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AI Search Case Study: Lumanu

AEO case study: first AI citations in 12 days, 656 AI referrals, 101 conversions, and 155% AI traffic growth for B2B payments platform Lumanu.

Case Study · FinTech Payments

How the Lureon Team Drove 656 AI‑Sourced Clicks and 101 Conversions from AI Search for Lumanu

Lumanu is a leading B2B payment platform for the creator economy, serving 200,000+ users across 35+ countries and processing 20,000+ daily transactions with roughly $3.5M in average daily payment volume. Despite that scale, it was invisible in AI search. The Lureon team changed that, and turned ChatGPT and Gemini into a booked‑demo channel.

ClientLumanu
IndustryCreator Economy Payments
TimelineUnder 6 months
ServicesAEO + SEO, Full Stack
656AI‑sourced clicks across platforms
101booked demos from AI search
+155%traffic growth from AI channels
12 daysto first AI citations post‑implementation
The Starting Point

Strong on Google, invisible to the models

Lumanu had real content and real authority by classic SEO standards. But when prospects asked ChatGPT or Gemini "what's the best platform for influencer payments," Lumanu wasn't in the answer. Three problems explained why:

Few citations from generative models on the exact buyer queries that drive demos, despite a strong content presence
Articles optimized for Google alone, missing the schema markup, entity tagging, and conversational formatting LLMs need to parse and cite a page
Fintech competitors already appearing in AI citations, taking the thought‑leadership position query by query
The Strategy

Four phases, from audit to authority

1

Technical auditing

A comprehensive LLM audit covering current AI performance, llms.txt configuration, and crawl errors, run in parallel with a traditional SEO audit, with reports delivered for rapid implementation.

2

Content optimization for LLMs

Advanced schema markup, Core Web Vitals improvements, a restructured internal linking network, and machine‑readable context so AI crawlers could finally understand what Lumanu does.

3

High purchase‑intent query targeting

Generative query mapping surfaced 1,000+ conversational phrases like "best way to pay creators internationally without fees," shifting content from educational top‑of‑funnel to the purchase‑decision queries where AI models actually refer users.

4

Authority building

Multiple DA40+ backlinks from related sites in the DA 40 to 80 range, lifting Lumanu's domain authority from 50 to 60+ and giving the models a reason to trust it as a source.

The Results

AI search became a demo‑booking channel

Citations began appearing just 12 days after implementation. Within six months, AI engines had sent 656 clicks and 101 booked demos, with ChatGPT carrying the volume and Gemini delivering the highest lead quality.

AI referrals by platform
Referral clicks, with period‑over‑period growth
ChatGPT 566 · +135% Gemini 46 · +156%
ChatGPT drove the volume with 99 attributed conversions; Gemini referrals showed the highest engagement and lead quality.
Why the conversion rate is so high: a visitor arriving from an AI answer has already been told Lumanu fits their need. 101 conversions on 656 clicks is a 15%+ conversion rate, the kind of number ads and blog traffic never touch, because AI referrals arrive pre‑sold.

And classic search grew alongside it

AEO work done properly strengthens Google too. Over the same period, organic search grew across fintech and B2B payment keywords, bringing combined organic traffic to 29,500 clicks.

28,820Google clicks, up 17.36%
1.06Mimpressions, up 22.55%
29,500combined organic clicks, Google + AI
50 → 60+domain authority
Why It Worked

Intent first, then infrastructure to match

The insight that unlocked the result: AI models answer general questions themselves, but when a query carries purchase intent, they refer the user to a vendor. So instead of competing with the models on education, the Lureon team mapped 1,000+ purchase‑intent phrases and made Lumanu the easiest brand for the models to cite on every one of them: parseable pages, clear entity signals, and the authority profile to back it up. The result is a channel where nearly every sixth click books a demo.

The takeaway for B2B platforms: if your content answers questions but never wins referrals, you're feeding the models, not converting their users. Target the queries where AI hands off the buyer, and the channel starts paying.

Want results like these?

Book a free 30‑minute strategy call with the Lureon team. You'll leave with a clear read on your current AI‑search visibility, whether we work together or not.

Book an Intro Call

Limited client roster: a senior‑only team means capped capacity.

Methodology note: figures are drawn from Google Search Console and analytics over the engagement period, comparing period‑over‑period data. AI referrals and conversions are attributed via referral‑source reporting.