The Reach-Back Checklist – Mathew's Library

01 Why the count matters

Character.AI filed for Chapter 11 on October 12, 2026. A footnote in the filing covers its users: about 163 million people, current and past. The company told the court it doesn't believe they're creditors, and that writing to all of them, even by email, would be "cost-prohibitive." So they get a notice on the blog.

The app is still running while the company looks for a buyer. But nobody has said what happens to the characters, the chats or the people who keep coming back, and the people who built there don't decide.

Platforms are where people find you. This checklist is about where they can find you again.

A platform can be sold, merged, banned or rewritten for reasons that have nothing to do with you. You can't control that. You can know your number, and grow it.

02 Your reach-back rate, platform by platform

Your reach-back rate is the share of your audience you could still reach if a platform disappeared overnight. Count only people you can contact without that platform: emails and phone numbers people gave you, and customers in your own records.

My reach-back sheet

Platform: [INSTAGRAM / TIKTOK / YOUTUBE / DISCORD / A PUBLISHED BOT / OTHER]
Followers or members there: [NUMBER]
Of those, I could reach without the platform: [EMAILS + PHONE NUMBERS + CUSTOMERS IN MY RECORDS]

Total followers, all platforms: [A]
Total I could reach on Thursday if every platform disappeared on Wednesday: [B]
My reach-back rate: [B] / [A] = [%]

Worked example Count

Followers 10,000

Emails you could write to 200

Reach-back rate 2%

A download isn't an audience. Exporting your data keeps a file. It doesn't keep the people, or a way to reach them.

03 Own 1: a line you use

A list you write to once a year isn't a line. A message from you should feel normal on the day it really matters.

Open your list and find the date of your last send. If it's been months, that's the first fix, before you collect a single new email.

Put a monthly send on your calendar. Same week every month, so it happens without a decision.

Make each send worth opening. One useful thing per message: a tip, an answer, a template.

04 Own 2: the address

Every link that points out of a platform should point at a domain you control. Then if the building changes owners, you change one link instead of starting over.

Your bio links. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X: open each one and note where it goes.

Your profile and channel descriptions. Including any link in a pinned post.

The description on your bot or community. A custom chatbot on someone else's store, a Discord server's welcome message.

Any link that lands on a page another platform hosts. That's a second landlord. Move it to a page on your own domain.

05 Own 3: the bridge

Nobody crosses because you said "subscribe to my newsletter." People cross when they get something they want right then. Ask for the email at that moment, and keep the promise.

Find the question. Read your comments and messages for the question people already ask you. Answer it once, properly, in something they can keep: a template, an answer, a checklist. Offer it in exchange for an email, at the moment they ask, in the comment or the message. Deliver it right away, then add them to the monthly line from section 3.

Recount every month. Every follower who takes the bridge moves from the platform's list to yours. Watch your reach-back rate climb.

Sources

PPC Land: Character.ai says its 163 million users are not bankruptcy creditors Character.AI: An Update on Character.ai Character Technologies, Inc. case page (Stretto) Tom's Guide: what happens to your chats and AI companions now

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