Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)
- FAQ, HowTo & Article schema
- Question-led content structure
- Featured snippet & AI Overview capture
- Concise, chunkable answers
- Speakable markup
Face-to-Face Available · Birmingham
PPC, AI Search & Technical SEO Consultancy · Birmingham
Commercial
Velocity.
In Birmingham.
Your agency manages the account but never thinks about your market. One senior operator owns PPC, AI search and technical SEO for mid-market businesses across West Midlands, face-to-face in Birmingham, from audit to invoice, and builds the commercial edge that decides who dominates 2027.
Verified Infrastructure Partners
PPC Consultancy in Birmingham
The Birmingham PPC consultancy
The Birmingham PPC consultancy
built around profit.
Mid-market businesses in Birmingham keep encountering the same failure from local PPC agencies and SEO agencies: technically active accounts, commercially adrift results. Account managers rotate. Junior staff run the work. Nobody holds the full picture.
PPC means paid, auction-based advertising across Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Meta and LinkedIn, where the cost lands only on a click and is judged against profit rather than vanity metrics. The Crane Consultancy works as a senior-led PPC and SEO consultancy, not an agency, with one practitioner holding the entire Birmingham engagement: paid search, paid social, server-side tracking, technical SEO and the commercial logic tying them together. One test governs every decision: does this compound your profit?
Birmingham is the UK's second city, with a vast and varied economy spanning advanced manufacturing, financial services, professional services and retail. Its sheer scale makes it one of the most contested regional markets in the country, where strong local firms and national advertisers bid into the same auctions at once. Standing out demands more than presence.
National advertisers and capable local firms crowd the same audience here, and only genuine seniority and a clear commercial plan break clear of the noise. Every Birmingham account sits with one senior practitioner answerable for the outcome across PPC, technical SEO and tracking, never a rotating bench passing it desk to desk. In a market this large and this expensive, the depth of the person holding the account is the thing that actually moves performance, not the size of the budget.
Birmingham's size is the trap: national advertisers and capable local firms crowd every auction, and presence alone buys nothing. What separates performance is a clear commercial plan and one senior hand answerable for it, not a heavier budget poured into the same crowded keywords. In a market this large the account that wins knows precisely which segments to contest and which to leave to the bidders who never check their margin.
AI Search Optimisation in Birmingham
Win the AI search era
Win the AI search era
in Birmingham.
Search in 2026 no longer ends at a list of blue links. Buyers in Birmingham now put their questions to Google AI Overviews, to ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot, and act on a single synthesised answer. If your business is not named in that answer, a competitor is.
AI search optimisation is architecture, not copywriting. It splits into Answer Engine Optimisation, AEO, which wins the direct answer and the AI Overview, and Generative Engine Optimisation, GEO, the entity and authority signals that make a model name you unprompted. Where a Birmingham business loses is almost always structural: thin entity signals, broken or missing schema, and pages a model reads as undifferentiated text.
This is built, not written. The work is a coherent entity graph, structured data, machine-readable content, an llms.txt discovery file and the Core Web Vitals and crawl hygiene underneath it, all so the model finds you, parses you and quotes you. For a Birmingham business, it is the difference between being the answer and being absent from it.
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)
- Entity graph & knowledge signals
- E-E-A-T & verified authorship
- Citation likelihood
- Brand sentiment & share of voice
- Consistent NAP & identifiers
Machine-Readable Foundations
- Schema.org structured data
- Open Graph & card integrity
- llms.txt & semantic HTML
- Core Web Vitals
- Crawl-budget & indexation hygiene
SEO Consultancy in Birmingham
SEO that serves profit
SEO that serves profit
for Birmingham businesses.
A first-page ranking that sells nothing is a cost, not a result. Birmingham technical SEO is built around revenue: site health, server-side measurement and conversion architecture that strengthen the paid-media stack rather than compete with it for credit.
Paid Media
- Google Search & Shopping
- Microsoft Advertising
- Meta (Facebook & Instagram)
- LinkedIn B2B Acquisition
- YouTube & Display
- Amazon Performance Ads
Technical SEO
- Technical Site Audits
- Core Web Vitals
- Schema & Structured Data
- Crawlability & Indexation
- AI Crawl Readiness
- On-Page Optimisation
Commercial Intelligence
- Server-Side Tracking
- Attribution Modelling
- Conversion Rate Optimisation
- Advanced Data Analytics
- Bespoke Reporting
Data & Automation in Birmingham
Put Birmingham data
Put Birmingham data
to work.
In most Birmingham businesses the data goes half-used and the manual work goes unquestioned. The practice closes both gaps.
Beneath the media sits the layer that makes it accountable: measurement you can trust, dashboards built on profit rather than vanity, and automation that strips out the manual work draining the week. In a Birmingham business, practical AI earns its place only where it adds a real edge, from Claude and Gemini to bespoke internal tools, never as novelty.
Analytics & Measurement
- GA4 & Server-Side Tracking
- Consent Mode v2
- Attribution Modelling
- Revenue & Pipeline Dashboards
- Conversion Rate Optimisation
Automation & Integration
- Workflow & Task Automation
- CRM Integration (Zoho, HubSpot)
- API & Systems Connection
- Spreadsheet & Reporting Automation
- Lead Routing & Sync
AI in the Business
- AI Workflow Integration
- Claude & Gemini Deployment
- Document & Content Automation
- Custom Internal Tools
- Practical AI Adoption
Birmingham Sector Experience
PPC and SEO for Birmingham
PPC and SEO for Birmingham
across every sector.
Across the Colmore Business District, the Jewellery Quarter and the manufacturing belt out toward Solihull, Birmingham's submarkets compete on very different terms.
The practice works with mid-market businesses in Birmingham and West Midlands across the following sectors. B2B lead-generation, B2C and full omnichannel e-commerce engagements are all taken on.
Advanced manufacturing, financial services, professional services and retail at second-city scale, where national and local advertisers contest the same audience at once.
Manufacturing
- Paid Search & Shopping
- Paid Social
- Technical SEO
- Server-Side Tracking
Financial Services
- Paid Search & Shopping
- Paid Social
- Technical SEO
- Server-Side Tracking
Professional Services
- Paid Search & Shopping
- Paid Social
- Technical SEO
- Server-Side Tracking
Retail
- Paid Search & Shopping
- Paid Social
- Technical SEO
- Server-Side Tracking
Historical Execution
Proven at global scale.
Proven at global scale.
Applied in Birmingham.
The founder's track record includes the global digital transformation of LUSH Cosmetics across sixteen markets, and the same forensic discipline he brought to it is applied to every Birmingham engagement, regardless of size.
One practitioner.
Every channel. Every week.
Nic Crane · Founder
A decade engineering profit at scale.
Architect of the LUSH Cosmetics global digital transformation across sixteen markets, recognised by Welocalize as Best Global Client Team. Former Paid Media Enablement and Commerce Lead at Adapt and Head of Paid Media at Navigate, leading programmes across attraction, conservation and tourism portfolios. The track record spans B2C and B2B, from global retail to lead generation and full omnichannel e-commerce.
Most recently engaged as Digital Data and Analytics lead through the Everywhen brand launch, securing data integrity across a migration spanning Towergate Insurance and forty other brands. A power user of HTML, CSS, JavaScript and GTM, now applying that technical depth to AI search optimisation: structured data, entity signals and the machine readability that decides visibility in Google AI Overviews and answer engines. Meta Certified Media Buying Professional. Google Partner. Amazon Ads Partner.
The practice is based in Bath and Bristol and travels to Birmingham and across West Midlands for face-to-face client sessions.
The senior mind that wins the work is the senior mind that does the work.
PPC Agency vs PPC Consultancy in Birmingham
Why Birmingham businesses leave
Why Birmingham businesses leave
PPC agencies for senior consultancy.
The typical Birmingham PPC agency and SEO agency model has a structural flaw: the senior practitioner who wins the pitch is not the person who runs the account. A junior sits between your budget and the expertise you contracted.
The Crane Consultancy travels to Birmingham for face-to-face sessions when the engagement calls for it. But proximity is never used as a substitute for expertise. Forensic data, disciplined capital deployment and a single undivided senior mind holding the Birmingham account are what drive results. At roughly 79 miles from the practice's base in Bath and Bristol, Birmingham sits comfortably within reach for face-to-face sessions whenever they add value.
Operating Standards
What every Birmingham engagement
What every Birmingham engagement
guarantees.
Four standing commitments separate this from the agency model most boards have contracted before.
i.
You own everything.
Every ad account, tag manager, analytics property and dashboard sits under your ownership. Always. We do not gatekeep your data.
ii.
No bait-and-switch.
The senior named on the proposal is the senior who does the work. No handover to a junior. No silent reassignment after the contract signs.
iii.
Live, not laminated.
Performance dashboards updated frequently. No vanity PDFs assembled the night before a quarterly review.
iv.
Direct line to the founder.
WhatsApp access to Nicholas, not a ticket queue. Ask the difficult question on a Sunday if you need to.
Results first.
The reviews follow.
In the two months since starting to work with Nic, I have been so impressed by his technical understanding across analytics and digital advertising. He has completely overhauled our data so we can see in detail what is happening and make better decisions, and reviewed all of our existing campaigns, which are already performing better. I cannot recommend Nic highly enough.
Nic manages our PPC campaigns with professionalism and expertise. He takes the time to understand our business, its objectives and the challenges we face, and is proactive in identifying opportunities to maximise results and return on investment.
Nic helped fill in the missing pieces on a complex data, attribution and privacy project, unearthing a series of unknown issues in the data stack and laying out a plan to remedy them that rolled out successfully. I would recommend Nic and The Crane Consultancy for their technical expertise and thorough understanding.
I have worked with Nic for several years and his attention to detail is second to none. He is extremely knowledgeable and very attentive, offering solutions and proactive in his suggestions.
Nic is an expert in his field, offering insight and reporting with real value, tailored to our needs.
Questions from Birmingham Businesses
PPC and SEO in Birmingham:
PPC and SEO in Birmingham:
common questions.
Are you a PPC agency or PPC consultancy in Birmingham?
The Crane Consultancy is a consultancy, not a PPC agency, and the difference is structural: one senior practitioner owns every Birmingham engagement from the first audit through to ongoing optimisation. No junior account managers, no team rotations, no handover documents. You deal with the founder, Nicholas Crane, throughout.
Do you offer face-to-face PPC and SEO consultancy in Birmingham?
Yes. The practice travels to Birmingham and across West Midlands for face-to-face client sessions. All Birmingham engagements include full remote capability as standard: direct WhatsApp access to the founder, live performance dashboards and video sessions.
What makes The Crane Consultancy different from a Birmingham PPC agency?
Most Birmingham PPC agencies and SEO agencies operate the same model: a senior practitioner wins the pitch, junior staff run the account. The Crane Consultancy removes that structure entirely. One senior practitioner, with a track record including the global digital transformation of LUSH Cosmetics across sixteen markets, holds every Birmingham engagement. The person who audits the account is the person optimising bids, reviewing technical SEO and reporting to the board every week.
What PPC and SEO services does The Crane Consultancy offer in Birmingham?
The practice offers PPC consultancy across Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Meta, LinkedIn, YouTube and Amazon, alongside AI search optimisation, technical SEO, and a data and automation layer spanning GA4 and server-side tracking, Consent Mode v2, marketing and revenue dashboards, CRM integration, attribution modelling, conversion rate optimisation and AI-assisted workflow automation. All services are delivered by one senior practitioner to Birmingham businesses, anchored to a single profitability model rather than managed as separate channel siloes.
Can you help my Birmingham business appear in AI search and Google AI Overviews?
Yes, and it is core to the practice. Buyers in Birmingham increasingly put their questions to Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot and act on one synthesised answer. The work is the technical foundation that lets those systems read, trust and cite you: structured data and schema, a coherent entity graph, machine-readable content, an llms.txt file and fast Core Web Vitals. That discipline is AI search optimisation, made up of Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).
What is AI search optimisation, and how is it different from SEO?
Traditional SEO wins rankings in a list of links; AI search optimisation wins visibility inside AI-generated answers, in Google AI Overviews and in models like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. It splits into Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), which earns the direct answer, and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), the entity and authority signals that get you recommended by name. For Birmingham businesses it is technical architecture, not a content mill, and it runs alongside PPC and technical SEO in every engagement.
Can you help my Birmingham business with analytics, automation and AI?
Yes. Alongside paid media and search, the practice builds the data and automation layer beneath them: GA4 and server-side tracking, Consent Mode v2, marketing and revenue dashboards, CRM integration, and workflow automation that removes manual work. Where it adds a genuine edge, practical AI is put to work inside the Birmingham business, from Claude and Gemini to bespoke internal tools. The aim is the same as everything else here: better decisions, made faster, on numbers you can trust.
Beyond Birmingham
Senior PPC, AI Search & Technical SEO consultancy
Senior PPC, AI Search & Technical SEO consultancy
beyond Birmingham.
Birmingham sits within a wider region the practice serves both in person and remotely. If your business is closer to one of the following, the same senior-led PPC, AI search and SEO consultancy applies there too.
PPC, AI Search & Technical SEO Consultancy in Wolverhampton
West Midlands · 12 miPPC, AI Search & Technical SEO Consultancy in Coventry
West Midlands · 17 miPPC, AI Search & Technical SEO Consultancy in Leamington Spa
Warwickshire · 21 miPPC, AI Search & Technical SEO Consultancy in Worcester
Worcestershire · 25 miPPC, AI Search & Technical SEO Consultancy in Telford
Shropshire · 27 miPPC, AI Search & Technical SEO Consultancy in Leicester
Leicestershire · 33 mi
About The Crane Consultancy in Birmingham
The facts, plainly stated.
The Crane Consultancy provides senior-led PPC, AI search optimisation and technical SEO consultancy to mid-market businesses in Birmingham, West Midlands. It is a trading name of Crane Consultancy Limited, registered at Companies House under number 15526285, VAT number GB466677439, founded in 2024. The practice operates from Bath and Bristol, with a registered office at 45 Albemarle Street, Mayfair, London W1S 4JL. It travels to Birmingham for face-to-face sessions and delivers the rest remotely.
Every Birmingham engagement is held by one senior practitioner, the founder Nicholas Crane, from audit to invoice, with no account manager rotations and no junior handovers. Services include PPC across Google, Microsoft, Meta, LinkedIn, YouTube and Amazon; technical SEO; Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) for visibility in Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot; server-side tracking; and conversion rate optimisation. Nicholas Crane is a Google Partner, Stape Partner and Amazon Ads Partner, and led the LUSH Cosmetics global digital transformation across sixteen markets.
Birmingham Mandates
Start with a conversation.
A proper conversation with the person who would do the work. Tell me where you are and what you're weighing up, and you'll get an honest read on what I'd change, what I'd leave alone, and where the real upside is. No pitch, no rush.
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