IndustryLifestyle
LinkedIn
Top Results
100% of linking coverage pointed directly to the priority sofa category or product pages
23 pieces of earned coverage
20 links across 18 unique domains
Non-brand clicks increased by 215% in December 2025
The Challenge
The sofa category is one of the most competitive areas in retail, with large, well-established brands consistently dominating both organic search and mainstream media coverage.
While HEAL’s already had strong brand recognition, there was a clear opportunity to improve visibility for high-intent, commercially driven sofa searches, particularly at the category and product level.
At the same time, as AI-driven search continues to evolve, it has become increasingly important for HEAL’s to be visible and trusted within the publications most commonly cited by LLMs, rather than relying solely on traditional brand-led coverage.
Finally, the focus needed to shift towards securing links and coverage that pointed directly to the priority sofa category and product pages, ensuring PR activity was aligned with commercial performance and long-term authority building.
The Objectives
The sofa category is one of the most competitive spaces in UK retail.
Large, established brands dominate both organic search and the editorial sources that increasingly shape AI-generated answers.
HEAL’s already had strong brand equity, but visibility did not reflect product quality or category authority, particularly for high-intent sofa searches.
At the same time, the rise of AI-led search created a new risk: brands not consistently cited by trusted publications were being excluded from AI answers entirely, regardless of product strength.
HEAL’s needed to:
- Strengthen authority in a crowded, comparison-led category
- Improve visibility for commercially valuable sofa pages
- Ensure the brand appears in the publications most referenced by large language models
Strategy
HEAL’s biggest challenge as a business is not the quality of their products or the brand heritage, but an authority gap within a hugely competitive sofa category.
NOVOS developed a Digital PR strategy with the specific focus of closing the authority gap to key competitors. The focus of the strategy was on securing coverage across top- tier publications with the aim of sending the right trust signals to Google and to LLMs. Key industry publications, such as Ideal Home, are consistently cited by LLMs and, most importantly, are trusted by consumers when they’re at the consideration stage of purchasing.
Rather than treating the Digital PR strategy as a volume exercise, the strategy prioritised publications that delivered quality, relevance and, in terms of AI citations, consistency. By securing repeat coverage on a small, but highly targeted, set of high-authority domains, we were able to build strong authority and consensus across AI models over time. Fundamentally, this increased the chances of HEAL’s being recognised as a credible and go-to source within AI search for the topic of sofas.
Critically, all coverage was aligned with commercial intent, with all links directed to the priority sofa category and/or priority product pages, ensuring that improvements in visibility were tangible for the brand.
The approach allowed HEAL’s to strengthen its authority across both organic search and AI search results, positioning the brand more competitively in a category and marketplace dominated by huge retailers.
The Results
Over the three-month campaign, HEAL’s achieved measurable gains across authority, performance, and AI visibility.
Coverage & Authority
- 23 pieces of earned coverage
- 20 links across 18 unique domains
- Average domain rating: 67
- Coverage secured in highly authoritative titles including Ideal Home, Homes & Gardens, LivingEtc, The English Home, GQ and Yahoo
Commercial Alignment
- 100% of linking coverage pointed directly to priority sofa category or product pages
- PR activity supported both short-term performance and long-term authority building
AI Search Visibility
- Clear upward trend in sofa-related AI visibility throughout November
- One of the highest visibility levels recorded since tracking began
- Visibility gaps against larger competitors were materially reduced
In a category dominated by major retailers, HEAL’s strengthened its position as a trusted and citable source within AI-generated search results — not just traditional SERPs.
“NOVOS delivered a Digital PR programme that focused on authority and commercial relevance, not just coverage volume.
By securing consistent placements in high-value interiors publications and linking directly to our priority sofa pages, the campaign strengthened our visibility across both organic search and AI-generated results.
In a highly competitive category, the work delivered clear improvements in how HEAL’s is represented and trusted at key decision points.”
Mark Hammond, Head of eCommerce
See More of Our Work in Action
Want to see more of the award-winning work we carry out for our clients? We regularly update the case studies on our website to include our latest campaigns and wins. Check out what’s new and find out how we can help you achieve the same results!
Let’s Get To Work
Contact us to find out how we can reduce your reliance on paid and work together to elevate your business to the next level.