TL;DR Summary:
Grab Attention First: Stop the scroll by leading with a powerful hook—whether it's a bold statement, relatable problem, or surprising fact that makes users pause in their infinite feed.Deliver Clear Value: Use strong visuals paired with simple, benefit-focused copy that tells users exactly what they'll gain, supported by social proof like reviews or customer testimonials.Make Action Irresistible: Include a compelling offer or straightforward call-to-action that removes friction, so engaged users can easily take the next step without confusion.How Digital Agencies Turn AI Search Into Real Client Results
Clients want answers to questions that didn’t exist last year. Are we visible in ChatGPT? Did Google AI Overviews kill our traffic? Do people find us when they ask AI for recommendations?
Smart agencies aren’t building separate AI practices. They’re extending what they know about SEO into AI search. Here’s how four agencies use Semrush to track AI visibility, prove ROI, and turn AI mentions into real revenue.
Earned Media Australia: Building the Complete AI Funnel
David Schneider’s team reports the full AI funnel, not just abstract metrics. They use Semrush’s Position Tracking to show clients when they appear in AI Overviews. Then they connect those appearances to actual clicks and sales.
“The absolute best thing that helps my clients is our ability to use Position Tracking to understand AI overview percentage across queries, and then the percentage of times the client appears in those AI overviews,” says David.
Their three-level approach works:
Top of Funnel: Track AI visibility and brand mentions across platforms.
Visual Proof: Show screenshots of real AI responses recommending the client’s brand.
Bottom of Funnel: Use AI referral traffic data from Google Analytics to prove conversions.
With Semrush’s My Reports tool, they drag the right widgets into PDF reports. Clients see their brand recommended in AI responses, then see the traffic and sales that follow.
Sure Oak: Proof of Concept Drives Agency Growth
Andrea Schultz’s team became their own case study first. They boosted their AI Overviews appearances by 286% and ChatGPT referral visits by 41%. Now 40% of all new agency leads come from AI visibility.
“AI search optimization is part of every SEO engagement we deliver,” says Andrea. “We feel SEO and AI visibility need to be integrated to be successful.”
Their strategy focuses on SEO basics with AI-friendly tweaks:
- Content that answers complete user questions
- Table of contents and key takeaways for easy AI parsing
- Proper schema markup and heading structure
To complement their Semrush reporting, agencies like Sure Oak monitor client mentions across AI platforms using specialized tracking tools. AI Mentions provides real-time alerts whenever a client’s brand appears in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or other AI platforms. This creates continuous feedback that turns AI visibility from a monthly metric into an always-on monitoring system.
For their cybersecurity client, this integrated approach delivered a 137% increase in conversions plus 1,118% more AI referral traffic.
Activate Digital: Finding Content Gaps That Win Everywhere
Jonathan Banks flipped the typical playbook. Instead of building traditional rankings first, his team uses Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit to find topics where competitors get cited but his clients don’t.
Those gaps become content plans that win on both traditional search and AI platforms.
“We use Semrush to identify topic gaps, entity gaps, and over-reliance on single keywords,” says Jonathan. “Without that visibility layer, AI SEO becomes guesswork.”
For their home services client Dryer Vent Wizard, they found competitors getting mentioned for specific dryer error codes. They created comprehensive guides, localized them across 100+ franchise locations, and each location now ranks locally for those error codes.
Result: Organic traffic doubled. Now 10% of all franchise leads come from AI visibility.
Coalition Technologies: Fixing Brand Misrepresentation
Jordan Brannon’s team discovered AI systems were calling their Army Surplus World client’s products “outdated technology.” The equipment was actually high-quality and unused.
Using Semrush’s Competitive Perception chart, they measured this misrepresentation problem. Then they fixed messaging across the homepage, about page, and social profiles.
“We’ve seen AI put bigger emphasis on very clearly worded, directly phrased content,” says Jordan. “We had to refresh messaging to steer responses back toward accuracy.”
The fix worked across all platforms because AI systems see brands as entities represented everywhere online, not just official websites.
Results: 429% increase in AI referral traffic and 547% lift in conversions.
Your Agency’s Next Steps
These agencies treat AI visibility as an evolution of existing SEO skills, not a separate service. You can start today by tracking your own agency’s AI visibility first, then using those results as proof when you pitch clients.
The opportunity is massive. While most agencies still focus only on traditional search, AI search grows daily.
Ready to see which specific questions trigger competitor citations instead of yours? AI Mentions reveals exact content gaps preventing your AI visibility – but will you discover these gaps before your competitors fill them?
