Playbook · Commerce and marketplaces
SEO & AI search playbook for two-sided platforms
Platforms that match people (freelancers and clients, tutors and students, hosts and guests) have two audiences and two sets of searches. The demand side searches for someone to hire; the supply side searches for work or customers. Most platforms only build for the first.
The core page type is the profile. A profile with real reviews, work samples and details is useful; a profile with a name and a photo is thin. At scale, the gap between those two decides whether Google indexes the platform.
Updated By the LaunchRanked team5 sources checked
Searches to plan around
Query patterns and the intent behind them. We don’t quote search volumes: check your own Search Console for the ones you already appear for.
“hire [role]”, “[service] near me”, “[role] for [project]”
Find a providerCategory and location pages, only where you have active providers.
“[role] rates”, “how much does a [role] cost”
BudgetRate guides from your own booking data can be unique.
“[role] jobs”, “how to get clients as a [role]”
Supply sideProviders looking for work. A guide per role helps you grow supply.
“[platform] reviews”, “[platform] fees”
Platform trustBoth sides check you. Publish fees for each side plainly.
Page families that work
Provider profiles
/p/[name]
Indexable only above a completeness bar: reviews, samples, description. Mark up with ProfilePage where it fits.
Category and location pages
/hire/react-developers
With enough providers to choose from, plus rates and tips from your own data.
Rate guides
/rates/react-developer
From real bookings, with sample size and date.
Supply-side guides
/work/react-developers
How to get clients on the platform, fees, what good profiles include.
Risky page types
Service × city pages with no providers
Pages built to catch “[service] in [city]” searches without real providers are what Google's doorway abuse policy describes.
Thin or empty profiles indexed
Thousands of profiles with just a name are low-value pages. Noindex until they meet your bar.
Technical pitfalls
Reviews in markup on your own brand
Reviews of providers on their profiles are fine. Reviews of your own platform shown on your site are self-serving and not eligible for review stars.
Profile URLs that change
Usernames change. Use stable IDs in URLs and redirect old paths.
Private data in public profiles
Let providers control what's public. A leaked phone number is a trust problem and a legal one.
How AI assistants answer questions in this category
Assistants usually can't book or match in real time, so “find me a React developer” tends to get general advice plus platform suggestions. Platforms get named when assistants retrieve pages that describe how the platform works, what it costs and who it's for, and when there are rate or cost pages backed by data.
What tends to earn a citation
- A clear page on how the platform works for each side, with fees.
- Rate guides with method and sample size.
- Consistent descriptions across directories, review sites and your own pages.
Check whether the AI crawlers you want can reach your site with our AI crawler checker.
Where links come from
Provider-shared profiles
Providers link to their profile from their own sites and socials if the profile looks good. Make it worth linking to.
Rate and market reports
Data-backed reports on rates or demand get picked up by trade press.
Startup and marketplace directories
Directory lists that fit two-sided platforms
- Plugin and template marketplaces
- Startup directories
- Regional startup directories
- Where to submit: Startup databases
- All directories
Each directory is checked on its own site: price, link type and review process. We never sell links.
A 90-day plan
Days 1–30
Profile quality bar
- Define when a profile is indexable (reviews, samples, description).
- Noindex profiles below the bar.
- Move to stable profile URLs.
Days 31–60
Both sides
- Publish how-it-works and fee pages for each side.
- Build category pages only where you have enough providers.
- Write supply-side guides for your top roles.
Days 61–90
Data and loop
- Publish rate guides from your booking data.
- Nudge providers to complete profiles.
- Rewrite titles on category pages at positions 5–20.
What to watch in Search Console
The Performance report gives clicks, impressions, CTR and average position by query, page, country, device and date. Traffic from Google's AI features is counted there too, under the Web search type (Google).
- Indexed profiles vs total
- Shows whether your quality bar matches Google's view.
- Demand vs supply queries
- “hire X” vs “X jobs” impressions tell you which side search is growing.
- Impressions on rate guides
- Data pages are often a platform's best non-brand entry point.
Frequently asked questions
Should every profile be indexed?
No. Set a completeness bar and noindex the rest until they meet it.
Can we show review stars for our platform?
Not from reviews on your own site. Google treats those as self-serving. Reviews of individual providers are a different case.
How do we handle cities with few providers?
Don't publish city pages there yet. Link to the broader category instead.
How is this different from a listing marketplace?
Profiles of people are the content, so completeness, reviews and privacy matter more than inventory churn.
Sources
Checked on September 23, 2026. Search patterns and page advice are our own judgement from running this playbook; we don’t quote search volumes or third-party statistics.