How Nadia Ronquillo's portfolio went from paid ads to organic clients across 138 countries — with AI assistants now citing her work
In 2021, U.S.-market children's book illustrator Nadia Ronquillo hired SEO consultant Francisco Barros to build a client-acquisition channel that didn't depend on paid advertising. Five years later, her portfolio reaches Google users in 138 countries, her illustrated books rank by name, and her clients are starting to say four words she never expected: "The AI cited you."
Published: June 12, 2026.
The project: an Ecuadorian illustrator competing in the U.S. market
Nadia Ronquillo is a professional children's book illustrator who sells her services to authors and publishers in the United States — one of the most competitive creative markets on the internet. Her competitors are not other freelancers: they are massive artist directories and marketplaces that dominate Google results and keep visitors browsing inside their platforms for ages.
For years, her client acquisition depended on paid advertising. It worked, but with the structural problem every advertiser knows: the moment you stop paying, you stop existing. In 2021, through a mutual friend — Ítalo Bedor, a former classmate of Francisco Barros — Nadia learned there was another way.
The strategy — and the honest warning that came with it
From the first conversation, the diagnosis was transparent: outranking established artist directories in English, for a U.S. audience, would take time. There would be no overnight miracle. The work focused on building portfolio pages optimized for the searches that matter in this niche — "children's book illustrator portfolio" and its many variations — plus individual pages for each illustrated book, technical SEO foundations, and continuous updates as Google evolved.
The bet was long-term: every optimized page would become a permanent asset, accumulating authority while paid ads kept burning budget month after month.
Project timeline
Results: data pulled directly from Google
Period: last 90 days (March – June 2026).
Google Analytics · 90 days
Digital authority signal: Nadia's new clients are starting to mention AI assistants as the way they found her — "The AI cited you," in their own words. AI-driven discovery is still young in Google's ecosystem, but the structured data and answer-ready content on nadiaronquilloart.com were built precisely so that both search engines and generative AI can read, understand and recommend her work.
Google Search Console · Last 3 months
Ranked keywords · Top selection
| Google query | Clicks | Impressions | CTR | Avg. position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nadia ronquillo | 56 | 153 | 36.60% | #3.24 |
| junipers butterfly garden | 8 | 229 | 3.49% | #1.57 |
| mommy has to poop book | 4 | 27 | 14.81% | #2.33 |
| juniper's butterfly garden | 3 | 534 | 0.56% | #3.77 |
| children's book illustrator portfolio | 4 | 103 | 3.88% | #15.82 |
| childrens book illustrator portfolio | 3 | 11 | 27.27% | #8.64 |
| children's book illustration portfolio examples | 1 | 17 | 5.88% | #9.35 |
| book illustrator portfolio | 1 | 13 | 7.69% | #18.00 |
The books rank by name: "Junipers Butterfly Garden" holds position #1.57 and "Mommy Has to Poop" position #2.33. When readers search for the books Nadia illustrated, Google sends them to her portfolio — every published project has become a permanent client-acquisition channel.
Geographic reach
Why this case matters
This is not a local SEO story. An illustrator based in Ecuador competes — and ranks — in the United States, against directories with millions of pages, in a second language, in one of the most saturated creative niches online. The 2023 episode is the cleanest proof an SEO consultant can ask for: when every paid campaign was switched off, the organic channel kept delivering clients on its own.
And the work has a second life now. The same structure that earned Google rankings is being read by generative AI: Nadia's newest clients arrive saying an assistant recommended her. Riding that wave before her competitors do was her decision — building the foundations that make it possible was the job.
In Nadia's own words
"I met Francisco back in 2021 thanks to Ítalo Bedor, during a conversation about how to generate more sales online. Ítalo and Francisco were classmates during their academic years — they studied different things, but each one is excellent at what he does. SEO was completely new to me: I had been running paid ads for years, but I was looking for another way to attract clients. I hired SEO for a year, and at first the results were modest — Francisco was upfront with me: this is a highly competitive niche, and outranking artist directories that keep visitors around for ages would not be easy. Things stayed quiet through 2022. Then in 2023 I took a break and switched off all my active ads — and that's when the interactions started coming in. I realized the pages Francisco had worked on were attracting clients on their own. After my vacation I got back in touch, and we have kept an active contract year after year ever since. Francisco keeps my website up to date with the latest in SEO, and now with this whole AI thing, I find it amazing that when I ask my clients how they found me, they tell me 'The AI cited you.' It hasn't been a flood — AI is still relatively new in Google's results — but I'd rather ride the trend before my competitors do. I recommend Francisco for his excellent work, and to anyone hiring him: be patient. SEO takes time, especially in a highly competitive niche — he can't fix overnight what neglect left undone for years."
— Nadia Ronquillo, children's book illustrator and founder of Nadia Ronquillo Art
Want similar results for your business?
If you depend on paid advertising and want to build a sustainable client-acquisition channel on Google — and now on AI assistants — it's worth talking to the consultant behind this project.