From technical recovery to first-page rankings and citations in AI-driven search
A phased SEO and AEO program rebuilt CiraSync's technical foundation, grew non-branded visibility for high-intent Microsoft 365 sync queries, and earned the brand a place inside AI-generated search answers where buyers now compare tools before they click.
The company
CiraSync is a Microsoft 365 synchronization platform that syncs Global Address Lists, shared contacts, calendars, and public folders to smartphones and other endpoints. Its core value is solving high-friction directory and contact sync problems for IT teams managing Outlook, Exchange, Office 365, and mobile-device environments.
The challenge
CiraSync had clear product-market fit, but the site needed a stronger technical foundation and far better visibility for the exact problem-solving searches its buyers were running. Early on, the site was weighed down by 4xx errors, broken links, canonical conflicts, redirect problems, sitemap inefficiencies, and inconsistent page signals, all of which limited crawl efficiency and weakened ranking potential. In Phase 1 alone, the team was working through 170 4xx responses, 166 404 pages, 1,085 URLs with errors, and large-scale broken internal linking.
At the same time, search behavior was shifting. CiraSync did not just need to rank in traditional results; it needed to become visible inside AI-generated answers for high-intent queries around GAL sync, smartphone contacts sync, and public folder sync.
The solution: a phased SEO + AEO program
We built a phased strategy focused on technical cleanup first, then content and AI-visibility expansion.
Phase 1: Technical foundation
Resolved broken pages, fixed internal links, normalized canonicals, improved sitemap quality, audited robots directives, added llms.txt, and cleaned URL hygiene, alongside large-scale metadata work. CiraSync shipped 567 meta descriptions, completed 268 title-tag and H1 fixes, resolved 1,453 broken internal links, and corrected 1,157 Cloudflare-dependent broken links.
Phase 2: Performance, accessibility, and ranking signals
Optimized 601 slow pages, improved mobile performance from 64 to 85, completed 2,086 missing image alt tags, fixed 20 hreflang issues, updated canonicals across 155 pages, and reduced redirect loops from 506 to 0.
Phase 3: Content, keywords, and AI citations
Extended into content building, keyword research, refreshes, and backlinking and citations, with a clear goal: turn Outlook, Office 365, and GAL how-to demand into a predictable source of qualified organic traffic, free trials, and demos.
The results: technical health and organic visibility
- Health score improved from 82 to 96, later peaking at 98, reflecting a clean, crawl-ready site.
- 4xx responses dropped from 170 to 11, and 404 pages fell from 166 to 11, later reaching zero current 404s.
- Total URLs crawled grew from 82,728 to 101,307, evidence of a stronger, more discoverable site structure.
- Semrush snapshot: 12.2K organic traffic, 18.5K organic keywords, 849 AI mentions, and 423 pages cited in AI search.
The results: Google Search Console, trailing 6 months
Beyond third-party estimates, CiraSync's own Google Search Console confirms the program's reach. These are first-party numbers reported directly by Google.
With 11.6M impressions and an average position of 9.8, CiraSync now holds a first-page presence across a broad, high-intent keyword footprint. The query mix below shows the pattern that matters most to a SaaS buyer: a dominant branded position, strong navigational demand, and, critically, a non-branded problem query ranking on page one.
| Top Query | Clicks | Impressions | CTR | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cirasyncBranded | 3,430 | 9,423 | 36.4% | 1.9 |
| outlook calendar not syncingNon-branded, high intent | 516 | 6,858 | 7.5% | 4.1 |
| cirasync loginNavigational | 419 | 652 | 64.3% | 1.1 |
- Brand equity: the branded term holds the top of page one at position 1.9 with a 36.4% click-through rate.
- Demand at the moment of need: the non-branded query "outlook calendar not syncing" ranks on page one (position 4.1) with 6,858 impressions, putting CiraSync in front of IT teams precisely when they hit the problem the product solves.
- Navigational strength: "cirasync login" sits at position 1.1 with a 64.3% click-through rate, a signal of a returning, engaged user base.
Source: CiraSync Google Search Console, web search type, trailing 6-month window. Branded and navigational queries convert at far higher rates than the blended average, which is expected for a footprint of this scale.
The results: visibility in AI-driven search
CiraSync now appears inside Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode for high-intent, non-branded queries, the moment where buyers increasingly shortlist tools before clicking through. The Semrush snapshot records 849 AI mentions and 423 pages cited in AI search.
- ✨ tools for syncing global address lists
- ✨ tools for syncing public folders
- ✨ tools for syncing GAL to smartphones
These appearances are especially meaningful because they show CiraSync being discovered not only through classic SEO, but through AI-generated answers, the new front door for solution-focused research in complex Microsoft 365 environments.
In the client's words
Add the strongest client quote here. Ideally one that names a concrete outcome (rankings, AI citations, qualified demos, or trials) so the proof and the praise reinforce each other.
Summary
CiraSync's SEO + AEO campaign shows how technical cleanup, stronger on-page relevance, and AI-search-aware content work together to improve visibility across both traditional and emerging search environments.
What started as a technical recovery initiative evolved into broad search growth: stronger crawl health, cleaner indexing signals, better mobile performance, deeper non-branded visibility, 11.6M Google impressions over six months, and measurable inclusion in AI-generated search experiences. For a product serving complex Microsoft 365 and GAL sync use cases, that visibility matters because it puts CiraSync directly in front of the right users at the exact moment they are asking solution-focused questions.
Where it started
- 170 4xx responses, 166 404 pages
- 506 redirect loops, 1,453 broken internal links
- Health score of 82, mobile performance of 64
Where it is now
- Zero current 404s, zero redirect loops
- Health score peaking at 98, mobile at 85
- 11.6M impressions, 52K clicks, 423 AI-cited pages
Ready to get cited in AI search?
Get your free SEO audit todaySEO + AEO programs built to grow technical health, non-branded rankings, and AI-search visibility.