A B2B SEO case study is one of the most honest ways to evaluate an agency. Not a pitch deck or a list of promises. Real data from a real business, showing exactly what happened when a structured SEO campaign was built and executed over time.
This is that case study.
Our client is an Oahu-based company that sells, rents, and repairs commercial ice machines. Their customers are restaurants, hotels, commercial kitchens, and any Hawaii business that depends on a reliable ice supply. Their service area covers all the islands.
What follows is a full breakdown of their SEO results, from keyword rankings to Google Business Profile performance to AI search visibility, and what those results mean for any B2B company in Hawaii considering the same investment.
About the Client: A Commercial Ice Machine Company Based on Oahu
Our client operates in a niche that most people outside the foodservice and hospitality industry don’t think much about until something goes wrong. When a restaurant’s ice machine throws an error code or a hotel’s ice supply goes down, someone needs to call a specialist fast.
That urgency creates strong search intent. Business owners don’t browse when they need ice machine repair. They search, they find, and they call right away.
Before working with Myna Marketing, our client had a web presence but wasn’t capturing that intent at scale. They weren’t showing up consistently for the commercial keywords that matter to their buyers across Oahu and the neighbor islands.
The goal was straightforward: get them in front of the right commercial buyers, across the right keywords, at the right moment.
The Challenge: Invisible to the Buyers Who Needed Them Most
A B2B service company lives and dies by inbound demand. If a restaurant manager searches “ice machine repair Oahu” and your business doesn’t appear in the top results, that call goes to a competitor. The same is true for every variation of that search across every island.
Our client faced exactly this problem. Strong service, solid reputation among existing customers, but limited visibility in organic search. Buyers searching for commercial ice machine sales, repair, installation, and rental in Hawaii weren’t finding them consistently.
The competitive landscape was also a factor. Several well-established companies were already ranking for core commercial keywords. Breaking into the top positions required a campaign built around real buyer intent, not generic SEO tactics.
There was also a local SEO gap. Their Google Business Profile existed but wasn’t fully optimized, which meant they were missing out on map pack visibility, one of the highest-converting local search placements available for a B2B service company.
Our Approach: Local SEO, Content, and AI Visibility Built for B2B
The campaign rested on three core pillars.
The first was local SEO, built around commercial buyer intent across Oahu and all of Hawaii. This meant targeting decision-makers at businesses that need ice equipment, not general consumers.
The second was technical and content SEO. The site needed to rank for both branded searches from buyers already familiar with the company, and non-branded searches from buyers who don’t know the brand yet but need exactly what they offer.
The third pillar was Google Business Profile optimization. For a B2B service company that handles repair calls and same-day service, local map visibility drives a significant share of inbound contact.
Targeting the Right Keywords for a B2B Audience
B2B keyword research looks different from consumer SEO. A commercial ice machine buyer isn’t searching the way a household shopper would. They search with urgency and specificity.
The campaign targeted two types of queries.
High-intent commercial keywords like “ice machine repairs” or “commercial ice machines sales”, alongside other terms, capture buyers who are ready to contact a vendor.
Technical troubleshooting queries like “Hoshizaki error codes” or “Manitowoc ice machine not making ice” capture buyers mid-problem, exactly when they need a repair service and are most likely to call.
Both categories serve the same commercial outcome: a B2B buyer finds our client before they find a competitor.
Myna Marketing’s Hawaii SEO services are built specifically to capture this kind of commercial search demand across both branded and non-branded queries.
The Results: Rankings, Traffic, Profile Growth, and AI Visibility
Here’s a snapshot of where the campaign started and where the client stands today.
| Metric | Before SEO | Today |
|---|---|---|
| Keywords in Top 5 | Minimal organic presence | 63 out of 68 tracked keywords |
| Keywords in Top 10 | Not consistently ranking | 66 out of 68 tracked keywords |
| Average Google Position | Low visibility, not tracked | 4.9 across full keyword project |
| Position 1 Rankings | None for core commercial terms | Dozens, including: commercial ice machines Honolulu, ice machine repair Oahu, ice machine sales Hawaii, and more! |
| GBP Profile Views | Baseline | 4,895 views, up 108.6% year over year |
| GBP Search Appearances | Baseline | 375, up 101.6% year over year |
| GBP Total Interactions | Baseline | 684, up 25% year over year |
| AI Citations Total | 0 | 52 across Google AI Overview, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini |
| Google AI Overviews | 0 citations | 23 citations, up 21 |
| ChatGPT | 0 citations | 9 citations, up 9 |
| Perplexity | 0 citations | 18 citations, up 18 |
| Branded Query Position | Not consistently top 3 | Average position 1.22 for primary brand query |
Organic Performance: 63 Out of 68 Keywords in the Top 5
Across 68 tracked keywords, our client now ranks in the top 5 on Google for 63 of them. That’s a 92.6% top-5 rate! 66 keywords rank in the top 10, and the average position across the entire tracked project sits at 4.9!
For a B2B company in a competitive commercial services market, those numbers translate directly into inbound visibility. When a restaurant manager searches for services they offer, our client appears at the top.
Specific position 1 rankings include dozens of high-relevance, highly-profitable terms. And position 1 in a B2B niche with this level of buyer intent is not a vanity metric. It’s a direct line to inbound leads from commercial buyers who are already searching for what the company sells.
AI Search Visibility: 52 Citations Across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google
B2B buyers increasingly use AI tools to find vendors before they ever visit a website. And our client now appears in those results, with 52 total AI citations across Google AI Overview, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, nearly all built from zero since the campaign started.
This is the direct result of Myna Marketing’s AI SEO strategy, which builds AI visibility alongside traditional SEO. When a buyer asks an AI platform for a recommendation in this niche, our client comes up!
Local SEO Performance: 108% More Google Business Profile Views
Over the last few months, the client’s Google Business Profile interactions grew +25%. Profile views more than doubled, and search appearances rose by +101.6%.
For a B2B company, those numbers translate directly into more phone calls, more directions requests, and more website visits from buyers who are already looking for what they sell.
What This B2B SEO Case Study Means for Your Hawaii Business
If your business serves other businesses in Hawaii, the same market dynamics apply.
Your buyers search before they call. They check Google rankings, they look at Business Profiles, and a growing number of them now ask AI tools for recommendations too. If your company isn’t visible across those touchpoints, you may not even be a part of the conversation.
What this client achieved isn’t specific to the ice machine industry. It’s the result of a structured commercial SEO campaign that understood the buyer, targeted the right keywords, optimized every local signal, and built AI visibility before most competitors thought to.
Your buyers are searching right now. The question is whether they find you or someone else.
Reach out to us to start a conversation about what a campaign built around your business, your buyers, and your market in Hawaii would look like.
Frequently Asked Questions About B2B SEO in Hawaii
How long does it take to see results from a B2B SEO campaign?
Most B2B companies start seeing measurable movement in keyword rankings within four to six months. Meaningful traffic and lead impact typically builds from six to twelve months onward. The timeline depends on how competitive your niche is, the current state of your website, and how aggressively the campaign is executed. SEO compounds over time, and the businesses that start earlier have an advantage over those that wait.
Does SEO work for B2B companies that don’t sell to consumers?
Yes, and in many cases it works better. B2B buyers are highly intentional searchers. When a procurement manager or business owner searches for a vendor, supplier, or service provider, they’re already close to a buying decision. Ranking at the top for those commercial queries puts your business in front of decision-makers at exactly the right moment. This applies whether you sell commercial equipment, bulk goods, professional services, or anything else businesses buy from other businesses.
What’s the difference between B2B SEO and B2C SEO?
The strategy is different because the buyer is different. B2B SEO focuses on commercial and transactional keywords with high purchase intent, industry-specific terminology that decision-makers actually use, and content that speaks to business problems rather than consumer curiosity. It also tends to prioritize local authority and Google Business Profile optimization more heavily, since many B2B relationships start with a local search before a direct contact.
What does AI visibility mean for my B2B business, and why does it matter?
AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Gemini are now part of how buyers research vendors and suppliers. When someone asks an AI tool which company to call for a specific product or service in Hawaii, the AI pulls from available web content to form its recommendation. If your business has strong entity signals, consistent citations, and well-structured content, you get included in those answers. If you don’t, a competitor does. Myna Marketing builds this visibility alongside traditional SEO so your business shows up in both search results and AI-generated recommendations. If you want to see how that same SEO foundation holds up under pressure, read how we kept a client’s rankings stable while others tanked during major Google updates.