The developer read your docs first. Sales never heard about it.
Merchants rarely start with a sales call. A founder asks an assistant which payment provider suits their model, a developer opens the docs and the pricing page, and the shortlist is set before anyone fills in a form. This playbook shows what they see — and where a capable provider drops out.
The short versionPayment providers usually lose merchants before a sales conversation: assistants shortlist competitors whose integrations and use cases are clearly documented, pricing hides behind “contact us”, and developers' technical questions wait days for an answer. Integration pages, honest pricing explanations and fast technical replies fix most of it.
1Developer-first PSPPayment providerNamed first · cited
2Large card acquirerPayment providerNamed · cited
–Your companyPayment providerNot mentioned
Why these three“For subscription billing, Developer-first PSP publishes how pricing works and has clear docs for recurring payments…”
Leak 1Integrations unclearPlatforms and plugins listed nowhere a buyer looks.
Leak 2Pricing hidden“Contact sales” is the only answer on cost.
Leak 3Slow tech replyDeveloper question answered after four days.
Start here
Tick anything that sounds like your week.
Eight things payment providers commonly describe. Select the ones that apply and we'll show what usually causes them, in the order we'd tackle it. Nothing is submitted.
Tick what applies3 of 8 selected
Why a capable provider still loses the merchant
Merchants don't compare acquiring. They compare integration effort.
A merchant can't judge your authorisation or risk models before they've processed with you. What they can judge is effort and cost: does it plug into our platform, how long will the developer need, roughly what will it cost, and does anyone answer when we're stuck. A founder asks an assistant, a developer opens the docs and the pricing page, and the shortlist is two names. A provider that hides those answers behind a sales call often isn't one of them.
01
The shortlist assistants build without you
Payment provider for a marketplace?
1Developer-first PSPNamed first · docs cited
2Large card acquirerNamed · comparison sites
–Your companyNot namedVague use cases
Why don't AI assistants recommend our payment platform?
When a founder asks an assistant for a payment provider for subscriptions, marketplaces or cross-border sales, it names providers whose segments, payment methods, markets and integrations are plainly documented and repeated in third-party comparisons. A homepage about “seamless global payments” gives it nothing to cite.
02
The pricing page that says “contact us”
payment processing fees explained
Your page“Talk to sales for pricing.”Tab closed
Answered pageFee components · what changes them · how quotes are setQuoted by AI
Should a payment provider publish its pricing?
Developers and finance teams want to model cost before they talk to sales: the fee components, what changes them, any monthly or setup fees and how cross-border or card mix affects the total. Even when rates are negotiated, explaining how pricing works keeps you on the shortlist. A bare “contact sales” sends them to whoever published something.
03
The developer question nobody technical saw
Do you support split payouts to sellers? Need webhook docs.Contact form · 3:10 pm
Thanks! Can we book a call to discuss your needs?4 days later · 11:00 am
We've gone with another provider, thanks.11:30 am
Why do payment provider evaluations stall?
Evaluation questions are specific — webhook retries, a payment method in one market, how refunds reconcile. When they land in the sales inbox, the reply is a meeting invite, not an answer. The developer moves on to a provider whose docs or engineers answered. Technical enquiries need their own route and their own response time.
What we'd do about it
Five moves, in the order that pays.
Fix the leaks first, then grow. Scaling a funnel that loses enquiries just spends more to lose more.
Move
W1W2W3W4W5W6W7W8W9W10W11W12M3+
01Build the integration pagesA page for each platform, plugin, SDK and accounting tool you support — what works, typical setup effort, links into the docs — written for the developer doing the evaluation.SEO Services
Weeks 1–4
02Explain how pricing worksFee components, what changes them and how quotes are set, plus settlement, disputes and reserves, from templates your compliance and finance teams approve once.Content Marketing
Weeks 2–5
03Route technical questionsTechnical enquiries tagged and sent to solutions engineers with their own response time, plus sandbox sign-up and a “talk to an engineer” route inside the docs.Marketing Automation
Weeks 3–6
04Get onto the AI shortlistUse-case pages for each segment you serve, consistent product facts across your site and comparison sources, and tracking of which assistants name you and for what.AI Search Optimisation
Weeks 4–10
05Then expand by segment and marketPages for new verticals, payment methods and markets — measured to merchants who go live and process, not to sign-ups.Analytics & Attribution
Month 3 onward
Social presence · where merchants check you
Developers check your posts before sales hears a thing.
Merchants' developers and finance leads look for integrations, pricing logic and how fast you answer. Six things decide whether a post turns into a live merchant.
9:41●●● 5G
yourpayments
YPYour Payments CoPayment provider
Online & in-store payments for retailPricing logic, explained ↓Talk to a payments engineer ↓
Talk to usMessageCall
PricingPluginsDocsStatus
Plugin setup · by NoorHow pricing worksCheckout walkthroughRefunds, step by stepPayouts, explainedFraud checks, shownEngineer Q&ANew integrationMerchant case note
LinkedInFinance and e-commerce leads compare providers here.Discover
YouTubeIntegration and checkout walkthroughs developers watch.Check
XStatus updates and fast developer answers.Ask
FacebookSmall-merchant groups, if you serve small sellers.Ask
A week that books, not just posts
Social Media Marketing Included in Zero to Hero (2 platforms) and Own The Answer (4 platforms).
MONIntegration postOne platform or plugin, set up on screen.
WEDPricing explainerHow one fee is worked out.
THUFraud and risk noteWhat a check does, and why.
FRIRelease noteNew integrations and fixes.
DAILYRepliesTechnical questions same day, docs linked.
What we'd watch
Your dashboard, minus the vanity metrics.
Six numbers that show whether the work is turning into live merchants — each pulled from a system you already own. The audit fills in your baseline; every sprint after shows the trend.
Merchant growth · monthlyYour dashboard after the free audit
Free with any monthly plan from $499. Domain, hosting and paid tools are bought by you and stay in your name; shops and booking systems are quoted separately. The 48-hour clock starts once your plan is active and the launch checklist is done.
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Questions payment providers ask
Straight answers, no sales script.
Straight answers. If yours isn't here, a 30-minute call is the fastest route — no pitch, no deck.
You don't have to publish final rates, but you should explain how pricing works: the components, what changes them and how a quote is set. Developers and finance teams who can't model cost tend to shortlist someone who let them.
Our docs are good. Why aren't we being shortlisted?
Docs are read once you're under consideration. The shortlist forms earlier, in assistant answers, comparison articles and integration searches. Use-case and integration pages bridge the two.
How do assistants decide which providers to recommend?
Nobody outside those companies knows exactly. In practice they tend to name providers whose use cases, markets and integrations are stated plainly on their own site and repeated consistently by third parties. We work on both and track mentions over time.
Do regulatory constraints limit what we can say?
Claims about safeguarding of funds, onboarding speed or pricing need care, and the rules differ by market. We avoid claims you can't evidence, and your compliance team approves templates before anything goes live.
How long before a payment provider notices a difference?
Technical routing and pricing explanations can affect evaluations within weeks. Integration pages and assistant mentions usually take a few months. Larger merchant cycles are long, so we report over quarters. We don't guarantee rankings or merchants.
We sell mostly through partners. Is this still relevant?
Yes. Partners and their merchants check your integration pages and docs before recommending you. Partner-specific pages and a clear technical contact make referrals easier to act on.
Which social platforms matter most for a payment provider?
LinkedIn for merchants' finance and e-commerce leads, YouTube for integration walkthroughs, and X for status and quick developer answers. Keep posts specific — one platform, one use case — and accurate about what's supported. Statements about safeguarding, licences or fees should use approved wording that matches your regulatory status in each market.
Do we get a free website for our company?
Yes. Every monthly plan includes a free 5-page website for your company — fast, AI-readable and yours to keep. It goes live within 48 hours once your plan is active and the launch checklist is done. Your domain, hosting and any paid tools sit outside the offer and stay in your name; online shops and booking systems are quoted separately. What's included
Free · one business day
Tell us about your company. Get a plan back.
A strategist reads your brief and replies within one business day with what we'd fix first for your company, a timeline and the real cost.
Reply in 1 business dayFrom a strategist, not a bot
Evaluate your own platform the way a developer would.
We'll check how assistants describe your segment, how your integration and pricing pages read, and how fast a developer question gets a technical answer — then send you what we found. You keep the findings either way.
Social presence · where merchants check you
Developers check your posts before sales hears a thing.
Merchants' developers and finance leads look for integrations, pricing logic and how fast you answer. Six things decide whether a post turns into a live merchant.
yourpayments
Is your profile ready to sell?
Tap what's already true.
Where your merchants look
A week that books, not just posts
Social Media Marketing Included in Zero to Hero (2 platforms) and Own The Answer (4 platforms).