Overview
What SEO Neo is, the mental model, and how to use this playbook.
On this page
This is the Spearleaf operating manual for SEO Neo + off-page SEO, synthesized from the Clint Butler consulting sessions (2026-04-08, 2026-05-27, 2026-06-05). Read the Quickstarts first if you're new; jump to a Tool Manual or Workflow when you're doing the work.
What NEO actually is
SEO Neo is a desktop automation tool that runs on YOUR computer (Mac or Windows) and pushes backlinks to a fixed library of properties: cloud storage sites (S3, Backblaze, etc.), high-quality social bookmarking sites, Web 2.0 ring sites, profile sites, and PDF distribution sites. It is NOT a discovery tool. It hits the same network of properties over and over.
It has two surfaces:
- Wizards — fast preset campaigns (GBP Sniper, GBP Blast, RD100, Zero to Hero, Domain Authority Stacking).
- Diagram Editor — the underlying campaign builder where you copy a wizard's diagram, strip nodes, or build your own.
NEO has two jobs (at agency scale)
| Job | Driver | Lever in NEO |
|---|---|---|
| Maps rankings | Phone calls. Where local agency money is. | GBP Sniper + GBP Blast |
| Organic rankings | Money-page + supporting-content rankings | RD100 (stripped) + Cloud template + DAS / Zero-to-Hero |
Everything else is either supporting infrastructure (cloud blog network, content buckets, NAP block, spin settings) or wizards that don't move the needle.
Realistic timeline expectations
- DAS / brand-knowledge-graph work: 1–2 weeks per DAS run; 2–3 months before the knowledge graph triggers.
- RD100 + cloud templates after publish: results in 2–8 weeks.
- GBP Blast / Sniper: weekly runs, grid movement after 4–8 weeks.
- National SEO with NEO alone: realistically a year. Case studies leave this part out.
Case studies that look like "I ran one campaign and ranked" are people who've run NEO consistently for a long time. Most users run two campaigns, see nothing move, and write off the software. Don't be that user.
Goal of the whole system
Build a brand entity Google recognizes, point a controlled flow of contextual backlinks at the client's money pages + GBP listings, then ride that flow with content actually structured to rank. Every action in this playbook serves one of three goals: entity, links, content.
How this playbook is organized
- Quickstarts — short, action-first checklists for the recurring jobs (onboard a client, publish a page, weekly + monthly cadence).
- Rules — the scannable do/don't list and core principles.
- Tool Manuals — one deep reference per SEO Neo tool (DAS, RD100, GBP, cloud, etc.).
- Workflows — cross-tool playbooks (anchors, entities + schema, on-page, link buying, network safety, build stack).
- Strategy — the decisions (niche, national vs local, pricing, directories, multi-location).
- Reference — glossary + tooling checklist.
Each page carries a colored type chip so you know whether you're reading a quick checklist or a deep manual. Use the Changelog button to reach older archived versions.