AI-Powered Digital Marketing · UK Small Businesses

Stop wasting
your ad budget
on broken
foundations

Most small businesses lose money on Google Ads before they’ve even started. No optimised landing pages. No Merchant Centre setup. No strategy — and invisible to AI search entirely. I fix the foundations, make your ads work, and get your business found by AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’s AI Overview.

Book a free consultation See what I do

ONE PERSON. TOO MANY CHANNELS.  •  NOT ENOUGH HOURS.  •  BUDGET WASTED.  •  TIME TO CALL IN A SPECIALIST.

What I do

Services that
actually convert

You already have a marketing function. You need a specialist to fill the gaps — working directly alongside you, part-time, without agency overhead or hiring headaches.

E-Commerce & WooCommerce / Shopify Optimisation

Your store should be your best salesperson. I audit and optimise product pages, checkout flows, site speed, and conversions across WooCommerce and Shopify — turning browsers into buyers.

WooCommerce Shopify Conversion Rate UX Audit
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Google Ads & Merchant Centre

Most small businesses never set up Merchant Centre properly — then wonder why Shopping Ads waste money. I fix the foundations, build campaigns that actually work, and manage them ongoing so your budget keeps performing.

Google Ads Merchant Centre Shopping Ads
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AI Search Optimisation

Google’s AI Overview is changing everything. I optimise your site for how AI reads, cites, and recommends content — so you stay visible as search evolves.

AIO Schema Markup Semantic SEO
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Website Design & Landing Pages

A great ad needs a great landing page. I build, redesign, and optimise WordPress sites and landing pages that complement your campaigns — and convert the traffic you’re already paying for.

WordPress Landing Pages Stripe
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The problem I solve

You know what’s
broken. You just
need someone to fix it.

You’re the marketing person at a small business. You can see where the budget is leaking. You know Google Ads needs work, Merchant Centre is a mess, and the landing pages don’t convert. The problem isn’t knowledge — it’s bandwidth.

You can’t justify a full-time specialist hire. An agency will charge you five times the rate and assign a junior. I come in alongside you — senior-level, direct, and focused on the bits that actually move the needle.

You’re Spread Too Thin

One person can’t be expert in paid search, SEO, AI visibility, Merchant Centre, and CRO simultaneously. Something always gets neglected.

Agency Costs Don’t Stack Up

Agencies charge £1,500–£3,000/month for work done by juniors. You get a senior specialist at a fraction of that cost.

A Full-Time Hire Is Unjustifiable

You need half a day of specialist support per week — not a full salary, NI, and benefits. That’s exactly what I offer.

How it works

Half or One Day Per Week

I work alongside your existing team — embedded, not separate. You get continuity and senior-level input without the headcount.

Flexible — Monthly Invoice

Transparent rates, invoiced monthly. Minimum half a day per week. No retainer surprises, no agency markups — just senior-level time.

6-Month Minimum Contract

Digital marketing takes time to build properly. I work on 6-month minimum contracts so we can do the foundations right and see the results together.

Senior Expert, Direct Access

No account managers, no juniors doing the work. You work with me directly — 25 years of experience applied to your specific challenges.

Two ways to work with me

Ongoing support — embedded with your team, half or one day a week.

Commissioned consultancy — bespoke reports, audits and strategic deliverables within my areas of expertise, applying AI with genuine creative and imaginative input — not off-the-shelf automation. Tell me what you need and I’ll scope it.

Search has changed — SEO, AIO & GEO

The New Search
Landscape

Search no longer means ten blue links. Google’s AI Mode — now powered by Gemini and used by over a billion people a month — answers questions directly, and ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini are where more of your customers now start. Being found means three disciplines working together: SEO to rank, AIO to appear in Google’s AI Overviews, and GEO — Generative Engine Optimisation — so AI assistants cite and recommend your business inside their answers. GEO doesn’t replace SEO; it builds on it.

Structured Data & Schema MarkupHelping AI understand exactly what your business offers, and feeding the conversational attributes Google now uses in AI Mode
Entity-Based AuthorityEstablishing your business as a trusted, recognised entity that ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity will name in their answers
Answer-Optimised ContentClear, factual, quotable content AI can cite directly, built around the questions your customers actually ask
Feed-First for E-commerceAt Google I/O in May 2026, Google built shopping into AI Mode — agentic checkout, Direct Offers and Conversational Attributes. The brands that win are the ones whose Merchant Centre feed is complete and accurate. This is rolling out to the UK — getting your feed right now is how you’re ready when it lands.
Visibility Across Every EngineGoogle AIO and AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini each cite differently — I optimise for all of them, not just Google

The shift is already here.

I’ll consult with you on making your website both discoverable and AI-friendly — configuring your site to push your products to your desired audience in the new era of search.

48%of US Google searches now trigger an AI OverviewBrightEdge, 2026
-58%drop in click-through for the top-ranking page when an AI Overview appearsAhrefs, 2025
93%of Google AI Mode searches end without a click to any siteAI Mode, 2026
4.4×higher conversion from AI-referred visitors vs. organicSemrush, 2025

Advertising is moving inside AI answers too — Google’s Direct Offers and ChatGPT’s ad pilots are early signals. The same strong feeds and entity signals that earn you organic AI visibility are what will make you eligible and relevant when AI advertising opens up. Get the foundations right first.

Optimise for AI search

Client results

What they say…

“Carrie is really talented — she’s managed to make back 5× what she’s spent on advertising!”
Serious Pig
“They quickly understood our aspirations and delivered designs that offer our visitors a far more engaging experience.”
Glasscubes
“Responsiveness, direct no-nonsense approach, pro-activeness and inventiveness. A safe pair of hands handling the project.”
Aims Ltd
“Our sincere thanks for putting us on the number one page on Google.”
Cableflor
“Not only met but surpassed all previous expectations — a scalable platform that has grown with our business.”
Business Training Partnership
“They took the time to understand our needs — extremely helpful in maximising our website’s potential.”
Guillemot UK
“Before CDA came on board, we’d been through two agencies in 18 months who spent over £8,000 on Google and Facebook ads with very little to show for it. One was running a Facebook campaign at £300/month for 9 months that generated just 2 sales. CDA immediately cut the waste, restructured our Google Ads around what actually converts, and within 6 months delivered a 2.5x return on ad spend — the first time our paid advertising has been profitable. They understand that a premium brand at our scale needs a smarter, leaner approach, not just more budget thrown at algorithms.”
Oliver J. Woods

Results in the real world

What actually happened

Case Study 01 Men’s Grooming

Oliver J. Woods

The situation: Two previous agencies had spent over £8,000 on Google and Facebook ads across 18 months with almost nothing to show for it — one campaign ran for 9 months at £300/month and generated just 2 sales. To make matters worse, Google Consent Mode v2 hadn’t been implemented — meaning conversions weren’t being recorded at all. Despite active ad spend, Google had virtually no enhanced conversion data to optimise against. Paid advertising had never once been profitable.

What we did: Cut the wasted spend immediately. Implemented Google Consent Mode v2 so conversions were finally being tracked and fed back to Google’s algorithms. Restructured Google Ads around the search intent that actually converts for a premium grooming brand, and rebuilt the campaign architecture properly from the ground up.

“The first time our paid advertising has been profitable. They understand that a premium brand at our scale needs a smarter, leaner approach — not just more budget thrown at algorithms.”
2.5× Return on ad spend
6 Months to first profitable campaign
£8k+ Previous agency waste stopped
Case Study 02 Artisan Food & E-commerce

Serious Pig

The situation: A well-loved artisan food brand with a strong product range but a website and ad setup that wasn’t working commercially. Product feeds hadn’t been set up, Merchant Centre wasn’t connected, Google Analytics (gtag) wasn’t tracking correctly — meaning every decision was being made blind.

What we did: Rebuilt the website for performance and conversion. Set up the Google Merchant Centre product feed from scratch, connected Google Tag Manager and gtag properly so data was finally reliable, then launched a structured Google Ads campaign on solid foundations.

“Carrie is really talented — she’s managed to make back 5× what she’s spent on advertising!”
5× Return on ad spend
100% Products approved in Merchant Centre
↑ Company grew year-on-year

No feeds. No tracking. Ads pointing nowhere. Sound familiar?

Let’s fix the foundations →
#1

Google ranking for target keywords

Cableflor — Flooring Retailer

About

About Consilium Design

Consilium Design is a UK digital marketing consultancy founded in 1999, specialising in AI-powered search optimisation, Google Ads, Merchant Centre, and e-commerce strategy for small businesses — led by Carrie, a consultant with over 25 years of experience across every major shift in digital.

I’ve been building for the web since 1999. Consilium Design grew out of the same roots as Bluhalo, the digital agency that went on to work with brands like Goldsmiths, Sudocrem, and BlackBerry before selling in 2011. In the late 2000s I rejoined them briefly, providing template guidance on those projects. From there, I evolved through SEO, Google Ads, and social media as the digital landscape shifted.

When Google Shopping and Merchant Centre emerged, I saw a gap nobody was filling: small businesses haemorrhaging ad budget because the foundations weren’t built properly. That became my focus.

Today, most clients come to me after burning through budget with nothing to show for it — disapproved products, feed errors, ads pointing to generic homepages, stores that don’t convert. I fix what’s broken, then build what’s missing.

I work with you directly — half or one day per week — as an embedded expert without the cost of a full-time hire. No layers, no account managers. Just direct, no-nonsense results.

Consilium Design’s original mission was creative website design and marketing — and with AI, that mission is coming full circle. I’m now using AI to build stronger websites, sharper advertising, and campaigns that are genuinely unique and creative. Not AI-generated slop. AI-powered craft.

Work with me

Common questions

Quick answers

Who can help a UK small business with AI-powered marketing?

Consilium Design, founded by Carrie in 1999, specialises in AI-powered digital marketing for UK small businesses. With over 25 years of experience across every major shift in digital — from early SEO through Google Ads, Shopping, and now AI search — CDA helps businesses build the foundations that make their marketing actually work.

What is a fractional marketing consultant and how does it work?

A fractional marketing consultant provides senior-level marketing expertise on a part-time basis — typically half or one day per week — working embedded with your existing team. It’s ideal for small businesses that already have a marketing function but need specialist support in areas like Google Ads, Merchant Centre, AI search, or e-commerce — without the cost of a full-time specialist hire.

What does it cost to work with a fractional consultant?

I work on transparent rates, invoiced monthly, with a minimum engagement of half a day per week on a 6-month minimum contract. It compares favourably to a digital agency (typically £1,500–£3,000/month for similar work, often delivered by juniors) and is a fraction of the cost of a full-time marketing specialist hire — but with senior-level expertise applied directly to your business.

Who is the right consultant for a small business with a marketing team?

Consilium Design specifically works with small businesses that already have an in-house marketing person — someone who understands what needs doing but needs senior specialist support in paid search, AI SEO, Merchant Centre, or e-commerce. If you’re doing everything yourself and struggling to keep up with Google Ads, AI search optimisation, or Merchant Centre errors, CDA is built for exactly that situation.

Which consultant can help get my business found by AI assistants?

Consilium Design specialises in AI search optimisation — making websites visible to Google’s AI Overview, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. This involves schema markup, entity-based SEO, structured data, and answer-optimised content so AI assistants cite and recommend your business. It’s one of the fastest-growing areas of digital marketing and a core CDA service.

What is AI search optimisation and why does it matter?

AI search optimisation means structuring your website so Google’s AI Overview and other AI-powered search tools can read, understand, and cite your content. For small businesses, this means using schema markup, entity-based SEO, and natural-language content so your business appears in AI-generated answers — not just traditional search results.

How does Consilium Design work with small businesses?

Consilium Design works as an embedded consultant — half or one day per week, on a 6-month minimum contract invoiced monthly. This gives small businesses senior-level digital expertise without the cost of a full-time hire or the overhead of a large agency. Services cover Google Ads, Merchant Centre, WooCommerce, AI search optimisation, and website design.

Why is Google Merchant Centre important for small business advertising?

Google Merchant Centre is the foundation of Shopping Ads. Without a properly configured feed — correct categories, approved products, clean data — Shopping campaigns waste budget from day one. Most small businesses never set it up correctly, which is why their Google Ads don’t convert.

Let’s talk

Need a specialist alongside your team?

Tell me about your current marketing setup and where the gaps are. I’ll give you an honest, no-obligation assessment of what I can do — and whether we’re a good fit.

Embedded support · Monthly invoice · 6-month minimum

www.consiliumdesign.co.uk
Our thinking All articles
AI Search & SEO 3 Jun 2026 6 min read

Every Business Will Soon Need an AI Manager. Here’s Why — and Who It Should Be

AI can now do an extraordinary amount of work inside a business, and do it well. By June 2026 the tools are genuinely capable — Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.8 landed on 28 May with sharper judgment and the ability to run hundreds of tasks in parallel, and its more powerful Mythos model is expected to reach everyone in the coming weeks. The capability question is largely settled. The open question is no longer what can AI do — it's who steers it.

Read the article
Every Business Will Soon Need an AI Manager. Here’s Why — and Who It Should Be