The Client
A premium Australian reef-safe sunscreen brand selling direct on Shopify. In July 2026 it was already visible in Google: 179,000 impressions that month at an average position of 9.6. The problem was that only 0.3% of those impressions turned into clicks, and the brand was not yet a named answer in AI search.
The Starting Point (July 2026)
| Measure | July 2026 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Google clicks | 522 | Google Search Console |
| Impressions | 179K | Google Search Console |
| Click rate | 0.3% | Google Search Console |
| Average Google position | 9.6 | Google Search Console |
| ”sunscreen pregnant safe” | #42 | Keyword tracking |
| AI brand mentions, Australia | 13 (1 August) | Semrush |
What We Did
In the first 90 days we worked on five things:
- Technical SEO fixes. Errors found in Google Search Console.
- On-page optimisation. Product and collection page titles, descriptions and content.
- Link building. New links to the store from other sites.
- Quick fixes. Small issues found along the way, fixed as they appeared.
- AI search (GEO) tracking. Monthly tracking of the brand’s visibility in Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT.
The Results
July to September 2026:
| Measure | July | September | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google clicks (Search Console) | 522 | 1.06K | +103% |
| Click rate (Search Console) | 0.3% | 0.6% | about doubled |
| Average Google position (Search Console) | 9.6 | 8.5 | 1.1 places better |
| Store sales (Shopify) | not shown | not shown | +87% |
| Orders (Shopify) | not shown | not shown | +67% |
| Average order value (Shopify) | not shown | not shown | +10% |
| AI brand mentions, Australia (Semrush) | 13 (1 Aug) | 22 | +69% |
| “sunscreen pregnant safe” | #42 | #4 (August) | +38 places |
Source: the client's Shopify Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4 and Semrush (Australia), July to September 2026. Keyword positions from SERP checks and Semrush.
Also in the period:
- In September, the brand was the most-cited source in Semrush’s Australian AI search data for its category, with 16 mentions against 10 for the next most-cited site.
- Six Google AI Overview placements were confirmed in August and September.
Store sales and orders rose alongside the work over the same three months.
Key Takeaways
- Visibility is not the same as clicks. With an average position of 9.6 and a 0.3% click rate in July, the opportunity was in clicks per search. By September the click rate had doubled.
- A specific, high-intent question can move fast: “sunscreen pregnant safe” went from #42 to #4 in a month.
- AI search is a separate channel to measure: brand mentions in Australian AI search rose from 13 to 22, and six Google AI Overview placements were confirmed.