How Studley AI Grew from $4K to $40K MRR in 4 Months Using SEO After Viral Content Dried Up

About Studley AI

Studley AI provides AI-powered study tools for students worldwide. Their innovative platform uses AI to generate flashcards, quizzes, and study sets from lecture notes, PDFs, and course materials. With features including an AI lecture note taker, instant homework solver, and comprehensive study set generator, Studley AI is transforming how students learn and retain information while building a rapidly growing subscription-based education platform.

The Challenge

When Studley AI reached out, they were entirely dependent on viral TikTok content for growth. They had experienced explosive traffic from a single viral video that hit 3 million views, bringing their initial user base. But as summer arrived and the viral momentum faded, they faced a critical problem: their growth engine had stalled completely.

The challenge became even more acute as creating viral content became increasingly difficult. While they occasionally hit 100K or 500K views, nothing matched that initial 3 million view breakthrough. They needed a sustainable, predictable growth channel that didn't depend on the volatility of social media algorithms. Starting with only 700 clicks per day (all branded searches for "Studley"), they had virtually no presence in organic search for the study tool keywords their target users were actually searching for.

We set a target of 25% growth within 180 days. Four months later, they had grown from $4,000 MRR to $40,000 MRR, with 95%+ of their organic traffic now coming from SEO.

The Strategy

We built a comprehensive SEO foundation designed to capture students searching for AI study tools across multiple use cases. The approach included thorough on-page optimization across their homepage, feature pages, and blog content, combined with an aggressive backlink strategy to rapidly build domain authority in the competitive EdTech space.

Beyond standard SEO tactics, we implemented specialized LLM optimization strategies. Our content performs exceptionally well in Google, which provides the foundation for strong visibility in AI search engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and other emerging platforms. We layer in proprietary techniques specifically engineered to ensure Studley appears when students query AI assistants for study help.

The content strategy focused on establishing topical authority across every category Studley operates in: AI note taking, flashcard generation, quiz creation, and homework help across subjects like math, biology, psychology, and physics. We targeted high-intent keywords where students were actively looking for solutions, creating in-depth guides that significantly outperformed competitor content in both quality and optimization.

A critical part of our strategy involved competitive displacement. We systematically targeted competitor brand keywords, ranking Studley in positions 1-5 for terms like "study fetch," "study ai," "mindgrasp," and broader category keywords like "ai for studying." This allowed Studley to intercept students already looking for AI study solutions and present a superior alternative.

Throughout the engagement, we provide a custom automated reporting dashboard to all of our clients. This dashboard updates every 12 hours using the Google Search Console API, giving Studley complete transparency into their organic growth across homepage rankings, feature page performance, blog traffic, backlink acquisition, and visibility in AI search engines.

The Results

Within four months, we helped Studley AI achieve a 760%+ increase in organic non-branded site traffic, growing from 700 clicks per day (all branded) to over 5,000 clicks per day.

Key metrics:

• 760%+ increase in organic non-branded traffic

• From 700 clicks/day (all branded) to 5,000+ clicks/day

• 95%+ of organic site traffic now attributed to SEO

• Rankings in positions 1-5 for competitor keywords (study fetch, study ai, mindgrasp)

• Top rankings for "ai for studying" and related category terms

• Growth from 4,000 MRR to 40,000 MRR ($480K ARR) in 4 months

Founder Emran Hassan described the transformation: "We haven't had any viral videos recently […] we have had like 100,000 views here, 500,000 views there, but nothing crazy, like 3 million in a day. But we're still hitting new highs (in revenue), so it's mostly coming from organic SEO traffic"

This organic growth engine transformed Studley's business model from unpredictable viral dependency to sustainable, compounding search visibility. SEO became their primary customer acquisition channel, driving consistent daily growth even as social media content became harder to scale.

Here is the founder's feedback on our collaboration:

Future Growth Trajectory

The infrastructure we've built positions Studley for aggressive continued expansion. With the foundation now in place, we project 20-30% month-over-month growth as new content gains traction and existing rankings strengthen. The backlink profile continues improving (growing from a domain rating of 5 to 21), which unlocks the ability to compete for increasingly difficult keywords.

As we expand into additional feature areas like the AI homework solver, video lessons, and public study set libraries, each new vertical reinforces Studley's topical authority across the entire study tool ecosystem. The programmatic opportunities alone (individual study sets, subject-specific pages, university-specific content) represent massive untapped search volume.

With organic search now driving the majority of their growth and 95%+ of site traffic coming from SEO, Studley has transformed from a viral-dependent app into a sustainable, predictable growth machine. The SEO foundation we've built will continue compounding for years.

We'll be updating this case study in the coming months as we continue scaling Studley's organic presence across new features and competitive keywords.