Buyer Guides
How to choose an AEO agency: what good monthly work looks like
Comparing AEO or GEO agency proposals? Here's what to check before you sign, and every month after.
Updated
Questions this guide answers
- How do I choose an AEO or GEO agency?
- What does a GEO agency do every month?
- How do I know if an AI SEO agency is legitimate?
- What should I ask an AEO agency before hiring?
Direct answer
Judge an answer engine optimization (AEO) agency, also sold as generative engine optimization (GEO) or AI SEO, on evidence it can show you, not on what it promises. A good one writes down the buyer questions (prompts) it will track before work starts and measures where you stand on them in the AI engines your buyers use. Then, every month, it shows you what it shipped and how those same prompts moved, with the dated answers behind each number.
Before you sign, ask to see that loop in a current client's reports, including a month where nothing moved. If an agency guarantees you'll be cited or recommended, keep looking. Google's guide to hiring an SEO names "AEO" and "GEO" services too, and its line on guarantees carries over: "If they guarantee you that their changes will give you first place in search results, find someone else."
Before work starts: a prompt list, a baseline, and a diagnosis
The first month is setup. It should leave you with three things you can check later.
- A prompt list you approved. The questions your buyers ask AI, most of them not naming you, each labeled by intent. It changes only with your approval, because a list that moves can't show progress. One way to build one: prompt set methodology.
- A baseline on each engine that matters. Where you stand on those prompts in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Perplexity, or Claude, run repeatedly and measured the same way each time. One run per prompt is a sample, not a measurement; see how many runs it takes.
- A diagnosis. For each prompt you lose: who gets named instead, and which pages the answers cite. The plan is built from that list.
Every month: what shipped, and what moved
The work is usually of three kinds: pages and facts on your own site; getting your brand onto the third-party pages AI answers already cite, such as reviews, comparisons, directories, and press; and technical fixes, such as letting AI crawlers in. Much of it overlaps with SEO; each piece of AEO work should still name the prompts it's aimed at.
The monthly report should cover the work and the measurement together (here's the same report from the agency side):
| Each month | What good looks like | What weak looks like |
|---|---|---|
| What shipped | Each page, fix, or outreach, tied to the prompts it targets | A count of blog posts |
| What moved | The same prompts, engines, and method as the baseline, including prompts that didn't move | A new score each month with nothing behind it |
| The evidence | Dated answers and cited sources you can open yourself | Screenshots, or a summary you can't check |
| What's next | The next gaps to work on, and why those | "Continue optimization" |
Questions to ask before you sign
- Can you show me a current client's prompt list, baseline, and monthly reports?
- Which prompts would you track for us, and who approves changes to the list?
- How many times do you run each prompt, on which engines, and from which country?
- What would you change besides writing blog posts?
- Where does each recommendation come from: your own tested data, or an engine's published guidance?
- What do you need from us? Expect requests for approvals, product facts, and access. For an audit, Google's advice is to "only grant read access to Search Console."
Red flags
If the fee depends on results, the definitions matter more than the promise; see 5 questions for performance-based AEO contracts. Besides a guarantee, walk away from these whatever the fee model:
- Tactics you couldn't show the engines. Fake reviews, planted forum posts, hidden text, or pages mass-produced to game answers. Google now treats these as spam in its AI answers too, and its hiring guide is plain about who carries the risk: "Ultimately, you are responsible for the actions of any companies you hire."
- Secrecy about method. In Google's words: "Be careful if a company is secretive or won't clearly explain what they intend to do."
What to expect by month three
By the end of the third month, expect the baseline and at least two monthly remeasures of the same prompts. Some targeted prompts may move and others won't yet, because engines sample their answers and change their sources on their own schedule.
Sources
FAQ
How do I know if an AEO retainer is priced fairly?
Rates vary widely, so compare what the fee buys each month: hours, pages shipped, outreach, and the prompts and engines tracked. A retainer that covers only monitoring and a report is competing with software you could run yourself (what AEO platforms cost).
Should we hire a specialist AEO agency or ask our SEO agency?
Either can work: Google calls optimizing for its AI features "still SEO." Hold either one to the monthly loop above.
Free ChatGPT visibility check
Try the full loop on your own domain, free
Most free checkers stop at a score. The free SolCrys workspace runs 10 ChatGPT prompts on your domain, shows who gets recommended instead, and hands you the first fix to ship.
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