Technical SEO that clears the runway
Crawl, index, Core Web Vitals and site architecture, audited with Screaming Frog, Search Console and Semrush — then turned into a fix list your developers can actually ship.
SEO & AI answer-engine optimization
Search work done well — for people and for AI models.
I'm James Thompson, a digital marketer in Guelph, Ontario. I've run SEO programs in-house at World Vision Canada, Flight Centre and Aviva Canada, and I've been a SEO/AiEO consultant since 2016.
The tools change over time but the fundamentals don't: fix what's broken, create content people find useful, and measure to confirm meaningful business impact.
Available for consulting engagements — and open to in-house SEO roles.
90%
lift in non-branded keyword traffic at Flight Centre in one year
40%
organic traffic growth at Aviva Canada through on- and off-page SEO
#1
Google rankings won in the fiercely competitive travel space
15+
years of SEO consulting for enterprise and non-profit teams
Search has two audiences now: people and models
Classic SEO still decides whether you show up in the ten blue links. Generative engine optimization decides whether an AI assistant recommends you at all. Here's how I'll help you work both sides for maximum impact:
Generative engine optimization (AiEO)
Structuring your content so ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot can quote you accurately — and cite you as the source.
Content strategy with intent behind it
Keyword and topic research mapped to real buying intent, semantic coverage, and internal linking that compounds instead of cannibalizing.
Schema & structured data
Clean, validated JSON-LD that earns rich results and gives machines an unambiguous description of who you are and what you sell.
Measurement people trust
GA4, Search Console and Looker reporting that connects rankings to traffic, leads and revenue — not vanity dashboards.
Teams that level up
In-house team building, training and stakeholder buy-in. I have built SEO teams from scratch and trained design and dev teams to keep the gains.
What colleagues and clients say
A few notes from people I've worked with over the years.
“James is an exceptional SEO expert and an absolute pleasure to work with. He is extremely passionate about the work that he does and is constantly looking for new ways to bring value to customers and create amazing online experiences. James is very dedicated to everything he's involved, great amount of experience and knowledge in SEO and all things digital — and to top it all off, he's such a wonderful person to get to know!”
“James is an amazing web developer and trainer; intelligent, experienced, dedicated and was always willing to work with my design team to produce superior online campaigns and ongoing web maintenance. He is fun and has such an amazing sense of humour — even the most stressful projects are enjoyable when James is on your team.”
“I managed James for a number of years. He is a diligent and thorough person with a great understanding of tech and code and how things work online. It was common for James to approach our team with well thought-out presentations and business cases for new marketing projects integrating business needs with his understanding of the channel. I would recommend James as an excellent addition to any team that values results and entrepreneurship.”
Looking for an SEO lead — on contract or on payroll?
Whether you need a consultant to fix search performance or an in-house SEO analyst hire who can manage and monitor it long term, reach out and let's chat.