INDUSTRY
Heavy Equipment
ONGOING STRATEGIES
SEO | Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES
Additional Support From
PPC | CRO | LOCAL SEO
Let’s build your next growth system
We work with leadership teams to pressure-test growth strategies before misalignment shows up in pipeline, trust, or revenue.
As AI began reshaping how buyers research equipment, this industry-leading dealer faced a familiar problem with a new twist: declining organic traffic despite strong brand recognition.
Traditional SEO alone was no longer enough. Buyers were increasingly discovering answers through AI Overviews, conversational assistants, and third-party sources—often before ever clicking a website.
The opportunity wasn’t to recover lost clicks.
It was to become the most trusted answer wherever research happens.
The Challenge
By late 2024, organic traffic trends were softening across informational content—mirroring a broader shift caused by AI summaries and zero-click experiences.
Key risks emerged:
Reduced visibility early in the buyer journey
Fewer opportunities to influence research-stage decisions
Limited insight into how AI platforms referenced the brand
The challenge wasn’t demand.
It was discoverability in an AI-first research environment.
The Strategy
An AI-aware visibility framework was deployed to expand brand presence beyond traditional rankings and into:
Google AI Overviews
Generative AI assistants
Industry publications and trusted third-party sources
The focus shifted from where the brand ranked to where the brand was cited.
What Changed After Engagement
- Visibility no longer depended solely on organic clicks
- The brand appeared consistently in AI Overviews, map packs, and curated answers
- Exposure increased earlier in the research journey
- On-site conversion rates improved as visitors arrived more informed and trust-ready
Two things stood out immediately. First, we were constantly being educated on what was changing and how to adapt. Second, the responsiveness—when priorities shifted or new opportunities emerged, the team moved fast to keep momentum going. That made a real difference.
— Marketing Head
About The Client
The client is a regional leader in heavy equipment sales, rentals, and servicing, supporting construction, infrastructure, and industrial operations across multiple markets.
With decades of operational expertise and a reputation built on reliability, the company competes in a category where trust, authority, and early-stage influence directly impact revenue.
Their challenge wasn’t credibility—it was maintaining visibility as buyer behavior moved faster than traditional search.
Adapting to the New Search Landscape
As AI Overviews began pulling answers from trusted third-party sources, the strategy evolved beyond owned content.
High-intent industry queries were analyzed to identify:
Which sources AI systems referenced most frequently
What types of content earned citations
Where competitors were gaining early visibility
The brand was then positioned directly within those trusted sources—ensuring it appeared in the answers buyers saw first.
Crucially, every AI citation and appearance was tracked, creating clarity around which topics, pages, and placements were influencing discovery.
Maximizing Brand Exposure Beyond Owned Channels
With organic results declining industry-wide, visibility had to expand across the broader web.
Over the course of the engagement:
43 authoritative placements strengthened brand and entity signals
A focused subset of high-intent placements was designed specifically to surface in generative AI responses
Coverage aligned with themes such as:
Heavy equipment and machinery
Sustainable infrastructure and agriculture
Disaster preparedness and recovery
Automation and construction robotics
This approach ensured the brand wasn’t just visible—but referenced where it mattered most.
Becoming the Default Answer in LLM Systems
As more buyers turned to AI tools for research, a new goal emerged: own the answer, not just the page.
Years of SEO investment meant the site was already technically strong. Building on that foundation, targeted “seed content” was created to address common AI-driven questions, including:
Where to buy specific equipment
How to compare new vs. used options
Value considerations across equipment categories
The intent was simple:
earn citations from both trusted publishers and large language models, ensuring the brand appeared consistently across every stage of the research journey.
AI SEO VISIBILITY
