How to rebrand without losing your Google rankings

Why rebrands lose traffic

Search engines and AI assistants have learned which pages answer which questions. A rebrand that changes URLs, deletes pages or rewrites everything at once throws that away. The design is rarely the problem; the plumbing is.

The checklist

1. 1Inventory every URL. Export from your CMS, sitemap and analytics, including old blog posts and PDFs.
2. 2Map each old URL to one new URL. One-to-one, not everything to the homepage.
3. 3Set 301 redirects and test them before launch.
4. 4Keep your strongest content. Refresh the design; keep the substance and headings that rank.
5. 5Carry over titles, descriptions and headings for important pages, then improve gradually.
6. 6Update structured data: organisation name, logo, and the profiles listed in sameAs.
7. 7Update profiles everywhere: Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, directories, marketplaces.
8. 8Changing domain? Keep the old domain, redirect it permanently, and use the change of address tool in Google Search Console.
9. 9Submit the new sitemap and watch coverage and rankings for the next few weeks.

Don't forget AI assistants

AI assistants describe your company from what they've read. After a rebrand, make the new name easy to connect to the old one: a short "formerly known as" line on your About page, a clear organisation description, and consistent profiles across the web. An llms.txt file that summarises who you are helps some tools too.

Redesign and migrate separately if you can

Changing platform, URLs, design and content in one release makes problems hard to trace. If you can, migrate first with URLs and content unchanged, then redesign. Our migration service and SEO, AEO and GEO service are built around this.