SERM Case Study: The “Double Strike” effect in Google AU. How to take TOP-1 and TOP-2 in the Gambling & Hotel niche using Trustpilot

Introductory data

Client: A large Australian aggregator-guide (gaming locations, hotels, slot machine halls).
Region: Australia (Tier-1).
Period: January 2026 – April 2026.
Task: Oust competitors from the TOP-3, occupy the search results with a brand “shield” and remove user objections regarding the reliability of the service.
Result: Monopoly in the search results (TOP-1 – site, TOP-2 – Trustpilot). Growth of organic traffic to the review page by 2.5 times.

Description of the client and Problems

January 2026. Our client is an information guide to entertainment venues in Australia. Despite high-quality content, the project faced problems typical for a “gray” niche.

Situation BEFORE:

• Crisis of trust: Users in Australia are extremely cautious with the gambling theme. Any doubt in the relevance of the data led to a refusal to visit the institution’s website.
• Loose search results: For branded queries, forums with negativity or dubious aggregator sites leaked into the TOP-5, which took away traffic.
• Difficulty of promotion: Direct SEO of the main site in this niche takes time, and the business needed a quick “social shield” to consolidate positions.

Set tasks

1. Capture the TOP-2: Make it so that the first lines of Google belong to the brand (main domain + authoritative external platform).
2. Formation of E-E-A-T: Use the trust of the world leader in reviews to confirm the expertise and reliability of the catalog.
3. Interception of “warm” traffic: Convert users who are looking for reviews, and return them to the main site.
4. Protection from negativity: Create a manageable reputation zone that is almost impossible to “break through” with the black PR of competitors.

Solution and Process

The Buylink.pro team relied not on removing negativity, but on dominating through Trustpilot.

Stage 1: Local AU-optimization

We worked exclusively through the Australian division of the platform – au.trustpilot.com. For Google AU, this is the strongest signal of relevance. We optimized the title and profile description for key queries: “[Brand name] reviews”, “Best pokies near me”, “[Brand] hotel guide”.

Stage 2: Content strategy “Live experience”

Instead of template replies, we implemented a system for generating detailed reviews (4–5★).

• Accents: The texts mentioned specific details important to Australians: the availability of parking, the quality of staff work in hotels, the assortment of gaming halls, the honesty of payouts.
• LSI words: Key words for which the main site ranks were natively woven into the reviews.

Stage 3: Working with the “verification intent”

We analyzed what questions players have most often, and provided answers to them in the Trustpilot questions/answers block, turning the review page into a full-fledged landing page.

Results

By the end of April 2026, the strategy showed phenomenal effectiveness.

Figures and facts:

• Monopoly in search: For key branded and narrow-niche queries, the project took Position #1 (Main Site) and Position #2 (Trustpilot). Competitors shifted 3-4 positions down.
• Explosion of traffic to an external platform: If in January the Trustpilot page had only 422 transitions, then by March 21 the figure grew to 1000+ visits per month. This is “super-targeted” traffic ready for action.
• Conversion growth: The percentage of user return from the review page to the main site (CTR of the link in the profile) amounted to 84%.
• Google indexing: Thanks to the high authority of Trustpilot, new positive signals were indexed within 2-4 hours, instantly updating the star rating in the Google snippet.

Review of the company representative

“We did not expect that an external platform could bring as much benefit as direct SEO traffic. Having occupied the first two lines, we practically stopped the fight for the client – he sees us, sees confirmation on Trustpilot, and immediately proceeds to choose a location. Buylink.pro created a ‘digital bunker’ for us, through which not a single throw-in from competitors passes.”

Is your brand getting lost among competitors’ reviews or bad search results?

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