Montana Hill · SEO & Competitive Intelligence
I bring structured intelligence-analysis methods to competitive SEO and generative engine optimization: mapping why competitors are winning visibility over you in Google and in AI answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and AI Overviews, then ranking what to fix first.
01 Method
01
Collect
Competitors, SERPs, AI answers, sources
02
Assess
Claims, evidence, source confidence
03
Compare
Visibility gaps, positioning, citations
04
Prioritise
Impact, confidence, effort
05
Act
90-day roadmap
Most SEO audits tell you what's technically wrong with your site. They rarely explain why one specific competitor is beating you for one specific search, or why ChatGPT and Perplexity cite that competitor instead of you. That question is where I work.
I spent a year studying intelligence analysis for a Master's in International Security Management, then applied it in a SOC: structured OSINT across ransomware and financial fraud, and briefings written for a CEO to act on. I apply the same method to competitors: source claims instead of trusting tool defaults, build a structured picture of who's winning and why, and separate what's actually driving their visibility from what only looks like it is. The output isn't a checklist. It's an analysis of the market you're competing in, ranked by what to fix first.
In practice, that means treating a finding as an assessment, not a fact: it goes into a report labeled by how confident I actually am, from a single flagged pattern up to two sources that independently agree. Confidence in where a claim comes from and confidence in what it means are tracked separately, because a solid source can still support a shaky conclusion. And limits get stated as plainly as findings — what the data doesn't show matters as much as what it does.
02 Results
Assessment 01
A Canadian fintech company brought me in to work directly with the founder on organic growth. I analyzed competitor positioning and search intent across their core product terms, then rebuilt the content and on-page strategy around the gaps I found. Monthly organic traffic grew from around 3,500 to more than 7,000 visits.
Source: client-reported
Assessment 02
A luxury real-estate brokerage needed to know why competing agencies were capturing more organic search traffic in a crowded regional market. I ran a full competitive and keyword-intent analysis, then mapped the content and ranking gaps against direct competitors into a prioritized strategy. Organic traffic grew more than 70%, and keywords ranking in the top 10 rose from roughly 60 to over 120.
Source: client-reported
Assessment 03
In-house at a real estate agency in the south of France, serving mainly Scandinavian and English-speaking clients who wanted more visibility in the American and UK markets. I ran competitive and user-intent research across those target markets, then led the content and on-page strategy built from it. Organic traffic grew 35% in three months.
Source: client-reported
Nine engagements, rated five out of five, with clients describing the work as reliable, independent, and clearly communicated. See the full history on Upwork.
This is the same method applied to a live case: a source-by-source analysis of how AI engines choose citations.
03 Engagement
Entry point
The diagnostic. From $500.
Where you stand against named competitors in Google and AI answers, a keyword and intent gap analysis, and a 90-day roadmap ranked by expected impact. Delivered in about three business days. This is a starting point, not a complete deliverable.
Most engagements start here.
From $2,000.
On-page optimization, content strategy, technical SEO, and keyword and search-intent work, executed against the roadmap.
Priced per engagement.
Ongoing monitoring of your competitive set across Google and AI answer engines, with execution.
04 Contact
Tell me your site and your competitors. I'll tell you what I see.
I reply within one working day.
Email: montana@montanahill.com
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