They Fixed What We Found.
Here's What Happened.
Real businesses. Real scores. Real traffic recovery.
"We had no idea AI bots were blocked. Fixed it in an hour. Calls started picking up within 3 weeks."
- Added FAQ schema to 12 service pages
- Restructured content with clear H2/H3 hierarchy
- Unblocked GPTBot and ClaudeBot in robots.txt
- Added author bios and publish dates
Organic traffic up 41% in 6 weeks
"The report told us exactly what to fix. Our developer implemented everything in two afternoons."
- Added Product and Organization schema
- Created Q&A sections on top 20 product pages
- Fixed missing meta descriptions on 45 pages
- Added alt text to 200+ product images
Product page traffic up 28% in 8 weeks
"Google's AI started citing our custody FAQ page within 3 weeks of adding schema. Best ROI we've seen."
- Added FAQPage schema to 8 practice area pages
- Added attorney bios with credentials and bar numbers
- Restructured blog posts with question-answer format
- Added sitemap.xml and submitted to search consoles
Lead inquiries up 34% in 5 weeks
What They All Had in Common
Sound familiar?
Scores reflect AEO audit results before and after implementing recommended fixes. Industry details anonymized per privacy policy.
Documented by Connor Whitlock, Founder · Cited Digital · Published · Updated
How we measured these results
Each before/after pair above represents a real Cited Digital audit and a real implementation. The scoring system is identical: every site was evaluated by the same audit engine, with the same five weighted categories (Content Structure 30%, Technical 25%, E-E-A-T 23%, Schema 12%, Meta 10%).
The "before" score is the audit baseline — what we found on the site before any work. The "after" score is a fresh audit run on the same site after the client implemented the prioritized fixes from their report. Time elapsed between baseline and re-audit is shown per case.
What's typically driving the lift
Across the case studies above and the broader Cited Digital audit corpus (1,168+ sites, see our 2026 State of AEO research), the same fixes account for most of the score improvement:
1. Adding FAQPage schema with matching visible content
Single highest-leverage move. Question-headed sections drive a 180% increase in AI citation rate per Previsible's 2024 prompt research. Most sites are missing this entirely. Step-by-step guide.
2. Unblocking AI crawlers in robots.txt
23% of sites in our corpus block at least one of GPTBot, ClaudeBot, CCBot, or PerplexityBot — often unintentionally as a side effect of legacy SEO plugins. One-line fix.
3. Adding named author bylines + credentials
E-E-A-T signals (per Google's documented guidelines) heavily weight whether an author is named, has visible credentials, and is verifiable through external profiles like LinkedIn. Most sites use "by the team" — a meaningful weakness.
4. Restructuring content with proper heading hierarchy
Walls of paragraphs without question-headed sections, lists, or tables score poorly. AI engines extract from structured content, not prose. Reading-grade level matters too — grade 6-8 gets 15% more citations than grade 11+ per SE Ranking's 2024 research.
5. Adding Article + Organization + BreadcrumbList schema
Every content page should have at least 3-4 schema types: a content type (Article, BlogPosting, HowTo), an organization context (Organization, LocalBusiness), and a navigation context (BreadcrumbList). Most sites have only Organization, if anything.
Frequently asked questions about these results
Are these results typical?
The case studies above represent successful implementations — sites where the client actually applied the fixes. Across the broader corpus, score improvements range widely depending on how many fixes get implemented. Most sites that fully implement see 30-50 point lifts; partial implementation produces 10-25 point lifts.
How long does the score lift take?
Schema and crawl fixes show up in audit re-scores within 1-2 weeks. AI citation lift (the actual business outcome) takes 4-12 weeks because AI engines need time to recrawl and update their citation graphs. The 3-week and 6-week case studies above are typical of audit-re-score timing.
Did these clients pay for the Fix Pack or implement themselves?
Mix of both. The HVAC and ecommerce cases above implemented in-house using the Fix Manifest from their $497 audit. The law firm case used the $1,997 Fix Pack where we apply fixes directly.
Can I see the actual reports these clients received?
No — those reports are confidential to the clients who paid for them. But the sample report (PDF) shows the same format and depth, anonymized.
Will my site get the same lift?
Depends on (a) where you start (sites under 50 have more headroom), (b) how many fixes you implement (the report ranks them by impact, so even fixing the top 3 produces measurable lift), and (c) your industry's competitive AEO baseline. Run the free audit to see exactly where you stand.
Is there a guarantee?
If your $497 paid audit returns fewer than 5 specific actionable fixes, we refund every dollar. We can't guarantee a specific score lift because implementation is on you, but we can guarantee the report contains substantively actionable work to do.
The case studies above are anonymized to respect client confidentiality. Aggregate data (industry score distributions, common-issue rates, fix-difficulty rankings) is published in our 2026 State of AEO research report for anyone who wants the bigger picture.
Want to see your own before-state?
The free audit at the top of citeddigital.co/audit gives you the same baseline these case studies started from. 60 seconds, no signup, no card. Then you decide whether the $497 full report (DIY implementation) or the $1,997 Fix Pack (we implement) makes sense.