How a marketing agency increased organic clicks by 20% and doubled AI-driven traffic
Phrase It helped an established marketing agency turn its existing search visibility into more website traffic. During the measured period, organic clicks increased by approximately 20%, organic click-through rate improved by 28%, and average search position improved by 6.69 places—even as impressions declined. Sessions attributed to AI assistants doubled, AI-driven views increased by 63%, and the channel generated three tracked key events.
An established website was visible, but too much traffic depended on the homepage
The client is an established marketing agency with a website spanning service pages, case studies, and educational content. The site already appeared across a substantial range of searches, but visibility was not converting into traffic as efficiently as it could.
The homepage generated most organic visits. Several commercially valuable pages appeared frequently in search results but earned few or no clicks, leaving service, portfolio, and editorial content underused as entry points.
AI-assisted discovery was emerging at the same time. Visitors had begun arriving from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Copilot, but the agency needed a clearer view of which assistants and landing pages contributed traffic—and whether those visits led to meaningful actions.
The engagement therefore connected two acquisition channels: established organic search and the developing opportunity presented by AI assistants.
- Established marketing-agency website with service, portfolio, and editorial pages
- Organic traffic concentrated heavily on the homepage
- High-impression deeper pages earning few or no clicks
- Early referrals from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Copilot
More impressions would not solve an inefficient search footprint
The central problem was not a simple lack of search exposure. The agency already appeared in search results at scale, but many impressions did not become visits. Improving performance meant making existing visibility more useful: strengthening rankings, earning a higher share of available clicks, and helping strategically important pages become credible entry points in their own right.
That required a page-level view. Aggregate traffic could show whether the channel grew, but it could not reveal which pages were improving, which were stalled, or where high visibility represented an unrealized opportunity.
AI referral data required similar care. Assistant traffic was measurable but still relatively small, source naming varied by platform, and a session alone did not prove commercial impact. The reporting therefore had to separate visibility, visits, views, and tracked key events rather than treating every AI referral as a conversion.
AI referral performance
| Metric | May 1–September 14 | Previous equivalent period | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI-related sessions | 118 | 59 | +100% |
| Views from AI referrals | 218 | 134 | ≈+63% |
| AI-attributed key events | 3 | Not stated | Current-period total only |
| ChatGPT sessions | 110 | Not stated | 93% of current AI sessions |
- Low click-through efficiency across a large impression base
- Dependence on one dominant organic landing page
- Commercially relevant pages visible but under-clicked
- Small, emerging AI channel requiring careful attribution
Measure whether visibility was turning into visits and meaningful actions
Phrase It evaluated performance across traditional organic search and AI-assisted discovery as connected parts of the same search journey.
For organic search, we compared landing-page clicks, impressions, click-through rate, and average position with the previous equivalent period. Looking beyond sitewide totals showed where rankings and click efficiency were improving, which deeper pages were beginning to contribute, and where visible pages still failed to attract visits.
For AI discovery, we monitored identifiable sessions, views, landing pages, sources, and tracked key events associated with leading assistants. This made it possible to see not only whether AI traffic increased, but also which platforms supplied it, where visitors landed, and whether any tracked actions followed.
The analysis created a practical priority list: protect the gains on the homepage, strengthen pages already showing commercial or recruitment value, and improve high-impression pages whose search snippets or on-page alignment were not yet earning clicks.
Organic search performance
| Metric | May 1–September 14 | Previous equivalent period | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic clicks | 681 | ≈567 | ≈+20% |
| Impressions | 121,685 | 129,597 | -6.1% |
| Organic CTR | ≈0.56% | ≈0.44% | ≈+28% relative |
| Weighted average position | 16.58 | 23.27 | Improved by 6.69 places |
- Compared organic landing-page performance across equivalent periods
- Evaluated clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position together
- Tracked AI sessions, views, landing pages, sources, and key events
- Prioritized high-visibility pages with unrealized traffic potential
Organic clicks grew by 20% while AI-driven sessions doubled
From May 1 through September 14, the agency generated 681 organic clicks, compared with approximately 567 during the previous equivalent period. That represents an estimated 20% increase.
The increase came despite a 6.1% decline in impressions, from 129,597 to 121,685. Organic click-through rate improved from approximately 0.44% to 0.56%—a 28% relative improvement—while weighted average position improved from 23.27 to 16.58. In other words, the site gained 6.69 average ranking positions and converted its available search visibility into traffic more efficiently.
The homepage delivered the largest absolute gain. Clicks increased from 493 to 608, traffic grew by 23.3%, CTR improved from 0.52% to 0.70%, and average position moved from 27.30 to 17.52. It accounted for approximately 89% of recorded organic clicks.
Growth also began to extend beyond the homepage. A recruitment page doubled its clicks from 7 to 14 while impressions increased by 148%. A primary conversion page doubled its clicks from 3 to 6, and another recruitment resource held its click volume while improving from an average position of 7.26 to 5.36.
AI-assisted discovery produced the strongest relative channel growth. Sessions attributed to AI assistants and related referrals increased from 59 to 118, while views increased from 134 to 218. The channel also generated three tracked key events during the current period.
Homepage organic performance
| Metric | May 1–September 14 | Previous equivalent period | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic clicks | 608 | 493 | +23.3% |
| Organic CTR | 0.70% | 0.52% | +34.6% relative |
| Average position | 17.52 | 27.30 | Improved by 9.78 places |
- 681 organic clicks, up from approximately 567
- Organic CTR improved from approximately 0.44% to 0.56%
- Weighted average position improved by 6.69 places
- AI-related sessions increased from 59 to 118
- AI-driven views increased from 134 to 218
- Three AI-attributed key events were recorded
The clearest growth opportunity is already visible in the data
The result showed that SEO and AI visibility can reinforce one another. The website earned more organic visits from fewer impressions, while useful homepage and portfolio content also attracted measurable referrals from AI assistants.
The data also exposed the next set of opportunities. A case-studies page generated 2,612 impressions at an average position of 5.61 but attracted little traffic. An agency-selection guide reached 1,055 impressions at position 9.04. An advertising ROI article generated 4,229 impressions, while a B2B social media article generated 1,036. These pages already have search exposure, making their titles, descriptions, intent alignment, internal links, and answer structure high-priority areas for improvement.
AI traffic also remains concentrated. ChatGPT supplied 110 of the 118 AI-related sessions—approximately 93% of the measured channel. The next phase should protect that visibility while improving discoverability in Gemini, Claude, and Copilot and strengthening conversion paths from the deeper pages those systems surface.
The goal is broader, more conversion-ready growth: less dependence on the homepage, more clicks from pages already ranking, and clearer measurement of the actions visitors take after discovering the agency through either Google or an AI assistant.
- Improve snippets and intent alignment on high-impression, low-click pages
- Distribute more organic traffic across service, portfolio, recruitment, and editorial content
- Strengthen internal links and conversion paths from deeper landing pages
- Diversify AI visibility beyond ChatGPT
Questions about the work and results
What period does this case study cover?
The current reporting window runs from May 1 through September 14 and is compared with the previous equivalent period. Confirm the year and exact comparison dates in the source dashboards before publication.
How did organic clicks increase when impressions declined?
The website became more efficient at converting search visibility into visits. Organic CTR improved from approximately 0.44% to 0.56%, while weighted average position improved from 23.27 to 16.58. Stronger rankings and click-through performance produced more clicks despite fewer total impressions.
Which AI assistant generated the most referral traffic?
ChatGPT supplied 110 of the 118 measured AI-related sessions, or approximately 93%. Claude, Gemini, and Copilot contributed the remaining visits. These figures describe identifiable referral traffic in analytics, not every occasion on which an assistant may have mentioned or cited the agency.
What clients say after the work ships.
Phrase It wrote SEO content for us, and we were really pleased with the results. The content was well researched, strategically optimized for search, and written with both our audience and business goals in mind. They understood our brand quickly and delivered polished, useful content that reads naturally. The entire process was smooth and professional.
I've worked with Tamara for four years now, and at this point she's the only writer I send blog work to. She hits every deadline, she's organized (nothing falls through the cracks) and the posts she writes actually rank. Some of the posts are still pulling traffic a few years later, which is the whole point and is harder to find than it should be. She's written for multiple of my clients and adjusts her voice to each one without me having to explain it twice. When you run a small agency, the people you can delegate to and stop thinking about are worth a lot. I never have to worry about Tamara; I just know every month the work is done.
Working with Phrase It has made a real difference to our inbound marketing. We achieved first-page rankings across our main service categories, while qualified inbound leads increased by 286% year over year. We’re now even seeing Colour Fiction recommended in ChatGPT when prospective clients look for services like ours. Tamara understands how to connect search visibility with actual business opportunities.
Phrase It helped turn SEO into a measurable revenue channel for our business. The work influenced more than $356,000 in revenue, giving us a clear commercial return - not simply more traffic or better rankings. Tamara kept the strategy focused on the searches and pages that could genuinely contribute to growth.
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