[ Luxury fashion brand · Europe ]
Google's AI now reaches for its site almost three times as often.
A luxury shoe label was missing from the answers shoppers get when they ask AI what fashion editors are wearing. By October Google's AI used its site 2.9 times as often as in June, ChatGPT gave it a write-up of its own, and an article we wrote started its first traced sales.
The impact
- 2.9×Google AI appearances, June to October 2026
- +98%Google clicks, 28 days to 10 October against the 28 days before work began
- 83%ChatGPT search answers to its key buyer question that link its site
- 0 → 2Tracked buyer questions that cite its own site, July to September
[ The results, in numbers ]
38%
OF GOOGLE'S AI USES, JULY TO SEPTEMBER, LANDED ON OUR ARTICLES
+58%
GOOGLE IMPRESSIONS AGAINST BEFORE THE WORK
2 of 3
TRACKED RIVALS PASSED IN SEPTEMBER
Aug '26
FIRST SALES THAT STARTED ON AN ARTICLE
[ The challenge ]
Covered by the press, missing from the answer.
Shoppers now ask AI which small luxury shoe labels editors are wearing, and what to pack for a summer in Europe. The label had press features, yet AI answers named its competitors and linked their sites. In July its own site was linked on none of the 10 buyer questions it wanted to win.
- Luxury women's shoes
- Shopify store
- Ships worldwide
- Editorial press
Jul 2026: asking AI
The answers listed other labels and linked other sites. Across its 10 tracked buyer questions, no AI answer linked the brand's own site.
Sep 2026: ChatGPT searching the web
Among the labels the answer lists:
A headed entry of its own: loafers that stand for precision and quality, with refined hardware and premium leathers, linked to its shop. ChatGPT links the site in 83% of its answers to this question.
The first goal
2 of 10 questions, against a goal of 1
At least one tracked buyer question where an AI answer names or references the brand. By September two carried it, from none in July, and ChatGPT gives it a write-up of its own on the editors question.
[ What we did ]
Make the label a source AI reads when shoppers ask about small luxury shoes.
The Index Lab method on a Shopify store: the technical groundwork first, then articles and press that AI answers can draw on.
↓APrompt & content strategy
- Ranked 10 buyer questions against the competitor set, from editors' picks to luxury shoes for a European summer.
- Swapped questions as the data showed where shoppers and AI answers actually meet.
↓BAI-ready site
- Shipped meta titles and descriptions, the sitemap and a rebuilt blog template, so AI and Google read the store cleanly.
- Repaired broken links, and pointed old pages Google still showed at the right product.
↓CContent execution
- Published 30 articles from late June, each signed by the brand and drawing only on approved publications and its own press.
- Built several on product detail, so answers can describe the shoes themselves.
↓DSource hunting
- Mapped the editorial sites AI reads most on these questions, where the brand already has features.
- Filed the brand's press mentions so AI connects the coverage to the brand.
↓EMonitoring & Sentinel
- Tracked the 10 questions daily across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude.
- Set up sales tracking, so every order shows where its visitor came from.
[ The results ]
Google's AI reached for the site, and the clicks followed.
Google's AI answers drew on the site more than twice as often in July as in June and stayed near twice June's level through September, while Google clicks kept climbing. October set a new high at 2.9 times June. From July to September, 38% of Google's AI uses landed on articles we published.
Google AI appearances vs. Google clicks
- Data from Google Search Console (indexed to June = 100)
- Covered period: June to September 2026
- ✓ChatGPT searching the web gives the brand a headed entry of its own on the editors question, repeated 40 days after it first appeared.
- ✓Its own site is cited on 2 of 10 tracked buyer questions, from none in July.
- ✓Passed two of the three competitors it tracks against in September.
- ✓Its first sales that started on an article we wrote came in August.
- ✓Google clicks up 98% and impressions up 58% on the 28 days before the work began.
Could this be your brand?