Customer story
How AdLib Media Group went from invisible in search to ranking in a week
AdTech / SaaS A founder-led programmatic ad platform had no organic presence on its own properties. Within a week of the first changes, rankings and AI-driven inbound started to move.
You took the time to do incredibly thoughtful research, not just about our company but about the space and the competitors. It's gone way beyond basic SEO into full competitor analysis and deeper market insights we can use elsewhere.
The challenge
Mike Hauptman is the founder of AdLib Media Group, a programmatic media buying platform. Before working with us, the company’s main lead drivers were LinkedIn and G2, and what search visibility it had came mostly from placements on G2 and Reddit rather than its own site.
On its own properties, AdLib was effectively invisible. It never ranked for relevant industry terms.
“We were never ranking anywhere for relevant industry terms as far as our own properties. It was pretty much non-existent.”
Like a lot of founders, Mike had tried SEO before but could never prioritise the deep work. He always felt there was opportunity to unlock, but kept doing the easy stuff instead of the work he knew was needed.
What we changed
As buyer research shifted toward AI, Mike wanted to capture intent from people searching for platforms like his, on both Google and the LLMs. He brought on a head of marketing to free himself from running everything, then handed the strategy and execution to us.
| Priority | What it looked like in practice |
|---|---|
| Deep research first | Thoughtful research into the company, the space, and the competitors before touching tactics |
| Competitor analysis | Went beyond basic SEO into full competitor analysis and market insights the team could reuse |
| Own the rankings | Built the pages needed to rank for the industry terms AdLib had been absent from |
| AI visibility | Positioned the brand to show up and be recommended across AI search and LLMs |
The outcome
The turnaround was fast. Within about a week of the first changes going live, rankings and inbound started to move, quicker than Mike expected. AdLib is now ranking for its target terms, and inbound is coming in from both AI search and Google.
There has been a lift in brand recognition too, with more people hearing about AdLib in the market. When Mike searches Google and AI tools for recommendations on his own keywords, the platform now shows up.
“How could you not want to work with someone who takes the time to really understand who your brand is, who your company is, and who you are? You guys are crushing that.”
The work reached past rankings into competitor and market intelligence the team can use across the business, not just in search.
