Launching SEO visibility from scratch for a newly released real estate website

Project Context

Orpi Fondettes – Foucard & Ballereau is a local real estate agency and member of the Orpi network.
Like many agencies in the group, its digital visibility historically relied on two main channels:

• a Google Business Profile
• pages on the national Orpi website, shared across the network

Following the creation of an independent website by Digidop, the agency finally had its own digital platform.

The goal was not to redesign the site, but to support its SEO launch while it was still very new and without any history.

As is often the case after a site launch, it started strictly from zero in organic search:

• few pages recognized and indexed by Google
• no historical performance data
• local signals too weak to allow clear positioning

Our intervention was deliberately focused: to act quickly after the site went live, avoid a long SEO latency period, and lay clean, solid foundations from the start.

Understanding the Challenges of a Newly Launched Site

A newly published website, even if technically well-designed, is not immediately visible in search results.

Search engines first need to understand several fundamental aspects:

• the overall site structure
• the relative importance of each page
• its real geographic relevance
• its relevance to local user queries

Without this initial clarification work, a site can remain invisible for several months, regardless of design quality or the professionalism of the business.

The goal of our intervention was therefore not to promise artificial short-term growth, but to facilitate and accelerate this comprehension phase, creating a solid foundation for future actions.

Initial Diagnosis: SEO & AI Engines (AEO)

A targeted SEO and AEO audit was conducted to assess the site’s actual situation, from both traditional search engines and generative AI engines.

Classic SEO Observations (Newly Launched Site)

Several structural limitations were identified:

• a very limited number of indexed pages, mechanically restricting visibility
• content relevant to users, but insufficiently structured for search engines
• local anchoring still too implicit for a real estate agency
• absence of a precise tracking system to measure progress

AI / AEO Perception (Exploratory Audit)

In a context where 71.5% of consumers use AI for preliminary real estate searches, we also evaluated how the agency was perceived by major generative AI engines.

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Overall Performance: 8.2 / 10‍

• ✅ Recognized across major AI engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude)
• ✅ Generally favorable positioning on local queries
• ⚠️ Some inconsistencies and vulnerabilities need to be addressed quickly

Strengths Recognized by AI

• Longevity and credibility: 20 years of existence correctly interpreted
• Innovation: 360° tours, 3D home staging, digital tools regularly mentioned
• Geographic anchoring: Tours metropolitan area and northern 37 well identified
• Perceived service quality: Ratings and reviews regularly highlighted

Identified Vulnerabilities

• Sometimes unfavorable price perception on certain AI engines
• Customer ratings lower than some direct competitors in comparisons
• Occasional factual errors (location, dates) affecting credibility

These issues were not blocking, but confirmed the need to structure the site’s local and editorial identity more clearly.

Actions Implemented‍

Our approach focused on acting on the most structuring levers, without unnecessarily complicating the site or launching a disproportionate project.

Technical Clarification and Indexing‍

Priority work was carried out to improve the site’s overall readability for search engines:

• voluntary de-indexing of low-value SEO pages
• manual prioritization and indexing of strategic pages
• clean redirects to avoid signal dilution

The goal was to reduce noise and guide Google toward the pages that truly matter.

Strengthening Local and Semantic Signals

The site was then clarified both semantically and geographically to make immediately clear:

• the nature of the services offered
• the agency’s actual coverage area
• the local positioning relative to Tours and Fondettes

These optimizations were designed for both Google and generative AI engines.

Preparation for AI Engines (AEO)

Several adjustments were implemented to anticipate new search behaviors:

• enrichment of structured data
• addition of an llms.txt file
• structuring content for easy consumption by AI systems

Performance Tracking Setup

Finally, a reliable measurement system was implemented:

• Google Analytics 4
• Google Search Console
• Dedicated dashboards for SEO and AI traffic

The goal was to provide clear, factual, and actionable insights into performance over time.

Observed Results

Results should be interpreted with appropriate perspective:‍

• ‍May 2025 (Launch)‍
  
  • 5 pages indexed
  • 30 impressions
  • 4 organic clicks‍
    
• November 2025 (6 months later)‍
  
  • 49 pages indexed
  • 2,883 impressions
  • 109 organic clicks

These indicators do not reflect a traffic explosion, but rather an initial, coherent visibility trend, considering:

• the starting point (a brand-new site)
• the deliberately limited scope of the intervention
• the absence of ongoing content production afterward

Key Takeaways

This client case highlights several structural lessons:

• the importance of acting quickly after a site goes live
• the value of a targeted audit, even without a full redesign or heavy strategy
• the necessity of establishing clean SEO and AEO foundations before any acceleration

In the case of Orpi Fondettes, this approach transformed a newly launched, barely visible site into one that is readable, measurable, and ready for growth, both in classic local SEO and in terms of visibility on generative AI engines.