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 · Cambridge
PPC, AI Search & Technical SEO Consultancy · Cambridge
Commercial
Velocity.
In Cambridge.
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 Cambridgeshire, face-to-face in Cambridge, from audit to invoice, and builds the commercial edge that decides who dominates 2027.
Verified Infrastructure Partners
PPC Consultancy in Cambridge
The Cambridge PPC consultancy
The Cambridge PPC consultancy
built around profit.
Mid-market businesses in Cambridge 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 Cambridge 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?
Cambridge is a global technology and life-sciences hub, the centre of the Silicon Fen cluster and home to deep-tech and biotech firms with genuine international reach. Its sales cycles are long, high-value and frequently cross-border, with buyers and partners spread across continents rather than counties. The audiences that matter are often technical specialists searching from anywhere in the world.
Deep-tech and biotech sales cross borders and run for a year or more, and a simple last-click model badly flatters whichever touch happened to come last. Cambridge accounts are measured across the full path so spend follows real commercial impact, paired with the entity and AI-search work that decides whether a specialist firm is cited when a technical buyer questions ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity. That blend of attribution and machine readability is engineered by one senior practitioner who understands both halves of it.
A Cambridge deep-tech firm's buyer is as likely to be a specialist searching from another continent as a local, and increasingly that buyer asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity before a human. The edge is the entity and answer-engine work that decides whether the firm is named in that reply, paired with attribution that measures a year-long cross-border sale honestly. One senior practitioner engineers both halves, which is the difference between being the cited authority in 2027 and being invisible to the model.
AI Search Optimisation in Cambridge
Get named by the engines
Get named by the engines
in Cambridge.
Search in 2026 no longer ends at a list of blue links. Buyers in Cambridge 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.
Whether a model can read your business, trust it and cite it is decided by structure, not word count. The work divides in two: Answer Engine Optimisation, AEO, for the direct answer and the AI Overview, and Generative Engine Optimisation, GEO, for the authority signals behind a recommendation. Most Cambridge sites fail on the basics, with weak entities, absent schema and content that reads to a model as plain 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 Cambridge 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 Cambridge
Technical SEO consultancy
Technical SEO consultancy
for Cambridge businesses.
Most Cambridge SEO agencies optimise for rankings. The Crane Consultancy optimises for revenue. Technical SEO, server-side tracking and conversion architecture are built to serve the paid-media stack, not compete with it.
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 Cambridge
Make Cambridge data
Make Cambridge data
earn its keep.
In most Cambridge businesses the data goes half-used and the manual work goes unquestioned. The practice closes both gaps.
Good media is only as honest as the data under it, so the practice builds that data first: trustworthy measurement, profit-first dashboards, and automation that clears the manual drudgery. For a Cambridge operation, AI goes to work where it genuinely sharpens a decision, from Claude and Gemini to custom internal tools, and nowhere it does not.
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
Cambridge Sector Experience
PPC and SEO for Cambridge
PPC and SEO for Cambridge
across every sector.
From the Cambridge Science Park and the Biomedical Campus to the colleges themselves, the city turns research into companies that sell worldwide.
The practice works with mid-market businesses in Cambridge and Cambridgeshire across the following sectors. The practice accepts B2B lead-generation, B2C and full omnichannel e-commerce work.
A global technology and life-sciences hub at the centre of Silicon Fen, with long, high-value, cross-border sales to technical specialists searching from anywhere.
Technology
- Paid Search & Shopping
- Paid Social
- Technical SEO
- Server-Side Tracking
Education
- Paid Search & Shopping
- Paid Social
- Technical SEO
- Server-Side Tracking
Biotechnology
- Paid Search & Shopping
- Paid Social
- Technical SEO
- Server-Side Tracking
Professional Services
- Paid Search & Shopping
- Paid Social
- Technical SEO
- Server-Side Tracking
Historical Execution
Proven at global scale.
Proven at global scale.
Applied in Cambridge.
Behind the practice stands a founder who architected the LUSH Cosmetics global digital transformation across sixteen markets, and the forensic discipline that programme demanded is what every Cambridge engagement gets, regardless of scale.
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 Cambridge and across Cambridgeshire 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 Cambridge
Why Cambridge businesses leave
Why Cambridge businesses leave
PPC agencies for senior consultancy.
The typical Cambridge 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. Whoever has capacity inherits the account, while the senior who pitched moves to the next sale.
The Crane Consultancy travels to Cambridge 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 Cambridge account are what drive results. At roughly 120 miles from the practice's base in Bath and Bristol, Cambridge sits comfortably within reach for face-to-face sessions whenever they add value.
Operating Standards
What every Cambridge engagement
What every Cambridge 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 Cambridge Businesses
PPC and SEO in Cambridge:
PPC and SEO in Cambridge:
common questions.
Are you a PPC agency or PPC consultancy in Cambridge?
The Crane Consultancy is a senior-led PPC and SEO consultancy, not a traditional PPC agency. The structural difference matters: one senior practitioner holds every Cambridge engagement from audit through to ongoing optimisation. There are no junior account managers, no team rotations and no handover documents. You work directly with the founder, Nicholas Crane, throughout the engagement.
Do you offer face-to-face PPC and SEO consultancy in Cambridge?
Yes. The practice travels to Cambridge and across Cambridgeshire for face-to-face client sessions. All Cambridge 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 Cambridge PPC agency?
Most Cambridge 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 Cambridge 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 Cambridge?
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 Cambridge businesses, anchored to a single profitability model rather than managed as separate channel siloes.
Can you help my Cambridge business appear in AI search and Google AI Overviews?
Yes. This is a core part of the practice. Buyers in Cambridge increasingly ask Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot for recommendations and act on a single synthesised answer. The Crane Consultancy builds the technical foundations that let those systems read, trust and cite your business: structured data and schema, a coherent entity graph, machine-readable content, an llms.txt discovery file and fast Core Web Vitals. This is the discipline of 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 earns rankings in a list of links. AI search optimisation earns visibility inside AI-generated answers, in Google AI Overviews and in large language models such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. It splits into Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), the structure that wins direct answers, and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), the entity and authority signals that make a model recommend you by name. For Cambridge businesses it is an architectural and technical exercise, not a content mill, and it sits alongside PPC and technical SEO in every engagement.
Can you help my Cambridge 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 Cambridge 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 Cambridge
Senior PPC, AI Search & Technical SEO consultancy
Senior PPC, AI Search & Technical SEO consultancy
beyond Cambridge.
Cambridge 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.
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Suffolk · 45 miPPC, AI Search & Technical SEO Consultancy in London
Greater London · 49 mi
About The Crane Consultancy in Cambridge
The facts, plainly stated.
The Crane Consultancy provides senior-led PPC, AI search optimisation and technical SEO consultancy to mid-market businesses in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. 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 Cambridge for face-to-face sessions and delivers the rest remotely.
Every Cambridge 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.
Cambridge 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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