James Chen is a Bay Area software engineering graduate and marketing entrepreneur. After working at Amazon, Apple, and Google between 2022 and 2025, he founded SBD Marketing, an SEO agency for criminal defense law firms, and Bay Area AEO, which focuses on AI search visibility for local businesses.
James is a published Google Books author. His work includes business websites, search campaigns, software tools, an ebook for defense attorneys, and the Criminal Defense Marketing Podcast.[7][3][4]
Education
James graduated from Western Governors University with a bachelor's degree in Software Engineering.
Career
Technology companies
James worked at Amazon from 2022 to 2023, Apple from 2023 to 2024, and Google from 2024 to 2025.
SBD Marketing
James started SBD Marketing after his work at Google and grew it into a six-figure agency. It specializes in SEO and web design for criminal defense law firms across the United States, along with Google Business Profiles, local map results, and AI search visibility. SBD Marketing represents one defense firm per city.[1]
By September 2026, SBD Marketing had launched more than 130 websites and helped more than 32 clients rank in search.[2]
Bay Area AEO
James later founded Bay Area AEO, an SEO agency focused on helping Bay Area businesses appear in AI-generated search answers. Its work includes AI visibility audits, consistent business listings, answer-ready website content, citations, reviews, and monitoring how AI assistants describe a business.
The agency serves food and drink businesses, health and wellness practices, professional firms, and home service companies across the Bay Area.
Selected work
Beyond agency campaigns, James has built web directories, local business sites, booking and analytics tools, reporting systems, and workflow automation. SBD Marketing has published city-specific before-and-after local search studies, including results in San Jose and Fort Worth.[1]
Publications and media
- SEO Guide for Criminal Defense Law Firms — an ebook by James, published on Google Books, covering website structure, local search, map results, practice-area pages, and measurement.[3][7]
- Criminal Defense Marketing Podcast — a podcast hosted by James about how defense clients search and how firms can improve their online visibility.[4]
Recognition and results
In 2026, Top Business Awards US named SBD Marketing its Best SEO Company for Criminal Defense Law Firms Nationwide.[1]
SBD Marketing's San Jose case study recorded a 316% total ranking-grid performance gain across five tracked keywords; its Fort Worth case study recorded a 302% gain. Both results were measured in under 90 days.[1][2]
The award announcement was distributed through GlobeNewswire, with versions published by USA Today and Yahoo Finance.[2][5][6]
References
- “Best SEO Company for Criminal Defense Law Firms Nationwide”. Top Business Awards US, 2026.
- “SBD Marketing Named Best SEO Company for Criminal Defense Law Firms Nationwide for 2026”. SBD Marketing press release, GlobeNewswire, September 11, 2026.
- SEO Guide for Criminal Defense Law Firms. Leanpub book listing.
- Criminal Defense Marketing Podcast. Apple Podcasts listing.
- “SBD Marketing Named Best SEO Company for Criminal Defense Law Firms Nationwide for 2026”. USA Today press release page.
- “SBD Marketing Named Best SEO Company for Criminal Defense Law Firms Nationwide for 2026”. Yahoo Finance press release page.
- SEO Guide for Criminal Defense Law Firms. Google Books listing.