The Founder · The Ledger · The Reason

A senior practitioner who wrote the code
before he optimized it.

I am Piyush Kataria — 12+ years engineering organic acquisition across BFSI, FMCG, B2B SaaS, US Healthcare and UAE Real Estate. I started as a Junior Software Developer in 2013, pivoted into SEO within 12 months, and have since led teams of up to 15 FTE, owned ₹50L+ annual budgets, and reported directly into CMO and GM-Digital seats. RankNova Labs is the practice through which I bring that depth to a small, select roster of ambitious brands.

I.

Why this practice exists.

Two convictions led to RankNova Labs.

First — the AI search shift is real and undermarketed. AI Overviews, Perplexity citations, ChatGPT recommendations, Gemini answers — these channels are reshaping how buyers discover brands. I built one of India's first enterprise AEO/GEO programs at PNB MetLife and saw firsthand how few practitioners — agency or in-house — are equipped to deliver in this space.

Second — most brands deserve better than what mid-tier agencies sell them. The pattern I have watched repeatedly: senior strategists win pitches, junior teams execute, results stagnate. RankNova Labs inverts that — clients work directly with me, with no layer of dilution.

The G.R.O.W.T.H Engine

My proprietary framework — built across 5 SEO leadership roles, refined at PNB MetLife.

Gap Analysis Revenue Mapping Opportunity Clusters Winning Pages Tracking Hyper-Scaling
II.

The career ledger.

12 years · 9 organizations · 5 verticals
Aug 2023 — Present

PNB MetLife · Senior SEO Manager

Promoted from SEO Manager May 2025. Owns end-to-end D2C organic. Pioneered AEO/GEO for Indian BFSI — 1,593 AI Overview placements (+896% YoY). Reports to GM Digital with CMO visibility. ₹50L+ budget ownership.

Jun 2023 — Aug 2023

Capgemini · Senior Digital Analytics Consultant

Specialist deployment leading enterprise GA4 migrations. GTM + GA4 + BigQuery cookieless attribution framework for Fortune-500-class clients.

Feb 2022 — Jun 2023

Dentsu iProspect · SEO Manager

Flagship FMCG and healthcare accounts — Dabur India, Dr Lal Path Labs, IndiaiStore. Scaled Dabur 7L → 15L sessions (+114%). 5-Star Performer 2022.

Dec 2020 — Feb 2022

Silverpush · SEO Manager

B2B SaaS / AdTech. Solo to small team. 613% organic traffic growth in 14 months. The case study that birthed the G.R.O.W.T.H Engine framework.

Aug 2020 — Nov 2020

IMG Global · Independent Digital Marketing Consultant

First freelance engagement. Architected organic growth strategy and training program for a Jaipur-based pan-India IT services firm during COVID. Advisory + enablement.

Jul 2019 — Jul 2020

Techmagnate · SEO Team Lead

BFSI accounts — Bajaj Finserv, Fullerton India, PNB Housing Finance. 121% traffic growth. 3L+ app installs via ASO. Led 8-member team.

May 2018 — Jul 2019

ELI Research · Senior Digital Marketing

US Healthcare B2B. 60,000+ SEO-led leads. 109% YoY traffic growth. $21,904 PPC budget → $40,395 revenue (84% ROI). International market exposure.

Apr 2016 — Apr 2018

Pandaje Group · SEO Team Lead → Asst. Marketing Manager

First true people-management role. 10-member cross-functional team. Promoted within 18 months. Top-10 rankings on 200+ competitive keywords.

Aug 2013 — Mar 2016

Bespoke Digital Media · Web Dev → SEO → In-House Trainer

Where it all started. PHP/CSS/WordPress dev work for UAE real estate clients. Pivoted to SEO within 12 months. Promoted to In-House Trainer; built the company's SEO onboarding curriculum.

For a longer-form interactive career ledger, see the full timeline I built — available on request.

III.

What I actually know how to do.

five capability domains

Strategy & Leadership

Head-of-SEO scope · Growth marketing leadership · Enterprise growth strategy · P&L ownership ₹50L–₹1Cr+ · CAC/LTV optimization · Team leadership up to 15 FTE · CMO/CXO stakeholder management · Cross-functional leadership (Product, UX, Paid, Content, Tech)

AI-Era Search · GEO/AEO

Generative Engine Optimization · Answer Engine Optimization · LLM optimization · AI Overviews & SGE · ChatGPT / Perplexity / Gemini / Claude visibility · Brand mentions in LLMs · Entity & knowledge graph strategy · E-E-A-T frameworks · Structured data at scale

Technical SEO & Analytics

Technical SEO · Core Web Vitals · JavaScript SEO · Schema · International SEO · GA4 · BigQuery · SQL · Adobe Analytics · GTM · Looker Studio · Multi-touch attribution · Marketing mix modeling · Cookieless measurement

Growth & CRO

Full-funnel CRO · A/B testing · Landing page optimization · Organic-paid channel mix · Demand generation · Content cluster strategy · Performance marketing alignment · Retention & LTV

MarTech & Tools — daily-driver list

SEMrush · Ahrefs · Screaming Frog · BrightEdge · DeepCrawl · Google Search Console · GA4 · BigQuery · Adobe Analytics · Adobe Launch · Google Tag Manager · Looker Studio · HubSpot · Google Ads · Otterly.ai · ChatGPT · Claude · Gemini · WordPress · AEM

IV.

Certifications & awards.

GA4

Advanced

Adobe Analytics

Certified

BrightEdge

Certified

SEMrush

AI Certified

Awards & Recognition

  • Above & Beyond AwardPNB MetLife · 2026
  • Maverick AwardPNB MetLife · 2024
  • 5-Star PerformerDentsu iProspect · 2022
  • In-House Trainer PromotionBespoke Digital Media · 2015

Want to know if we are a fit?

30 minutes, no slides, no obligation. We will review your site, your AI search posture, and whether RankNova Labs is the right shape for what you are trying to do.

Book the Call