The Problem: A B2B SaaS company selling workflow automation tools ranked #3 on Google for their target keyword. Classic SEO win.
But ChatGPT never mentioned them. Perplexity cited only competitors. Gemini included them in exactly zero AI Overviews.
They were winning the wrong game — getting clicks from people who would continue their search elsewhere, instead of getting chosen by AI systems where decisions actually happen.
The Diagnosis
We ran their 5 signals:
- ChatGPT: 1/10 (zero mentions)
- Perplexity: 2/10 (one competitor blog post cited)
- Gemini: 4/10 (basic schema, incomplete Business Profile)
- E-E-A-T: 2/10 (generic bylines, no original data)
- Sentiment: 6/10 (mixed reviews on G2)
Overall AI Visibility Score: 3/10
Here is what we found: Nobody was talking about them outside their website. No press coverage. No Reddit mentions. No YouTube channel. No case studies journalists could cite. They had a great product. They just had zero distributed authority.
The 90-Day Playbook
Weeks 1-2: Authority Audit and Competitive Gap
We mapped what ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini actually recommended. For every competitor showing up, we traced back: Where did that mention come from? Which sources are feeding AI recommendations?
Competitors were mentioned in: 3-4 industry publications, 2 podcast interviews, 1 research report, Reddit discussions, G2 reviews with 4.5+ ratings.
The company had: 0 of those things.
Weeks 2-3: E-E-A-T Foundation
We rebuilt their website authorship:
- Added author bios with credentials to every blog post (real names, titles, LinkedIn profiles)
- Added "Expert Reviewed By" badges to core content
- Published an "Our Story" page with founder bios and credentials
- Implemented comprehensive schema markup (Article + Author + Organisation + FAQPage)
That alone improved their Gemini signal from 4/10 to 6/10.
Weeks 3-4: Original Data Asset
We helped them conduct original research: "The State of Workflow Automation in 2025" survey across 500 companies. Real data. Real insights. Real findings nobody else had published.
We published it on their website with full schema markup. Then distributed it strategically.
Weeks 4-8: Distributed Authority Campaign
We pitched the research to: 8 industry publications (targeting niche, not mainstream), 3 podcasts in their category, 2 Reddit communities, 3 YouTube creators who covered workflow automation.
Result: 4 articles published citing their research. 1 podcast interview. 2 Reddit threads discussing their findings. 3 YouTube videos linking to their site.
Weeks 8-12: Earned Media and Brand Mentions
We coordinated with founders/executives: LinkedIn strategy, expert commentary, community participation, partnership mentions.
We also optimised their G2 presence, which fed into Perplexity citations and sentiment scoring.
Results After 90 Days
| Signal | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 1/10 | 7/10 |
| Perplexity | 2/10 | 8/10 |
| Gemini | 4/10 | 8/10 |
| E-E-A-T | 2/10 | 9/10 |
| Sentiment | 6/10 | 8.5/10 |
Overall AI Visibility Score: 3/10 → 8/10
Real Business Impact
- ChatGPT + Perplexity traffic: 340% increase
- Sales conversations sourced from AI mentions: 89 qualified leads
- Sales cycle: 31% shorter (AI-sourced leads were more ready to buy)
- ACV for AI-sourced deals: 23% higher
The irony: Their Google ranking actually improved too (now #1). But that was not the goal.
Key Learnings
- Authority beats ranking. They went from rank #3 + AI invisible to rank #1 + AI recommended. Distributed authority did both.
- Original data is currency. Their research asset was the linchpin. Everything else followed from having something journalists and competitors could not replicate.
- Platform diversity matters. They could not win ChatGPT with website content alone. Reddit, podcasts, YouTube, and press coverage fed the ChatGPT recommendations.
- Schema markup enables everything. Without proper markup, Gemini could not "read" their content. With it, they became regular citations in AI Overviews.
- Sentiment cascades. Positive mentions led to positive G2 reviews. Good reviews led to more citations. It compounded.
- Earned > Owned > Paid. The breakthrough came from getting others to mention them, not from their own content. AI trusts outside voices more than self-promotion.
What They Did Not Do (Important)
- They did not optimise keywords further
- They did not build more backlinks
- They did not publish more generic blog content
- They did not hire an SEO agency to "improve rankings"
None of that would have moved the needle. AI visibility requires a different playbook.