15 questions to ask before you hire a GEO or AEO agency
The questions that separate a real GEO or AEO agency from relabelled SEO: method, sources, measurement, reporting, people and contract terms.
SEO
Rank on Google
Blue links, snippets and maps — and the base layer AI reads from.
AEO
Named by assistants
Cited in the answers ChatGPT, Perplexity and Copilot give.
GEO
Synthesised by AI
The source Google AI Overviews and Gemini build their answer from.
One shared foundation: crawlable, structured, trustworthy content — run as a single program.
Most GEO and AEO proposals look alike. They promise visibility in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, show a dashboard, and quote a monthly fee. The differences only appear when you ask specific questions. These are the ones we would ask, grouped by what they reveal.
About their method
- 1Which sources does ChatGPT cite for our category today, and how did you find out?
- 2How will you get us onto those sources?
- 3What will you change on our website, and what will you change off it?
- 4How do you decide which buyer questions to work on first?
- 5What do you do differently for Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Overviews?
A strong answer names real sources and real pages. A weak one talks about content volume and "AI-optimised" writing.
About measurement
- 1Which exact prompts will you track, and can we add our own?
- 2How often do you re-run them, and on which assistants?
- 3Can we see the raw answers, with dates, and not only a score?
- 4How will you show us leads or enquiries, not just mentions?
About people
- 1Who will work on our account each week, and what are their roles?
- 2Who does the outreach for reviews, directories and articles?
- 3Have you worked with companies in our industry or of our size?
About terms
- 1Is there a short pilot or a single-topic start before a long retainer?
- 2What targets will you commit to, measured against what baseline?
- 3What happens to the pages, profiles and data if we stop working together?
One question to ask first
If you only ask one, ask the first: which sources does ChatGPT cite for our category today? An agency that has already checked is one that does the work. One that hasn't is selling a plan it hasn't tested.
How to compare the answers
| Good sign | Warning sign |
|---|---|
| Names specific review sites, directories and articles | Talks only about "content" and "keywords" |
| Shows raw dated answers from assistants | Shows a single visibility score |
| Offers a pilot or audit first | Requires a 12-month contract up front |
| Explains what happens in months 1 to 3 | Promises results by a fixed date |
| Commits to targets against a baseline | Guarantees a specific spot in an AI answer |
What good answers sound like
For "Which sources does ChatGPT cite for our category?" a good answer sounds like: "For your top five buying questions, ChatGPT cited G2, two comparison articles and a trade association directory. You're on G2 with no reviews and missing from the rest." A weak answer sounds like: "ChatGPT values authoritative, high-quality content."
For "What happens in months one to three?" a good answer names deliverables and dates. A weak answer describes a philosophy.
Red flags in the answers
- Any guarantee of a specific spot in an AI answer.
- No mention of reviews, directories or articles.
- A report sample with a single score and nothing behind it.
- Reluctance to share who does the work.
We answer all fifteen of these on our GEO agency page, and you're welcome to put them to us directly.
Frequently asked questions
- What should a GEO agency report every month?
- The buyer prompts tracked, the dated answers from each assistant, whether you were named, which sources were cited, and what work was done to change those sources.
- Is a GEO agency different from an SEO agency?
- Much of the work overlaps. A real GEO agency adds work on the third-party sources AI cites, answer-first writing, entity consistency and measuring AI answers directly.
- Should I sign a long contract?
- Prefer a short pilot or an audit first. It gives you a baseline and shows how the agency works before you commit.
AI VisibilityAEOGEO
M
Magathi
AI Visibility specialist at Edthi · SEO, AEO & GEO
Leads AI Visibility programs at Edthi, helping companies get found and recommended across Google and the AI engines. Writes about how AI search actually decides who to cite.
Ready when you are.
Book a 30-minute call, message us on WhatsApp, or drop your details and we'll reach out. We'll show you where you show up today across Google and the AI engines — and the plan to become the answer.
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