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Austin HeatonSEO + AEO Consultant
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SEO + AEO / startups / inbound pipeline12+ years in search
Now booking SEO consultant for startups engagements

Hire an SEO Consultant for Startups. Build Pipeline Before Series B.

Early teams need Google rankings and AI citations without a $200k Head of SEO. Austin Heaton runs SEO and AEO as one senior engagement so startups win search and answer engines that feed pipeline.

Book a Call →See Monthly Pricing
Austin Heaton, SEO consultant for startups
SEODocumented proof:
Lumanu, Riseworks, iSpeedToLead
Key Takeaways5 points
01

Startups need SEO and AEO without a full-time hire.

02

Money pages and entity work beat blog volume alone.

03

Google rankings plus AI citations drive inbound.

04

Senior consultant ownership beats junior agency relay.

05

Lumanu, Riseworks, and iSpeedToLead are live proof.

Austin Heaton's take:

Startups do not need a $200k Head of SEO to win Google and AI citations before Series B. They need one senior owner on money pages, technical foundations, and answer-engine signals. Blog volume without commercial pages burns runway.

Why startups lose organic inboundThe real gap
01

Blog volume without money pages never converts buyers

02

AI shortlists skip brands with weak entity signals

03

Junior agency relays burn months before anything ships

04

Founders need Google and ChatGPT coverage, not one channel

Earned media

Featured In & Published On

14 publications
SimilarWebEuropean Business ReviewFast CompanyZapierFintechZoomEcommerce FastlaneNeuronWriterBeInCryptoStartup.infoDigital JournalCoruzantBusiness AgeEU Business NewsFinbold
Next step

Want your B2B SaaS brand in those answers?

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The work

What an SEO Consultant for Startups Covers

Broader than AI-only startups

Austin Heaton works with startups across SaaS, FinTech, AI, and professional services. The engagement covers classic SEO and Answer Engine Optimization so early teams get rankings and citations without hiring a full-time Head of SEO.

01Money pages

Comparisons, alternatives, and use cases that convert startup demand

02Technical SEO

Crawl access, site architecture, and structured data Google and AI can use

03AEO / AI citations

Citation work across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews

04MOFU / BOFU

Commercial content for buyers comparing vendors, not another founding story

05Entity and brand

Mentions and schema so models can name your startup correctly

06Engagement model

Fractional SEO or consultant retainer: one senior owner, no junior relay

Austin Heaton's take:

Startup SEO fails when it is only TOFU blogs. The teams that win run money pages, technical foundations, and AEO together under one senior owner. That is the difference between traffic vanity and inbound that sales can close.

Startup SEO proof

Four Documented B2B Cases.

Documented on this site

These are B2B companies that sell to other businesses. The numbers below are from the live case studies on this site. Nothing invented.

Lumanu / FinTech · Creator payments01

656 AI-sourced clicks and 101 conversions in 60 days

Read the Lumanu case study →
Riseworks / B2B SaaS · FinTech02

288% organic growth and 575% AI search expansion

Read the Rise case study →
iSpeedToLead / B2B · Lead gen03

310.8% AI search growth and #1 citation share at 7.79%

Read the iSpeedToLead case study →
Pactvera / Legal tech · Digital agreements04

6,000%+ impression growth, featured next to DocuSign in 11 days

Read the Pactvera case study →
View All Case Studies →

Free AEO Report Card

Austin Heaton reviews where your site loses Google and AI visibility across technical, on-site, and off-site, then sends the exact fixes.

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Trusted by

Clients and Partners

14 companies
RiseRiseLumanuLumanuAzuraNinja PromoNinja PromoStablecoin InsiderQodetureSumsubSumsubCryptoProcessingPactveraCube3.aiiSpeedToLeadGigapayBitizenshipInside Deep Tech
Client voices

From The People Who Have Worked With Austin

References
*****

Austin always focuses on winning, brings radical ideas, and executes with speed, one of the best content specialists I have worked with.

Milosz Krasinski
Milosz Krasinski
CEO, Chilli Fruit
*****

Austin stands out for his creative, strategic approach to growth, intentional, outcome-focused, and exactly why his projects succeed.

Milica Balaban
Milica Balaban
Founder, Marketics
*****

Austin is just one of those people you want on your team. He genuinely cares about helping his clients win.

MS
Marko Savic
Founder, Conn3ct
Questions

FAQ

6 answers
What does an SEO consultant for startups actually do?

An SEO consultant for startups owns rankings, technical foundations, money pages, and AI citation work so early teams get inbound without a full-time Head of SEO.

Austin Heaton combines classic SEO with AEO. See fractional SEO and pricing.

Is this only for AI startups?

No. This hire page is broader than the legacy AI-startups page. It covers SaaS, FinTech, AI, and other B2B startups that need Google and AI search inbound.

AI-native startups still fit. So do category SaaS teams that are past seed and need pipeline from search.

Should a startup hire SEO, AEO, or both?

Both. Buyers still Google vendors, and they also ask ChatGPT who to shortlist. Teams that only do one channel leave demand on the table.

Related: AEO for B2B SaaS and ChatGPT optimization services.

What proof does Austin Heaton have for startups and B2B growth?

Lumanu: 656 AI-sourced clicks and 101 conversions in 60 days. Riseworks: 288% organic growth and 575% AI search expansion. iSpeedToLead: 310.8% AI search growth and #1 citation share at 7.79%.

Pactvera: 6,000%+ impression growth in 11 days. Full write-ups on the portfolio.

When is a consultant better than an agency or in-house hire?

When the startup needs senior ownership now, not a junior relay or a $200k Head of SEO before product-market fit is stable.

If a strong in-house team already exists, Austin Heaton sets the money-page and citation system they execute against. Compare consultant vs in-house.

How do startups start working with Austin Heaton?

Book a call. Austin Heaton looks at rankings, AI visibility gaps, and which commercial pages to ship first.

Retainer options are on the pricing page. Book a call.

Let's talk

Ready for Startup SEO That Feeds Pipeline?

If Google and ChatGPT are how buyers find you, and you are missing from both, you are already paying for it.

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12+ years in search
SEO + AEO proof: Lumanu, Riseworks, iSpeedToLead
Senior-led, no agency
Limited capacity