My first job in digital marketing, in 2009, was optimising websites for American businesses. I sat in Mumbai, working US hours in my head, building links, writing for company blogs, helping publish white papers and figuring out why one page ranked and another didn’t. Fifteen-plus years later I run my own agency, and a growing share of our work is once again for clients in the United States.

A lot has changed in that time. Some things haven’t changed at all. Here is what I’ve learned, and what I think it means for a US business choosing a marketing partner today.

2009: when SEO was a numbers game

In my early years at coAction, a big part of SEO for US clients was volume: directory submissions, social bookmarking, profiles across dozens of networks, links wherever we could get them. It worked, for a while, because search engines were easier to fool.

Then Google’s algorithm updates arrived and wiped out a lot of that work overnight. It was the most useful lesson of my career: tactics expire, but helping the searcher never does. Every update since has rewarded the same thing – pages that genuinely answer what people are looking for, on sites people trust.

Working with big brands taught me measurement

In 2011 I moved to managing SEO, SEM and PPC campaigns for brands such as Carlsberg India, Logitech India, SHRM and Birla Sun Life, along with reporting across more than 50 websites. Big brands don’t care how many links you built. They want to know what the spend produced.

That habit – tying every activity to a business number – is the one I’ve carried into every engagement since. It’s why we track calls, WhatsApp messages and form leads, not just traffic, for every Google Ads and SEO client.

Founding Psyber in 2014

By 2014 I wanted to build the kind of agency I’d want to hire: strategic, honest about timelines and accountable for results. Since then Psyber has worked with brands including Aditya Birla Group, Mamaearth, Fashion TV India and Prestige Cookware, and with SMEs and startups in India, the USA, Canada and the UK.

Running an agency also taught me operations. Documented processes and training helped us reduce our client acquisition cost by 20% and grow turnover by over 200% in four years. For clients, that discipline matters as much as any marketing tactic: it’s what makes results repeatable instead of lucky.

What has changed for US businesses

1. Search is now answers, not just links

Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity increasingly answer questions directly. Being the business they mention is the new first page. We call this generative engine optimization, and it builds on everything good SEO already does: clear entities, structured data and genuinely useful content.

2. Local is decided on the map

For service businesses – plumbers, clinics, law firms, contractors – the Google map pack often matters more than the organic results. Reviews, consistent business details and a well-managed Google Business Profile decide who gets the call. Our local SEO work for US clients starts there.

3. Paid and organic have to work together

Click prices in many US categories are high. The businesses that win use paid search to learn which keywords convert, then build organic pages around them so they aren’t paying for every visit forever.

4. Security is now part of marketing

Ad accounts, analytics, website logins and tracking pixels hold valuable data. My training as a Certified Ethical Hacker means I look at a marketing stack the way an attacker would – and too many small businesses have handed the keys to people they’ve never vetted.

What hasn’t changed

Content that answers real questions still wins. It did in 2009 and it does in AI search.
Trust beats tricks. Every shortcut I’ve seen eventually stopped working.
You should own your accounts. Your domain, website, Google Business Profile, analytics and ad accounts belong to you, not your agency.
Measure what pays the bills. Rankings and traffic are means, not ends.

Why I still enjoy working with American businesses

US clients tend to be direct about what they want and quick to make decisions, which makes the work better. The time difference helps too: work briefed at the end of a US day is often done by the next morning. And having started my career on US campaigns, I understand the market, the spelling, the search behaviour and the expectations.

If you run a US business and want an experienced partner for SEO, Google Ads or AI search, take a look at our SEO services for the USA or book a call – we’ll schedule it in your time zone.

About the author: Antriksh Shah is the Founder & CEO of Psyber Inc, a digital marketing agency serving brands across India, the USA, Canada and the UK. He has worked in search marketing since 2009, is a Certified Ethical Hacker with a postgraduate qualification in cyber law, founded the startup–investor platform Startups24x7, and mentored founders as a Growth Mentor at IIT Bombay E-Cell. More about Antriksh.