Kern Media® is a founder-led SEO and GEO consultancy, and this page shows what working with us looks like day to day: who you’ll talk to, how we communicate, the tools we use and what you’ll get each month. If you’re comparing consultants, it should answer most of the “what’s it actually like?” questions before your first call.
Who Will I Work With?
You work directly with Dan Kern, the founder and principal consultant. Dan leads the strategy, does the analysis and writes the recommendations himself, so the person you talk to on calls is the person doing the work. Nothing gets handed off to a junior account manager.
When a project needs extra hands or a different skill set, Dan brings in specialists he has worked with for years: U.S.-based SEO specialists, a paid search specialist and a CRO/analytics specialist, each with 10 to 20+ years of experience. You’ll always know who is working on what.
We keep our client list small on purpose (typically 10 to 15 active clients at a time), which is how we can stay this hands-on. Many clients have worked with us for 5+ years, and our longest client relationship goes back to 2013.
What Happens After I Sign On?
Every engagement is custom, but most follow the same rhythm. Here’s what the first few months usually look like.
- Kickoff (week 1). A 1-hour call about your business goals, your customers, your competitors and what’s been tried before. We also confirm who on your team owns content, development and approvals.
- Access and setup (weeks 1 to 2). We get access to Google Search Console, GA4, your CMS (view access is fine) and any SEO tools you already use. We also set up AI visibility tracking for the buyer prompts that matter most to you.
- Audits and roadmap (months 1 to 2). Technical, content and AI visibility analysis, then a prioritized roadmap. We start with pages that already get traffic, since those usually move fastest.
- Ongoing work (month 3 onward). Content briefs, page-level recommendations, technical specs for your developers and reviews of new pages before and after launch.
- Monthly reporting. A clear look at what changed, what it’s worth and what we’re doing next.
Most clients start to see measurable progress in 3 to 6 months, with faster movement on pages that already rank. Starting with an audit? The same process applies, just compressed. Our AI visibility audit, for example, runs 3 to 4 weeks from kickoff to walkthrough.
How Do We Communicate?
We keep communication simple and direct. You’ll have Dan’s email and phone number, and you can reach him without going through a project manager.
- Day to day: Email. Expect a reply within 1 business day. Dan doesn’t join client Slack or Teams channels, since constant pings would cut into the time he spends on your work.
- Urgent issues: If something comes up, like a sudden traffic drop, you can always call Dan.
- Calls: A monthly call over Google Meet, or your team’s video platform if you prefer.
- Documents: Recommendations, briefs and audits are delivered in Google Docs and Google Sheets. When we edit your documents, we use suggested edits and comments so you approve every change.
- Project tracking: A shared Google Sheet that shows what’s done, what’s in progress and what’s next.
Dan explains things in plain English. If a recommendation needs a technical term, you’ll get a short explanation with it, and an executive summary when the audience is your leadership team.
Who Implements the Changes?
In most engagements, your team or your agency implements and we guide the work. That keeps the real expertise of your people in the content (which AI tools look for) and keeps your costs down. We make it easy to act on:
- Content briefs with the keywords and buyer prompts to target, questions to answer, FAQs, internal links and page structure.
- Technical specs written for developers, with the issue, the fix, the priority and how to test it.
- Launch reviews of new pages, redesigns and migrations, before they go live and again after.
- Prioritized action lists grouped by impact, with a one-line reason for each item, so your team always knows what to do first.
If your team doesn’t have the resources to implement, we can do the work for you.
What Tools Do You Use?
Tools support the work, but every recommendation comes from expert human review. Here’s what we use most:
- Search performance: Google Search Console
- Analytics: Google Analytics 4
- Keyword and competitor research: Ahrefs
- Technical crawls: Screaming Frog, plus scheduled Ahrefs site crawls (usually weekly or monthly)
- AI visibility: AI prompt tracking tools that track a fixed set of buyer prompts by persona and AI engine
- Direct AI testing: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Mode
We’ve worked most with WordPress, Shopify, Adobe Commerce and Magento, and we can work with any CMS platform.
A note on data: we use both Google Search Console and Ahrefs. Search Console is our source of truth for your clicks, impressions and rankings, and Ahrefs is where we get keyword and competitor data.
What Do You Need From My Team?
- Access to Google Search Console, GA4 and your CMS
- Someone who can update pages (a marketer, developer or agency)
- Input from your subject experts for content. A short interview or a draft review usually takes 20 to 30 minutes per piece.
- One main point of contact for approvals and questions
What Will I See in My Monthly Report?
Every month you’ll see Google rankings and clicks, AI visibility by prompt and AI engine, and the traffic, leads and revenue coming from Google and each AI tool. Each report ends with what we’re doing next and anything we need from you.
Your report comes as a Google Doc, and we can talk it through on your monthly call. Looker Studio dashboards are available on request.
We report on business results, not just rankings. Traffic doesn’t pay the bills, so we track the leads and sales it brings in.
How Do Billing and Terms Work?
Most clients work with us on a monthly retainer from $1,500 to $5,000 per month (enterprise programs run $5,000 to $10,000). Audits and consulting projects are billed at the same month-to-month rates. Fees are paid at the start of each month, there’s no long-term contract and you can cancel with 30 days’ written notice. You can also adjust the scope as your needs change. See our pricing page for details.
What Don’t You Do?
We focus on senior SEO and GEO strategy, so we don’t buy links, run link schemes or offer high-volume content writing. We also don’t guarantee rankings or AI recommendations, because no one can. AI answers change by user, model and day. What we can do is fix what’s holding you back, build the content Google and AI tools pull from and show you the progress every month.
Working With Kern Media FAQs
Will I work with Dan or an account manager?
You’ll work directly with Dan Kern, the founder, from the first call through every audit, strategy and report. Specialists join when a project needs them, and you’ll know who they are.
How quickly do you reply?
Within 1 business day (Mountain Time).
Do you work with in-house teams and agencies?
Yes. We support in-house marketing, content and development teams, and we partner with agencies on SEO and GEO strategy while they handle other channels.
Do you implement changes or just recommend them?
Mostly we guide and your team implements, using our briefs and technical specs. If your team doesn’t have the resources, we can implement for you.
Is there a long-term contract?
No. Every engagement is month-to-month, with 30 days’ written notice to cancel.
On a free 30-minute call, we’ll talk through your goals and your Google and AI visibility, and tell you honestly whether we can help. You’ll talk directly with Dan, not a salesperson.
Learn more about Kern Media, see our services and case studies, or check our company facts page.
