Four ways to work with Growth Forensics, starting with the diagnostic.

Working with Growth Forensics

Every engagement begins with a diagnostic. The diagnostic is complete and standalone. What comes after it depends on what the engine requires and the role you want Growth Forensics to play in what follows.

Pricing is set in USD and defined per engagement. There are no predefined packages because the diagnostic findings determine the scope of any subsequent engagement. Pricing is discussed in the scoping call, once the current state of the engine is understood.

1. Diagnostic Engagement

What it is
A complete structural assessment of the organic growth engine across all ten components. Every signal assessed, every finding documented, one intervention sequence that tells the team what to fix first and why. The diagnostic is scoped individually based on the complexity of the engine and the breadth of the estate.

Deliverables:
Delivered over 4 to 6 weeks. Includes a dossier review session where the findings are walked through in full. The dossier is the team's to use however is most useful: with the current agency, with a new hire, or independently. Dossier state tracking continues for 90 days after delivery.

2. Engine Build

What it is
Growth Forensics scopes and leads the construction of the organic growth engine identified as missing or needing to be rebuilt from the ground up. This covers the components in the first two to three steps of the intervention sequence: category landing page architecture, AI visibility programme, positioning documentation, demand capture infrastructure, measurement framework.The Engine Build is also available as the entry engagement for companies that have not yet invested seriously in organic but where organic is a primary planned channel. In this case, Growth Forensics runs a structural assessment to establish the correct foundations before construction begins.

Deliverables:
Fixed scope, defined deliverables, full handover to the internal team on completion. Typically runs 10 to 16 weeks but it can take longer in some cases. Includes a formal handover session and a documented process for the internal team to own ongoing operation.

3. Organic Growth Fix

What it is
Growth Forensics leads the resolution of the specific structural constraints identified in the diagnostic. The scope is defined entirely by the diagnostic findings. The engagement ends when the constraint is resolved and the team has the capacity to maintain the corrected engine independently.The Fix engagement is distinct from the Engine Build. The Build is for companies where the infrastructure does not yet exist or needs to be rebuilt. The Fix is for companies where the infrastructure exists but specific structural constraints are preventing it from performing. The diagnostic determines which is the correct engagement.

Deliverables:
Scope, timeline, and deliverables are defined per engagement based on the diagnostic findings. Includes a documented handover so the internal team or agency can maintain the work after the engagement concludes.

4. Fractional Organic Growth Leadership

What it is
Growth Forensics acts as the fractional head of organic growth on a retained basis. Strategic direction, content and SEO programme leadership, prioritisation, execution oversight, ongoing diagnostic monitoring, and involvement in the highest-leverage interventions. For companies where the internal team has the execution capacity but not the senior strategic depth to run the programme correctly over time.All accountability is oriented toward pipeline and revenue, not activity metrics. The engagement is structured to build internal capability over time, not to perpetuate the relationship.

Deliverables:
Three-month minimum commitment, scoped individually. The work changes based on what the engine needs each month, not based on a fixed activity plan. Includes a defined capability-building plan so the engagement has a natural end date.

Organic growth engine components

1. Narrative & Positioning

2. Accessibility

3. Category Presence

4. Demand Match

5. Authority Flow

6. Conversion Architecture

07. Trust

08. AI Visibility

09. Operating System

10. Expansion

Take a look at our demo dossier

Every engagement produces a digital dossier. Take a look at our demo dossier.

The Diagnostic: How It Works

Every engagement begins with the Organic Growth Diagnostic. It is a structured, evidence-based investigation of your entire organic growth engine, conducted over four to six weeks.

Here is what that process involves:

Week 1 to 2:
Data access and baseline assessment

We begin the moment we have full data access: Google Search Console, Google Analytics, the content estate, the technical infrastructure, and the brand presence. The first phase assesses Narrative and Positioning, Accessibility, and Category Presence. This establishes the foundation state of the engine before examining where it breaks down. Findings from this phase frequently surface constraints that the client had not identified as organic growth problems. This phase triggers the initial context-setting call: a structured conversation about the company, its presenting problem, and the positioning decisions that shaped the current organic infrastructure.

Week 2 to 3:
Demand, authority, and conversion analysis

The second phase moves into Demand Match, Authority Flow, and Conversion Architecture. This is where we determine whether the traffic the engine is producing reflects actual buyers, whether the credibility being earned is reaching the commercial pages that need it, and whether the landing experience is converting the right visitors when they arrive. This phase triggers the first structured founder touchpoint: a targeted conversation about what the data is showing us.

Week 3 to 4:
Trust, AI visibility, and operating system

The third phase assesses Trust, AI Visibility, and the Operating System. We examine the full brand environment a buyer encounters when they validate their initial impression of your company: review profiles, editorial coverage, brand search results, and AI system representations. We then assess the internal machinery sustaining the engine, or failing to. This triggers the second structured founder touchpoint.

Week 4 to 6:
Synthesis, dossier build, and delivery

The final phase synthesises all findings into the Growth Forensics Dossier: a private, persistent digital workspace containing the complete structural diagnosis, the intervention sequence, and the pathway options for continuing the work. The dossier is not a report that gets filed. It is a living artifact your team returns to, shares with stakeholders, and uses to track progress as constraints are resolved. Delivery is a live 60-minute session walking through every finding. Dossier state tracking continues for 90 days after delivery.

Four to six weeks of senior diagnostic work.

Four structured founder touchpoints. A complete structural diagnosis of the organic growth engine. A dossier the team can act from immediately.

If the diagnosis reveals infrastructure that needs building, specific constraints that require specialist resolution, or ongoing strategic leadership the team cannot provide internally, there are three ways to continue: Engine Build, Organic Growth Fix, or Fractional Organic Growth Lead. All three are scoped per engagement based on what the dossier shows.

The diagnostic is most useful in specific conditions.
It is honest to name them.

Growth Forensics works with B2B SaaS companies from Seed through Series E where organic is a primary acquisition channel. The diagnostic only produces value if the findings can be acted on, and acting on them requires that the company has both the intent and the resource to address structural constraints, not just surface-level symptoms.

✅ This is the right engagement if:

1. Organic is not working as expected.

Organic traffic is not performing well, and organic pipeline is not working — and you do not have a signal-level explanation for why.

2. There is no significant ROI.

You have been investing in organic and traffic might be growing, but the return on that investment is unclear or declining. Conversion rates might be too low.

3. You are considering investing in organic.

You are about to make a significant investment in organic — new hire, agency change, expanded budget — and you want the structural diagnosis before you allocate the resource.

4. Organic is central to your company.

Organic is central to your growth model and you want to understand the engine well enough to manage it with the same rigour you apply to paid or product.

5. You want to build a healthy organic growth engine from scratch.

Organic is identified as a primary acquisition channel but the infrastructure does not yet exist. The Engine Build engagement constructs the correct foundations before significant budget is committed. The diagnostic runs as a pre-build assessment in this scenario.

❌ This is not the right engagement if:

1. Organic is not a main acquisition channel.

Organic is one of five channels you are testing and you have not yet decided whether to invest in it seriously. The diagnostic assumes organic is or should be a core channel. If that decision has not been made, the diagnostic will not make it for you.

2. You are pre-product market fit.

The diagnostic assesses the organic growth engine. It cannot assess an engine that does not yet exist or is serving a product that is still being defined.

3. The immediate need is content volume, not structural clarity.

If the immediate need is producing more content next month without any interest in the structural foundations, an agency retainer is the correct tool. Growth Forensics does produce and lead content programmes within the Engine Build and Fractional Lead engagements, but always within a structural framework.

4. You want an audit that confirms the strategy you already have.

The diagnostic will tell you what is true about your engine — which may or may not align with the current strategy. If the goal is validation rather than diagnosis, this is not the right engagement.

5. The CEO, founder, growth lead or decision maker are not involved.

The CEO or Head of Growth is not prepared to act on a finding that contradicts the current agency’s recommendation. The diagnostic is only useful if the findings can change decisions. If the agency relationship or the internal programme is politically untouchable regardless of what the evidence shows, the diagnostic has nowhere to go.

What happens in the scoping call, and what comes out of it.

The scoping call is 30 minutes. It is a working conversation, not a sales call. The goal is to establish whether the diagnostic is the right engagement for the current situation — and if it is, to scope it correctly so the output is useful rather than generic.

1. What we cover in the first 10 minutes

The presenting problem — what you are observing in your organic programme that led to this conversation. Not the history of the programme; the specific gap between what you expected organic to produce and what it is actually producing. This is also where we look at the engine briefly together — GSC data, top landing pages, branded vs non-branded traffic split — to form an initial read on where the likely constraints are before the diagnostic formally begins.

2. What we cover in the middle 10 minutes

Scope. How large is the content estate? How complex is the technical infrastructure? Are there multiple markets or audience segments to assess? Is there an existing agency relationship in place and what does it cover? These questions determine the diagnostic scope and therefore the timeline and the investment required. The scoping call is the only way to give you an accurate number — there are no fixed prices because there are no fixed engines.

3. What we cover in the last 10 minutes

Fit. Based on what has been discussed, is this the right engagement at the right time? If the engine is too early-stage for a diagnostic to produce useful findings but organic is a planned primary channel, the Engine Build is the more appropriate starting point and that will be said directly. If the immediate need is content volume without a structural foundation, that will be said directly. The goal of the scoping call is an honest answer to whether to proceed and which engagement is appropriate, not a commitment to proceed.

WHAT YOU LEAVE THE CALL WITH

Either a clear reason why this is not the right engagement right now, or a scoped proposal covering: the diagnostic scope, the timeline, the investment, and what the dossier will contain. The proposal is sent within 48 hours of the call. There is no follow-up cadence after that — if the proposal is useful, you will act on it when the time is right.

If you have read this far, the scoping call is the right next step.

A direct conversation about the current state of your organic engine and which engagement is the correct starting point. No deck, no pitch, no follow-up sequence.