Dakota/Shane
About

Dakota Shane Nunley.

I've spent over a decade making sure good work gets seen. Content engines, SEO and AEO programs, original research, and the teams that run them.

Dakota Shane Nunley

I grew up in Garrettsville, a small town in rural Ohio. Both my parents are artists. Some of my early childhood was spent on a tour bus, following a musical my dad wrote, directed, and starred in. Wanting to write for a living was never treated as a strange idea in my house, and becoming a writer is what I crafted my identity around.

I attended UC Berkeley for undergrad, planning on law school. Being around the excitement of the startup scene there changed my path. Writing and creative problem solving turned out to be worth something in tech, and that was enough to redirect me. I started freelancing during school, taking on clients and learning the craft one at a time. Out of college my brother and I built a copywriting agency and grew it past six figures.

Learning by doing stuck. It's the way I've approached my work across fintech, media, edtech, and now in consumer technology at Product.ai (formerly Demand.io), where I run content and authority strategy (AEO/SEO, digital PR). Good work should win. My job is making sure it can be seen.

Today, Los Angeles is home.

The arc.

2025 → Now Product.ai · Content Strategy Lead → Director of Content & Authority Strategy Built and led the content studio, then promoted after six months to run authority strategy — data journalism engine, digital PR, AEO measurement infrastructure, and the research publishing pipeline for the era when AI decides what gets cited. 2023 → 2025 Udacity · Content Strategy Manager Crafted the end-to-end B2C content strategy — brand voice, avatars, editorial process. Revamped YouTube to 6.4M views and 32K subscribers in 12 months; webinar program drove 3,700+ leads on zero paid budget. 2021 → 2023 Greatness Media · Copywriter → Senior Copywriter & Content Manager First in-house writer. Launched Greatness.com from zero to 20K+ monthly readers as editorial lead — 43% of new newsletter signups; ghostwrote for The School of Greatness (top-50 global podcast, 500M downloads). 2019 → 2021 Scratchpay · Copywriter & Content Manager Spearheaded the fintech’s rebrand and brand voice guide; built email lifecycles for 600K+ contacts (46% avg. open rate, +17% retention); landed TechCrunch, Business Insider, and MarketWatch coverage. 2018 → 2019 ExakTime · Marketing Copywriter Built the Resource Center and grew average monthly blog traffic 57%; improved newsletter open rates 21%. 2017 → 2019 Inc. Magazine · Columnist Column read by 2.5M+ people worldwide — landed the spot as a top Medium writer, and rose from prospective to top columnist in under 11 months. 2015 → 2019 Copy Buffs · Co-Founder & Copy Chief Co-founded a content marketing agency with his brother and scaled it $0 → $100K+ with a team of 7 contractors — clients including Olive Garden, DrChrono, and Agorapulse.

Recognition.

Talks & media.

For media & speaking requests, get in touch →

A little more.

Good work should win

People are smart. You can’t trick anyone worth convincing. Most of my job is closing the gap between work that deserves to be seen and the people who decide.

See the record →

For others, first

The part I care about most is making other people’s work visible. A teammate who gets promoted, a brand that finally gets heard, a good idea that reaches the room where it matters.

My Hobbies

In my downtime, you’ll find me exploring new coffee shops to write in, at the gym, on my bike, or fishing out on the lake.

Questions, answered.

What do you actually do?

Content strategy in the widest sense: content engines, SEO and answer-engine optimization (AEO), original research, digital PR, and the teams that run them — from conception to production.

Where do you work right now?

I’m Director of Content & Authority Strategy at Product.ai (formerly Demand.io), building the earned-authority engine for verified commerce.

Are you taking consulting clients?

No — I’m fully dedicated to the mission at Product.ai.

Are you open to media appearances?

Yes — for podcasts, panels, and interviews related to my work at Product.ai: AEO, brand visibility in the AI era, and content strategy. Reach out via the contact page.

Where are you based?

Los Angeles, California.