iNDX CO+ Update - May 11-May 25 2026: PaddleNet.earth Is Coming for Findability in the Paddling Industry: What I Need From You
Paddlenet.earth
When I pitched at the Paddlesports Trade Coalition COLAB last Fall to many of you, I proposed the idea of indexing the paddlesports industry for better findability in the AI era. After the event, the vision expanded significantly. It became clear this was not just about indexing companies - the economic layer - but also indexing people through Portable Identity Documents (PIDs), indexing places, and eventually layering in a consumer-facing citizen science component tied to the broader ecological and public lands system I’ve been developing for several years.
When all of these layers are indexed together - companies, people, places, knowledge, relationships, and signals - findability for the industry becomes much more powerful and much more interesting.
Since then, technology costs have exploded, so I made a major shift. I left Google Cloud entirely and built my own small data center on my farm, complete with servers, backup power, and infrastructure running off the solar system I installed last year. My operating costs are now roughly 10-20% of what they previously were. The transition took about four months - sourcing equipment, waiting on server deliveries, learning network administration, and rebuilding the infrastructure stack from the ground up.
At the same time, I decided to prioritize the people-indexing layer first. The growing anxiety around jobs, the economy, and AI is creating a real need for better systems that surface the value each of us brings. Current networking systems and hiring models are increasingly inadequate. Too many people are forced into narrow resumes, fragmented profiles, and disconnected platforms that fail to properly represent what they actually know, can do, or want to build.
I expect to launch PID ingestion in the next few weeks at:
There is nothing there yet, but the infrastructure is coming online now.
Please begin preparing your PIDs for submission. This is how we can create massive efficiencies and broader reach in networking across the industry. This is one mechanism for helping new people discover opportunities in paddlesports and for helping existing participants surface their unique skillsets, experience, relationships, and offerings in ways that are much easier to discover and connect.
Most importantly: please encourage others in paddling to create PIDs as well. We need network density for this to work. A handful of people will not create enough value. We likely need at least 50-100 participants initially, and eventually far more.
The PID template and instructions are here:
https://projects.eddiesoehnel.com/adminprojects/personal-identity-document-template
New Research on Economic Growth In Industries
There is new research showing that the sectors currently experiencing the strongest new business formation are the ones embracing AI most aggressively:
https://www.apollo.com/wealth/the-daily-spark/ai-adoption-is-driving-business-formation
It is still early, and it remains unclear how durable all of this economic activity will ultimately be. But AI is unquestionably creating new business models, new distribution rails, new ways of organizing work, and entirely new categories of opportunity. Right now, much of this innovation is concentrated inside technology and financial services. My belief is that smaller industries like paddlesports can learn from what is working there and adapt those ideas in ways that strengthen our own ecosystem rather than waiting to react later.
Findability Links
There’s a reason there are more space programs than true search engines
A good overview of why AI-native search is technically difficult and why companies like Exa matter. The takeaway is that traditional search indexing is giving way to systems focused on meaning, relationships, and retrieval quality - which aligns closely with the direction of iNDX.
https://community.indx.earth/t/there-s-a-reason-there-are-more-space-programs-than-true-search-engines/173
https://www.a16z.news/p/exa-is-building-the-search-engine
Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search
Google continues sending mixed signals around AI optimization. On one hand they emphasize “good content,” while simultaneously acknowledging structured approaches like chunking and machine-readable formatting. The larger takeaway: structured content and ontology still matter because they help AI systems interpret intent and relationships more accurately.
https://community.indx.earth/t/optimizing-your-website-for-generative-ai-features-on-google-search/172
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide
It Works Until It Doesn’t: AI Content Strategies That Backfire
A strong warning about low-quality AI content scaling strategies. The article reinforces that mass-produced content without authority, originality, or trust signals may create short-term gains but eventually becomes a liability as AI search systems mature.
https://community.indx.earth/t/it-works-until-it-doesnt-ai-content-strategies-that-backfire/170
https://lilyraynyc.substack.com/p/it-works-until-it-doesnt-ai-content-risks
Original Data as a Competitive Advantage
As AI-generated content becomes commoditized, proprietary datasets and firsthand information become increasingly valuable. Original observations, measurements, experiences, and relationships are turning into defensible assets in the AI era.
https://community.indx.earth/t/original-data-as-a-competitive-advantage/168
Collapse of the Traditional Search Funnel
The old linear search funnel is fragmenting as AI systems answer questions directly and route users dynamically across platforms. Brands increasingly need to optimize for discovery and trust rather than just rankings and clicks.
https://community.indx.earth/t/collapse-of-the-traditional-search-funnel/167
AI Query Expansion and loss of keyword control
AI systems increasingly reinterpret and expand user intent automatically, reducing the importance of exact keyword targeting. This changes SEO strategy from keyword matching toward semantic clarity and topic authority.
https://community.indx.earth/t/ai-query-expansion-and-loss-of-keyword-control/166
Workflow for AI creating website content - nice workflow, but this workflow is not the advantage
A useful walkthrough of AI-assisted publishing workflows using Claude Code. The key insight is that workflows themselves are rapidly commoditizing; the real advantage comes from proprietary data, structure, trust, and distribution systems layered on top.
https://community.indx.earth/t/workflow-for-ai-creating-website-content-nice-workflow-but-this-workflow-is-not-the-advantage/165
https://ahrefs.com/blog/how-i-do-content-engineering-with-claude-code/?utm_source=tldrmarketing