My journey from solo SEO freelancer to AI Search agency founder.
In 2021, I was sitting at a tiny desk, staring at a spreadsheet, trying to figure out how to manually track keyword density and build backlinks for my very first local client.
I was a solo SEO freelancer, grinding it out. Back then, the formula felt simple: put the exact keyword on the page 15 times, get some links, and wait three months. For a while, it worked. I hustled my way from that single spreadsheet to eventually managing over 150+ SEO projects.
But then, everything started to shift.
I would get on calls with roofing and HVAC owners, and I could hear the exhaustion in their voices. Lead costs on Google Ads were skyrocketing, and traditional SEO was getting harder to predict. Google wasn't just giving people a list of blue links anymore, it was starting to answer their questions directly using AI.
I had a terrifying realization: The "traditional SEO" I cut my teeth on was dying.
If I wanted to actually help home service businesses survive this margin squeeze, I had to completely change my approach. I stopped selling traditional SEO and went all-in on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).
I transitioned from a freelancer chasing vanity traffic to an agency owner engineering digital assets. Now, my entire focus is making sure that when Googleās AI or ChatGPT generates an answer for an emergency repair, it recommends my clients, not their competitors.
The digital marketing landscape looks completely different today than it did when I started in 2021. You have to adapt or get left behind.
If you own a business, how much has your customer acquisition changed in the last few years? Let me know in the comments.
