SEO

Be the answer on Google in AI search in your market when it counts

SEO for owner-led businesses that want to be found by the people already looking for them, whether they’re typing into Google or asking an AI.

One hourly rate. No contracts. No packages. No mystery reports.

What to expect, and when ↗

ILLUSTRATIVE SEARCH RESULT

Who can help with my next project?

✳

Your business. In the answer.

Clear expertise. Trusted sources. Easy to find.

GOOGLE & MAPS ✳ AI VISIBILITY ✳ NO CONTRACTS. EVER.

SCROLL TO EXPLORE ↓

THE GOAL DIDN’T CHANGE. HOW YOU WIN DID.

Search changed. Most SEO agencies didn't.

Search used to be ten blue links. Now it’s Google, Maps, AI Overviews, ChatGPT and whatever launches next Tuesday. The goal didn’t change: show up when your customer is looking. How you win did.

OLD SEO

Stuffing keywords until the page reads like a ransom note

Blasting your link to 400 directories nobody visits

Monthly reports full of charts and zero leads

Writing for robots and hoping humans don't notice

USEFUL. UNDERSTANDABLE. TRUSTED.

SEO now

Answering real questions better than anyone else

A fast, clean site that Google and AI tools can easily understand

Authority earned from mentions that actually matter

Reporting tied to calls, forms and sales

In plain English: the old tricks stopped working. What works now is being genuinely useful, and making it easy for search engines and AI tools to tell.

Six steps, repeated and refined. SEO isn’t a project you finish. It’s a system you run.

STEP / 01

Assess

I start with a full SEO assessment: technical health, content, local presence, competitors, and how you show up in AI search. You’ll see exactly where you stand and what’s holding you back.

You get: A prioritized SEO assessment.

STEP / 02

Strategy

We pick the searches that actually drive revenue, not just traffic. Then we build a realistic plan: what to fix, what to create, and how many hours it will take.

You get: A 90-day action plan with hour estimates.

STEP / 03

Foundation

We fix the technical issues Google cares about: speed, indexing, schema markup, broken links, mobile usability and page structure. Clean foundations make everything else work.

You get: A clean, fast site Google and AI tools can read.

STEP / 04

Content

We build and update the pages your customers are actually searching for. Written in your brand voice, optimized by hand, and structured to answer real questions.

You get: Content that ranks and sounds like you.

STEP / 05

Authority

We clean up your local presence, Google Business Profile, citations and relevant industry mentions so search engines trust your business.

You get: Trust signals search engines and AI tools look for.

STEP / 06

Measure

Every month: what we did, what moved, where you rank, and how many leads came from search. Plus the plan for next month, tied to real business numbers.

You get: Plain-English reports tied to leads, not vanity metrics.

In plain English: find the problems, fix the foundation, publish what your customers are searching for, get other sites to vouch for you, and track whether the phone rings.

EVERY PIECE SEARCH NEEDS

What's included

Everything search needs to work, in one place. No upsell for the parts that actually matter.

Technical SEO

Site speed and Core Web Vitals

Indexing and crawl fixes

Schema markup

Redirects and site structure

Ongoing updates and speed improvements

On-page & content

Keyword and topic strategy

Page optimization

New articles and pages

Content refreshes

Local SEO

Google Business Profile

Local listings and citations

Review strategy

Location and service-area pages

AI search optimization

Content structured for AI answers

Brand consistency across the web

FAQ and schema built for AI

AI visibility tracking

Authority building

Digital PR

Local and industry mentions

Partnerships

Quality backlinks

Analytics & reporting

Google Analytics 4 and Search Console

Call and form tracking

Monthly reporting

Quarterly strategy reviews

You don’t need a developer on call. We take care of every technical fix, update and speed improvement.

BE PART OF THE ANSWER

Show up when people ask AI

More of your customers are skipping the search results and asking ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Google’s AI Overviews for a recommendation. Those tools don’t rank pages the old way. They pull from sources they understand and trust, then summarize. If you’re not one of those sources, you’re not in the answer.

Clear answers

Content structured to answer the exact questions your buyers ask, in a format AI tools can lift and quote.

A consistent identity

Your name, services and details match everywhere AI looks, so it knows exactly who you are.

Structured data

Schema markup that tells machines what you do, where you do it and who you do it for.

Third-party proof

Reviews, mentions and citations on sites AI tools already trust.

✳ ANSWER ENGINEILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE

Who can help a business like mine?

✳

Your business belongs in this conversation.

A clear explanation of your expertise, backed by consistent details and trusted sources, gives an answer engine something useful to reference.

1 · Your expertise2 · Independent sources

Ask a follow-up question↑

Concept illustration. Visibility is earned, never guaranteed.

In plain English: AI is the new word of mouth. We make sure it knows your name and says it.

CONSISTENCY WITHOUT THE HOMEWORK

Content that doesn't depend on your free time

SEO runs on content, and content is where most SEO plans quietly die. Same fix as my website projects: you don’t have to write it. You talk, I research, AI handles part of the drafting, and I rewrite every piece in your brand voice so it reads like you, not a robot.

1. Interview

2. Competitor recon

3. AI-built draft

4. Brand voice edit

5. Publish and track

In plain English: AI speeds up the draft. Your brand voice makes it yours. A human edit makes it worth ranking.

NO HIDDEN MATH

Transparent pricing. Imagine that.

Most agencies hide their pricing behind packages, retainers and 12-month contracts. I don’t. One hourly rate, no contracts, and you see every hour I bill.

CONSULTING / SEO

$175

per hour

No contracts. Ever.

No packages or retainers

Every hour itemized

Stop anytime

How billing works

We set the plan

After the assessment, you get a prioritized plan with estimated hours for each piece of work. You know the range before anything starts.

You set the budget

You decide how many hours a month to invest. Scale up when it’s working, scale down when you need to. No minimums.

I do the work

I track time against each task as I go. No padding and no mystery line items.

You see everything

Every invoice lists each task and the hours it took, next to the results it produced.

Many agencies vs. working with me

The details	Many agencies	Working with me
Contracts	6 to 12 month lock-ins	None. Ever. You stay because it’s working.
Pricing	Packages built around their margins	One hourly rate for the work you actually need
Billing	One flat number, zero detail	Every task and every hour itemized
Who does the work	Whoever has time that week	Me, the person you hired
Leaving	Cancellation fees and awkward calls	Stop anytime. You keep everything we built.

In plain English: you pay for the hours worked, you see what every hour went to, and you can walk away whenever you want. If I want to keep you, I have to keep earning it.

CLEAR WORK. CLEAR REPORTING.

No smoke. No mirrors.

What I won't do

Promise you #1 rankings. Nobody can, and anyone who does is selling something.

Buy links or blast your site to junk directories

Lock you into a contract. Ever.

Sell you a package built for my margins instead of your goals

Bury you in reports that never mention leads

What you'll see every month

Where you rank for the searches that matter

How much traffic search sends and where it comes from

Calls, forms and sales from search

How often AI tools mention you

Every hour billed and what it went to

REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS, FROM DAY ONE

What to expect, and when

SEO is a slow cooker, not a microwave. Here’s a realistic timeline for most local and niche businesses. Your plan will include one built for your market.

Weeks 1-2

Assess and plan

A full assessment, priorities and a plan with estimated hours. You’ll know what’s broken and what gets fixed first.

What you’ll see: A clear plan and a realistic timeline for your market.

Month 1

Fix the foundation

Technical fixes, speed improvements, Google Business Profile cleanup and quick wins on pages you already have.

What you’ll see: Fixes completed and pages indexed properly.

Months 2-3

Early movement

New and improved content goes live. Impressions climb, and longer, more specific searches start ranking.

What you’ll see: More people seeing you in search results.

Months 4-6

Real traction

Rankings improve for the searches that matter, traffic grows, and leads from search become noticeable.

What you’ll see: Calls and form fills you can trace back to search.

Months 6-12

Compounding

Authority builds, competitive searches come into reach, and AI tools mention you more often. This is where SEO pays for itself.

What you’ll see: Steady growth you can plan around.

In plain English: you’ll see work in month one, signs of life by month three, and leads by month six for most businesses. Competitive markets take longer, and I’ll tell you that upfront, not after you’ve paid for it.

Every market is different. Timelines depend on your competition, your site’s history and how many hours you invest each month.

THE DETAILS, WITHOUT THE JARGON

SEO questions, straight answers

The questions every owner asks before hiring someone for SEO, answered without the jargon.

Have another question? ↗

Results and timing

How long does SEO take to work?

Technical fixes can show results in weeks. Content and authority usually take three to six months to build real momentum, depending on how competitive your market is. See the timeline above for what each stage looks like. Anyone promising overnight results is selling you a story.

What will I see first?

Activity before outcomes. In the first month you’ll see technical fixes completed and pages indexed properly. Next, impressions climb (more people seeing you in search), then rankings, then clicks, then leads. Each one shows up in your monthly report, so you can see progress before the phone rings.

When will SEO start bringing in leads?

For most local and niche businesses, a noticeable lift in leads from search tends to show up between months four and six. Highly competitive industries or national searches can take longer. Your plan includes realistic expectations for your market, not a sales pitch.

What can slow results down?

A slow site nobody fixes, thin content that doesn’t answer questions, a Google penalty from old spammy links, or changing directions every six weeks. SEO works when it’s consistent.

Is it normal for rankings to bounce around?

Yes, especially in the first few months. Google tests pages, competitors update content, and algorithms shift. Look at the three-month trend, not yesterday’s position.

How soon will AI tools start mentioning my business?

AI tools move faster than traditional SEO once the foundation is in place. If your site has clear, authoritative answers and consistent citations, tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity can start citing you in weeks.

Can you guarantee first-page rankings?

No, and nobody else can either. Google’s algorithms are outside anyone’s control. What I guarantee is the work: thorough research, technical fixes done right, content written for your audience, and honest reporting every month.

What if it isn't working?

We look at the data and adjust. If impressions are up but clicks aren’t, we rewrite titles. If traffic is up but leads aren’t, we fix the offer and the page layout. If nothing is moving after 90 days, we revisit the strategy together. You’re never locked into a contract, so you always have the final say.

Working together

What is AI search optimization?

It’s optimizing your content so conversational AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews) understand who you are, trust your business and recommend you when someone asks a relevant question. It builds on good SEO, not replaces it.

Do I need SEO if I'm already running ads?

Ads get you traffic as long as you pay for it. The day you stop paying, traffic drops to zero. SEO builds an asset that keeps working and reduces your reliance on paid clicks over time.

Should I focus on local or national SEO?

If your customers are in a specific geographic area, local SEO is the fastest and most cost-effective path. If you sell everywhere or run an ecommerce store, national search makes sense. We’ll look at where your revenue comes from and focus there first.

Do I have to write the content?

No. You talk, I research, AI helps draft, and I rewrite every page in your brand voice. Your job is to tell me about your business and approve the final draft.

Do you use AI to write content?

In part. AI speeds up competitor research and initial drafting. Then I rewrite and optimize every sentence by hand so it sounds like you, not a robot. AI helps us move fast; it never gets the final word.

Do I need a new website before starting SEO?

Usually not. Most sites need technical cleanup, better content and clear schema markup, not a total rebuild. If your site is genuinely holding you back, I’ll tell you before you spend money on SEO.

Do you handle the technical fixes, or do I need a developer?

I handle the technical fixes myself or with my trusted partners. Speed improvements, schema markup, redirects, crawl fixes, and layout adjustments are all included.

What's in the monthly report?

Four things: what was done, where your rankings moved, how many visits and leads came from search, and what’s planned for next month. No 40-page PDF filled with jargon.

Is there a contract?

No. Never. Every engagement is month-to-month at one flat hourly rate. You can pause or stop anytime.

How does pricing work?

One hourly rate: $175 per hour. No packages, no retainers. You set the monthly budget, and every invoice shows exactly what was done and how many hours it took.

How much will SEO cost me each month?

Most clients invest between 10 and 25 hours per month ($1,750 to $4,375), depending on their market and goals. We set the hours together based on what makes sense for your budget.

How is this different from agency SEO packages?

Agencies sell tiered packages designed for their margins, and hand the work to junior staff. With me, you get a senior strategist actually doing the work, zero contracts, and transparent hourly billing.

YOUR NEXT MOVE STARTS HERE

Find out where you stand

Start with a free Digital Ecosystem Assessment. I’ll look at your site, your search presence and your competitors, then tell you where the fastest wins are. Worst case, you walk away with a to-do list.

Or email nick@nickpackard.com / (414) 416-3335

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