How Welling Grew AI Citations by 243% in 3 Months with AI Search Optimization

Client: Welling

Campaign: AI Search Optimization for an AI Calorie Tracking App

Industry: AI / Health & Fitness Technology

Background & Context

The health and fitness app market is more crowded than ever, and calorie tracking is one of its most competitive corners. Established players like MyFitnessPal have owned this space for years, and new entrants like Welling — an AI-powered calorie tracking app — have to work harder than ever to be found by the people searching for a smarter way to track their food and reach their goals.

At the same time, the way people search is changing. Search is no longer limited to a list of blue links on Google. More and more, people ask ChatGPT and other AI systems directly for app recommendations, comparisons, and advice — "what's the best AI food tracker," "AI food coach app," "best calorie tracking app for teens." If a brand isn't visible in both traditional search results and the answers generated by AI systems, it risks being invisible at the exact moment a potential user is deciding which app to download.

The Challenge

Welling needed to build visibility in this dual search landscape — ranking in traditional Google search results while also earning citations inside AI answer engines like ChatGPT. Competing against long-established calorie tracking apps meant Welling had to differentiate itself clearly around its AI positioning, and do so in a way that both search engines and AI systems could recognize, understand, and recommend.

Objective

• Grow overall organic visibility and awareness in search

• Grow presence and citation frequency inside AI systems (AI Search Optimization / AIO)

• Rank on the first page of Google for high-intent, AI- and calorie-tracking-related keywords

• Grow qualified organic traffic to the Welling website

Strategy

Clout Media approached the Welling engagement using its standard AIO + SEO methodology, designed to build visibility across both traditional search engines and AI answer engines:

1. Technical SEO Foundation — Auditing and strengthening the site's technical health (crawlability, indexability, site structure, and performance) to give both search engines and AI crawlers a clean, accessible foundation to work from. 2. AI-Citability Content Structuring — Structuring content and implementing schema markup so that Welling's pages are easier for AI systems to parse, understand, and cite as a trustworthy source in response to relevant queries. 3. Keyword Targeting for AI-Driven Queries — Identifying and targeting the specific search queries and conversational questions people are asking both Google and AI assistants about AI-powered calorie tracking and food coaching. 4. Content Optimization for Dual Search — Optimizing existing and new content so it performs for both traditional organic rankings and AI answer citations, rather than treating the two as separate efforts.

Execution

• Conducted a technical SEO audit of the Welling website and addressed core crawlability and indexability factors

• Implemented and refined schema markup to support AI-citability and clearer content understanding

• Mapped and targeted keywords aligned with how users search for AI food tracking and coaching tools, both in Google and in AI assistants

• Optimized on-page content to strengthen relevance for both traditional SERPs and AI-generated answers

• Monitored search visibility and AI citation activity using Bing Webmaster Tools data to track how often Welling was being surfaced in ChatGPT responses

Results

Results are tracked against two client reporting periods — a 3-month engagement report (Jan 26 – Apr 25, 2026) covering the initial buildout, and a later single-month checkpoint (Jul 6 – Aug 5, 2026) reflecting where the campaign stood several months on. We're presenting both directly, including the metrics that moved in a positive direction and the ones that didn't, because an honest picture of the work matters more than a highlight reel.

3-Month Results (Jan 26 – Apr 25, 2026)

After the initial 3-month engagement, Welling saw measurable growth across both traditional and AI search channels:

• Awareness (AOT): +246%

• Impressions (Google SERPs): 4x+ increase

• Traffic Growth: +33%

• Total AI Citations: +243% (1.4K → 4.8K, per Bing Webmaster Tools)

Impressions increased more than 4x, meaning Welling appeared far more often in Google Search Results Pages — a direct sign of improved search visibility.

Traffic grew by 33%, driven by more clicks from Google Search Results converting into website sessions.

AI Citations grew by 243%, with Bing Webmaster Tools data showing keywords being cited in ChatGPT increasing from 1.4K to 4.8K over the engagement period.

Scope of Work

This growth was underpinned by a substantial body of work completed during the period:

• 80 pages optimized for technical and on-page SEO

• 41 new blog posts created and published

• 5 backlinks built through targeted outreach

• 3 major technical/page-speed fixes implemented

• A full analytics stack implemented to track search and AI-citation performance going forward

Keyword & Landing Page Performance (Last 28 Days of the Period)

Looking at the final 28 days of the 3-month period, the keyword-level data shows exactly where visibility was concentrated:

By impressions:

• "how to track calories" — 26,766 impressions at an average position of 1.18

• "best calorie tracker app" — 5,709 impressions at an average position of 1.57

• "welling" — 5,539 impressions at an average position of 4.02

• "tdee calculator" — 2,162 impressions at an average position of 27.82

By clicks:

• "welling ai" — 161 clicks at an average position of 1.55

• "welling" — 77 clicks

• "welling app" — 47 clicks

• "ai bmi calculator" — 15 clicks

• "ai tdee calculator" — 15 clicks

Landing page performance:

• Homepage — 24,302 impressions / 490 clicks / 2.02% CTR

• /articles/calorie-guide-noodles — 37,725 impressions / 264 clicks / 0.70% CTR

• /bmi-calculator — 94 clicks at a 6.67% CTR

• /tdee-calculator — 74 clicks at a 1.34% CTR

AI Cited Keywords — queries where Welling is now being cited by AI systems like ChatGPT:

• "the best of myfitnesspal and chatgpt combined app"

• "AI food coach app for staying in control"

• "ai food coach"

• "ai food tracker"

1st Page Google Keywords — keywords where Welling achieved first-page rankings on Google:

• "ai food tracker"

• "ai bmi calculator"

• "best ai for weight loss"

• "Best Calorie Tracking Apps for Teenagers 2026"

AI Citations Detail (Bing Webmaster Tools)

Bing Webmaster Tools data — the source for ChatGPT citation tracking — showed a Total Citations count of 4.4K over the period, with an average of 10 cited pages per day. Welling was cited by AI systems for queries including:

• "diet list 2026"

• "ai food tracking app"

• "best calorie tracking apps 2026"

• "best food logging app 2026"

Backlink Profile

Backlink metrics also grew meaningfully over the period: Authority Score rose from 11 to 12, Referring Domains grew from 75 to 121 (+61%), and total Backlinks grew from 130 to 888 (+583%). Notable referring sources included the Apple App Store listing, a GitHub gist, firstmovefund.com, the Google Play listing, and the axflow.dev blog.

Worth noting honestly: the free/organic backlink outreach in this phase underperformed relative to the volume of work involved, which is why the next-phase plan shifted toward a paid backlinks and listicle placement strategy rather than continuing to rely solely on organic outreach.

Site Health & Technical Audit

A full site audit put Site Health at 82% (against a benchmark of 92% for the top 10% of sites) and AI Search Health at 77%, based on a crawl of 100 pages. All major AI crawlers — ChatGPT-User, OAI-SearchBot, Googlebot, and Google-Extended — were confirmed unblocked.

Lighthouse Scores

Lighthouse scores from this period were mixed: Performance 42/100, Accessibility 91/100, Best Practices 77/100, and SEO 100/100. The Performance score in particular is an area we're flagging directly rather than glossing over — page speed remained a real weak point during this phase of the engagement.

Month 3 Update (Jul 6 – Aug 5, 2026)

A later, single-month snapshot from Jul 6 – Aug 5, 2026 — the client's 'Welling 3rd month SEO Report' — shows a mix of continued gains and real declines. We're including both, since an accurate picture of performance over time matters more than presenting only the positive figures.

3-month view (vs. 3 months prior):

• Impressions: 950K → 623K (-34%)

• Clicks: 3.87K → 5.74K (+48%)

• CTR: 0.4% → 0.9% (+125%)

• Average Position: 6.3 → 9.2 (a decline — a higher number means a lower average rank)

Month-on-month:

• Impressions: 176K → 165K (-6%)

• Clicks: 1.93K → 1.79K (-7%)

• Average Position: 9.3 → 11 (a decline)

AI citations:

• 3-month: 5.5K → 16.6K (+201%)

• Month-on-month: 6.6K → 5.8K (-12%, a decline)

Positive keyword and content specifics:

• "welling ai" — +7% to 778 clicks

• "low calorie noodles" — +138% to 399 clicks

• "welling" — +42% to 337 clicks

• "ai bmi calculator" — +147% to 126 clicks

Top content by clicks:

• Homepage — 1.97K clicks (+24%)

• Lowest Calorie Noodles Guide — 1.17K clicks (+134%)

• "Best Calorie Tracking Apps for Teenagers 2026" — 323 clicks (a brand-new page, previously 0)

• Free AI BMI Calculator — 267 clicks (+95%)

Backlinks continued growing over this period: Authority Score rose from 24 to 25, Referring Domains from 277 to 318, and Backlinks from 8.4K to 9.9K. The recommended next step is to target higher-tier press coverage — outlets like NYT, CNN, AARP, WSJ, Bloomberg, Forbes, USA Today, People, and The Guardian.

Technical:

• Site Health: 85 → 86

• AI Search Health: 77 → 85 (a real improvement)

• Lighthouse Performance: still low, at 39/100

Heatmap & on-page behavior:

• Sessions: +11%

• Scroll Depth: down to 40% (a decline)

• Rage clicks: 0.06%

• Dead clicks: 5.99%

• Quick backs: 4.34%

• Outbound click rate: 14.00% of sessions

The mixed direction of these numbers — impressions and average position softening even as clicks, CTR, and AI citations grew substantially on a 3-month view — is worth explaining rather than glossing over. This pattern is consistent with a keyword footprint that kept expanding into a more competitive set of terms: as Welling's content footprint grew, it likely started ranking (and being tracked) for a wider, often more contested range of queries, which can pull average position and total impressions down even while the traffic and citations that matter most keep climbing. It may also reflect normal search algorithm volatility and seasonal shifts in how people search for diet and fitness content — a dip of this kind isn't unusual for a site still in a growth phase, though we don't have enough data to say with certainty which factor mattered most.

Impact

These results mean Welling is now positioned in front of potential users at more of the moments that matter — whether someone is scrolling through traditional Google search results or asking an AI assistant for a recommendation. The growth in AI citations is particularly significant: as more people turn to ChatGPT and similar tools for app discovery, being the answer that gets cited puts Welling ahead of competitors who are only optimizing for traditional search. Combined with strong gains in impressions and traffic, Welling is building a durable, multi-channel visibility advantage in a highly competitive category.

Why AI Search Optimization Matters for App Discovery

For an app like Welling, discovery increasingly happens outside the traditional search results page. Someone deciding between calorie tracking apps might ask ChatGPT to compare options, request a recommendation based on their goals, or ask which app uses AI most effectively — and whichever brand the AI system cites has a real advantage in that conversation. AI Search Optimization (AIO) isn't a replacement for SEO; it's an extension of it, ensuring a brand's content is structured, authoritative, and clear enough that both search engines and AI systems recognize it as a credible answer. For app-based businesses in particular, where users often research conversationally before downloading, showing up inside the AI answer itself can be as valuable as ranking on page one of Google.

FAQ

What is AI Search Optimization (AIO)? AIO is the practice of optimizing a website's content, structure, and technical setup so that AI systems like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and other AI answer engines can understand, trust, and cite it in their responses — alongside traditional SEO for search engine rankings.

How is AIO different from traditional SEO? Traditional SEO focuses on ranking in search engine results pages. AIO focuses on being understood and cited by AI systems that generate direct answers rather than a list of links. The two overlap significantly — many of the same foundations, like technical health, clear structure, and authoritative content, support both — but AIO adds a layer focused specifically on AI-citability and schema markup.

Why does AIO matter for app discovery specifically? People increasingly ask AI assistants for app recommendations and comparisons rather than browsing search results one by one. If an app's content isn't structured in a way AI systems can parse and trust, it can be left out of these AI-generated recommendations entirely, even if it ranks well in traditional search.

How long does it take to see results from AIO and SEO? Timelines vary by site and competitive landscape, but foundational technical and content work typically needs a few months to show measurable movement in both search visibility and AI citation activity, as seen in this engagement's 3-month results.

Key Takeaways

• Awareness (AOT) grew by +246%

• Impressions from Google Search Results Pages increased more than 4x

• Organic traffic grew by +33%

• Total AI Citations grew by +243%, with ChatGPT-cited keywords rising from 1.4K to 4.8K (per Bing Webmaster Tools)

• Welling now ranks on page one of Google for keywords including "ai food tracker," "ai bmi calculator," "best ai for weight loss," and "Best Calorie Tracking Apps for Teenagers 2026"

• Welling is now being cited by AI systems like ChatGPT for queries including "ai food coach" and "ai food tracker"

• Delivered 80 pages optimized, 41 new blog posts, 5 backlinks, and a full analytics stack during the initial 3-month engagement

• Backlinks grew from 130 to 888 in the first 3 months and continued to 9.9K by the Month 3 checkpoint, though organic outreach alone underperformed — prompting a shift to paid backlink placements

• A later Month 3 checkpoint (Jul–Aug 2026) showed AI citations up +201% over 3 months, though impressions and average position softened over the same period — a reminder that growth in a competitive, expanding keyword set isn't always linear

Ready to Grow Your Brand's Visibility in Both Search and AI?

Clout Media helps brands get found — in traditional search and in the AI systems more people are turning to every day. If you want to see what our AIO & SEO services could do for your business, [contact the team] to get started.