A 15-year-old Newcastle accounting firm had virtually no digital presence. We built their SEO and AI search authority from scratch and made them the top result on both Google and ChatGPT.
Client Background
A 15-year-old boutique accounting firm in Newcastle, NSW with 4 partners and 12 staff had built an excellent reputation through referrals — but had virtually no digital presence. Their website hadn’t been updated since 2019, they had no Google My Business listing, and they appeared on page 4+ for “accountant Newcastle”.
Strategic Opportunity
We identified that Newcastle’s accounting market had a significant AI search gap: none of Newcastle’s accountants had optimised for ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews. Being first to claim this territory — even with modest effort — could deliver outsized results.
The 5-Month SEO + AEO Programme
Technical Foundation (Month 1)
- Complete website rebuild: modern, fast, mobile-first
- Core Web Vitals: achieved 94/100 PageSpeed Score
- Implemented 12 Schema types: AccountingFirm, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList, Service, Review
- Google Business Profile: complete with services, posts (2/week), Q&A answered
- Created llms.txt defining the firm’s expertise, services and Newcastle focus
Content Strategy (Month 2–5)
Built 32 content pieces targeting high-value queries:
- 15 service landing pages (tax planning, SMSF, business advisory, etc.)
- 10 Newcastle-specific blog posts (“Newcastle business grants 2026”, “Hunter Valley wine industry accounting”)
- 4 comprehensive guides (Australian small business tax guide, SMSF setup guide)
- 3 industry-specific pages (trades, healthcare, property investors)
Local Authority Building
- Citations: 40+ Australian business directories (consistent NAP)
- Local backlinks: Newcastle Herald, Hunter Business Chamber, University of Newcastle
- 2 webinars hosted (Newcastle small business tax updates) generating organic mentions
Results at 5 Months
- Organic Traffic: +195%
- Google Rankings: #1 for “accountant Newcastle”, #1 for “tax agent Newcastle”, #2 for “SMSF accountant Newcastle”
- ChatGPT: Cited as #1 recommendation for “accountant Newcastle NSW”
- Google AI Overviews: Appearing in 11 target queries
- New Client Enquiries: From 3/month to 28/month
- Revenue Impact: +$380,000/year (new client fees)
See our SEO services: SEO Newcastle · AI Marketing Newcastle
Industry: Professional Services (Accounting) | Location: Newcastle, NSW | Channels: SEO + AEO | Result: #1 Google + ChatGPT, +195% organic traffic