If you’re in affiliate marketing, you’ve probably noticed AI is everywhere — and it’s evolving fast. However, one name has been coming up more frequently lately: DeepSeek.
It’s a chatbot from China that’s been making serious waves, climbing to the top of app charts, raising eyebrows in government offices, and causing some panic in Silicon Valley.
The question is: Can this AI actually help you make money as an affiliate?
The short answer? Yes — and it’s already helping people do just that.
So, What Exactly Is DeepSeek?
DeepSeek is an AI chatbot built by a company out of Hangzhou, China. It originated from High-Flyer Capital, a hedge fund recognized for utilizing AI to analyze markets. DeepSeek started as a research lab, and in just a couple of months, it’s gone head-to-head with OpenAI’s ChatGPT — and it’s holding its own.
What makes DeepSeek stand out? Two things:
- It’s seriously affordable (even free in many cases).
- It’s smart — and not just “spit out a blog post” smart. Its R1 model is built for reasoning, which means it can actually think through steps, explain decisions, and plan things out like a real assistant.
Add to that a super-efficient training setup and some open licensing, and you’ve got a tool that affiliate marketers are jumping on.
How Does DeepSeek Compare to Other AI Tools?
There’s no shortage of AI tools these days. But they’re not all built the same, and some are better for affiliate marketing than others. Here’s a quick breakdown of how DeepSeek stacks up against some of the most popular ones:
| Tool | Best For | Strengths | Weaknesses |
| DeepSeek | Strategy, code, social, content | Free/cheap, reasoning model, great at building tools, useful for planning and monetization | Censorship in political topics, privacy concerns, not perfect in English |
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | General writing and research | Smooth English, large ecosystem, consistent UI | Advanced features behind a paywall, weaker at reasoning than R1 |
| Gemini (Google) | Summarization, Google integration | Real-time search, very fast, well integrated with Docs/Sheets | Sometimes vague, less creative output |
| Llama 3 (Meta) | Open-source projects, dev work | Open weights, community-driven, decent reasoning | Not available in hosted tools unless self-integrated |
| Perplexity | Search-style Q&A | Great for factual lookups, concise answers | Not suitable for long-form content or emotional tone |
| NotebookLM (Google) | Study and internal document analysis | Upload and organize files, helpful for planning | It is not ideal for affiliate use unless you’re building internal systems |
| Grok (xAI/Twitter) | Casual banter, real-time commentary | Fun personality, connected to X/Twitter | Limited depth, not a good fit for business use yet |
In short, DeepSeek is a hybrid. It blends content creation, research, no-code development, and social media scripting, making it uniquely suited for affiliate marketers who need to do it all on a budget.
How Affiliate Marketers Are Using DeepSeek
1. Writing Content That Actually Helps You Sell
We’ve all used AI before (if you haven’t yet–you should really try), but DeepSeek does more than just fill space. Because it’s a reasoning model, it doesn’t just give you random fluff — it plans things out, fixes logic issues, and makes suggestions.
Let’s say you need a full monthly content plan for a dog food affiliate blog and SMM Instagram posts. DeepSeek can generate a whole month of posts with topics, angles, calls to action, and even formatting tips.
2. Finding Fresh Niches
This one’s underrated. DeepSeek can help you discover affiliate niches that still have room for growth. It can analyze current trends, search volume, and competition levels — and even suggest platforms where a specific product might perform more effectively.
Example: You say you’re interested in promoting health supplements. DeepSeek might suggest exploring Lemon8 or Threads as alternatives to Instagram, as engagement is higher and competition is lower. That’s not something most AI tools are offering for free.
3. Building No-Code Websites or Tools
People are using DeepSeek to generate full websites and simple web tools — calculators, quizzes, and tutorials without knowing how to code.
You give it a prompt like “Build me a simple health risks odds calculator site with affiliate banners,” and it will provide you with the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You upload the files to your hosting platform, and you’re live.
Perfect if you want to create niche-focused lead magnets or utility tools and monetize them with affiliate links.
4. Creating Content Funnels for Threads and Reels
DeepSeek also plays well with social platforms. You can use it to write daily Threads posts in a casual, engaging style — think short tips, stories, and value posts with subtle links.
For Reels, it can write short scripts for faceless videos that promote products in your niche.
Pair it with a video tool like InVideo, and you have a complete ad or educational video funnel running without ever needing to turn on your camera.
So What’s the Catch?
Like any tool, DeepSeek isn’t perfect. Here are the trade-offs:
- It stores user data in China, which has raised concerns about user privacy. Many institutions and even some countries have banned it for this reason.
- Its censorship filters can be frustrating — it won’t answer questions about specific political topics.
- Its English output is solid, but not always on par with that of other AIs.
- Because it went viral so fast, its servers sometimes lag or limit new users when there’s a spike in demand.
Still, for most affiliate marketers, those downsides don’t outweigh the upsides, especially if you’re not handling sensitive info or working with regulated industries.
Should You Use DeepSeek?
If you’re building niche sites, creating content, running ads, or growing social funnels, DeepSeek is worth your attention. It’s powerful, flexible, surprisingly easy to use, and unlike many AI tools out there, it won’t wreck your budget.
It’s not here to replace everything, but it’s one of those tools that can give you an unfair advantage, especially if you get in early while it’s still free or cheap.
If you’re not testing DeepSeek yet, you’re missing a huge opportunity.
