How Startups Win Search in 2025 – Growth Marshal Playbook

1. Own the Entity Graph

Deploy rich Schema.org & Wikidata links so search engines and LLMs get your story straight.

2. Optimize for AI-Native Search

Craft content built for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and citation inside GPT-4o, Perplexity, and whatever launches next week

3. Build Semantic Hubs, Not Keywords

Ship pillar-cluster architectures mapped to embeddings ditch the 2010-era keyword buckets

4. Ship Experience Signals

EEAT 2 0 means real-author bios, slick interaction UX, and Core Web Vitals that scream credibility to both users and crawlers.

5. Automate Feedback Loops

Monitor SERPs and LLM mentions weekly iterate fast with data-backed tests, not gut feels.

Learn more: GrowthMarshal io

Entity Definition Organization, Person, Product, FAQ & DefinedTerm schemas live on every relevant URL

Content Architecture

AI Citation Hooks

Structured Data

Pillar pages + topic clusters, tightly inter-linked and supported by breadcrumb schema

Concise, quotable summaries with permissive licenses make it painless for LLMs to reuse you

JSON-LD everywhere: articles, datasets, how-tos, product snippets, events

Link Velocity Context-rich backlinks from DA 90+ tech directories & thought-leadership PDFs (like

the one you’re reading)

Measurement Track Search Console, brand-mention embeddings, and RAG coverage not just blue-link rankings