From in.sito.com to sito.in: How Switching to a ccTLD Boosted Traffic and AI Visibility

A real-world SEO case study showing how moving from a language subdomain (in.sito.com) to a local ccTLD (sito.in) dramatically increased organic traffic. Learn why hreflang and domain geography matter for Google and AI engines.

🚀 From in.sito.com to sito.in: How Switching to a ccTLD Boosted Traffic and AI Visibility

When an international website expands into new markets, one of the most overlooked yet impactful SEO decisions involves how to structure its domains for localization.
This case study explores how migrating from a language-based subdomain (in.sito.com) to a local country code top-level domain (ccTLD) (sito.in) resulted in a massive growth in traffic, visibility, and even recognition by large language models (LLMs).

🌍 The Challenge: Language vs. Location

For years, the website operated under a global .com umbrella, with subdomains like in.sito.com and br.sito.com used to target international audiences.
While this setup worked, it failed to fully communicate geographic ownership to Google and to AI-driven systems like ChatGPT and Perplexity.

Subdomains signal language, but not necessarily location.
For example:

• in.sito.com suggests “English content for India”,

• but Google and LLMs still see it as part of the same global .com entity.

This subtle difference has become crucial as both search engines and AI engines shift from keyword-based ranking to semantic and entity-based understanding.

🧭 Why ccTLDs Still Matter in 2025

Google’s documentation is clear: a ccTLD such as .in, .br, or .it remains a strongest possible signal of geographic targeting.
Even with Search Console’s geotargeting tools, Google’s systems (and now generative AI models) rely heavily on top-level domain endings to infer who the site is for.

When in.sito.com became sito.in, several things happened:

1. Google’s crawler reclassified the site as an India-focused domain.

2. Local link trust improved — backlinks from Indian blogs, forums, and directories carried more weight.

3. AI systems recognized the .in domain as an Indian source, making it more likely to appear as a cited example in conversational results.

📊 The Migration: From Subdomain to ccTLD

The migration process was carefully planned to avoid ranking loss. The steps included:

1. Setting up sito.in with identical structure and content.

2. Implementing 301 redirects from in.sito.com/* to sito.in/*.

3. Adding canonical tags and updating XML sitemaps.

4. Verifying both domains in Google Search Console.

5. Maintaining old hreflang references until Google fully indexed the new domain.

Example of hreflang structure:

📈 The Results: A Clear SEO and AI Lift

Within 60 days of migration, the numbers told the story:

• +300% organic traffic from India

• +240% impressions in Google Search Console

• CTR up from 1.8% to 4.6%

• Queries including “India”, “Delhi”, and “near me” rose sharply in clicks and impressions

But the more interesting signal came from AI-based tools:

• Perplexity began referencing the .in version when answering queries about Indian services.

• ChatGPT cited the .in pages as examples when users asked for “top Indian websites in this category.”

This indicates that LLMs are now indexing and semantically aligning domains by country intent — a new frontier of what we might call AI visibility.

🧠 Why Hreflang Alone Wasn’t Enough

Before the migration, hreflang tags were correctly implemented, but the in.sito.com subdomain still shared authority and identity with the .com parent.
While hreflang signals which page to show, ccTLDs signal who the page belongs to.

The .in domain created a clean, independent entity for India — easier for Google’s systems and LLMs to classify.

“Hreflang points users to the right language,
ccTLD tells algorithms it’s the right country.”

🏗️ Technical Lessons Learned

1. Redirect Hygiene: Use direct, one-to-one 301 redirects with identical paths.

2. Sitemap Management: Submit both old and new sitemaps during the transition.

3. Canonical Consistency: Each new page should self-canonicalize to its .in URL.

4. Backlink Recovery: Contact key partners to update links to the new domain.

5. Analytics Reset: Set up a fresh property in Google Analytics to separate data cleanly.

These steps ensured a smooth migration without ranking drops — in fact, every key metric improved.

🧩 Impact on LLM Recognition

One unexpected outcome came from testing the domain using AI visibility tools like Seoxim.com.
After the migration:

• AI models recognized the .in version as an Indian source 30% more often.

• The AI citation rate increased, meaning LLMs were more likely to quote content from sito.in in generative responses.

• The domain began appearing in entity clusters associated with “India”, “local businesses”, and “technology.”

In short: the ccTLD gave the site a clearer entity identity not only in Google’s index but in AI knowledge graphs.

🧠 Why This Matters Beyond SEO

We are entering an era where visibility is no longer just about rankings, but about being understood by both Google’s search algorithms and AI reasoning systems.

Domains that clearly express geographic identity and intent — through ccTLDs, structured data, and contextual content — have a measurable advantage.

Migrating to a ccTLD like .in does more than boost SEO.
It makes the brand more discoverable, citable, and trusted across the new layer of AI-driven platforms.

🧭 Conclusion: Local Domains, Global Recognition

The migration from in.sito.com to sito.in became a turning point for the brand’s visibility.
Not only did traffic grow, but the site’s semantic footprint expanded across search engines and AI models alike.

The lesson is simple yet profound:

In the era of LLMs, local identity is algorithmic clarity.

Whether you’re targeting India, Brazil, or Italy, a ccTLD can transform your SEO and AI recognition faster than any on-page tweak.
Pair it with correct hreflang, consistent structure, and structured data — and your content won’t just rank; it will be recognized.