The short answer
Choose an AEO agency that tracks named prompts across several AI engines every week, ships the changes itself, works on the third-party sites AI tools cite, and tells you the price and exit terms up front. Be wary of any agency that guarantees placement in ChatGPT, or that can’t show you what it would measure. AEOIndex is an AEO agency too, so weigh this guide with that in mind. The questions work on us as well.
10 questions to ask any AEO agency
| Ask | A good answer | A weak answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Which prompts will you track, and in which engines? | A named list you approve, across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and AI Overviews | “We monitor your AI visibility” |
| 2. How often do you run them? | Weekly, with repeat runs, because answers vary | Monthly, or one run |
| 3. What do you measure? | Share of answers, order named, facts stated and cited pages | Rankings and traffic only |
| 4. Who makes the changes on our site? | They do, with your approval | They send a document for your team to carry out |
| 5. What ships in a normal month? | A count: pages, fixes, outreach | “It depends”, with no examples |
| 6. What would you do first on our site? | Something specific to you, before you’ve signed | A standard onboarding speech |
| 7. Which sites does AI cite in our category? | They’ve looked, and can name some | They haven’t checked |
| 8. How do you earn third-party mentions? | A clear, honest method for lists, reviews and communities | Vague answers, or paid links and fake reviews |
| 9. What does AI say about you? | They can show their own results, honestly, including the gaps | They change the subject |
| 10. What’s the price, term and exit clause? | Stated in writing before a long sales process | Only after a discovery call and a proposal |
Red flags
- Guaranteed placement. AI answers change from run to run, and no one controls them. Anyone promising “#1 in ChatGPT” is selling something they can’t deliver.
- A single screenshot as proof. One good answer proves little. Ask for results across many prompts over time.
- A secret method. The work is known: access, answers, facts, mentions. If they won’t explain it, they may not have one.
- SEO reports with a new title. If nothing in the report mentions what AI tools actually said, nothing has changed.
- Mass-produced content. Ask to see samples. Pages with nothing new won’t get cited.
- Long contracts with no exit. Results take a few months, but you should be able to leave if nothing moves.
Is hiring an AEO agency worth it?
It’s a fair question, and sometimes the answer is no. AEO is real, but many agencies sell it as a buzzword. It tends to pay off under these conditions:
- Buyers in your category research before they buy, and some use AI tools to do it.
- Your deal value can carry a monthly retainer. See what AEO agencies charge.
- Rivals are named in AI answers and you aren’t.
- You don’t have someone who can own this every week.
When not to hire one
- Your site can’t be read. Run the free AEO audit first. Basic fixes don’t need a retainer.
- You have no product-market fit yet. Being named won’t help if buyers don’t convert once they arrive.
- You have someone who can do it. A capable marketer can follow how to rank in ChatGPT and buy a tracking tool.
- Your buyers don’t use AI tools. Ask ten of them. It’s the cheapest research you’ll do.
How to run the decision
- Ask ChatGPT and Perplexity five buying questions in your category, and save the answers as your baseline.
- Shortlist three agencies. Our comparison of AEO agencies is one starting point, and it says plainly that we wrote it.
- Send all three the 10 questions above, in writing.
- Compare the cost of the first 90 days, including any one-off fees.
- Agree what success looks like at 90 days before you sign.
Want to try these on us? Here’s what we do, and our AEO agency page covers how we work and what it costs.
