🚨 The SEO System That Scaled Traffic From 3K to 70K (While AI Steals Everyone Else's Customers)

🚀 20,075 founders and marketers are getting this newsletter today.

Welcome to the +628 new operators who joined us this week!

👋 Hey Fastlane Insiders,

It's Friday, July 18th—summer's in full swing, and if your team feels a little checked out, you're not alone. But here's what I've learned from 400+ founder conversations: the brands that dominate Q4 are the ones building unfair advantages right now, while their competitors are mentally on vacation.

This week's newsletter might be the most important one you read all year. Why? Because Google just pulled a massive switcharoo that's making some brands invisible while others explode with traffic—and 90% of store owners have no idea it's happening.

🎙️ New Podcast Episode — The SEO specialist who helped a Shopify store jump from 3,000 to 70,000 monthly visitors using a system that delivers 874% average ROI. If you're still chasing keywords and hoping for the best, this will change everything.

💡 Knowledge Drops — The real reason your SEO isn't working (spoiler: it's not your fault), plus the terrifying reality of how Google's AI is stealing your customers before they even reach your site.

🛠️ Tool of the Week — How to turn the 98% of visitors who leave your site into actual revenue. The early adopters are seeing 48x ROI while competitors wonder where their traffic went.

The gap between winners and losers is widening every day. While most brands coast through summer, the smart ones are quietly building the systems that will crush Q4.

Ready to be on the winning side?

Let's dive in,
—Steve

P.S. After you hear Jeff's take on category pages, you'll never look at your collections the same way again.

You’re optimizing for growth. You need ecom tactics that actually work. Not mushy strategies.

Go-to-Millions is the ecommerce growth newsletter from Ari Murray, packed with tactical insights, smart creative, and marketing that drives revenue.

Every issue is built for operators: clear, punchy, and grounded in what’s working, from product strategy to paid media to conversion lifts.

Subscribe free and get your next growth unlock delivered weekly.

Sign up now

Still burning cash on Google Ads while your competitors quietly build traffic that converts at 10x the rate? Here's the growth engine delivering 874% average ROI for Shopify brands—and most stores are completely missing it.

I sat down with Jeff Oxford from 180 Marketing—the agency that's delivered an average ROI of 874% across their client base and managed over 300 eCommerce SEO campaigns. Here's what Jeff makes crystal clear: while everyone's panicking about AI "killing" SEO, the smart brands are using AI-first search to dominate organic traffic.

SEO isn't about "hacks" anymore. It's about becoming the brand everyone clicks, mentions, and shares in third-party roundups and product reviews. Your products might already be eligible for ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI features—but if you're not being cited as a top pick, you'll stay invisible.

Here's what smart brands are doing right now:

Your competitors are already making the move—how long are you going to wait?

Jeff reveals the exact four-bucket system that scaled SportsGearSwag from 3,000 to over 70,000 monthly visitors—and why the rise of AI search is making these results even more achievable. Want the real playbook (and not another SEO lecture)? This episode is your shortcut.

Let's cut straight to it: if you're pouring hours into the latest "SEO secret" and barely moving the needle, you're not alone—and you're definitely not failing. The reality? The brands quietly dominating page one aren't hunting for hacks. They're playing by a completely different set of rules, and it's a game you can start winning too.

Forget chasing every new "guru" tactic. The best brands aren't lucky, and they're not guessing. They treat Google like a mathematical system—with specific signals you can optimize and measurable results you can track. Most stores? Still stuck spinning their wheels on outdated advice from 2019.

Here's what separates the brands stacking up organic sales from everyone else:

You won't hear this from most "experts," but it's the exact system top Shopify brands are quietly deploying while others wonder why rankings evaporate overnight.

Here's the reality: Google's algorithm now weighs content quality and user satisfaction more heavily than ever before. With AI eating up more of the search page and constant algorithm changes, the gap between brands who "get it" and those chasing yesterday's tactics is widening every month.

The brands implementing data-backed SEO systems now are seeing compound returns—better rankings, more organic traffic, and customers who actually convert. The ones still chasing "quick wins" are fighting for scraps.

In 12 months, these 9 ranking signals won't be secret weapons—they'll be table stakes. The question is: will you be ahead of the curve or scrambling to catch up?

Want the full breakdown of exactly how 7- and 8-figure Shopify stores are gaming Google's algorithm? I've mapped out all 9 proven ranking signals—complete with hands-on checklists, real store examples, and the technical implementations that actually move the needle.

No more guessing. No more chasing the next "hack." Just the mathematical approach to SEO that's powering sustainable, predictable organic growth.

Don't wait until the next update leaves you playing catch-up. The brands leveling up right now are quietly building unfair advantages while everyone else scrambles after the next shiny tactic.

Ready to see what actually moves the needle?

Here's something that should terrify you: Google just shifted from being a search engine to an "answer engine"—and if your brand isn't being cited in those AI summaries at the top of search results, you're basically invisible to customers who are ready to buy.

Daily searches jumped from 8.5 billion to over 13 billion, but here's the gut punch—90% of searches are now question-based, and Google's AI is answering them directly without sending people to your site. Think about that: your customers are getting their buying advice from AI summaries, and if you're not mentioned, you don't exist in their decision-making process.

Your traditional SEO success is worthless if Google's AI doesn't quote you when customers are making decisions.

While most stores are still chasing keywords and backlinks, the winners are playing a completely different game:

Here's the reality: Google's AI is picking brands to trust right now. Every day you're not being cited is a day your competitors are claiming that mental real estate. Once AI establishes its "trusted sources" for your category, it becomes exponentially harder to break in.

This isn't just about traffic—it's about brand equity. Every time Google's AI cites your brand, you're getting a billboard placement in your customer's research process. Even if they don't click through immediately, your name gets embedded in their buying memory.

Miss this shift, and you'll be wondering why your organic traffic is drying up while competitors you've never heard of are stealing your customers.

The brands that master AI citations aren't just winning search—they're owning the entire top of the funnel while others fight for scraps. Are you still "ranking," or are you the actual answer shoppers see when they're ready to buy?

The question isn't whether Google's AI will become essential—it's whether you'll be ahead of the curve or scrambling to catch up.

Ready to see exactly how to train Google's AI to recognize your brand as the go-to authority in your space? This isn't about writing more content—it's about creating the kind of comprehensive, structured resources that AI engines can't help but cite.

P.S. Inside this guide, you'll discover the exact reverse-engineering process that reveals which competitors Google's AI already trusts, plus the content formats and authority signals that earn consistent citations. Don't let your brand become invisible in the AI era.

Here's a painful reality: you're spending thousands driving traffic to your store, but 98% of those visitors are complete ghosts. They browse, they leave, and you have zero way to reach them again. Most brands just shrug and hope they'll remember to come back.

Meanwhile, the smartest DTC teams are quietly using Instant to turn that "lost" traffic into serious revenue—and their competitors have no idea what's happening.

Instant identifies up to 50% of your anonymous visitors—no pop-ups, no forms, no friction. Just background identification that turns wasted traffic into real, addressable leads you can actually market to.

The results speak for themselves:

Every day you're not identifying anonymous visitors is a day your competitors are building massive email lists from traffic you're both getting. They're winning back sales you thought were gone forever while you're starting from scratch with each new visitor.

The gap is widening every week. Early adopters are building unfair advantages while others burn money on traffic they can't track.

Instant is so confident in their results, they guarantee a 4x ROI or your money back. Plus, Fastlane readers get 50% off their first month this week only.

Don't let another week of traffic slip away unidentified. The brands implementing visitor identification now are building competitive moats while others wonder why their conversion rates are stuck.

Ready to turn your ghost traffic into revenue?

P.S. Setup takes 15 minutes. You could be recovering lost revenue by this afternoon. The question isn't whether you need better visitor identification—it's whether you'll be ahead of the curve or scrambling to catch up.

Thanks for sticking with me to the end—your focus is what sets you apart in a crowded space.

Here's what I know after 400+ conversations with seven and eight-figure founders: the brands that dominate Q4 are the ones building unfair advantages right now, while their competitors are mentally on vacation. You just armed yourself with the SEO system scaling brands from 3K to 70K monthly visitors, the AI strategy that keeps you visible when others disappear, and the tool that turns anonymous traffic into real revenue.

My challenge: Don't let this be another newsletter that sits in your "good ideas" folder. Pick one move from today's edition and execute it before Monday. Maybe it's optimizing your category pages with Jeff's system, reverse-engineering which competitors Google's AI trusts, or setting up Instant to capture your anonymous visitors.

Your competitors are reading the same insights—the difference is who acts first.

Testing something from this week's playbook? Stuck on where to start? Hit reply and let me know. I read every message, and honestly, your wins and challenges shape what I cover next.

If this sparked ideas for another founder in your network, forward it along. The best operators I know share what's working—and right now, these strategies are working like crazy.

The window for early adoption on these strategies is closing fast. SEO, AI optimization, anonymous visitor identification—they're all moving from secret weapons to table stakes. Don't be the founder who wishes they'd moved sooner.

Keep finding your edge,
—Steve