OnlyRank

SEO & AI SEO (AEO)

A 5-year SEO agency, rebuilt around what AI search actually rewards

Traditional rankings still matter. But 38 to 46% of AI Overview citations already come from pages that also rank page one, and the two now have to be earned together. We run both from a single delivery plan.

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The core problem

Losing rankings is visible. Losing AI visibility usually isn't.

A dropped keyword shows up in a rank tracker overnight. Being left out of AI answers doesn't show up anywhere, until a competitor mentions they're getting leads from ChatGPT.

How we sequence a project

The plan changes by niche, because the risk profile does too

NicheWe lead with (first 90 days)Typical 90-day signalSpeed
E-commerceTechnical + merchant schema, Core Web Vitals/INP, title-tag CTR, product-page UX20–50% traffic from CWV work; CTR 2.1% → 11.4%Fast technical, slower category authority
B2B SaaSTopic clusters, AEO tutorials, comparison pages, schemaFirst ranking + citation gains by week 8Fastest overall
Local servicesGoogle Business Profile, NAP, citations, reviews, local pagesMap-pack movement + lead lift inside 90 daysFast
YMYL (health, finance)E-E-A-T signals, technical foundation, authoritative content, PRFoundation only in 90 days; full results in 5–6 monthsSlowest
Affiliate / publisherContent consolidation, on-page, controlled guest postingConsolidation can move a page 6 → 2 in 10 daysModerate
Enterprise / marketplaceTechnical entity management, schema at scale, AEO citation shareCitation-share + indexation wins; revenue compounds laterSlow, high ceiling
Also servingAesthetic ClinicsEducationAgricultureHR Training

Inside every engagement

Ten services, one interactive 30/60/90-day timeline

Click any step, or just scroll: the marker on the left tracks where you are in the process. Timelines vary by starting point, technical debt, and niche competitiveness.

  1. 1

    Foundation · fastest

    Technical SEO

    1. ›Crawl + log-file audit. Compare what bots see versus what actually renders.
    2. ›Fix crawl + index. Robots.txt governance, sitemaps, canonicals, index-bloat cleanup.
    3. ›Rendering review. Catch pages dropping from the render queue and client-side product pages.
    4. ›Core Web Vitals. Ship the speed fixes that move rankings and conversions together.
    5. ›Schema. Deploy Organization/Product/FAQ markup and fix schema drift.

    Day 30

    Speed and indexation fixes shipped; hidden pages indexed.

    Day 60

    Rankings on fixed pages climb as crawl efficiency rises.

    Day 90

    20 to 50% traffic lift after Core Web Vitals and page-speed work.

  2. 2

    Foundation · fast

    On-page SEO

    1. ›Intent map. Match each target query to the right format: guide, comparison, product, quick answer.
    2. ›Rewrite metadata. Title tags, meta descriptions, H1 to H4 hierarchy, keyword placement, alt text.
    3. ›Internal linking. Point equity at priority pages.
    4. ›CTR surgery. Rewrite titles on top pages with a number-plus-promise structure.
    5. ›Refresh. Update thin or stale pages.

    Day 30

    Titles and meta rewritten on top pages; intent gaps closed.

    Day 60

    CTR climbs; example top-50 pages went 2.1% to 11.4% in 3 weeks.

    Day 90

    Refreshed pages post double-digit traffic gains in-quarter.

  3. 3

    Foundation

    User Experience & Engagement Signals

    1. ›Friction audit. Review key templates and journeys.
    2. ›Above the fold. Put the answer and headline first; remove heroes that push content down.
    3. ›Speed + mobile. Responsiveness, readability, navigation.
    4. ›Trim bloat. Cut anything that blocks a decision rather than helping it.

    Day 30

    Friction audit done; above-the-fold and CTA fixes shipped.

    Day 60

    Engagement up; bounce falls on reworked pages.

    Day 90

    Cutting ~70% of page bulk on one client cut traffic 13% but grew demos 34%.

  4. 4

    Conversion

    Landing Page Optimisation & CRO

    1. ›Overhaul key pages. Value proposition, proof, one clear call to action.
    2. ›Match message to intent. Make the page answer the query that brought the visitor there.
    3. ›Add social proof. Reviews and testimonials with specific outcomes.
    4. ›Install attribution. A “found us via AI” field at onboarding.
    5. ›A/B test. Headlines, layout, calls to action.

    Day 30

    Key pages rebuilt; attribution field live.

    Day 60

    First test cycles read; winners ship.

    Day 90

    One client saw ~+50% new leads; AI visitors converted up to 4.4x organic.

  5. 5

    Content engine · slow-burn

    Blog Posts, Pillar Content & Topic Clusters

    1. ›Build a topic map. One pillar page plus supporting clusters.
    2. ›Consolidate. Merge thin, cannibalising posts into one authoritative guide.
    3. ›Draft answer-first. Direct answer, then evidence, then depth.
    4. ›Produce first-party research. Original, citable, linkable assets.
    5. ›Set a refresh cadence. 83% of commercial-query AI citations come from pages updated within 12 months.

    Day 30

    Topic map built; first cluster and consolidations live.

    Day 60

    Consolidation moved a page from position 6 to 2 in 10 days.

    Day 90

    Cluster traffic trending toward +180% a year.

  6. 6

    Off-page authority

    Guest Posting & Link Insertions

    1. ›Prospect. Relevant sites with real traffic, not just domain rating.
    2. ›Outreach. Manage editor relationships directly.
    3. ›Place controlled content. On topics and anchors we own.
    4. ›Keep anchors natural. Mostly branded, a few mixed with keywords.
    5. ›Insert links. Into already-trusted existing articles for authority pass-through.

    Day 30

    Prospect list and outreach launched; first placements secured.

    Day 60

    Links live; anchor profile kept natural.

    Day 90

    One affiliate case reached +1,367% monthly traffic over the campaign.

  7. 7

    Off-page authority

    Blog Outreach & Link Building

    1. ›Backlink-gap analysis. Against direct competitors.
    2. ›Broken-link building. Find dead links on high-traffic pages, offer a replacement.
    3. ›Resource-page + blogger outreach. In-niche relationship building.
    4. ›Skyscraper. Outdo top content, then pitch sites already linking to the original.
    5. ›Cap volume. 25 to 40 links a month to stay natural.

    Day 30

    Gap analysis done; targets locked.

    Day 60

    First authoritative links land; domain authority begins moving.

    Day 90

    Domain authority moved 32 to 41 in about 10 weeks on one engagement.

  8. 8

    Off-page authority

    Off-page SEO & Digital PR

    1. ›Scope a data asset. Original research tied to an industry trend.
    2. ›Build a list. Journalists and bloggers who cover the space.
    3. ›Pitch and place. Monitor coverage for follow-up backlink opportunities.
    4. ›Manage reviews. Across Google and Trustpilot as E-E-A-T signals.
    5. ›Amplify. Via podcasts, communities, and influencer collaborations.

    Day 30

    Asset scoped; journalist list built.

    Day 60

    Asset published; first pickups and referral traffic land.

    Day 90

    Original research earns 50 to 200 referring domains per asset.

  9. 9

    Local · fast

    Local SEO

    1. ›Optimise Google Business Profile. In full.
    2. ›Fix NAP consistency. Name, address, phone, matched across the web.
    3. ›Build citations. On local directories.
    4. ›Generate + respond to reviews.
    5. ›Publish localised pages. And local content.

    Day 30

    Google Business Profile optimised; NAP fixed; citation build underway.

    Day 60

    Map-pack visibility rises; reviews accumulate.

    Day 90

    One cleaning-services client saw +89% conversions, +45% traffic.

  10. 10

    Frontier · highest margin · citations move first

    Answer Engine & Generative Engine Optimisation (AEO/GEO)

    1. ›Baseline. Run 15 to 20 buyer prompts across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek, Qwen, Doubao; log appearance, competitor share, brand description.
    2. ›Restructure answer-first. Formatting and comparison tables built for extraction.
    3. ›Entity + schema work. Schema-marked pages get cited roughly 3x more often.
    4. ›Add named statistics. Named stats can raise citation odds 30 to 40%.
    5. ›Build off-site authority. Track citation share as an ongoing KPI.

    Day 30

    Baseline scoreboard live; schema and answer-first rewrites shipped.

    Day 60

    Citation share rises across engines, before traffic does.

    Day 90

    One client saw 10% of visits from AI, with 27% of those converting to a qualified lead.

The difference

What changes when AI search is part of the brief

Traditional SEOOnlyRank
Keyword researchSearch volume and difficulty onlySearch volume, plus real AI-prompt research across ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity
Content approachWritten to hit keyword densityWritten answer-first, structured for ranking and for AI extraction
Technical workCrawl and index fixesCrawl, index, Core Web Vitals, plus schema and entity clarity AI systems can parse
Link buildingVolume-focused, uncappedCapped at 25–40 links a month, natural anchor mix, editor relationships
ReportingRankings and trafficRankings, traffic, and AI citation share across 7 engines
TimelineOne-size-fits-all promise30/60/90-day plan, sequenced by your niche's real starting point

FAQ

Common questions about SEO and AEO

What is AI SEO (AEO)?

AI SEO, also called Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) or Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), is the practice of getting your business mentioned, quoted, and recommended by AI systems like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, rather than only ranking a link in traditional search results.

Is AEO different from traditional SEO?

They share a foundation. Answer engines still favour pages that already have technical health, authority, and clear structure. AEO adds a second layer on top: answer-first formatting, entity and schema clarity, and content built to be quoted directly rather than only clicked.

How long does this take?

It varies by starting point, technical debt, and niche competitiveness. Our own delivery data shows most engagements land foundational and leading-indicator wins (technical fixes, CTR gains, first AI citations) inside 30 to 90 days, with authority and content compounding over 6 to 12 months. AEO citations often shift before traffic does, so we report visibility first, then revenue.

How do you measure success?

Traffic and rankings from Search Console, SEMrush, or GA4, plus AI-specific metrics: citation share across engines, appearance rate on your target buyer prompts, and AI-referred conversions once attribution is in place.

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See exactly where you stand on Google and inside AI answers, with no obligation.

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