Choosing an AI SEO agency (AEO and GEO)

AI SEO, AEO and GEO agencies: the same job

AI SEO, AEO and GEO are three labels for the same goal: making sure AI assistants and Google's AI features mention your business when people ask relevant questions. The names come from different angles. AEO stands for answer engine optimization, which focuses on being the answer. GEO stands for generative engine optimization, which focuses on being included in generated responses. AI SEO is the broader term that covers both.

In practice, an agency doing this work will ask the questions your customers ask, see which assistants name you and which name someone else, and then fix the pages and sources that shape those answers. For example, a dentist in Leeds might ask an assistant 'who is the best emergency dentist in Leeds?' and find that three other practices are named while theirs is not. The agency's job is to change that.

The work is not about tricking the assistants. It is about making your business easy to find, easy to understand and easy to cite. That means clear pages, structured data, consistent listings and a presence on the websites that assistants already trust as sources.

How it differs from a classic SEO agency

Classic SEO measures rankings on search engine results pages. AI SEO measures answers inside several assistants, not only rankings. You might rank well on Google and still be missing from ChatGPT's answer, because the assistant is drawing on different sources and phrasing.

Classic SEO often focuses on links to your site. AI SEO also works on the sites assistants cite as sources. Those might be directories, review sites, industry publications or community forums. Getting mentioned or listed there can matter as much as a link to your own homepage.

Another difference is language and location. Assistants answer in many languages and often give different answers depending on the country. An agency that only checks English questions from one country may miss how your business appears to customers elsewhere.

Finally, the output is different. Instead of a ranking report, you want to see the full answers, the sources cited and a clear list of actions. That is what makes the work measurable.

Red flags

Some claims should make you pause. Here are the main ones to watch for when you talk to an agency.

• Promised rankings or mentions in ChatGPT. No one controls what an assistant says. Any agency that promises a specific placement or a number one spot is either guessing or misleading you.
• No access to the underlying answers. If the agency will not show you the full text of what each assistant said, you cannot verify the work. You should be able to read the answers yourself.
• Changes made without your approval. An agency that edits your site, your listings or your profiles without asking first is a risk. You should approve every change before it goes live.

A fourth red flag is vague reporting. If the monthly report is a screenshot with no context, or a score with no explanation, ask for the raw answers and the list of questions used. For example, a bakery in Toronto might be told 'your AI visibility improved' without seeing which assistants changed or what they now say. That is not useful.

A checklist to compare agencies

Use this checklist when you speak to agencies. It will help you compare them on substance rather than sales talk.

1. Which assistants, countries and languages do you measure? You want a clear list. If they only check one assistant or one language, that is a narrow view.
2. Do you provide weekly reporting with full answers? Weekly is better than monthly because answers can change. Full answers let you see exactly what was said.
3. How are changes approved? You should have a clear approval step before anything is published or edited.
4. What is your response time? Ask how quickly they reply to questions or requests. A slow response can stall the work.

Add one more question: who does the writing? Some agencies only advise, while others write the page copy, FAQs and business descriptions. If you need the text drafted, ask whether that is included.

For example, a software company in Berlin might ask each agency to show a sample report from a current client, with the client's permission. The quality of that sample tells you more than any pitch.

An alternative to a full agency

Not every business needs a full agency. You can start with a tracker you run yourself. Vasukai checks 9 assistants (ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Claude, DeepSeek, Meta AI, Sarvam) in 24 languages from the customer's country. It shows where your business is named, who is named instead and which websites the answers cite. It also writes the fixes for you. There is a free AI check at /sign-in?scan=1.

If you want the work done for you, Vasukai Managed at /managed includes technical fixes on key pages, pages fixed or written every month, structured data and an llms.txt file, and listings on Google, Bing and Apple. Managed Plus adds outreach to the sites assistants use as sources. Both include weekly tracking on 9 assistants against named competitors.

Every change is approved by you before it goes live, and replies come within 48 hours. That keeps you in control while the work moves forward.