Case Study - Enterprise SEO & GEO transformation: From 23,100 duplicate pages to 450 AI-optimized pages across 16 languages

Overview

GlobalFootwear Direct came to us with a crisis: their Google Search Console showed 23,100 indexed pages, but their site should only have 450 unique pages. This massive duplication issue was crushing their search visibility—search engines couldn't determine canonical versions, link equity was diluted across duplicates, and international users were landing on wrong language versions.

The root cause was improper multi-regional implementation. With 16 languages across 3 regions (Europe, Asia-Pacific, Russia) but no proper hreflang tags, canonical URLs, or regional canonicalization, search engines were indexing every language-region combination as separate pages instead of recognizing them as variants. Additionally, the site wasn't optimized for the emerging landscape of AI-powered search engines.

We proposed and executed a comprehensive international SEO transformation with Generative Engine Optimization: fix the indexing architecture, implement proper hreflang for all language-region combinations, establish complete schema markup optimized for both traditional and AI search engines, optimize performance, and build monitoring systems to prevent future issues.

What we did

The indexing crisis

The site suffered from a fundamental architectural problem:

The problem: With 16 languages × 3 regions, the site generated multiple URLs for each product and page. Without proper canonical URLs or hreflang tags, search engines indexed every variant as a separate page. A single product available in all languages and regions created 48 indexed pages (16 languages × 3 regions) instead of 1 canonical page with 47 language variants.

The math: 450 unique pages × 48 variants = 21,600+ indexed pages (plus additional system pages explaining the 23,100 figure).

The impact:

• Search engines couldn't determine which version to show users
• Link equity was split across dozens of duplicate pages
• Users in France might land on a Dutch page for an EU product
• Ranking potential was devastated—competing against yourself for the same keywords
• Mobile usability issues from serving wrong regional content

The solution: Proper regional canonicalization, comprehensive hreflang implementation, and strategic robots.txt configuration to guide search engines to the canonical versions while still allowing them to discover all language variants.

International SEO architecture

We implemented enterprise-level international targeting for 16 languages across 3 primary regions:

Hreflang implementation: Every page received proper hreflang tags in both HTML head and XML sitemaps, declaring all language-region variants. Fixed critical locale code errors (in_ID → id_ID). Added x-default tag for default language fallback. Implemented region-specific hreflang annotations (en-EU, en-DS, en-RU variations).

Canonical URL structure: Established proper canonical URLs pointing to the primary version of each page. Implemented regional canonicalization—EU pages canonical to EU, DS to DS, RU to RU. Fixed trailing slash consistency across all URLs. Optimized URL slugification with proper i18n character handling.

Sitemap architecture: Built multi-level sitemap structure with central sitemap index referencing language-specific sitemaps. Each sitemap includes hreflang annotations for all variants. Integrated image and video sitemaps with proper attribution. Dynamic last-modified dates for crawl efficiency.

Regional content strategy: Implemented proper regional product catalogs (catalog_eu, catalog_ds, catalog_ru). Language-specific URL paths with proper translation (/catalog → /catalogus in Dutch). Separate site implementation for Chinese market with Baidu verification.

Robots.txt optimization: Reviewed and optimized aggressive parameter blocking that was hiding legitimate pages. Added proper sitemap references. Implemented strategic allow/disallow rules for efficient crawling.

Comprehensive schema markup

We implemented structured data across all page types for rich search results:

Product pages: Product schema with SKU, brand, specifications, images, and pricing. BreadcrumbList schema for navigation understanding. Image and specification markup for enhanced search display.

Content pages: BlogPosting schema for campaign and technical content. VideoObject schema for product videos with thumbnails and metadata. FAQPage schema for support content. Event schema for webinars and launches.

Site-level: Organization schema with social profiles and brand information. WebSite schema with SearchAction for site search integration. ItemList schema for catalog pages.

Knowledge graph optimization: Entity markup for brand recognition. Citation-friendly content blocks for AI training. License metadata following emerging standards.

All implemented in JSON-LD format for reliability and maintainability.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

Beyond traditional search engines, we optimized the site for AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews:

Citation-friendly content structure: Formatted content blocks to be easily cited by AI engines. Clear attribution, fact-based statements, and structured information that AI can confidently reference. This positions GlobalFootwear as an authoritative source that AI engines will cite when answering product-related questions.

Entity markup for AI understanding: Comprehensive entity markup connecting products, specifications, and brand information. This helps AI engines understand relationships between products, categories, and technical specifications—enabling them to provide accurate answers about GlobalFootwear products.

License metadata for AI training: Implemented machine-readable license metadata following emerging standards for AI dataset usage. This ensures proper attribution when AI models train on or reference the content.

Structured data for AI parsing: DataCatalog schema for product collections. Specification markup in standardized formats AI engines can parse. Comparison tables with structured data enabling AI to answer "compare X vs Y" queries.

Fact-checking & source attribution: Clear source attribution for technical specifications and safety ratings. This builds trust with AI engines, making them more likely to cite GlobalFootwear content as authoritative.

Result: GlobalFootwear products now appear in AI-generated answers across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. When users ask AI engines about safety footwear recommendations or specifications, GlobalFootwear is frequently cited as an authoritative source.

Performance optimization

Site speed directly impacts SEO rankings. We implemented comprehensive performance improvements:

Image optimization: Responsive srcset with adaptive images. WebP format with fallbacks. Lazy loading using IntersectionObserver API. Progressive image loading for perceived performance. Fetchpriority on LCP images. Proper dimension attributes preventing CLS.

Resource loading: Resource hints (dns-prefetch, preconnect) for external services. Preload for critical CSS and fonts. Async/defer script loading. Optimized font loading strategy. HTTP/2 server push for critical resources.

Build optimizations: CSS/JS minification and concatenation. HTML minification. Removed unused CSS/JS (reduced bundle size 40%). Brotli compression for text resources. Static site generation eliminating server processing.

Result: Core Web Vitals scores improved to "Good" across all metrics. Page load times reduced by 60%. Mobile performance significantly enhanced.

Accessibility & security

Modern SEO requires accessible, secure sites:

Accessibility: Skip-to-content links. ARIA landmarks. Focus styles on interactive elements. Descriptive link text. Reduced motion support. Proper heading hierarchy. Touch-friendly interactive elements (48px minimum).

Security: Security headers (CSP, X-Frame-Options, HSTS). Subresource Integrity for external scripts. Expect-CT header for certificate transparency. XSS protection headers.

These improvements benefit both users and search rankings—Google prioritizes accessible, secure sites.

Automated monitoring

We established comprehensive monitoring to prevent future issues:

Core Web Vitals: Integrated monitoring with alerts for performance regressions. Real user metrics via Google Analytics.

Indexing health: Automated indexing status monitoring detecting anomalies. Sitemap submission automation. URL inspection API integration. Regular crawl stats analysis.

Quality monitoring: Manual actions and security issue alerts. Rich results monitoring for schema validation. International targeting report reviewing hreflang status. Mobile usability monitoring. Search performance tracking by market and language.

Results & impact

The transformation delivered measurable business value:

Indexing resolution: Successfully reduced indexed pages from 23,100 to 450 unique pages with proper variant annotations. This 98% reduction in duplicate content restored search engine understanding of site structure. Search Console errors dropped to near-zero.

International reach: Proper hreflang implementation enabled correct language serving to users in all 16 markets. French users now get French content, Japanese users get Japanese content—no more language mismatch. This improved user experience and reduced bounce rates by 32%.

Organic traffic growth: Within four months of launch, organic search traffic increased 145%. Rankings improved across all target markets. Previously invisible in Asian markets, the site now ranks competitively in Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Korea.

Search visibility: Rich snippets appeared for products with proper schema markup. Enhanced search results with breadcrumbs, ratings, and specifications. Knowledge panel established for brand searches.

AI engine visibility (GEO success): GlobalFootwear products now appear in AI-generated answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and other generative AI tools. When users ask AI engines about safety footwear specifications or recommendations, GlobalFootwear is frequently cited as an authoritative source. This represents an entirely new traffic channel that wasn't previously accessible.

Performance excellence: Core Web Vitals scores reached "Good" across all metrics. Page load times improved 60%. Mobile experience dramatically enhanced, reducing mobile bounce rate 40%.

Technical foundation: Established robust technical SEO infrastructure supporting future growth. Automated monitoring prevents regression. Scalable architecture easily handles new languages or regions.

Developer efficiency: Jekyll-based static site generation enables fast, reliable builds. Template-based SEO ensures consistency. Automated deployment pipeline reduces manual effort.

Market expansion: The proper international setup positioned the company to expand into new markets confidently. Adding a new language now takes days instead of months. Chinese market site launched within weeks using the established patterns.

Cost savings: Static hosting dramatically cheaper than dynamic CMS. No database servers, no application servers. CDN-ready architecture for global performance. Reduced maintenance overhead frees resources for growth initiatives.

Technical excellence

The project showcased modern SEO and GEO engineering:

Methodical execution: Tackled 81 tasks systematically across three priority levels. Critical indexing issues first, then GEO optimization for AI engines, then performance and monitoring, finally nice-to-have enhancements. Every task documented and verified.

Quality focus: HTML validation passed. Accessibility standards met. Security best practices implemented. Performance budgets maintained. Schema markup validated in Search Console. GEO implementation verified through AI engine testing.

Automation: Build process ensures consistency—SEO elements automatically generated for all pages. GEO-friendly structured data integrated throughout. Monitoring catches issues before they impact traffic. Sitemap generation handles complexity of 16 languages.

Scalability: Architecture supports unlimited growth. Adding new languages: configuration change, not code rewrite. New regions: duplicate existing pattern. New products: automatic page generation with AI-friendly markup.

Future-ready: Optimized for both traditional search engines and emerging AI-powered search. As AI engines evolve, the citation-friendly structure and entity markup position GlobalFootwear to remain visible.

The project proves that even massive SEO challenges can be systematically resolved with proper architecture, comprehensive implementation, and attention to both traditional and AI-powered search. From crisis to exemplar in four months.