From Viral to Visible in Search
Turning a loyal following into search visibility and AI citations for a family-owned Southern apparel retailer.
Client
Pants Store
Services
SEO, AEO
Industry
E-Commerce, Apparel, Retail
Platforms
Google Search, AI Search
Increase in Organic Traffic
61%
Increase in Page 1 Keywords
42%
Project Overview
Pants Store is a family-owned apparel retailer founded in 1950 by Taylor Gee in Leeds, Alabama. What started as a single pants shop has grown into a destination for clothing, shoes, and accessories for the whole family, with seven locations across Alabama and one in Oxford, Mississippi. Now run by the third generation of the Gee family, the brand carries names like New Balance, Hoka, Birkenstock, and Free People has become a go-to source for SEC gameday style across the South.
Pants Store also built a large and engaged social following. Its Tuscaloosa store and #bamarush content turned the brand into a TikTok sensation and drove major spikes in online sales, and pantsstore.com now ranks among the company's top-performing locations, with more than half of online orders shipping out of state. That reach created an opportunity. Much of the brand's organic visibility leaned on branded searches, while demand for the apparel brands it carries and the categories it sells went uncaptured in non-branded search.
Pants Store partnered with 20North in 2025 to close that gap. The work started with foundational blog and collection page optimization, expanded into branded apparel targeting and social integration, and grew into answer engine optimization as AI search gained share.
Challenges across organic and AI search:
- Organic visibility concentrated on branded search terms
- Demand for the apparel brands Pants Store carries going uncaptured in non-branded search
- Main collection pages lacking SEO-friendly content
- A large social following that was not translating into on-site search traffic
- No infrastructure for AI search visibility
Project Execution
20North deployed a phased SEO strategy that scaled from broad collection coverage into branded apparel targeting and AEO infrastructure, layering in social integration and original voice to match how Pants Store's audience already engages with the brand.
Foundational Blog and Page Optimization Strategy (August 2025)
- Launched with 5 blog posts per month targeting long-tail informational keywords, each built with custom infographics, internal linking strategy, and defined target keywords
- Paired blog work with 6 monthly page optimizations that added SEO-friendly content to main collection pages
Technical SEO Maintenance
- Monthly meta title and description optimization across the site to address visibility gaps and improve click-through rates
Branded Keyword Expansion
- Shifted focus to capturing demand around the clothing brands Pants Store carries after broader collection rankings established momentum
Brand Collection Pages
- Built out and optimized dedicated pages for the apparel brands in the Pants Store catalog
Brand-Focused Blog Content
- Layered in blog posts targeting specific apparel brands to support the collection page work and capture brand-specific search demand
Social Integration
- Embedded TikTok content within blog posts to bridge the gap between Pants Store's large organic social following and on-site search traffic
AEO Integration
- Expanded the program to address answer engine optimization as AI search gained share, building on the existing SEO foundation
Technical Infrastructure
- Implemented LLMS.txt, page-specific schema, and structured data to make content readable by large language models
Authority Through Original Voice
- Integrated unique quotes from Pants Store employees into blog content to showcase in-house expertise and brand voice, both of which perform well on AI engines
The phased approach paid off. Organic users grew 61% and sessions rose 49% as the collection and brand pages captured demand that branded search alone had been missing, and page 1 keyword coverage expanded 42%. On the AEO side, the new infrastructure began earning results in AI answer engines, lifting Pants Store's citation rank from #9 to #3.
Project Results
With 20North, Pants Store turned brand awareness that lived largely on social into lasting organic search performance, capturing non-branded demand across the categories and apparel brands it sells. As the program expanded into AEO, the brand began building citation share in AI answer engines, giving it an early foothold as AI search takes on more of the discovery journey.
Search Growth (Since Launch, August 2025)
- Organic users up 61% and sessions up 49%
- Keywords up 47% and page 1 keywords up 42%
Recent Momentum (Last 90 Days, Year over Year)
- Users up 56% and sessions up 39%
- Page 1 keywords up 53%
AI Citations
- Citation rank climbed from #9 to #3 in AI answer engines, with citation share roughly doubling
- Top-cited pages span collection, brand, and educational blog content, giving Pants Store citation depth across the funnel
Business Growth
- Captured non-branded demand across collection and apparel brand pages
- Built lasting organic visibility to complement the brand's strong social presence
- Established AEO infrastructure to grow citation share as answer engines take more of the discovery journey
Testimonial
"We've been working with 20North on the organic SEO side of our website since 2025, and the results have been outstanding. We've seen significant improvements in our organic traffic, search visibility, and overall online performance. Their team (shoutout to Emily and Caroline!) is knowledgeable, responsive, and proactive, always bringing thoughtful strategies and recommendations to help us continue growing. It's been a great partnership, and we're extremely pleased with the impact they've had on our business." - Kady Gray
