subscriptions.

“Agencies are consolidating tool stacks to reduce costs, including potentially for visibility.so.”

This matched what we’ve heard from beta users. But seeing it independently emerge from 19 AI agents — who knew nothing about each other — was strong validation.

The pricing dynamic the simulation picked up on:

“visibility.so is a flat fee, while Semrush costs $200+/mo and requires extra payment for DataForSEO credits and user’s own LLM API keys.”

2. “AI Agents Doing SEO Work” Is the Real Differentiator

Every competitor tool in the simulation — Semrush, Ahrefs, Moz, Screaming Frog — was characterized as “analytics-only.” None of them executes SEO work.

The agents consistently noted that visibility.so’s model — where AI agents actually run audits, track rankings, monitor AI visibility, and surface content opportunities — is a fundamentally different category than traditional SEO tools.

“visibility.so is a competitor to Screaming Frog, Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz.”

But here’s the nuance the simulation revealed: we’re not competing on features. Semrush has more reports. Ahrefs has a bigger backlink index. We compete on outcome – getting SEO work done without hiring more people. The simulation confirmed that agencies feel this pain acutely.

3. Small Agencies and Indie Founders Will Adopt First

The simulation was clear on adoption order:

First wave: SEO agencies with 5-50 clients who feel the margin squeeze
Second wave: SaaS founders doing their own SEO, wanting automation
Third wave: Enterprise teams (after more validation and case studies)

“Agencies often juggle multiple clients and need tools that are not only effective but also straightforward to set up and use without much overhead.”

This matches our beta data perfectly.

2 Objections We Need to Address

The simulation wasn’t all validation. It surfaced real concerns that we’re taking seriously as we build the next version.

Objection 1: “Will this integrate with my existing workflow?”

“If visibility.so requires extensive training or doesn’t integrate well with my current strategies, it could end up wasting both time and resources.”

This is the #1 concern that came up across multiple personas. Switching SEO tools is painful. Nobody wants to spend a week configuring a new platform only to find it doesn’t play well with their stack.

Objection 2: “Is this actually useful, or is it AI hype?”

“I’ve been burned by expensive tools that my team never used, skeptical of AI-powered claims after trying several duds.”

This one hit close to home. There’s a lot of “AI-washing” in the SEO tools space right now, and the simulation agents — especially the indie founders — were rightfully skeptical.

What We’re Building Next

Here’s the honest part. We haven’t solved these objections yet. But the simulation gave us a clear, prioritised list of what to work on.

1. Smoother Onboarding (Addressing the Integration Concern)

The simulation confirmed that our onboarding needs to be faster and more guided. We’re building a setup wizard that takes you from signup to your first agent-run audit in under 10 minutes – including connecting GSC, GA, and choosing your first project.

2. Better Communication About How Agents Work

“Advocating for transparent communication from the developers regarding methodologies and data sources would ensure our decisions are well-informed.”

Trust is earned through transparency. We’re working on an “agent explainer” feature that shows exactly what data each agent pulled, which decisions it made, and why — so you’re never wondering if an AI agent is making things up.

3. Pre-Built Templates for Common SEO Tasks

“As a solo founder with a limited budget, I’m focused on finding tools that offer free trials or affordable pricing without overwhelming complexity during setup.”

Small teams shouldn’t need an SEO degree to get started. We’re building pre-configured agent templates for common workflows: weekly site audits, competitor monitoring, content gap analysis, and GEO tracking. One click, and they’re running.

4. Community and Social Proof

“Engaging with current users about their experiences could provide valuable insights into its advantages and pitfalls.”

We’re expanding our Discord community with dedicated channels for sharing agent configurations, audit templates, and real results from beta users. Nothing builds trust like hearing from someone who’s already using the product.

What’s Coming in 1-2 Weeks

We’re shipping the next major version of visibility.so in 1-2 weeks, and these simulation insights are directly shaping what goes into it.

Here’s a sneak peek:

• Simplified onboarding with guided setup
• Agent transparency logs — see what your agents are doing, in plain English
• One-click audit templates for common SEO tasks
• Expanded integrations

If you want to see how this plays out, start a 7-day free trial now, and you’ll get the new features the moment they ship. Early users are grandfathered at their join rate.

Why We Ran This Simulation

We ran this because we believe in building what the market actually needs – not what we think the market needs.

MiroFish cost us pennies. The insights it generated – about pricing perception, adoption order, and hidden objections – saved us weeks of guesswork. More importantly, it gave us confidence to double down on our roadmap and the clarity to fix what actually matters.

If you’re building a product, I’d encourage you to try the same. My MiroFish guides walk through the entire process.

As for visibility.so – the simulation confirmed our direction. And in 1-2 weeks, you’ll see the result.

Frequently Asked Questions

Found this useful? Share it with a founder who’s debating their next feature. And if you run your own simulation, tag me on X (@sanjayshankarr) — I’d love to hear what you learned.

Up next in 1-2 weeks: “We shipped the features our simulation told us to build — here’s what changed.”