How Do I Choose an SEO Agency for AEO Visibility?

Choose an SEO agency that sees AEO (optimization for AI) as a distinct area of work, rather than just an additional service added to a traditional SEO package. Ask them for screenshots of actual AI citations they’ve received for previous clients, a list of the schema types they plan to implement on your site, and a realistic timeline of 3 to 6 months to get your first citation. Agencies that cannot provide this information have never actually worked as AEOs before.

What’s changed — why just hiring an “SEO agency” isn’t enough

In the past, hiring an SEO agency meant improving your website’s ranking in Google SERPs. While this remains important, the scope of work has expanded significantly. ChatGPT alone processes over 2 billion queries per day, and website traffic from AI platforms is expected to grow at a 527% annual rate by mid-2025. According to Gartner’s forecast, by 2026, a quarter of organic search traffic will shift to AI chatbots and virtual assistants instead of traditional search clicks.

High rankings no longer guarantee a significant number of leads or quality traffic. A study analyzing 15,000 prompts using Ahrefs‘ ‘Brand Radar’ data found that there was only 12% overlap between the information provided by the AI system and Google’s actual top 10 search results. For ChatGPT specifically, this overlap drops to around 8%. Simply put: a page may be ranking first in Google, but it may not be getting a place in the AI-generated answer displayed just above it. The agency you hire this year must have a strategy capable of handling both situations, not just one.

AEO vs. SEO vs. GEO

The three terms get used interchangeably, which makes agency proposals confusing to compare. The practical difference between them:

Term	What it optimizes for
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)	Ranking position, organic traffic, and clicks on traditional search results
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)	Being the source an AI system pulls from when it builds a direct answer
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)	Your brand’s overall presence and framing across the whole AI-search ecosystem — owned content, third-party mentions, and citations combined

AEO is a part of GEO. This is a limited-scope task, where each page is created in a way that AI systems can easily understand, trust, and use as a reference. In contrast, GEO is a holistic, ongoing process that manages your brand’s presence and visibility across various platforms. More important to the buyer than the subtle differences between the two is that agencies that only understand SEO optimize for ‘eligibility’; while those that understand AEO optimize for ‘selection’.

Each search engine operates differently; You can ask an agency directly about this:

• Google’s ‘AI Overviews‘ primarily take information from pages that are already ranking in the top 10; consequently, poor traditional SEO performance can cause you to fall behind here as well.
• Perplexity prioritizes fresh information and “topic authority” over raw domain size.
• Microsoft Copilot relies on LinkedIn and professional-quality content, especially for B2B-related searches.
• Claude favors long, detailed guides or articles over shorter posts.
• Gemini not only takes information from text or writing, but also collects information from multi-modal content such as videos and images.

The 5 capabilities a genuinely AEO-capable agency has

Most agencies now claim to have AEO experience, but very few can back it up with any tangible evidence. Let’s take a closer look at these five key capabilities:

A deep understanding of structured data. They should clearly name the FAQPage, Article, Organization, and Author schemas and explain how each works for a specific page—not just talk about the schema in general or promise to “take care of it technically.”

Easily understandable content organized in a Q&A format. AI systems prefer content that starts with a direct question and provides an easy-to-read answer within the first few sentences; not list-based posts like “5 Tips for Better X,” which are written to keep human readers scrolling.

Prioritizing depth over breadth. Eight interconnected posts written in depth on a specific topic yield better results than thirty shallow posts on thirty different topics. Most agencies choose the latter method because it makes it easier to sell monthly “content volumes.”

Specific and verifiable claims. Statements like “We deliver great results” are ignored by both readers and AI systems. “We implemented the FAQPage schema on 40 client pages last quarter, and received 12 citations in 90 days”—things like these are remembered and cited.

Earned media and entity work. Nearly 82% of the links in AI-generated answers come from earned-media—i.e. journalism and third-party coverage—rather than the brand’s own content. Press-release citations increased fivefold in the second half of 2025 alone. Agencies that don’t have a plan for PR, guest coverage, or third-party mentions are missing out on one of their biggest sources.

The evaluation framework: 10 questions, with a scoring rubric

Score each answer from 1 (evasive or wrong) to 5 (specific, detailed, and backed by an example). An agency averaging under 3 across these ten questions isn’t ready for AEO work, whatever the pitch deck claims.

#	Question	Strong-answer signal	Red flag
1	Can you show AI citations you’ve earned for past clients?	Real screenshots from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, or Google AI Overviews, tied to named clients	“We’re still building our portfolio,” or no examples at all
2	Walk me through the schema you’d add to my site.	Names specific types (FAQPage, Article, Organization) and where each would go	“We’ll handle the technical schema part” with no specifics
3	How do you measure AEO success?	Citation counts by engine, share of voice, grounding queries won	Only traditional rankings and impressions
4	What’s your realistic timeline to first citations?	3 to 6 months, with the reasoning explained	Under 30 days, or a vague non-answer
5	Do you currently work with any of my direct competitors?	Clear disclosure, plus a stated policy on conflicts	Deflection, or “that’s not something we track”
6	Does your strategy include brand entity work for AI citations?	Describes building consistent mentions across editorial coverage, directories, and third-party sites	A blank stare, or confusing this with standard backlinks
7	How do you balance AEO formatting with Core Web Vitals?	Explains the trade-off and how they test for it	Doesn’t recognize a trade-off exists
8	What does monthly reporting actually look like?	AI citation counts, grounding queries won, a concrete list of what shipped	“Your traffic went up,” with no supporting detail
9	Who specifically does the work?	Names actual specialists, not just an account manager	A vague team, or “our whole team collaborates” with no names given
10	Can I speak to a current client?	Yes, readily, with contact details offered	Reluctance, or NDAs cited as a blanket excuse

Red flags that should end the call

A handful of answers are disqualifying on their own, regardless of how strong the rest of the pitch sounds.

• Providing assurance on AI rankings or citations. No one can control such an uncertain system. Giving such assurances means that either the agency is lying, or they don’t know how these systems actually work.
• Claiming they will “add AI to your SEO.” AEO involves distinct processes and deliverables. Vague or exaggerated upselling language usually indicates that there is no factual basis behind the claim.
• Lacking a citation portfolio. There is always a record or proof of actual AEO work. If they can’t show anything, you’re probably spending money on their ‘learning process’ or learning curve, not their experience.
• Claiming everything can be completed within 30 days. While schema can be made live quickly, the re-indexing process cannot be completed quickly through ‘topical authority’ and AI. The promise of quick completion often indicates that there is a compromise somewhere in the quality of the work.
• Inability to explain the FAQPage Schema structure. If they cannot explain fundamental components like mainEntity, Question, and Answer, they aren’t actually implementing it—they are merely claiming to do so.
• Failing to audit or review your current Schema before making a pitch. Directly saying “we’ll add schema” without checking what’s already on the site indicates a lack of due diligence.
• Having no plan to refresh published content. For commercial and evaluation-stage queries, over 60% of AI citations come from pages that have been updated within the last six months. If content updates are not planned from the beginning, visibility tends to decrease within a few months of publication.
• Reporting based solely on keyword positions. Without relevant information like traffic, citations, or revenue, it is not possible to understand whether the work is actually bringing any results by calculating rankings alone.

Three free tests to run before you sign anything

None of this requires taking an agency’s word for it. Three checks, all free, take about 30 minutes combined.

Verify the agency’s own website using Google’s ‘Rich Results Test.‘ If a company claims to be an AEO agency but lacks proper FAQ pages, informative articles, and ‘organization schema’ on its own site, it indicates they are not applying those very strategies to their own business.

Ask ChatGPT or Perplexity directly. Use a query such as: “What are the best SEO or AEO agencies for [your industry] in [your city or region]?” If the agency’s name does not appear in the results, ask them about it during your conversation. Their response will reveal whether they acknowledge this gap or are simply sidestepping the issue.

Pay for a small job before committing to a full contract. An initial test can be done with an FAQ-style blog post with the appropriate schema—which typically costs between $500 and $1,500. Once the work is complete, verify it yourself using the ‘Rich Results Test.’ If the results are accurate and the writing is of high quality, it may be safe to go for a big deal. If they fail, you will have spent only a few hundred dollars rather than thousands.

SEO-only, AEO specialist, or integrated partner — which one fits

The right decision depends on the current state of your site—not on which term sounds more modern or traditional.

If your site has technical issues, low authority, or indexing problems, prioritize SEO first. AEO cannot be sustained in the long run on a weak foundation.

If your SEO system is already robust and your primary goal is to boost AI visibility for high-intent, targeted queries within your category, then opt for an AEO specialist.

If you prefer a unified strategy and reporting structure—and want to avoid the hassle of coordinating with multiple vendors offering conflicting advice for the same site—choose an integrated partner or service provider. However, the agency you select must demonstrate deep expertise in both areas; simply listing the service in their portfolio is not enough.

How to know it’s actually working

Traditional SEO metrics are still important, but they alone cannot capture most of the changes that are happening. If an agency only reports on rankings and impressions for 2026, they are only doing half the job. In addition to rankings and organic traffic, track these four things:

• Citation Frequency — How often your content is included in AI-generated answers
• Competitive Citation Share — How often you are cited for the same question compared to your competitors
• Question Coverage — Which buyer questions you are leading on, and which ones you still lack visibility on
• Assisted Conversions — Visits and signups that occur after being mentioned on an AI-platform, even if no direct clicks are tracked from that platform.

Frequently asked questions