Hi, I’m Afzal.

I’ve spent more than five years in SEO and worked on over 1,700 search projects for SaaS companies, ecommerce stores, professional firms, local businesses and international brands. Technical audits, content plans, migrations, the lot.

Over the last couple of years the job changed. Buyers still use Google, but a lot of the early research now happens inside ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini. They ask for a shortlist, get three or four names, and only then start visiting websites. If you’re not in that answer, your homepage never gets the chance.

So that’s what I focus on now. When someone asks an AI assistant about your category, does your name come up?

How I work

• Directly. You talk to me, and I do the work. No account manager in between.
• In order. A short list of what matters most, not a 200-item audit that sits in a drive.
• Honestly. Nobody controls Google or ChatGPT. I won’t promise rankings, and I’ll tell you when something isn’t working.
• In plain language. You should always know what’s being done and why.

Why Cargo Basics exists

I wanted proof anyone can check, not screenshots from client accounts. So I built Cargo Basics on a brand-new domain and I’m tracking, in public, how Google and AI assistants pick it up.

Outside of client work

I write about SEO and AI search on this site and on LinkedIn. If you want to talk about your own site, the free audit is the easiest place to start.