SEO and AI search

ITAA had dozens of articles on each software publisher, many covering overlapping ground, so neither search engines nor AI tools had a single page to trust as the authority on each topic.

What I did

• Planned a pillar guide for each major publisher, starting with IBM audits and following with Oracle and SAP.

• Structured each guide as numbered stages, with a short, practical answer in every section and a link to the full article underneath, so each guide anchors a cluster of supporting content and passes authority to it.

• Wrote each section to answer a specific question directly, in language AI tools can lift and credit, and added FAQs written as direct answers.

• Added an in-page contents list, relevant case studies and a contact route so search traffic had a clear next step.

Outcome

SEO and AEO performance both improved. The guides quickly lifted ITAA’s visibility for publisher-related search queries, and AI tools began sourcing ITAA alongside Oracle, IBM and SAP themselves when answering related questions. For ‘what data do IBM auditors ask for’, the IBM guide ranks first in Google and is the top source in the AI Overview above it.

See them live

• Oracle Licensing Guide

• IBM Audits and License Compliance guide

• SAP Licensing, Contracts and S/4HANA guide

Buyers increasingly ask Google or an AI tool a question before they look for a supplier. ITAA’s pages explained the services well but didn’t answer the questions buyers ask while they’re still working out what’s wrong.

What I did

• Added FAQ sections to the publisher pillar guides and a set of IBM service pages, choosing questions that showed up in real Search Console and Semrush data.

• Led every answer with a direct one-sentence response, the part AI Overviews and chatbots tend to quote, using only facts ITAA had already published or the team had signed off.

• Kept every question focused on the buyer’s problem so the pages earn a place in answers before a buyer knows who to call.

Outcome

These were the pages that improved. Google’s AI Overview for ‘how long does an IBM audit take’ lists ITAA’s IBM Audit Defense page as its top source and cites ITAA three times, quoting the page’s own FAQ.

IBM audits are long, technical and expensive to get wrong, and most people handling one have never been through it before. A genuinely useful guide was the best way to show ITAA’s depth and earn a download.

What I did

• Developed the 19-page guide with ITAA’s IBM specialist, from establishing an entitlement position to reviewing the draft ELP.

• Designed it to be easy to read cover to cover, with a clear contents page, numbered sections with their own icons, and diagrams to break up dense material.

• It sits as a gated download on its own landing page and inside the IBM audits pillar guide, so search visitors have a natural next step.