Surf’s up, dude! Ready to ride the wave of AI to lead generating success? Here’s how I use AI to help me paddle out and catch the big one.
I used to love surfing. It was great getting out on the open sea and just letting the waves bounce me in and out. It wasn’t until I realized the dangers that lurk below that I decided to end my surfing days. But that doesn’t mean that I don't like to ride a good wave anymore; however, these days are more on the business tech side than the beach.
The latest technology wave is certainly AI. There is no larger current rolling in right now than artificial intelligence. It’s a game-changer across the board for every industry and aspect including sales lead generation. AI has become a formidable trend that’s hard to ignore. Even though it’s ubiquitous, a lot of people don’t know how to get in, where to go, or what to do to get the most from it.
If that sounds like you, don’t worry, I’m here to help you with that. I’ve been using AI for the past couple of years and have a pretty good handle on what’s working and not. And, it doesn’t hurt that I also work for an AI sales company that specializes in business intelligence for lead generation all with the use of AI.
Let’s unpack some of the details, myths, and use cases to see where you can get the most value from AI lead generation.
What Is AI-Powered Lead Generation?
Before we dive into the deep end, let’s define what we’re working with. AI lead generation uses artificial intelligence to automate, enhance, and optimize how you find and qualify potential customers. Whether you're a startup founder, SDR, or solo marketer, AI helps you:
- Build targeted prospect lists
- Personalize outreach at scale
- Predict which leads are ready to convert
Think of it as having a supercharged surfboard—it won’t ride the wave for you, but it’ll help you go faster, longer, and smoother.
Traditionally, B2B lead generation involves identifying and attracting potential customers—commonly referred to as leads—that have shown interest in a company's product or service.
The goal is to cultivate these leads, nurturing them through the buyer's journey until they convert into paying customers. AI can’t replace the value of establishing real relationships, but it can help craft compelling messaging, identify ideal customers, and even optimize campaigns. In SaaS, it often begins with inbound tactics (SEO, content marketing, and social media) and outbound strategies (cold calling, email campaigns, or paid ads). With AI, these tactics become faster, smarter, and more efficient. AI tools can analyze data, segment audiences, optimize campaigns, and even write the content that pulls prospects in—making your lead gen strategy more effective and scalable.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these tactics to see where AI can help generate leads.
Traditional vs AI Lead Generation
Top AI Lead Generation Tools
The first step in getting on board to ride the big AI-driven wave is looking at AI tools that can generate actual leads. There are several key players in this space, including Seamless.AI. I’m happy to share my thoughts to give you some idea of where to start.
To generate leads with AI, a company or tool will need a database of information on companies and their employees. The key to understanding the value of this market isn’t just the tool itself, but the B2B data that supports it. The information directory that is needed to generate leads will be vital for the AI to help determine which leads are right for you.
Here are the two most popular AI lead generation tools:
- Seamless.AI - Huge potential for lead generation with AI automated list-building, AI-generated scripts for cold outreach, and of course, AI-generated confidence scores on contact data so you can easily validate info and prospect with confidence. Seamless.AI is the home of the World’s Best Sales Leads, with 1 billion contacts and 120 million companies researched, and counting. With tools like Data Enrichment, Buyer Intent, and more, it’s hard to see why sales reps would use any other platform. I personally use Seamless.AI for all of my contact data and list building. They are great at finding the right contact I need.
- Apollo.Io - Good investment with solid database and support. They don’t have nearly as broad of contact coverage as Seamless.AI, but they do cover 210 million contacts and 35 million companies (mainly in the US). Their tools include similar features like data enrichment and buyer intent. They also have AI-powered scoring as well as AI prompting for database searches. You can see how Apollo compares with Seamless.AI as well as alternatives, but don’t just take my word for it. They offer a free plan to check it out.
Outside of traditional sales platforms that use databases to search companies for contacts, there are many sales reps that use other AI tools for generating leads.
Inbound AI Lead Generation Tools
Inbound leads are often considered warmer and more valuable than cold leads. They're typically easier and faster to close. These prospects usually engage after seeing a marketing message through social media, email, content, or other channels.
AI tools for SEO and content creation can boost organic traffic and improve lead conversions. Platforms like ChatGPT help enhance content reach, while AI-powered social tools can amplify campaigns and get your message in front of the right people.
In my personal experience, the following AI tools are good for generating leads.
Top AI SEO Tools for Lead Generation
- Jasper.AI - Supercharge SEO with the power of AI. Boost traffic and conversions with AI-powered content creation, optimization, and SEO-friendly integrations. This powerful tool makes it easy to optimize your website to drive more traffic and increase leads.
- Surfer SEO - “The Best-performing Content is Made with Surfer. This SEO tool offers a content optimization workflow that boosts organic traffic, improves search rank, and helps grow your business. Optimizing content to attract an ideal target audience is key to driving more leads.
- Alli.AI - Optimize, Automate, Deploy and Scale SEO. Attention Agencies and SEO teams: No Coding Required. Works with any CMS. Manage all your SEO from one dashboard. Install, automate, and scale with AI. Creating content is key to driving higher rankings that earn high-quality traffic.
- SEO.AI - The Easiest Way for Online Stores to Generate Ranking SEO Copy. Use AI to create everything from collection pages and product descriptions to blog posts. Powered by a next-gen SEO engine to ensure top rankings.
📕Related: 3 Lessons I’ve Learned About Search Marketing and AI in 2024
Top AI Social Media Tools for Lead Generation
- Luppa.AI - Your All-in-One AI Marketing Platform. Accelerate your brand's growth with effortless content creation and automation—from text, images, and video to analytics, scheduling, and research. This AI tool makes it easy to create great campaigns that generate more leads.
- TikTok - This is a social media platform for creating, sharing and discovering short videos. Gen Z is one of the biggest users of TikTok, which helped make it the powerhouse platform it is today. If you are looking to reach a younger audience then this a great platform to invest in to generate leads. Their AI algorithms are designed to optimize viewing and reach.
- MarketMuse - AI-powered software tells you what content to write (and how much) to leverage your experience and rank higher where competitors are weak.
- Pictory.AI - The easiest way to create professional videos for EVERYONE! Create engaging videos in minutes using Pictory.AI. This is one of my favorite tools because I can take an existing article, word doc, or video, and generate a completely new AI-optimized video and customize it for my audience.
Tips to Generate Leads Using AI
Having the right tools is essential for catching the AI wave. You certainly don’t want to go out on the ocean with a skateboard or ice skates because they won’t get you where you want to go. The same is true for AI tools. Having the right tools is key, but knowing what to do with them is where you’ll be able to stand-up and ride that wave even further. Here are my tips for using AI to generate leads.
AI Lead Gen Tip 1
Use AI to create contact lists - Getting a list of potential clients is a great way to start generating leads. You can use a tool like Autopilot from Seamless.AI to make a list of 100s of prospects instantly with AI.
Then, use AI to create a compelling cold email outreach campaign to warm the leads up. Using AI to help with some of the personalization can go a long way to making sure the emails are opened and seen. Doing list building with AI is as easy as one click.
You can also give it parameters to isolate the best contacts for your list. I’ve used this method and got great results.
AI Lead Gen Tip 2
Use AI to create buyer personas - It used to take weeks to put together accurate and helpful buyer personas. Now, with the use of AI, you can build one in minutes with just a simple prompt.
I like to get as many details as I can to make the conversation unique. You can easily create multiple personas and have conversations individually to get a good understanding of the pain points and angles that might be good to write about.
Here’s an example of a persona prompt that you can use to create audience bots. Remember, you can always fine-tune and adjust your persona as needed. From there, either tell the bot to assume this role or feed it into another bot to start a conversation.
Detailed Persona Prompt: You are a persona-generating master. You construct detailed information about an ideal person and role within [Add-Your-Industry-Here] industry that would need a [Your-Product] product. When prompted, create a persona for a [Ideal-Role] that would be ideal for the industry provided. Include their role or title, as well as why the product is right for them. Create a new persona based on this information.
Basic Persona Prompt: Design a buyer persona for a young professional with a passion for sustainable and eco-friendly products.
AI Lead Gen Tip 3
Use AI to create social posts - Generating leads with social media is a tried and tested method for bringing in high-quality prospects. AI is great at crafting helpful messaging and posts that will enhance and demonstrate your product’s value.
I like to feed the AI a lot of existing content that I wrote or find valuable to give it context that I can use for generating social posts.
One thing that I do is make LinkedIn posts and a weekly schedule using AI. I give it all the necessary information about optimizing for that network, then feed it a time frame that I want to engage with potential customers. I then let the AI create the post and time intervals that are optimal for posting.
This takes a lot of the guesswork out and tedium out of the process. Putting this information into a social media tool that can automate the posting makes this a simple and turnkey method for generating leads with AI.
What AI Can’t Do to Generate Leads
AI is a powerful tool, but it has its limits, especially when it comes to the human side of sales. Like any good ride, there are rough waves to watch out for. Here are a few key things AI can't do:
- Build real relationships
AI can support outreach, but it can’t replace genuine human connection. Closing deals still requires trust and rapport. - Guarantee legal ownership of content
There’s currently no legal protection for AI-generated images, and AI-written content comes with restrictions around ownership and usage. - Avoid AI hallucinations or errors
AI tools can produce inaccurate or misleading information, which makes them risky for sensitive use cases or data-dependent decisions. - Earn full trust from companies
Many businesses hesitate to share proprietary data with AI platforms, especially in industries where accuracy, security, or compliance are critical. - Replace human oversight
AI shouldn’t be used to contact prospects arbitarily or run campaigns without review. It’s most effective when paired with strategy and human judgment.
Use AI wisely, and it can be a game-changer. Just remember, it’s a tool, not a replacement for your own incredibly valuable expertise and authenticity.
Final Take: Surf the AI Wave Without Wiping Out
AI is transforming how we approach lead generation, from automating list building to optimizing outreach and content. While the tools have evolved, the fundamentals of sales haven't. People still buy from people, and strong relationships are still what close deals.
What AI can do is give you more time to focus on those relationships. With the right strategy, you can spend less time hunting for leads and more time converting them. Whether you're creating buyer personas, crafting targeted outreach, or boosting your content strategy, AI gives you the leverage to work smarter and scale faster.
Think of your AI stack as your surfboard. The wave is already there. It's up to you to catch it.
Ready to Catch the Next Wave?
If you're looking to build smarter campaigns and fill your pipeline with high-quality leads, Seamless.AI can help. With AI-powered list building, contact validation, and intent data, this platform is designed to give sales teams the edge they need.
Claim your free credits and see how Seamless.AI can change the way you generate leads.
