Search works differently depending on what you sell and who’s looking. An online store competes with marketplaces, a clinic has to earn trust on health questions, and a local business wins or loses in the map results. These pages explain how SEO and AI search work in each industry I work in, with the results and case studies behind them.
Retail and ecommerce
Ecommerce and Shopify
Collection pages, product data, question-led content and joined-up Google Ads, from stores that generated more than 64 million impressions between them in the past 12 months.
Jewellery and luxury retail
Education content, gifting searches and AI Overview visibility for high-consideration purchases.
Beauty and lash retailers
Guides and collection pages that answer what shoppers ask before they buy, from a lash retailer that earned 31.5 million impressions in 12 months.
Home, garage and DIY products
Problem-led content and product pages for practical products people search for when something needs fixing.
Local and service businesses
Local businesses
Owning the searches for your name and area, Google Business Profile and turning local searches into enquiries.
Caravan and holiday parks
Winning the searches that are still yours, with practical pages that answer what visitors and owners ask.
Hospitality and restaurants
Location pages, menus, mobile speed and “near me” searches for restaurants, holiday parks and venues.
Trades and professional services
Trades and contractors
Getting found for the jobs you want more of, and competing with directories that outrank most trade websites.
Plumbers
Emergency searches, the map listing and the difference between a callout and the work that pays.
Electricians
Domestic and commercial work behave differently in search, and most electrician sites are built for neither.
Roofers
An emergency leak and a planned re-roof are different customers, and a roofing site usually serves only one.
Builders
Extensions, loft conversions and renovations are researched for weeks and judged on finished work, so job pages and project pages carry the most weight.
Painters and decorators
Getting work arriving directly instead of only through the platforms you’re already paying.
Driving schools and driver training
Finding out why enquiries from Google changed, and fixing the Business Profile, course pages and tracking.
Garages and MOT centres
Competing with the chains on local searches, and the narrower jobs where far fewer businesses are bidding.
Cleaning companies
Home and business customers search and decide differently, so they need separate pages and a booking route that suits each.
Nurseries and childcare
Parents research carefully and locally, and the decision is made long before the enquiry arrives.
Accountants
Tax questions are exactly what AI assistants answer well, which changes what a practice website is for.
Law firms and solicitors
People search the problem, not the firm. Structuring a site around that instead of around practice areas.
Motoring solicitors
Urgent, offence-specific searches, often on a phone, where clients will instruct a firm who isn’t local.
Recruitment agencies
Two audiences on one website, and why the side that pays your fees is usually the thinner half of it.
Software development companies
Winning considered, high-value projects from businesses comparing a few suppliers, where proof and enquiry tracking matter more than traffic.
Health, education and non-profits
Fertility clinics
Protecting a clinic’s search visibility through a redesign, and making treatment pages findable and useful.
Healthcare and clinics
Trustworthy treatment pages, careful migrations and clear answers on health questions.
Education and training
Course and subject pages, and search for schools, colleges and training providers.
Charities and non-profits
Protecting donation and information pages, and earning visibility for the causes people search.
Property and publishing
Estate agents
The search worth winning is a vendor looking for a valuation, which is a different job from competing with the portals.
Letting agents
Landlord enquiries, genuine local knowledge and the process questions, plus how student lettings differ.
Student accommodation
City guides and property pages that answer what students ask when choosing where to live.
Publishers and affiliate sites
Content structure, deep guides and building visibility for new and established content sites.
Not sure where you fit?
Most of what works in search is the same across industries: pages Google can crawl, content that answers real questions and a business people trust. The case studies show that in practice. If you’d like to know what it means for your business, get in touch or ask for a free assessment.