How we get Speer found on Google and in AI answers
What wasn't working
In June an AI-assisted, unreviewed code change switched off Google indexing for the whole site. Nobody noticed for three months. Google removed our pages and search visits fell by two thirds.
Show the numbers as a table
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search visits (actual) | 607 | 774 | 920 | 983 | 928 | 696 | 340 | 400 | 549 | 922 |
Expected: Nov 950, Dec 850 (holidays), Jan 1,100, Feb 1,250, Mar 1,400, Apr 1,500. Working targets, not promises.
What we fixed on September 30
- Turned indexing back on and added a guard so the same change cannot hide the live site again.
- Made every page readable by bots. The site used to send blank pages to Google and to the ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini crawlers. Every URL is now a real page with its own title and description.
- Fixed the metadata Google reads: canonical address tags, pages that returned errors, the sitemap, and a description file for AI crawlers.
What the October numbers show
- The recovery is real, but it is people who already know us. Almost nobody reaches us by searching for the services we offer. The plan is about changing that.
- For "speer technologies" we rank 6th, below LinkedIn and an old speer.ai test site. We are not first for our own company name.
- 72 pages are still waiting to be indexed. Re-indexing takes weeks. We can request it manually for the important pages.
- Most of our traffic is Canadian, so every page has to rank for Canadian searches as well as US ones.
- AI referrals: about 25 visits since June. Small, as expected at this stage.
Sources: Google Analytics (Jan 1 to Oct 29) and Search Console (Jul 30 to Oct 29), pulled October 29.
Why AI answers matter now
Recently a US healthcare startup asked ChatGPT who built the Baker Health app. It named Speer, and they contacted us. The deal is on hold for budget reasons, but that is the path we want to repeat.
When we tested ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity ourselves in September, all three credited Baker Health LLC and could not find Speer. That lead was a one-off. The plan is to make it happen consistently.
1. Can crawlers read the site?
Fixed on September 30.
2. Does it answer the question?
Each page has to match a real search, like "app development toronto", clearly and near the top.
3. Does anyone back it up?
Competitors have 400 to 1,100 sites linking to them. We have about 100. Reviews and partner mentions close that gap.
The plan: five pillars
- DoneFix the foundation
Indexing, readable pages, sitemap. Still open: speer.ai, one address everywhere, Google reviews.
- In progressIndustry pages that match what buyers type
Eight pages, one buyer phrase each, partners named, short FAQ. Launching this week.
- NextBe the answer when someone asks about our work
Case studies for Costco Pharmacy, Grata and Baker Health that state Speer built the product, confirmed by the partner on their own site.
- NextEarn mentions elsewhere
Google reviews, a Clutch profile, "top AI developers in Toronto" lists, press on the 35 patents.
- NextMeasure monthly
Pages listed, visits from search, and how many of 20 fixed AI questions mention Speer.
Searches we want to show up for
Most of the apps we built get no searches by name, so we focus on the three partners people do search for, plus the services we sell.
| Search or question | US | Canada | What we build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner products | |||
| costco pharmacy app | 700 | 170 | Costco Pharmacy case study |
| grata smart living | 50 | 110 | Grata case study |
| baker health app | 70 | <10 | Baker Health case study |
| Services | |||
| fractional cto | 1,450 | 190 | New service page |
| software patent | 420 | 30 | Patentable AI page, patent guide |
| build an ai app | 90 | 10 | A how-to guide AI tools can cite. Also 710 ChatGPT prompts a month in the US |
"grata" alone gets 5,800 US / 590 CA but is shared with other companies of that name. "costco pharmacy" alone gets about 850,000 US, but those are people looking for Costco itself.
What buyers actually search
Pages need to rank in both countries. Canadian searches are usually "Toronto" plus the service. US searches are the industry plus "development company".
| Search phrase | US | Canada | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mostly searched in Canada | |||
| app development toronto | 20 | 1,700 | Custom software |
| mobile app development companies toronto | 40 | 150 | Custom software |
| Mostly searched in the US | |||
| ai development company | 2,570 | 70 | Custom AI |
| fractional cto | 1,450 | 190 | New page |
| healthcare app development company | 880 | 20 | Healthcare |
| fintech app development company | 580 | 10 | Finance |
| iot development company | 570 | 10 | Hardware & IoT |
| logistics software development company | 280 | <10 | Transportation |
Same data and window as the table above. "AI in healthcare / finance / education" each get 10,000 to 12,000 US searches a month (750 to 3,000 in Canada), mostly from people researching rather than buying. An explainer on each industry page is what AI tools cite later.
The pages we will build
One page a week, in this order. Each is written around one search.
| Page | Built for the search | US | Canada | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 industry pages healthcare, finance, education, real estate, government, hardware & IoT, transportation, sports | "[industry] app development company", "[industry] software development company" | 240 to 880 each | 10 to 20 each | This week |
| Baker Health case study | "baker health app", "who built the baker health app" | 70 | <10 | Nov |
| Costco Pharmacy case study | "costco pharmacy app" | 700 | 170 | Nov |
| Grata case study | "grata smart living", "grata app" | 90 | 150 | Nov |
| Fractional CTO service page (new) | "fractional cto", "fractional cto services" | 1,450 | 190 | Dec |
| Custom software page (rewrite) | "app development toronto", "mobile app development companies toronto" | 60 | 1,850 | Dec |
| Custom AI page (rewrite) | "ai development company", "custom ai development company" | 2,790 | 80 | Dec |
| Software patents page + guide (rewrite) | "software patent", "patent attorney for software", "can you patent software" | 1,440 | 100 | Jan |
| "How to build an AI app" guide (new) | "build an ai app" and the ChatGPT version of that question | 90 + 710 prompts | 10 | Jan |
Volumes are the same Google Ads data as above, summed where a page targets more than one phrase. Industry pages are already built; the remaining work there is the FAQ block.
Every page follows the same template
- Title and heading use the search phrase, not a tagline
- First 100 words say what we do, for whom, with proof (partners, patents)
- Partners named, with a link to the case study where one exists
- Four to six FAQ questions in the words people actually search
- Compliance and location details where they matter (HIPAA, PIPEDA, Toronto, New York)
- One call to action: book a call with Keegan
- 800 to 1,500 words of real copy, not a hero image and logos
- Structured data so Google and AI tools can parse it
Competing in the US
US search volumes are 10 to 30 times Canada's for the services we sell, but today only 48 of 967 Google clicks in the last three months came from the US. Six things change that.
- Write for the US buyer. Industry and service pages use the US phrasing ("healthcare app development company"), with Toronto in the company pages only. Google decides who sees a page by its content, not by where our office is.
- Lead with US proof. Baker Health (New Jersey), Costco Pharmacy, State Farm, Atlantic Records and Carrier Global go first on the pages and in case studies, with the city or state named.
- Make the New York office real to Google. A Google Business Profile for 26 Broadway, the same address on LinkedIn and the site, and "serves Canada and the United States" in the page metadata.
- Get listed where US buyers look. Clutch and GoodFirms profiles with reviews, and the "top healthcare app development companies" lists that US buyers and AI tools both read.
- AI answers have no border. ChatGPT recommends the same firm to a buyer in Toronto or Texas. The case-study and review work is the US play as much as the Canadian one.
- Track it separately. US clicks in Search Console, reported monthly. 48 today; the target is 300 a month by Q2 2027.
Not on the list: buying links or ads for US rankings, or duplicate "USA" versions of pages. Google penalises the first and ignores the second.
How we expect it to grow
SEO builds up over time. Pages and mentions keep bringing traffic for years, but results take a few months to show. October recovered quickly because brand searches came back. Getting found by people who don't know us takes longer.
Google finishes re-indexing the site. speer.io ranks first for "Speer Technologies" again. Industry pages go live.
Industry pages start ranking for specific searches. Case studies published. First AI answers that name Speer.
Page 1 for the larger searches as reviews and mentions accumulate. Regular inbound leads that found us through AI tools.
Risks: case studies that don't clearly say Speer built the product, no reviews collected, paid links left in place.
How social media plays a role
Search engines and AI tools don't see likes or engagement. They see names, links and reviews. Social media is how we get those.
- Reviews. Five to ten Google reviews from past partners in 60 days, then Clutch.
- Partner co-marketing. One public mention per partner: a line on their site, a post, or a quote in our case study.
- Every page gets a post. Name the partner and link to the page. The name and the link are what search tools pick up.
- Lists. Get Speer onto the "top AI developers in Toronto" lists our competitors are already on.
- Cadence. One page or case study a week.