Case Studies
Online Reputation Recovery
With search results for the individual’s name impacted by negative press, we implemented a one-month reputation recovery campaign to improve page-one coverage.
CASE STUDY
Increase Organic & AI Visibility
Campaign Snapshot
B2B Career Development Brand
- High-ticket service: $10 K revenue per client
- Competitive space: DA 55–75 sites held the top spots
- Premium placements: Published on high authority, high traffic sites
- Consistent output: 12 placements published monthly
MONTHS
12
BACKLINKS
144
AVG. LINK DA
56.4
ORGANIC TRAFFIC
↑ 257%
AI CITATION RATE
88%
CONVERSIONS
↑ 174%
Client Profile
This client is a mid-sized, B2B provider of bespoke career development services.
Their website is well designed, communicates their message effectively, and is optimised to a high standard for conversions and technical SEO.
Prior to this campaign the client relied almost entirely on referral partners and PPC, leaving significant organic growth untapped.
Objective
With organic growth flat for six months and no visibility in AI search engines, we provisioned a 12-month “authority lift” plan that would:
- Lift organic sessions to the sales page by at least 200%
- Achieve consistent citation in AI answer engines for their target keywords + provider search terms
- Generate a steady stream of enterprise demo requests
Strategy
- 12 relevance-matched placements every month, each featuring fresh industry insights and a contextual brand mention
- High-authority sites with strong traffic and clean link profiles were prioritised
- We chose a 30-day drip-feed schedule, giving slower – yet highly authoritative – websites time to publish, while Google discovered new links week-by-week
Research Foundation
1. Princeton GEO Findings (Aggarwal et al., 2024)
Embedding expert quotes and timely statistics yields a 37% uplift in AI-search visibility on Perplexity.ai.
2. SERP Correlation Study (Ahrefs, 2025)
Analysis of 1 million US-keyword SERPs shows referring-domain count still correlates with rankings (Spearman ρ ≈ 0.255), supporting the use of authoritative placements as a lever for branded SERPs.
3. Backlinks’ Monthly Gain vs. Ranking (Search Engine Land, 2025)
Top-ranked pages acquire 5-14% more followed backlinks per month compared to lower-ranked pages – demonstrating a clear link between ongoing link acquisition velocity and high SERP placement.
How This Research Drives Results
Producing citation-rich Digital PR articles and earning a consistent cadence of high-DA backlinks directly addresses all three findings – boosting AI citations, improving organic visibility, and sustaining long-term growth.
Project Builder Setup
Strategic Foundation
Rank Engine’s Project Builder turns monthly campaign planning into one, 10-minute setup.
Precise audience filters, content exclusions, and Smart Select criteria fed our AI agents the exact same blueprint – so every article and site-selection stayed perfectly aligned with the client’s message.
Key setup benefits
- Precise audience targeting
- Content exclusions prevent brand confusion
- Smart Select prioritises SEO impact
- Regional focus concentrates efforts on primary market
Campaign type
Digital PR was selected as the campaign type, which integrates the brand as a real-world example within editorial and thought-leadership articles.
Delivery time
Delivery time was set to a 30-day drip-feed. You can also choose 1- or 2-week schedules when speed is the priority.
Regional focus
Regional targeting was set to ensure content (news, facts, stats, quotes) focused on the client’s area of operations.
Content exclusions
Content exclusions were set to maintain clear brand positioning, ensuring the client is not mentioned in excluded contexts.
Backlink targeting
Smart Select was chosen – balancing the best outcomes for relevance, traffic, and authority. DA40 / DA50 / DA60+ options remain available when DA is the primary goal.
Audience targeting
Global TLD targeting balances authoritative prospects with geographic relevance. This allowed for a mix of authoritative .coms as well as niche .us placements.
URL & anchor text
The target URL and anchor text were entered here. Clicking ‘Add’ opens another placement slot, so you can set up additional articles/backlinks.
Approvals
Clients who prefer oversight can tick either box to review article drafts or site choices before anything goes live. Left unchecked allows for fully managed publishing
Content Production
Topic Refinement
The platform refines and expands any client-submitted topics, layering in deep research from the brief, industry news, and expert commentary.
Autonomous Ideation
If no topics are provided, the system analyses the client brief, scans current industry news, and reviews fresh expert commentary to surface the most relevant angles.
Content Drafting
The platform generates an editorial-quality draft for each theme, integrating case studies, data points, expert quotes, and the client’s core expertise.
Link & Media Enrichment
We embed contextual backlinks to the client’s pages, add relevant images, and include external citations, ensuring each article is rich, credible and visually engaging.
Editorial QA
Our team then verifies all facts, polishes tone, and ensures brand mentions read as genuine insight, not promotional content.
Monthly Process
Research & Content
AI agents conduct deep research across industry sources and expert commentary, drafting editorial-quality articles that blend real-world examples, mini case studies, and the client’s career-development expertise.
Every piece is then proofread to verify facts and align tone with the client’s messaging.
Prospecting
This client chose Smart Select to score thousands of sites on relevance, traffic, backlink health authority and other ranking factors. DA-first targeting is available when strict authority ranges are required. Only the top-scoring candidates advance to outreach.
Approvals
Clients can opt in for Content Approval and/or Placement Approval before publication. This optional oversight ensures both messaging and partner selection meet their standards.
Unlimited revisions and full Google Docs access enable real-time collaboration.
Outreach
Each article is pitched as an insight-driven piece. The client selected a 30-day drip-feed delivery window (versus 1- or 2-week options), allowing slower-responding but highly authoritative sites time to accept. These negotiations secured placements on relevant sites that boost search visibility.
Publication
Accepted articles publish within 24–72 hours on approved, reputable sites, featuring natural brand mentions and targeted anchor text aligned with SEO objectives. Each placement is relevant to career development topics, reinforcing the client’s expertise.
Link Building Strategy
Strategic Blog Selection
We targeted sites where career development and leadership content naturally belonged, ensuring editorial placements felt authentic to readers.
Backlink Distribution
Branded anchor links to the homepage establish natural link patterns and strengthen overall domain authority. While not the primary traffic goal, these links support the entire site’s search performance and avoid over-optimisation flags.
The client allocated more links to their primary service page based on higher keyword competition, with other target pages receiving proportional distribution.
The sites named in the diagram are examples.
Results
Baseline and Month 12 are monthly totals (per month).
Organic Traffic – Monthly organic visits from Google Search.
AI Citation Rate – Percentage of tracked AI search prompts where the brand was cited or referenced in the AI answer. Tracked prompts were kept consistent throughout the 12-month period.
Conversions – Monthly conversion actions from organic search (eg demo requests or enquiry submissions).
KPI
Organic Traffic
AI Citation Rate
Conversions
Baseline
7,000 /per month
0% /per month
68 /per month
Month 12
25,000 /per month
88% /per month
186 /per month
Change
↑ 257%
↑ 88 pp
↑ 174%
Over 12 months, monthly organic traffic increased from 7,000 to 25,000 (+257%) and monthly conversions rose from 68 to 186 (+174%). AI visibility also shifted from zero tracked citations to being referenced in 88% of tracked AI search prompts, reflecting stronger rankings and wider third-party coverage.
Key Takeaways
Sustained Visibility Momentum
Strategic, relevance-led link building delivered a 257% traffic increase and secured Top 3 rankings for key product pages, demonstrating the compounding returns of steady, high-authority placements.
AI Search Visibility Surge
Initially absent from AI-generated results, the brand gained citations across platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity in 88% of tracked queries – driven by improved rankings and location-targeted content that fed directly into AI summaries and recommendations.
Commercial Impact Delivered
Conversions grew from 68 to 186 per month, confirming that this wasn’t just vanity traffic – these were engaged prospects aligned with high-intent search queries.
Results You'll Love
ROI You'll Love Even More
We've been using Rank Engine for our PR…
We've been using Rank Engine for our PR campaigns this past year. Their articles are well researched op-eds- our clients are very pleased. Recently we had a client with a reputation issue where Rank Engine helped us push down the negative content...
William
Impressive service!
If there's one thing that really stands out about Rank Engine, it's their support team. They always get back to me quickly with detailed answers, and handle any query I throw at them. They've turned what would have been a complex process...
Roz Evans
Rank Engine is the best content and…
Rank Engine is the best content and link provider I've ever used, and I've tried quite a few... It's refreshing to see content that enhances my brand's presence without feeling promotional.
Jules Klein
Exceptional service
Exceptional service! I ordered DA50+ contextual links and Rank Engine over-delivered on domain authority. The content used was well beyond expectations. Very good, engaging, and I really like their approach to link building...
Stan Tongsawat
The value you get for your money...
The value you get for your money is fantastic. All link placements have been on point. Their support team is super responsive and patient, even with my zillion questions. Rank Engine is my go-to for all link building!
Trisha
I'm glad I discovered this service
Great service from these guys and good price points too!
They are also very responsive and answer questions clearly, which is important to those of us just learning about SEO
Victor Leppky
Very happy with Rank Engine
We had a video call and worked out a link building plan for my business. Knowing which pages and keywords to use made the actual ordering process very quick and easy.
Stephen Murphy
I've been through my fair share...
I've been through my fair share of link building services and Rank Engine stands out for its transparency and adaptability. From the get-go, they've been open about their methods and progress, giving me a clear view...
James S.
We started using Rank Engine a few…
We started using Rank Engine a few months ago... so far so good. Their prices are lower than others we've seen, and they've been consistently delivering quality links and content.
Emma Hower
The websites always have very good DA
The websites always have very good DA, DR and traffic scores. The articles far exceed expectations! It's very high quality and promotes my brand authentically. Love it! Much better than any other backlink service I've used. Keep it up!
Anthony
Our first time using Rank Engine
Great experience from beginning to end. I had an initial consultation with James who is very knowledgeable and helpful. Our order was completed quickly and we received high quality contextual placements
Peter Stirling
Case Studies
Increase Organic & AI Visibility
With organic growth flat for six months and no visibility in AI search engines, we provisioned a 12-month “authority lift” plan to transform their organic and AI search visibility.
