AI Side Hustles
Business Model

AI Writing, SEO & Ghostwriting

Freelance writers and editors who use AI in their work, and founders of AI writing and SEO content tools. The documented cases include LinkedIn ghostwriting, editing AI text so it reads naturally, and SEO blog automation software. Figures below are computed from the cases listed on this page and are what each source reports, not typical results.

Writers, editors and founders who earn from AI-assisted writing, ghostwriting and SEO content.

Side Hustle School episode 3103 title card: "First $1,000: AI Agency Writes Execs' LinkedIn Posts".
Video thumbnail: Full interview with BMO ETF Market Insights
A laptop showing revenue charts on a desk beside an open notebook and coffee
Startup Cost in Our Cases
From about $32 a month (a GPT-4 subscription plus Grammarly) to domain and hosting only, in the cases that disclose a cost
Time to First Revenue in Our Cases
From the first weekend of sales to a few months, in the cases that say
Published Cases
15 Published
Independently Documented
3 of 15

Strengths Seen in Our Cases

  • Businesses keep paying for content and SEO
  • Freelancers can start with skills they already have
  • AI speeds up research and first drafts

Known Risks

  • Clients may decide to use AI themselves instead
  • Search engines can demote low-quality AI content
  • Rates for basic writing are under pressure
Gallery

Images and videos from AI Writing, SEO & Ghostwriting cases

Side Hustle School episode 3103 title card: "First $1,000: AI Agency Writes Execs' LinkedIn Posts".Image: Side Hustle School (episode page)
Sean, Provo, Utah (Side Hustle School episode 3103)
Video thumbnail: Full interview with BMO ETF Market InsightsVideo: ETF Portfolio Blueprint
Tony DongWatch original video (opens YouTube in a new tab)

How the model works

General guidance

Freelancers use AI for research, outlines and drafts, then edit and add expertise before delivering to clients.

Ghostwriters write posts under a client's name, often for LinkedIn; editors rewrite AI text so it reads naturally.

Founders build tools that produce blog posts and SEO content at scale.

How it earns

General guidance

Freelancers charge per piece or a monthly retainer, often through Fiverr or direct clients.

Software founders charge subscriptions, sometimes by number of articles.

General guidance is our editorial summary and contains no figures. Every number on this page comes from a linked case.

Reported results

What the cases report, and how well it is backed up

Figures are as reported by each source, for different periods and metrics. They are not typical results. How we label evidence.

Case Studies

AI Writing, SEO & Ghostwriting Cases

15 case studies
Side Hustle School episode 3103 title card: "First $1,000: AI Agency Writes Execs' LinkedIn Posts".
Image: Side Hustle School (episode page)
June 30, 2025
1 source

AI-assisted LinkedIn ghostwriting for executives at close to $3,000 a month

Sean, Provo, Utah (Side Hustle School episode 3103)

Sean, a digital marketer, sells LinkedIn post packages to busy executives: four posts for $200, eight posts plus an engagement strategy for $400, and a custom tier from $800. Within a month he had four clients on the $400 tier. By month two he had six recurring clients and was close to $3,000 a month.

Read original source
Reported figure
Close to $3,000/mo(recurring revenue)
Evidence levelSelf-Reported
Tools:
Inspect Case
Video thumbnail: Full interview with BMO ETF Market Insights
Video: ETF Portfolio Blueprint
December 19, 2023
1 source

A freelance finance writer used GPT-4 for research and outlines and grew his income by more than 50% in a year

Tony Dong

Tony Dong, a Vancouver-based freelance writer who mainly covers exchange-traded funds for outlets such as U.S. News & World Report, USA Today and TheStreet, made CA$149,000 in 2022. Business Insider reported he was on track for CA$238,000 (about $180,000) in 2023 while working fewer hours, and credits GPT-4 and other tools for part of that.

Read original sourceWatch original video
Reported figure
CA$238,000 projected for 2023 (about $180,000)(revenue)
Evidence levelIndependently Documented
Tools:
Inspect Case
A laptop showing revenue charts on a desk beside an open notebook and coffee
February 26, 2024
1 source

An MBA graduate in Pakistan made more than $3,500 on Fiverr editing ChatGPT text so it reads as human

Sultan Ali

Sultan Ali, a 25-year-old in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, started offering AI content editing on Fiverr after using ChatGPT during his MBA. Since his first order in March 2023 he has completed more than 150 assignments, from essays and business reports to blogs, product descriptions and a 50,000-word aviation manual.

Read original source
Reported figure
More than $3,500 total(revenue)
Evidence levelIndependently Documented
Tools:
Inspect Case
A laptop showing revenue charts on a desk beside an open notebook and coffee
August 15, 2023
1 source

A Fiverr copywriter added an AI-content editing service and reported $33,200 for the year so far

Gabrielle Gerbus

Gabrielle Gerbus, a 28-year-old freelancer from Los Angeles, has sold copywriting and editing on Fiverr since 2019 and made $69,600 in 2022. After ChatGPT launched, clients began asking her to edit AI-generated copy, so she added a separate service for it. She reported $244,000 in Fiverr revenue since 2019.

Read original source
Reported figure
$33,200 so far in 2023(revenue)
Evidence levelIndependently Documented
Tools:
Inspect Case
A laptop showing revenue charts on a desk beside an open notebook and coffee
January 12, 2026
1 source

An AI LinkedIn ghostwriter hit $62,000 MRR within two months of launch

Kleo (Lara)

Lara, co-founder of Kleo, launched an AI ghostwriter for founders on LinkedIn in October 2025. She says it did $30K MRR in four days and reached $62K MRR with 932 active subscriptions in under two months.

Read original source
Reported figure
$62K MRR(recurring revenue)
Evidence levelSelf-Reported
Tools:none named in the source
Inspect Case
A laptop showing revenue charts on a desk beside an open notebook and coffee
May 31, 2025
1 source

A former VC-backed founder runs 26 bootstrapped products, including an AI SEO agent, that he says bring in about $3M a year combined

John Rush (Unicorn Platform, SEO Bot)

John Rush spent about 10 years building VC-backed startups before switching to bootstrapping in 2022. He paid almost a million dollars for Unicorn Platform, a website builder, and its founder mentored him for a year. He now runs 26 products for busy founders, including SEO Bot and Listing Bot, and says they have around 1 million users combined, with seven products bringing in most of the revenue.

Read original source
Reported figure
About $3M a year combined(revenue)
Evidence levelSelf-Reported
Tools:none named in the source
Inspect Case
A laptop showing revenue charts on a desk beside an open notebook and coffee
October 31, 2024
1 source

Three SEO veterans built an AI content tool for programmatic SEO that they say does $30,000 a month in recurring revenue

Cuppa AI (Ryan Darani, Chris Riley and Dan Beynon)

Ryan Darani runs Cuppa AI with cofounders Chris Riley and Dan Beynon, who together have about 25 years of SEO experience. Chris, who has built media sites for over a decade, saw a gap for programmatic AI content when ChatGPT launched. Cuppa targets content creators, website owners, affiliate marketers and agencies, and says it has helped over 1,000 people.

Read original source
Reported figure
$30,000 MRR(recurring revenue)
Evidence levelSelf-Reported
Tools:
Inspect Case
A laptop showing revenue charts on a desk beside an open notebook and coffee
November 28, 2021
1 source

A startup incubator founder built Rytr on GPT-3 and says the AI writing assistant now does seven figures in ARR

Rytr (Abhi)

Abhi runs a startup platform and incubator, and Rytr is one of its main products. While working with GPT-3 on another chatbot project, he saw that existing AI writing tools were frustrating and decided to build an easier one. Rytr launched in April 2021 with limited resources and a small team.

Read original source
Reported figure
Seven figures in ARR(recurring revenue)
Evidence levelSelf-Reported
Tools:
Inspect Case
A laptop showing revenue charts on a desk beside an open notebook and coffee
July 1, 2026
1 source

A blogger with 500,000 monthly readers cofounded an AI blog automation tool that he says is at $350K ARR

RightBlogger (Ryan Robinson)

Ryan Robinson has blogged for more than 15 years. His blog about blogging and SEO reaches around 500,000 monthly readers, and he also runs a YouTube channel and a B2B content agency. In 2023 he cofounded RightBlogger with Andy Feliciotti, which has grown to more than 50,000 users after pivoting to full blog automation.

Read original source
Reported figure
$350K ARR(recurring revenue)
Evidence levelSelf-Reported
Tools:none named in the source
Inspect Case
A laptop showing revenue charts on a desk beside an open notebook and coffee
January 17, 2025
1 source

After selling an SEO marketplace, a founder grew Journalist AI to $70K+ MRR within a year, Indie Hackers reports

Vasco Monteiro (Journalist AI)

Vasco Monteiro started in 2015 after watching a video about making money with SEO and tried many models, including Fiverr voice-over gigs. He scaled Vettted, an SEO services marketplace, past $300K in its first year and sold it. Indie Hackers reports he then grew Journalist AI to $70K+ MRR within a year.

Read original source
Reported figure
$70K+ MRR(recurring revenue)
Evidence levelSelf-Reported
Tools:none named in the source
Inspect Case
A laptop showing revenue charts on a desk beside an open notebook and coffee
October 29, 2023
1 source

An SEO with 12 years of experience built Post Cheetah with ChatGPT and passed $3K MRR a month after launch

Mark Gadala (Post Cheetah)

Mark Gadala has done SEO for over 12 years. After he started using ChatGPT, he built Post Cheetah to run the entire SEO process with AI. He launched in late August 2023 and says it was a little over $3K MRR by the end of September with zero paid ads.

Read original source
Reported figure
A little over $3K MRR(recurring revenue)
Evidence levelSelf-Reported
Tools:
Inspect Case
A creator working at a home studio desk with a microphone and video editing screens
February 5, 2024
2 sources

In February 2024, a publisher said his AI-assisted niche site made about $21,700 in one month from display ads

Casey Botticello

Casey Botticello told Niche Pursuits in February 2024 that his technology niche site, built in under a year, made about $21,700 the previous month from display ads, its best month at the time. He used GPT-3.5 for ideation and article drafts, then edited and fact-checked heavily.

Read original source
Reported figure
About $21K in one month(revenue)
Evidence levelSelf-Reported
Tools:
Inspect Case
A laptop showing revenue charts on a desk beside an open notebook and coffee
November 27, 2024
1 source

A test site of about 500 AI-written pages earned just under $4,000 before an accidental de-index

James Oliver

James Oliver built a test niche site of about 500 AI-written pages for about $467 in AI content, then left it with no link building. He told Niche Pursuits the peak month, month seven, earned $1,448 and the site earned just under $4,000 overall. In month eight he changed too many URLs and de-indexed a lot of pages.

Read original source
Reported figure
Just under $4,000 total(revenue)
Evidence levelSelf-Reported
Tools:none named in the source
Inspect Case
A laptop showing revenue charts on a desk beside an open notebook and coffee
March 22, 2026
1 source

An SEO founder says his AI search visibility tracker does $25,000 to $30,000 a month

Jackie Chow (Trackings.ai)

Jackie Chow has run SEO businesses since 2015, including the Indexsy agency. After Google's late-2023 updates he shifted part of his portfolio, and he says Trackings.ai, an AI search visibility rank tracker, does anywhere from 25 to 30k per month.

Read original source
Reported figure
$25,000 to $30,000 a month(revenue)
Evidence levelSelf-Reported
Tools:none named in the source
Inspect Case
Startup costs

What the cases say they spent

The other 12 sources do not disclose a startup cost.

Risks

Challenges reported in these cases

Tools

Tools for AI Writing, SEO & Ghostwriting

ChatGPT logo and wordmark on a blue and orange gradient.Official image

ChatGPT

AI Assistant

OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant. In our documented cases it is used to draft reports, brainstorm product slogans, write first drafts of client posts, and generate code for digital products.

Free plan: Yes. Free plan with limits on uploads, image creation, and deep research.

Pricing: Free plan, plus paid Go, Plus, and Pro plans for individuals and Business and Enterprise plans for teams. Exact prices were not shown in the version of the page we could read; check the official page for your region.

Checked October 17, 2026

Used in 51 documented casesView Profile
Claude logo and wordmark on a cream background.Official image

Claude

AI Assistant

Anthropic's AI assistant. Documented cases use it to write long video scripts, draft newsletter summaries, and run client offers on a single monthly subscription.

Free plan: Yes. Free plan for chat on web, desktop, and mobile.

Pricing: Free plan. Pro is $20/month billed monthly or $17/month billed annually. Max starts at $100/month. Team seats start at $20/seat/month billed annually.

Checked October 17, 2026

Used in 35 documented casesView Profile

Fiverr

Freelance Marketplace

Freelance marketplace where sellers list fixed-price services called gigs. Documented freelancers use it to sell AI-assisted copy editing and to find clients for AI content work.

Free plan: Yes. No fee to create gigs; Fiverr takes a commission on each order.

Pricing: Free to join. Fiverr says it charges sellers a 20% commission on all transactions, including extras and add-ons. Optional Seller Plus plans cost extra.

Checked October 20, 2026

Used in 3 documented casesView Profile

OpenAI API

AI Model API

OpenAI's developer platform for building GPT models into your own apps. Documented founders use it inside voice-note apps, resume and cover letter tools, writing assistants and support agents. This is separate from a ChatGPT subscription.

Free plan: No free plan listed; usage is billed per token.

Pricing: Pay as you go, priced per 1 million tokens and varying by model. For example, the official page listed gpt-6-luna at $0.10 per 1M input tokens and $0.50 per 1M output tokens (standard), and gpt-6-astra at $10.00 input and $50.00 output.

Checked October 20, 2026

Used in 11 documented casesView Profile
FAQ

AI Writing, SEO & Ghostwriting: common questions

How much do people make with AI Writing, SEO & Ghostwriting and AI?

Across the 9 of our 15 sourced cases that report a monthly figure, amounts range from $3,000 to $70,000 a month, with a median of $25,000. These are what each source reports, not typical results.

How much does it cost to start?

From about $32 a month (a GPT-4 subscription plus Grammarly) to domain and hosting only, in the cases that disclose a cost. 3 of 15 cases disclose a startup cost.

How long until the first dollar?

From the first weekend of sales to a few months, in the cases that say. This comes from what our cases report.

Which AI tools do these cases use most?

ChatGPT (7 cases), Fiverr (2 cases), OpenAI API (2 cases), Claude (1 case). Only tools named in the sources are counted.

How reliable are these income figures?

3 of 15 cases are independently documented, meaning a news outlet says it reviewed records. 12 are self-reported. Every case links its source.

What are the main risks?

Clients may decide to use AI themselves instead. Search engines can demote low-quality AI content. Rates for basic writing are under pressure.

How many of these cases say when they made their first dollar?

7 of 15 cases state a time to first revenue. For example: Sean, Provo, Utah (Side Hustle School episode 3103): "Within the first month"; Sultan Ali: "First order in March 2023, a few months after ChatGPT launched"; Gabrielle Gerbus: "AI editing requests started soon after ChatGPT launched in November 2022". The rest do not say, so treat any single timeline as one example, not a norm.

What went wrong or held these cases back?

15 of 15 cases list limitations or risks drawn from their sources. Examples: Sean, Provo, Utah (Side Hustle School episode 3103): ChatGPT sometimes invented statistics and names; Tony Dong: The figure is total freelance income, so it does not isolate what AI added; Sultan Ali: Low prices mean modest total income for the hours involved. Each case page lists them in full.

Do I have to report this income to the IRS if I never get a 1099-K?

Yes. The IRS says that whether or not you receive a Form 1099-K, you must report all income from selling goods or services on your tax return. Payment apps and online marketplaces must send a 1099-K when payments for goods or services total over $20,000 in more than 200 transactions, but they may send one for lower amounts. Source: IRS, "Understanding your Form 1099-K" (irs.gov/businesses/understanding-your-form-1099-k), checked 2026-10-20. General information, not tax advice.

Do I owe self-employment tax on side hustle income in the US?

According to the IRS, you must pay self-employment tax and file Schedule SE if your net earnings from self-employment were $400 or more. The rate is 15.3% (12.4% Social Security and 2.9% Medicare), and you may need to pay estimated taxes quarterly. Source: IRS, "Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes)" (irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes), checked 2026-10-20. General information, not tax advice.

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