The thinking, the approach, the results.

Clearfield had been operating for three years with almost no organic search presence. Their competitors had years of SEO-optimised content and strong domain authority. The conventional response — "publish more content" — would have taken 18 months to show results and cost more than they had budgeted.

We started with a full AI-assisted gap analysis: mapping every keyword their top five competitors ranked for, identifying the high-intent, lower-competition terms their category had overlooked, and building a content architecture around the topics where first-page ranking was achievable within a six-month window. The strategy was built on what was winnable, not on what looked impressive in a deck.

Content production ran on our AI-assisted workflow — AI for research, structure, and first drafts, senior editors for accuracy, voice, and strategic alignment. Forty pieces of content in six months. Each piece built around a specific search intent, properly interlinked, and tracked from day one. Within the first six months, Clearfield ranked on page one for 23 target keywords and organic became a meaningful lead source for the first time. Adjacent now handles their ongoing content programme on a monthly retainer.

A mid-size independent agency had been looking for a new Creative Director for seven months. They'd worked with two recruiters and seen plenty of candidates. The problem was consistent: strong creative track records with no commercial instinct, or the reverse. Nobody who was clearly both.

When they came to Adjacent, we started by questioning the brief. After conversations with the CEO and two existing clients, it became clear the role needed someone who could hold a room with clients and then go back and push the creative team harder. That's a specific profile — and it isn't in the brief that gets posted on job boards.

Our AI-assisted candidate mapping covered 400+ eligible candidates across LinkedIn, portfolio platforms, industry publications, and award shortlists in four days. A traditional search would have taken three weeks to reach the same coverage. We identified twelve candidates who matched the revised profile. The CEO interviewed four. One was hired — and has since been described as the best hire the agency has ever made.

A professional services group had tried running content in-house, then with a freelancer network, then with a mid-size content agency. The results were the same each time: quality or volume, never both. The agency charged for a team of eight to produce thirty pieces a month. The in-house team produced ten good pieces and then ran out of time. They needed a different model.

Adjacent's AI-assisted content workflow is that model. AI handles topic research, search intent mapping, structural outlines, and first-pass drafts. Senior editors handle brand voice, accuracy, strategic alignment, and final quality control. The workflow produces forty or more pieces per month — properly optimised, properly edited, properly on-brief — at a cost comparable to what the client had been paying for ten.

We began with a full content audit and SEO gap analysis, built a topic architecture mapped to their buyer journey, and established a brand voice framework their internal team could also use. Eighteen months in, organic search is their largest inbound channel. The programme is still running.