Once we aligned our content with buyer intent and expanded our presence across both traditional search and AI discovery platforms, organic moved from a traffic channel to a true pipeline driver.
– Graysen Christopher, Director of Content Strategy
The Challenge
By 2023, our organic search performance had significantly declined. We faced three core obstacles:
- Lack of B2B Visibility
We had virtually no visibility for B2B informational topics and weren’t yet a dominant player in organic and AI search. - Decaying Legacy Content
Older blog content was no longer aligned with current search intent and was gradually losing rankings. - Limited Bottom-of-Funnel Coverage
We were not ranking strongly for many of the searches where buyers actively evaluate marketing agencies and solutions.
Our Strategy
To regain our share of high-intent search demand, we focused on three strategic priorities. This approach allowed us to capture demand across both traditional search engines and emerging AI-driven discovery channels.
- Expanding bottom-of-funnel keyword coverage
- Creating high-performing comparison and listicle content
- Increasing our visibility across AI-driven search and discovery platforms
Bottom-of-Funnel SEO Expansion
Our first priority was capturing more high-intent searches tied directly to vendor evaluation
We focused on ranking for queries where marketing leaders are actively researching agencies, services, and solutions.
This included:
- Agency comparison searches
- Vendor evaluation queries
- Service-focused keywords
- Strategic marketing solution searches
By targeting these queries, we ensured organic traffic translated directly into qualified pipeline.
Listicle and Comparison Content
Listicles and comparison articles became a core part of our strategy.
These formats perform extremely well for both traditional search engines and AI-generated responses.
Examples included:
- Best B2B marketing agencies
- Top SEO agencies in 2026
- Best demand generation agencies
- Best paid media agencies
These pages helped us capture high-intent traffic from buyers actively evaluating vendors while also increasing our visibility within AI-generated answers.
Content 150 Initiative
In Q4 2025, we launched an aggressive publishing initiative called Content 150.
The goal was simple: reclaim our share of the internet by dramatically expanding our coverage of bottom-of-funnel search queries.
Over one quarter we:
- Wrote and published 150 new blog articles
- Targeted high-intent SEO and marketing queries
- Built topical authority across our core service areas
This initiative significantly expanded our keyword footprint and accelerated our organic visibility growth.
The Results
Our strategy generated significant improvements across multiple performance metrics.
- +190% growth in Page 1 keywords (1,152 → 3,337)
- +162% growth in monthly organic traffic
- +145% growth in non-branded MQLs
Non-Branded MQLs by Month
Business Impact
The increase in bottom-of-funnel visibility translated directly into pipeline growth, unlocking organic search as a major revenue driver.
- $2.87M non-branded closed-won revenue in H2
- 14x increase in non-branded revenue (H2 vs H1)
Dominating AI Discovery
Search behavior is rapidly shifting toward AI-powered research.
Since June 2025, we increased our presence across tracked LLM prompts by 56%.
Today we hold 24% share of AI brand mentions, making Directive the most visible agency across tracked prompts.
LLM Visibility Share
We appear more than twice as often as the next closest competitor.
Modern discoverability doesn’t stop at traditional search. By combining SEO and GEO, we help brands capture demand across the entire search ecosystem, from high-intent bottom-of-funnel queries to AI-generated answers and recommendation engines. If your content isn’t optimized for both, you’re leaving pipeline on the table.
