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Case study · Ceramic coating
Apex Detail Studio: #9 to #1 in nine months
A Tampa coating shop ranked #9 for its money keyword at signup. Nine months later it held the top of the map pack — and hired to keep up with the calls.
PHOTO — coated black sedan under bay lighting at Apex Detail Studio
At a glance
Nine months, measured
+214%
Booking calls
11 / 14
Keywords at #1
9 mo
To full calendar
2
Installers hired
The challenge
Apex did excellent coating work and had the reviews to prove it — but the phone was quiet. They ranked #9 for “ceramic coating tampa,” buried below shops doing half the quality, because their Google Business Profile used the wrong primary category, their site had no dedicated coating pages, and review requests were manual and inconsistent. They’d fired three agencies that sent PDFs and excuses.
Our first-week audit showed exactly which competitors were taking their calls, and why — down to the keyword. That report is what got them to sign.
What we did
Month 1 — Foundation. Rebuilt the Google Business Profile category by category, fixed site speed and schema, cleaned citations, and switched on automated review requests timed to an hour after every pickup.
Months 2–4 — Build. Published coating tier pages by vehicle size, a PPF page and city pages for the suburbs Apex served, each with their real install photos and published pricing — plus links from film and coating suppliers.
Months 5–9 — Compound. Doubled down on the keywords moving fastest, expanded to two neighboring cities, and kept review velocity steady at four-plus a week. Positions climbed; calls followed.
The result
The whole city grid turned green
From positions 8–12 across Tampa to 1–2 across the same grid nine months later. 11 of 14 target keywords at #1, booking calls up 214%, and a calendar booked two weeks out.
Before
Rank grid, Jan 2025 — positions 8–12, mostly red.
After
Same grid, Oct 2025 — positions 1–2, solid green.
“I’ve fired three agencies. These guys sent me a rank report the first week that showed exactly why my phone wasn’t ringing. Nine months later I’m booked two weeks out.”
See what we’d do with your shop
The same first-week audit we ran for Apex, on your city, free — in your inbox within 48 hours.