Using AI Overview optimization to build instant credibility for a bootstrapped SaaS
The Challenge
AeroChat is an AI-powered customer service platform for e-commerce businesses. As a bootstrapped SaaS entering a competitive market dominated by well-funded and established players like Tidio, Gorgias and Intercom among others, we faced a fundamental problem: how do you build credibility fast when you’re competing against brands with years of market presence and massive marketing budgets?
We initially took the conventional route — Google Ads and Shopify App Store ads. While we sa some early results, the economics quickly became unsustainable. Cost per installation kept climbing, and for a bootstrapped company, throwing money at paid acquisition wasn’t a viable long-term strategy.
We needed a different approach.
The Insight
As an SEO agency (Stridec) that had pivoted to focus on AI search optimization, we realized we had an unfair advantage we weren’t using for our own product. We understood how organic search worked — but more importantly, we understood how AI Overviews were changing the game.
The question that kept coming back to us: How do we gain credibility fast with our target audience when there are so many established players?
That’s when it clicked. AI Overviews don’t just show the biggest brands — theye show the most relevant answers. If Google’s AI cited us alongside the market leaders, we’d inherit instant credibility by association. We wouldn’t need years of brand building. We just needed to appear in the same answer box.
The Approach
Instead of the conventional SEO playbook of targeting keywords and optimizing content around them, we focused on entity differentiation.
We asked: What makes AeroChat genuinely different from Tidio, Gorgias, and Intercom? Not in marketing speak, but in actual capability and use case.
We emphasized clarity on use cases, applications, capabilities, and the specific ICPs we serve best. The goal was to give Google’s AI clear signals that AeroChat isn’t just another chatbot — it’s a distinct solution with specific strengths for specific customers.
This meant being very precise about what we do (AI shopping assistant that turns chats into conversions), who we serve (e-commerce businesses, particularly on Shopify), and what makes our approach different (proprietary intention detection and document processing engines achieving 87-94% resolution rates).
The Results
Timeline: Under 3 weeks to first AI Overview appearances
AeroChat now appears in AI Overviews for high-intent commercial queries including:
- Best Shopify Chatbot
- Best Shopify AI Chatbot
- Free Chatbot for E-Commerce
- AI Chatbot for E-Commerce
- And related variants
The Numbers:
- Impressions grew 250% within weeks
- Clicks increased 219%
- Daily impressions jumped 4x
- Branded searches for “AeroChat” now account for 59% of total clicks
- Sign-up rate improved by 100-200% over the initial period
The branded search ratio is particularly significant — it shows that AI Overview exposure is driving brand awareness. People see AeroChat mentioned alongside established players, then search for us directly.
The Bigger Win
The metrics matter, but the real value is harder to quantify: instant credibility.
When someone searches “best Shopify chatbot” and Google’s AI mentions AeroChat alongside Tidio and Gorgias, we’re no longer an unknown startup asking for a chance. We’re a recommended solution that Google’s AI has validated as belonging in the same conversation as the market leaders.
That positioning — being featured alongside established players whenever a related search comes up — gives us tremendous brand mileage that would have taken years and significant capital to build through traditional means.
Want the Same Results?
Whether you’re a SaaS company, e-commerce merchant, service-based business, consultancy, or independent marketer — if you want to position your brand prominently alongside established players in AI search results, we can help.
Learn more about our AI Overview Mastery Programme and how we can help you achieve instant trust and credibility through AI search visibility.
→ Visit: stridec.com/ai-overview-mastery-programme
Ready to Dominate AI Overviews?
Join our 90-day programme and get your brand featured in Google's AI-generated search results.
Get Started
