How I Took a Client from 72 to 336 AI Search Mentions in 4 Months

Last Updated: February 2026

Key Takeaways

• Publishing 10-50 inner pages monthly that answer AI-style questions increased one client’s AI search mentions from 72 to 336 in just four months—a 367% increase
• Traditional SEO fundamentals still matter, but AI search requires a content-first strategy with pages that can be directly cited
• Internal linking with 50+ connections per key page significantly improves both Google rankings and AI visibility
• This dog franchise client went from 1 keyword at the top of Google to 43 keywords while visibility jumped from 1.3% to 43%
• AI systems can only recommend your business if you have content they can quote—your homepage isn’t enough

If you want AI to recommend your business, it needs content to cite. This simple truth transformed how I approach SEO for my clients, and the results speak for themselves. After 15 years in the industry and currently working with 45 clients across the Southeast, the shift toward AI search optimization represents the biggest change I’ve seen since mobile-first indexing reshaped our strategies.

Let me walk you through exactly what I did for one dog franchise client and how you can apply the same principles to your business.

The Challenge: Getting Recommended by AI Search

When Wag Bar came to me about two years ago, they faced the same challenge most businesses face today. They had a website, they had some content, but they weren’t showing up when people asked ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, or Perplexity for recommendations in their industry.

The fundamental problem wasn’t their website design or their business model. The problem was that AI systems had nothing substantial to cite. When someone asks an AI assistant for dog franchise recommendations, that AI needs to pull from somewhere. If your website only has a homepage, an about page, and a contact form, there’s nothing for the AI to quote.

According to research from the Princeton/Georgia Tech GEO study, content with statistics and citations shows 30-40% higher visibility in large language model responses. But you need the content first before you can optimize it.

The Old Way: Traditional SEO Fundamentals

Before diving into the AI-specific strategy, I want to be clear that traditional SEO fundamentals still matter enormously. We didn’t abandon what works—we built on top of it.

Step 1: Keyword Research

We started by making a comprehensive list of keywords people actually search for. Dog franchise, dog bar franchise, pet franchise, best dog franchises—we mapped out every variation that potential customers might use.

Step 2: Page Optimization

Next, we made sure pages existed with those keywords strategically placed. If you’re going after “residential mortgage broker Asheville North Carolina,” you need pages that actually contain that phrase in meaningful ways.

I created an SEO blueprint—a comprehensive analysis of brand voice combined with an audit of every page on the website. For one vacation rental management company I work with, this meant optimizing titles and descriptions across 200+ pages with actual keywords that match search intent.

Step 3: Technical Foundation

Meta titles and descriptions got optimized across the entire website. This is detailed work, but it’s the foundation everything else builds upon. According to research, proper schema markup implementation can improve click-through rates by 25% or more.

The New Way: Content That AI Can Actually Cite

Here’s where things changed dramatically. In the old days of SEO, we might publish a couple of blogs per week, include some keywords, maybe connect a few inner pages together. That approach still has value for traditional Google rankings, but it’s not enough if you want AI systems to recommend you.

The new approach requires a fundamental shift in thinking about content.

Publish More Inner Pages

We went from occasional blog posts to publishing 10-50 inner pages per month. These aren’t random articles—they’re strategic content pieces designed to answer the specific questions people ask AI assistants.

Think about how people use ChatGPT or Perplexity. They don’t type keywords like they do in Google. They ask questions: “What are the best dog franchise opportunities?” or “Can you provide success stories from pet franchises?”

Your content needs to directly answer these questions. When I looked at which pages AI was citing for Wag Bar, it was pulling from the inner pages we published—not the homepage, not the main service pages.

Create Content AI Can Quote

One of the most important pages we created was “Pet Industry Market Analysis.” This inner page wasn’t just about what Wag Bar does—it provided substantive information about the pet franchise industry that AI systems could reference.

After publishing this page, they went to the top of Google for “pet franchise” in traditional search results. But more importantly, AI systems started citing this page when people asked about pet industry trends.

Another page covered pet spending demographics. Again, this wasn’t directly promotional content—it was valuable information that positioned Wag Bar as an authoritative source in their industry.

Build Massive Internal Link Networks

This is the technical piece that most people skip. We didn’t just publish pages and hope they’d perform. We strategically connected pages together using internal links.

Studies have found that pages with 50+ internal links pointing to them perform significantly better than orphan pages with no connections. For key pages, we built 30-50 incoming text links from other pages on the website, using semantically relevant anchor text.

I created a visual map of all pages on the website and their connections. This internal linking structure helps search engines and AI systems understand the relationships between your content and identify your most authoritative pages on any given topic.

The Results: Traditional Google Performance

Let’s look at the numbers for traditional Google search performance first.

When we started working with Wag Bar in October 2023, they had one keyword ranking at the top of Google. Just one.

Today, they have 43 keywords at the top of Google.

We measure something called visibility, which tracks what percentage of the search market you’re capturing over time. Wag Bar started with 1.32% visibility. Through consistent SEO services focused on content creation and high-quality backlinks, that number climbed to 43% visibility.

Here’s how specific keywords performed:

The “pet franchise” keyword is particularly notable. It showed up at the top of Google around August 20th, and we’ve maintained that position consistently since the beginning of January.

The Results: AI Search Performance

Now for the AI search numbers—this is where the strategy really proved itself.

September: 72 AI search mentions

November: 161 AI search mentions

January: 336 AI search mentions

That’s a 367% increase in AI visibility over four months. Month over month, we saw a 175-search increase just from November to January.

With 217 pages now published on the website, we’ve created a substantial content library that AI systems can draw from. When I look at specific AI responses—like when someone asks “Can you provide success stories from pet franchises?”—I can see the AI pulling directly from pages we published.

This is the key insight: Unless you have inner hidden pages that talk about what you do, AI can’t quote you. AI can’t cite you.

Why Inner Pages Matter More Than Your Homepage

Your homepage is designed to give visitors an overview and direct them to relevant sections of your site. It’s not designed to comprehensively answer specific questions. Learn more about Burlingame SEO case study.

When someone asks an AI assistant a detailed question about your industry, the AI needs specific content to reference. It needs data points, case studies, market analysis, how-to guides, and detailed explanations.

Your homepage says “We’re a dog franchise.” An inner page says “The pet industry generated $147 billion in 2024, with franchises capturing 23% of that market. Here’s how successful pet franchise owners structure their operations…”

Which one can an AI actually cite in a meaningful response?

This is why we focus on creating what I call “hidden pages”—inner pages that may not appear in your main navigation but provide substantial value and citeable content. These pages build topical authority that benefits your entire website.

The Content Strategy: What to Publish

For local businesses and franchises, here’s the type of content that performs well for both traditional SEO and AI search:

Industry Analysis Pages

• Market size and trends
• Consumer spending demographics
• Competitive landscape overviews

Educational Content

• How-to guides related to your industry
• Frequently asked questions with detailed answers
• Step-by-step processes for common tasks

Case Studies and Success Stories

• Client results with specific numbers
• Before and after comparisons
• Testimonials expanded into full stories

Comparison Content

• Your solution vs. alternatives
• Different approaches to solving common problems
• Pros and cons of various options

Local and Regional Content

• Location-specific guides
• Regional market analysis
• Local industry news and trends

Each piece of content should include statistics from authoritative sources, answer questions in an answer-first format, and connect to related pages through internal links.

The Internal Linking Framework

Internal linking isn’t just about connecting pages randomly. It’s about building a strategic network that signals to search engines and AI systems which pages are most important.

Here’s the framework I use:

Pillar Pages: These are your main topic pages that provide comprehensive coverage of key subjects. They should receive the most internal links.

Supporting Pages: These dive deeper into specific aspects of the pillar topic. They link up to the pillar page and across to related supporting pages.

Blog Posts: These provide timely content that can link to both pillar and supporting pages while capturing long-tail search traffic.

For Wag Bar, the “Pet Industry Market Analysis” page became a pillar page. Every new piece of content we created about pet industry topics linked back to this page, building its authority over time.

Research from various SEO analytics studies shows that this hub-and-spoke model helps search engines understand topical relationships and rewards comprehensive coverage with higher rankings.

Implementation: Getting Started

If you want to replicate these results for your business, here’s the step-by-step approach:

Month 1: Foundation

• Audit existing content and identify gaps
• Research keywords and AI-style questions in your industry
• Create an SEO blueprint with optimized titles and descriptions
• Set up tracking for both traditional rankings and AI mentions

Month 2-3: Content Building

• Publish 10-20 inner pages targeting specific questions
• Build internal links between new and existing content
• Create at least one comprehensive pillar page
• Optimize existing pages based on the blueprint

Month 4-6: Scaling

• Increase publication rate to 20-50 pages monthly
• Build external links from high-quality websites
• Monitor AI citations and create more content on topics getting traction
• Refine internal linking based on performance data

Ongoing: Optimization

• Track both Google rankings and AI mentions monthly
• Update existing content with fresh statistics and information
• Continue publishing new content targeting emerging questions
• Build relationships for ongoing link acquisition

The Bigger Picture: AI Search Is Just Beginning

ChatGPT has over 90% market share in AI search traffic right now. Google AI Overviews are expanding globally. Perplexity is growing rapidly among research-focused users. This shift is only accelerating.

Businesses that build comprehensive content libraries now will have a significant advantage as AI search becomes an even larger share of how people find information and make decisions.

The companies that wait will find themselves playing catch-up, trying to build in months what their competitors built over years.

If you build it, AI will come. But you have to actually build it.

Summary

The shift from traditional SEO to AI-optimized content requires publishing substantially more inner pages that directly answer the questions people ask AI assistants. For one dog franchise client, this approach increased AI search mentions from 72 to 336 in four months while simultaneously improving traditional Google rankings from 1 to 43 keywords at the top of search results. The key elements include publishing 10-50 inner pages monthly, building internal link networks with 50+ connections to key pages, and creating content that AI systems can actually cite—not just homepages and service pages, but substantive content with data, analysis, and detailed answers to specific questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many pages should I publish per month for AI visibility? Based on our results, publishing 10-50 inner pages monthly shows significant impact on AI search visibility. Start with 10-20 pages if you’re building a new content strategy, then scale up as you develop your publishing process.

Do I still need traditional SEO if I’m focusing on AI search? Yes, absolutely. Traditional SEO fundamentals—keyword research, page optimization, meta descriptions, and technical SEO—still matter. AI search strategy builds on top of these fundamentals rather than replacing them.

What types of content do AI systems prefer to cite? AI systems cite content that directly answers specific questions with data, statistics, and detailed explanations. Industry analysis, market research, how-to guides, and comprehensive educational content perform better than promotional pages.

How long does it take to see AI search results? We saw significant increases within four months of implementing this strategy. However, results depend on your starting point, publication rate, content quality, and competition in your industry.

What’s the difference between inner pages and blog posts? Inner pages are evergreen content pieces that provide comprehensive coverage of specific topics. Blog posts are typically more timely and can drive traffic while linking to inner pages to build their authority.

How many internal links should I build to important pages? Studies suggest that pages with 50+ internal links perform significantly better. Focus on building connections using semantically relevant anchor text from topically related pages.

Can I use AI to help create this content? Yes, AI tools like Claude can help generate content, but it should be edited for accuracy, enhanced with original insights, and optimized with real statistics from authoritative sources. The content still needs to provide genuine value.

How do I track AI search mentions? Tools like SEMrush offer AI visibility tracking at a basic level. Enterprise solutions like SEO Clarity’s Arc AI provide more granular prompt-level tracking across multiple AI platforms including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews.

I’m Jeremy Ashburn, founder of PushLeads. I’ve been doing SEO for 15 years and currently work with 45 clients across the Southeast. If you want to discuss how AI search optimization could work for your business, get a free SEO audit or contact us to start a conversation.

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