How Should Procurement Evaluate AEO and GEO Vendors?

In the grand tradition of military art, strategy isn’t about dealing with today’s battle; it’s about being three campaigns over the hill. Winning generals in the AEO-GEO theater always start by securing the best armorers. In my last post, I walked you through the new “AEO and GEO” troops you’ll be ordering into your marketing trench: Generative Engine Optimization squads, and Answer Engine Optimization troops. But just as performance varies between Marines and conscripts, all AEO and GEO agencies aren’t created equal. So, how can you tell a top-performing unit, what performance benchmarks should you see in their campaign strategy bids, and which quick-shots mean you should duck and cover?

Why AEO and GEO Matter in the 2026 Digital Landscape

Traditional SEO isn't going to cut it. Do you know what happens when you search for the capital of Ecuador? Or the time in Shanghai? Or the latest score? You get an answer, straight from a search engine or voice assistant. No clicking required. Which means the sites you trust most to get those answers are the sites you’re going to keep trusting. So you’ll get those top-of-mind spots, or you won’t. Our generative engine optimization (GEO) and answer engine optimization (AEO) techniques are designed to see that you do.

We used to be the best-kept secret, but not anymore. With more top clients also comes a more competitive landscape. US brands realize they need an agency partner with a proven SEO & Content offering who also has years of experience with Expertise Optimization and Geo-Optimization for global operations. This isn't something you can just hire regional agencies to do. It takes deep expertise locally that can also flex globally and that's us. Products, locations, and people are the business cornerstones of any website today and you can trust in our world-leading tech and content tactics and strategies to get your search visibility where it needs to be.

Key Differences: AEO, GEO, and AI Search Optimization Explained

Let's dive deeper. AEO is about designing your content to be the best source for commonly asked questions. It benefits your presence in both search and AI but doesn't sufficiently future-proof your content to align with advanced AI models that generate their own answers. With GEO, your content can be interpreted by an AI, allowing the model to understand the context and produce an original answer based on the content it was fed. This type of technology will be advantageous when AI is expected to interpret and generate the vast majority of website text.

What’s special about these approaches isn’t just the range of tools they draw on or the ranking signals you unlock, but how they radically switch the game on voice, chat, and the new reality of running your business through Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant.

What Should an AEO and GEO Agency Proposal Include?

Proposal writers in agency land are often asked to solve multiple creative problems in one document. It’s not easy. A single visual answer along with a well-written strategy can be a real game-changer. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We’ll even go so far as to say that the best creative strategy and creative execution is akin to that optical illusion: the image that looks like both an old and a young woman at the same time. It’s all a matter of perspective and creativity (and possibly being a little drunk).

• What do you see as the end goal for the models and design of these systems?
• Will they audit your site for structured data, schema, and crawlability?
• How do we make machines sift through information? More importantly, how do we mine data and write content that these disembodied brains trust?
• How will management actually monitor and measure performance? How frequently will they track progress, and in what amount of detail? What specific processes and systems will they rely on to do so?
• Our SEO team is made up of top experts with deep experience in their respective areas. They constantly monitor the ever-evolving landscape and tapestry of a Google search. And they're always available to delve deeper into each client's unique challenges and opportunities. Our proprietary methodology combines the best of our data and experience to meet (and exceed) our client's goals.
• What steps look out 90 days, and what milestones does that translate to in your world?

What advantageous technologies are companies using to give themselves the marketing edge, and how many of these are off-the-shelf or proprietary AI applications?

What Should a 90-Day AEO and GEO Agency Plan Include?

Here’s what a strong 90-day plan may look like:

• The data lake baseline measurement approach is the most holistic method of measuring your existing AI search footprint. It’s the equivalent of surveying a vast, unmapped expanse and taking readings from every corner to establish a starting point. A baseline measurement gives each subsequent stage context and a reference point for improvement,it's like learning your exact coordinates in unfamiliar terrain before setting off.
• Let’s face it , technical issues can make or break your site's SEO. These are the little, and sometimes not so little, errors and omissions that render your content invisible to search engines. Bugs, schema markups, and XML sitemaps , oh, my! We’re heading down the rabbit hole to uncover some quick fixes for critical technical SEO and schema issues.
• How do you find out what your customers want to know and read about, and then generate meaningful content for them, content that is also tailored to the buying journey? And what’s the best way to keep it as fresh and effective as possible? Using available assets, we'll identify the ongoing content needs of your audience, and prepare a suggested schedule for creation and publication.
• Hello folks! With everyone adjusting to the new normal, it's been quite a while since we last had a chance to catch up. Hope you're all safe and well. We wanted to update you on the first wave of structured content and markup updates we pushed recently.
• How about we start with a simple approach you can take and apply now to accelerate the rate at which you’re improving your product. Early reporting can be a useful tool in many scenarios. It only takes a few minutes to set up a basic report, especially if you’re familiar with Power BI or similar data visualisation tools. Give it a try.

Imagine it as you’re starting up the engines of a mighty container ship. It’s gonna take some time for that vessel to get moving. But the first 90 days should be enough for you to know if you’re on the right ship. The same principle can be applied to SEO agencies. They are big, they are slow but they can do wonders for your business, yet, only if you are on the right one. . . and you are both going in the same direction.

Evaluating Agency Experience: Questions to Ask Before You Hire

Who have you worked with in the past? What are their stories about those collaborations? Have you ever split with a client before a contract ended? How frequently do clients get annoyed with each other, leave the deal early or both? Who wouldn't be a good reference for you and why?

• Do you have any use cases from our industry where AEO and GEO achieved positive results?
• This one's a cheat, but it's my favorite tip, and I'm not sure anyone really knows about it. We all need regular updates on the latest Google SGE, Bing AI, and any emerging features out there in the wild. But how do you stay up to date with all the RSS feeds that Google encompassed and Bing took under their umbrella? Idea: why not use AI to keep up to date with AI? seems crazy, right? But you'd be shocked how well They read. It's the same thing as the so-called n-reading method, where you learn about tools for learning about the tools themselves. Crazy, right?
• Well, the first step is to decide what the basic structured data should look like, right? So, you'll need brainstorming and planning.
• How the heck are we supposed to know what kind of synergies we’re going to unlock until we’re in the room together making the magic happen?
• "What's in your toolbox? Which dashboards help you to stay on top of search analytics data?"
• You’re appearing in all the right places and it’s bringing those searchers home to you. A win’s a win, and you’ll take it. Now, how are you tracking and reporting on those answer box, featured snippet, and AI summary wins? Stick with us to find out!

Is that the world seems to be moving towards a place where you'll have a handful of major players in every market, with a ton of small niche players. And that middle ground is getting hollowed out. Are we in that model because it works, or does it work because we're in it?

Don’t just look for technical skills. The best AEO and GEO agencies have a pulse on how AI is shaping search intent. They can explain what drives AI-powered answers and bring fresh ideas to the table. , Jacob Myers, Head of Search at NextGen Brands

Ask for dashboards, audit samples, and an intro to the team who will work on your account. If you sense hesitation or vague answers, they probably can’t give you what you need.

Should Enterprises Hire a Specialist GEO Agency or a Full-Service SEO Agency?

Which is best for your organization? A specialist approach or a full-service approach? And if you go with a full-service AEO agency, what's the best way to position your AI search initiative for optimal results if it's not their sweet spot?

Elastic monitors, response, and reindexing tools for different reasons. Monitors are looking for conditions to speak up. Response firefight to resolve a site reliability or performance issue, fast. Reindexing happens when data quality turns bad on us and we're crying out for a fix!

Full-service SEO agencies have evolved to encompass strategies well beyond traditional search. For brands that have search as a component in a much larger digital marketing program, a full-service agency can bring a wealth of broader resources to the table. Sometimes the breadth of resources can be too much of a good thing and opportunities to integrate multiple strategies can feel forced and more a part of a sales pitch than a program that will produce meaningful results.

“We spend so much time on web versus app that it’s crucial to put things in perspective. We can't lose sight of how we measure web and apply the same principles to the app.”

By 2025 and beyond, AI search will have evolved to the point that even the best generalists (in-house or external) won't be able to keep up with the increasing pace of change in the space. If your enterprise aims to be at the front and center of discovery at this point, you’ll need to be partnered with agencies for whom AEO, or AI Engine Optimization, and GEO are part of their core DNA, and not just re-labeled SEO. , Priya Patel, Senior Digital Strategist at Signal Insights

Red Flags to Watch For When Choosing an AEO Agency

Not all agencies are created equal. Watch out for these common red flags:

• Case studies that are vague or outdated, and pre-2024 results are already stale.
• Haven't we all been warned about the dangers of overpromising? All those lessons about under-promise and overdeliver being the golden rule in business. Well, I suppose some feel they’re the exception. It's a tactic they think will win them an advantage. This happens everywhere, in companies, politics, and increasingly in the AI world. But what happens when the guarantee falls flat? Would you think less of me if I told you, I lean towards distrusting guarantees…flinching at the word?
• We don't have AI, NLP, or schema experts in our organization to rely on for building in-house solutions.
• Are we trapped in a paradigm that's herding all robotics implementations down the same road?
• It takes time for techniques’ gained knowledge to disseminate into a wider talent pool and, practically find its way into business or developer applications. New talents will make their way into the industry, likely as spotted by a business opportunity which they could then use to push an agenda. But I'm not sure anyone really knows until it actually happens, and that’s the bothering thing.

How can you tell if a search agency is good at AI search? Well, it's simple. If they can't or won't show you exactly how they're contantly evolving to adapt to the latest changes, it's business strategy time. This isn't even as hard as they make it sound; the pace of would-be revolutionary changes to search AI might be giddying for the industry itself, but for the outsider, the consumer (and that includes you), it's reality. If we're talking ethical practices, these supposed top tier outfits keep their methods of achieving results a closely-guarded secret not to preserve client interest as one might hope, but to avoid revealing that many tactics made use of in the past simply should no longer work. They keep these secrets. Move on.

How Can You Compare Shortlisted AEO Agencies?

When it comes to choosing the right partner for your digital projects, it's not just about rates and outlandish claims, there is more to creating a shortlist than meets the eye.

• Submit your own site for a technical audit and get a detailed summary of what we look for and the kind of report we send you.
• Compare their strategies for the first 90 days on the job: do both impress with quick and significant victories?
• Can you trust that what they attribute to your program’s success is really the result of your efforts?
• Can you provide references to clients who have been working with your company on a regular basis since at least 2024?
• Rate how inclusive and respectful the group is and whether or not you feel like your work is valued

How can we distinguish real transformation strategies from generic plans that just scratch the surface of what's possible?

How Do You Evaluate an Agency’s AI Search Expertise?

Knowledge Transfer Processes: How are learnings, algorithms, and data shared across clients and team members? Access to Betas: Are they actively testing betas to drive results and performance early on? Technical Tools: Have they built any tools to assist with data analysis and optimizations? Research and Development: Do they share any advancements with the community? With a creative management past, ultimately, we’re always on the hook for finding those incremental improvements to move the needle forward for our clients.

• Engage with AI search forums, webinars, and research to stay up to date
• Can the candidates dive into technical details to describe the impact of LLMs and structured data on answer engines?
• What are some code samples or schema markup they have delivered?
• Have they written about SGE, Bing Copilot, or AI search breakthroughs?

If there's a way to do it with just code, there's no AI needed.

What sets a great agency apart from a good one is the capacity to anticipate AI search changes over and above reacting to them. Which agencies are the best testers and the most voracious learners and teachers? The ones who are the most successful in AEO and GEO of course. , Derek Lin, Director of AI Search Solutions at BrightEdge

How can they tell you’ve kept learning new, more advanced techniques to complement and build upon existing evergreen skills?

Conclusion

The right AEO and GEO agency in the United States for now will be your game changer. Should it be the easiest to work with? Probably not. They need to challenge your assumptions, and so if you find a partner that offers a real plan with measurable results tied to your objectives when nobody else can, stick with them. If they can tell you what the next generation of solutions will look like after you implement phase I and phase 2, all the better. If you find someone that can educate your team on the nuances and specifics to look for and demand when considering an AI and generation marketing partner, there’s your first step. Marketers should never be at a loss for questions, and if you can stump them, that’s better. Most should be on the table, anytime.

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