New case study of an anonymized B2B publisher reports 2,900% click growth in one year, underscoring that quality and technical discipline still drive results.

Tech Help Canada recently released case study findings indicating that publishers can still achieve meaningful search growth, even with the rise of AI—provided they double down on clarity, originality, and sound technical practices.

Across the first 12 months of work with an anonymized, content-driven brand in the B2B PR space, organic performance climbed from roughly 300 to more than 9,000 monthly clicks, which is a 2,900% increase. Metrics reflect Google Search Console clicks to the site’s verified property.

Over the same period, Google Search Console reported 34.1K total clicks and 4.19M impressions, with momentum accelerating from January onward. In May 2025 alone, the site recorded 9.51K clicks and 1.8M impressions, with an average click-through rate of 0.8%.

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CTR expectations vary by niche, query intent, and SERP layout. For many publishers, an average CTR between 0.5% and 1.0% on informational queries is typical. Higher rates are achievable when topic targeting is precise and the customer-facing text (especially meta titles and descriptions) sets a clear, specific promise that matches search intent and earns the click.

The AI era rewards work worth remarking about.”

— Gabriel Nwatarali

By the latest reporting period, traffic averaged about 10,000 monthly visits across all channels, with organic search accounting for the majority (approximately 90%). Growth coincided with three compounding changes: (1) a quality-gated editorial system, (2) intent-aligned on-page optimization and internal linking, and (3) diversified authority building that earned new referring domains.

“Innovation in search is inevitable and good for users, but it has to coexist with a healthy open web,” said Gabriel Nwatarali, founder of Tech Help Canada. “Evolution should come with stronger citation and referral experiences so that the sites doing the hard work of research, editing, and maintenance continue to earn attention and traffic.
Nwatarali continues. “Our data from this project shows publishers can still grow when they focus on content that provides value or adds real information gain. ‘Information gain’ means adding net-new knowledge beyond what competing pages already provide rather than simply rephrasing existing tips.”

The engagement began in May 2024 with a structured SEO and content strategy centered on three pillars: a scalable editorial workflow, targeted on-page optimization, and authority building. The team implemented a multi-step quality process (briefs, editing, optimization, pre-publish checks, and post-publish QA), emphasized user intent, and treated every article as a potential linkable asset.

Because AI summaries depress traditional click-through rates on some queries, the approach also prioritized click intent and presentation, including stronger, more specific titles, clean metadata, and richer previews for social platforms. Authority growth came from a diversified mix of earned mentions, selective guest contributions, and credible business directories paired with steady brand signals on social.

In parallel, site experience improved through faster hosting, Core Web Vitals gains, and clearer navigation and typography to reduce friction and improve engagement. “The AI era rewards work worth remarking about,” Nwatarali added. “If more answers appear above the fold, sources that continue to earn traffic will be the ones that deliver distinct value and signal that value clearly both to readers and search systems.”

The team also acknowledges limits. Not every page received enhancements, results varied by topic competitiveness, and broader market forces remain in flux as AI features evolve. Still, the 12-month trend suggests that consistent execution on fundamentals (high-quality publishing systems, intent alignment, linkability, and UX performance) can offset some of the headwinds introduced by new search experiences.

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For publishers, four practices stand out: design each article as a potential shareable asset, make titles strong and specific to win clicks, keep pages fast and readable to lower bounce, and interlink pages while emphasizing relevance.