SEO by company stage
Seed to early Series A
Don't over-invest yet. Get the technical foundations right, make sure your site clearly explains your category, publish a small number of high-intent pages (your core use cases and a few comparisons), and make sure AI assistants describe your product accurately. This is also when founder-led content works best. Our startup SEO page covers this stage in more depth.
Series A to B
This is when SEO starts compounding. We build out the bottom of the funnel properly: alternatives and comparison pages, integration pages, industry and use-case pages, and the supporting content that links into them. Links and mentions from the publications your buyers read become a priority. See our SaaS SEO work for how this runs.
Series B and beyond
Scale and structure. Programmatic pages where there's genuine search demand, international SEO, consolidation of the content debt that built up in earlier years, and consistent AI visibility across a wider set of buyer prompts.
SEO consulting for Silicon Valley companies
Many Valley companies already have a growth team and need a senior SEO to set direction: what to build, what to fix, what to stop doing. We do that as a consulting engagement or as a full execution program. See SEO consulting and, for early-stage companies, startup SEO. For service businesses on the Peninsula, see local SEO in the Bay Area.
Technical issues we fix all the time
- JavaScript-rendered pages that search engines and AI crawlers struggle to read.
- Docs, blog and marketing site split across subdomains with no linking strategy.
- Staging or preview environments getting indexed.
- Pricing, integration and feature pages hidden behind scripts or tabs.
- Site migrations and redesigns that wipe out years of rankings. We plan and protect migrations before launch, not after.
AI visibility for tech buyers
Developers and technical buyers rely on AI assistants more than almost anyone. When someone asks "what's the best tool for X," the answer is shaped by documentation, GitHub, review platforms like G2, community discussions and comparison articles. We track how often your product is named for those prompts, using our own platform PromptRush, and work on the sources that decide it.
Two programs with published numbers, both for software companies.
| Case study | Headline result | What the work was |
|---|---|---|
| Krisp | +108% organic traffic, +81% organic signups | Four priority pages rebuilt into one connected AI meeting search cluster, with six #1 US rankings in five months. |
| 10Web | +35% organic clicks, +31% organic signups | Technical SEO, content, authority and conversion tracking connected across three high-value AI website builder pages. |
The full write-ups, including the periods they cover, are on our case studies page.
Silicon Valley cities we work with
Most of our clients here are Series A to Series D software companies, developer tools and AI companies, and the odd hardware business that sells through content. For companies in San Francisco itself, see our San Francisco SEO agency page. For the region as a whole, see our Bay Area SEO company page.
Palo Alto and Menlo Park
Venture-backed software and AI companies, plus the law and finance firms that serve them. The work is usually category and comparison pages.
Mountain View and Sunnyvale
Developer tools, enterprise software and hardware. Documentation and product pages often carry more search demand than the blog, and they are the pages most often held back by rendering problems.
Santa Clara and Cupertino
Semiconductor, hardware and enterprise companies with long sales cycles, where search supports account research more than lead volume.
San Jose
The largest city in the Valley, with enterprise tech downtown and a big local service market around it. For service businesses, see local SEO in the Bay Area.
Redwood City and San Mateo
Growth-stage SaaS and fintech, usually Series B and later, where cleaning up old content and international SEO become the priority.
Why SEO in Silicon Valley is different
Most Valley companies sell software to buyers who do not search by city. The competition is every other vendor in the category, often with more funding and an older domain. That changes the plan in three ways. Bottom-of-funnel pages (comparisons, alternatives, integrations) come before blog content. Technical SEO matters more, because marketing sites, docs and apps are usually split across frameworks and subdomains. And AI assistants are already part of how technical buyers build a shortlist, so being cited there is part of the job from day one.
Free scan: your rankings and AI visibility
Enter your domain and we send back what is blocking indexation, which bottom-funnel pages your competitors have and you don't, and how assistants describe your product.
Frequently asked questions
When should a startup start investing in SEO?
Once you know your category, your buyer and the problems you solve well enough to write about them precisely. Before that, keep it to foundations.
Is programmatic SEO worth it?
Sometimes. It works when there's real search demand for each page and you have unique data to put on them. Thin template pages usually hurt more than they help.
Can you work with our engineering team?
Yes. We write clear, prioritized tickets and can review pull requests for SEO impact before release.
Do you work with pre-seed or seed-stage startups?
Usually from the point where there is product-market fit and a clear category to rank in. Before that, we would rather help you set up the right foundations than sell a big retainer.
What does a Silicon Valley SEO company cost?
Programs for funded startups typically run $4,000 to $12,000 per month depending on how competitive the category is. We scope after a free audit.
Do you work with companies outside the Valley?
Yes. See our San Francisco SEO agency page for the wider Bay Area.
Related pages
Get a free SEO + AI visibility audit for your startup
Send us your domain, your category and your stage. We come back with what is worth building now, what can wait until the next round, and how often assistants recommend you today.