3. Re3
Thought leadership
The rook
Heavy, slow to develop, decisive once lifted into play.
Months 5–10
Vauclair ConseilM&A advisory boutique · LyonFrance
How a seven-partner M&A boutique earned the authority to rank against the Big Four
+64
tier-one publication links
- Plan
- Authority
- Duration
- 16 months
- Result
- 1–0, mate in 5
The challenge
White to move, and every central square is taken.
Founders researching how to sell a company found only Big Four content, and Vauclair's partners had no visible expertise online.
Vauclair Conseil is a seven-partner boutique that advises founders of companies worth €5–80m on selling, buying and passing on their business. Its partners have closed more mid-market deals in the region than most national teams, yet a founder typing “how to sell my company” met only Big Four guides, legal directories and business-broker marketplaces. In chess terms, the opponent controlled the centre and white’s pieces had not left the back rank.
Position assessment
Audit findings, annotated in the margin the way a game is annotated.
- Blunder:
Expert profiles
0 of 7 partners had an author page. The team page was one photograph with first names; no deal history, no sectors, no credentials.
- Mistake:
Entity signals
No Person or Organization schema, and partner names spelled three different ways across directories. Search engines could not connect the experts to the firm.
- Dubious:
E-E-A-T
41 completed mandates sat in a 2.4 MB PDF brochure. The strongest evidence of experience was invisible to crawlers.
- Blunder:
Authority
38 referring domains, only 2 of them publications. The Big Four guides ranking for “vendre son entreprise” carried thousands.
- Mistake:
Content
Nine blog posts, all hire announcements. Nothing answered the questions founders type: valuation, earn-out, timing, tax.
- Good:
Hidden strength
Partners with deep regional deal data, and 120+ combined years of mid-market practice. Material the Big Four could not replicate.
The strategy
Four tactics, four pieces, one mating net.
The engagement ran on our Authority plan. Order mattered more than force: authority links pointed at anonymous pages are wasted, so expertise was built first and press came last, when it had something to land on.
4. Qh5
Digital PR
The queen
The most powerful piece, brought out only when every other piece supports her.
Months 9–14
1. Ng5
Expert profiles
The knight
Moves first and jumps the queue: profiles need no links to start working.
Months 1–3
2. Bd3
E-E-A-T signals
The bishop
Holds the long diagonal from evidence to expertise for the whole game.
Months 3–6
Play through the engagement
Five moves. Watch each piece take its square.
The position at month 0
Visibility eval -2.2
White to move, two pawns down in visibility
The Big Four hold every central square: their guides on selling a business own page one. Vauclair's pieces are undeveloped: no partner pages, no evidence, no press. Step through the five moves of the engagement.
Timeline
16 months, scored like a game sheet.
- 01
1. Ng5 · Expert profiles
Audit, entity map of 7 partners, Person schema
- 02
1. Ng5 · Expert profiles
Author pages live, deal history by sector
- 03
2. Bd3 · E-E-A-T signals
Profiles consolidated on 4 legal directories
- 04
2. Bd3 · E-E-A-T signals
41 anonymised tombstones published
- 05
3. Re3 · Thought leadership
Valuation methodology page, first 4 guides
- 06
2. Bd3 · E-E-A-T signals
Credentials and memberships wired to partners
- 07
3. Re3 · Thought leadership
Earn-out and vendor due diligence guides
- 08
3. Re3 · Thought leadership
Family succession hub, internal links rebuilt
- 09
4. Qh5 · Digital PR
Deal barometer: dataset and methodology
- 10
4. Qh5 · Digital PR
Embargoed launch to 30 business titles
- 11
4. Qh5 · Digital PR
National coverage, 6 tier-one links in a month
- 12
4. Qh5 · Digital PR
Partner commentary on regional deal news
- 13
4. Qh5 · Digital PR
Sector briefs: healthcare, industry, software
- 14
4. Qh5 · Digital PR
Conference paper turned into a press feature
- 15
5. Qxh7# · Checkmate
Second barometer edition, refresh of guides
- 16
5. Qxh7# · Checkmate
138 non-brand top-10 keywords, review
Results after 16 months
Checkmate: the outcome, square by square.
Modelled scenario for a fictional business — not a client result. Rankings and traffic are never guaranteed; see our Terms.
64
Tier-one publication links
One square per link. Dark: months 1–8 (profiles, proof). Rust: months 9–16 (deal barometer and press).
12 → 138
Non-brand top-10 keywords
+52%
Mandate enquiries
25Base
25Q1
27Q2
30Q3
34Q4
38Q5
+300%
Partner profile visibility
- Founding partner520 to 1820 impressions a month
- Industrials380 to 1460 impressions a month
- Healthcare330 to 1300 impressions a month
- Software290 to 1180 impressions a month
- Family succession250 to 1040 impressions a month
- Buy-side190 to 880 impressions a month
- Valuation140 to 720 impressions a month
Monthly profile impressions per partner. Ink: month 0 (2,100 in total). Rust: month 16 (8,400).
Who holds the square now
Google.fr positions for a sample of target queries, month 0 against month 16.
| Query | Searches / mo | Month 0 | Month 16 |
|---|---|---|---|
| vendre son entreprise Lyon | 880 | not top 100 | 2 |
| cession PME Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | 390 | 61 | 1 |
| valorisation entreprise multiple EBITDA | 1,300 | not top 100 | 4 |
| conseil fusion acquisition Lyon | 320 | 14 | 1 |
| earn-out négociation vendeur | 210 | not top 100 | 3 |
| transmission entreprise familiale | 720 | 88 | 6 |
| vendor due diligence PME | 170 | not top 100 | 2 |
| baromètre M&A Lyon | 140 | not top 100 | 1 |
Your move
Get a plan like this
Expertise first, evidence second, press last. The Authority plan sequences authority building so every link lands on a page that deserves it.