The Definitive-ish List of Podcast Growth Tools by Dan Schulz *
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The Tools
Framework ZeroDefine your show and audience Living AvatarAI becomes your ideal listener Bucket BuilderWhat keywords should you target? Rank ToolWhere do you show up in search? Squint TestIs your cover art converting? Transcript CleanerFix the names AI gets wrong AI Discovery ToolGet recommended by ChatGPT and Perplexity Collab FinderWho should you partner with?
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Podcast Grow Gears
Rank Tool
You picked your keywords with the Bucket Builder. Now find out where you actually show up. This Chrome extension checks your Spotify search ranking for any keyword in about five seconds.
Watch: How the Rank Tool works and how to use it

How It Works

The Rank Tool is a Chrome browser extension. Install it once and it lives in your browser toolbar. When you want to check a keyword, click the icon, type the keyword, and it scrapes Spotify's top 20 search results for that term. You see exactly where your show ranks, who is above you, and who is below you.

If you have a Podcast Context Block from Framework Zero, paste it in and the extension auto-fills your show information. It also copies an AI-ready prompt with your ranking data to your clipboard so you can paste it into Claude or ChatGPT and get specific optimization recommendations.

  • 1Install the Chrome extension.
  • 2Click the icon in your browser toolbar.
  • 3Type a keyword from your Bucket Builder list.
  • 4See where you rank in Spotify's top 20 for that keyword.
  • 5Paste the AI prompt into Claude or ChatGPT for optimization advice.
  • 6Log your rankings in the tracking spreadsheet. Come back in 90 days and check again.

Get the Rank Tool

The Rank Tool is a Chrome extension. Click below to install it. It takes about 10 seconds.

Ready to find out where you rank?

Install the Rank Tool for Chrome

Free. Works in any Chromium browser (Chrome, Brave, Edge, Arc). No account required.

The Tracking Spreadsheet

Knowing where you rank today is useful. Knowing where you ranked 90 days ago is powerful. The tracking spreadsheet lets you log your rankings over time so you can see whether your optimizations are actually working.

It has three tabs. A keyword tracker where you paste your rankings and the 90-day column calculates automatically. A how-to-use tab with the full workflow. And a keyword bucket planner so you can map your four buckets before you start searching.

Log your rankings and track changes over time.

Get the Tracking Spreadsheet

Google Sheets. Click the link and it will ask you to make a copy. Your data stays in your own Google Drive.

The Sponsor Trick Nobody Talks About

Here is something most podcasters have never thought about. Keywords are not just for getting listeners. They are for getting sponsors.

When you call a potential sponsor, tell them to open Spotify right now on the phone with you. Tell them to search a keyword that their customers would search. If your show comes up in the top three, you just proved your value in ten seconds. No media kit. No download numbers. No pitch deck. Just "search this and look what comes up."

A small show that ranks number one for a niche keyword is more impressive to a sponsor than a big show with vague positioning. The Rank Tool tells you which keywords you own so you know exactly what to tell the sponsor to search.

The play: Use the Bucket Builder to find your keywords. Use the Rank Tool to find which ones you already rank for. Call a sponsor. Tell them to search that keyword on Spotify while you are on the phone. Close the deal.

Something We Discovered

While building and testing this tool, I ran a controlled experiment and proved that Spotify independently indexes the author/host field as a searchable surface. The test word was "turtle." It worked.

What that means for you: keywords placed naturally in your author field help your show appear in search results even when those keywords are not in your show title. Most podcasters leave the author field as just their name. That is a missed opportunity. The Rank Tool lets you check whether changes to your author field actually move your rankings.

What It Does

Every tool in this list solves one problem. One thing. That is it.

The Rank Tool solves this one: you do not know where your show ranks in Spotify search for the keywords that matter to you. Without that information, you cannot optimize. You are guessing. This removes the guessing.

Why This Matters

Search is how most new listeners find podcasts. Not social media. Not clips. Not word of mouth. Search. Someone types a phrase into Spotify or Apple Podcasts and either your show comes up or it does not.

The problem is that most podcasters have never actually searched for their own show using the keywords their listeners would use. They assume they rank well because they have the right words in their description. The Rank Tool shows you exactly where you stand so you can stop assuming and start measuring.

And measuring is what makes the 90-day system work. Check your rank. Make a change. Wait 90 days. Check again. The number either went up or it did not. Same philosophy as the Squint Test, just applied to search instead of cover art.

Where It Fits

There are only three ways to grow a podcast. Get more listeners. Get those listeners to come back more often and listen longer. Make enough money to keep doing it.

The Rank Tool sits in that first one. The Bucket Builder figures out your keywords. The Rank Tool tells you where you stand for those keywords. The Squint Test tells you if people are clicking when they find you. Three tools, one gear, each one picks up where the last one left off.

© 2026 Dan Schulz / JenDanCo LLC. All rights reserved.

This tool is free to use. It is not free to copy, redistribute, rebrand, or resell. The frameworks, methodology, and code are the intellectual property of Dan Schulz and Podcast Grow Gears. If you want to share this tool with someone, send them here.