We will all remember 2025 as a year full of challenges, and honestly, I didn’t even notice how fast it went. You blink, and a new Google algorithm update hits a couple dozen clients. You blink again, and Google removes the num=100 parameter, and suddenly you’re figuring out how to explain how keyword ranking trends have changed in simple words.
Within a single year, AI-powered search engines drew in millions of business owners, all trying to figure out how to be cited in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and AI Overviews.
In this guide, I’m sharing hands-on insights and practical best practices on how to choose the right AEO agency, without blurry promises, inflated claims, or unrealistic expectations. So, if you’re looking for a clear path, this is a good place to begin.
Start With Your Goal, or Every Pitch Will Sound Good
One of the biggest mistakes I see is treating AEO like classic SEO. If you come to a call asking for “top 3 positions for these 10 keywords” or “10,000 more visits to this page,” almost any SEO agency can make the pitch sound good on paper. The problem is that AEO doesn’t really work that way.
With answer engine optimization, you’re competing for a spot inside answers, lists, and summaries. If your main KPI is “rank #1 for X,” you’ll probably be disappointed.
Before you even talk to an agency, you need to be honest about what you actually want from this channel.
To both drive meaningful outcomes, and be able to effectively measure the impact of your efforts, get granular. Pick one primary outcome and don’t include everything. For example, do you care more about building a qualified email list from high-intent visitors? Do you want your brand to appear in “top X tools” style answers for specific prompts?
Is the real goal to drive more sales from a narrow set of buying questions? Or is this mostly about building authority in a category so your brand keeps getting mentioned as a go-to source?
On NEWMEDIA.COM, we ran experiments like this. We performed deep research, published a small set of data-driven, statistical guides, and the only SEO goal was simple: earn citations and links from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and other answer engines.
We didn’t obsess over traffic to those pages. We cared about becoming a “trusted source” that those tools could comfortably quote. It worked, and it completely changed how we think about the AEO process, goals, and measurement.
So before you hire anyone, first identify the specific outcome you’re after.
For example: “I want our brand to be the default recommendation when someone asks the same three or four questions they usually ask right before they buy.”
When you’re that specific, it becomes much easier to judge whether an agency’s plan fits your business goals or just sounds impressive.
Know What an AEO Agency Does
Today, maybe 90% of “AI SEO” or “AEO” agencies are doing what traditional SEO agencies have always done. The same audits, same link-building, same content checklists; just with a new label on the proposal.
The problem is that answer engine optimization (AEO) moves way faster than classic SEO. What works this quarter can quietly stop working next quarter, and you won’t even get a nice “algorithm update” blog post to warn you.
Backlinks, solid technical foundations, and good content are still important. But if an AEO agency pitches you the usual package: “we’ll build links, fix technical issues, and publish content,” and presents that as their entire AEO strategy, that’s a red flag.
You need to understand what they do specifically for answer engines: how they audit your site to see whether your pages are usable as answers, not just as blue links.
Ask them how they optimize your content for AI Overviews and the specific individual LLMs. How do they structure information so it’s easy to quote, summarize, or list? How do they make sure your content is accessible to AI systems and not accidentally hidden behind scripts, blocked paths, or messy templates?
More importantly, do they understand the differences between how LLMs work and how classic search engines like Google or Bing crawl, index, and rank pages?
A serious AEO agency will have a dedicated process or package for answer engine optimization, not just the same old SEO checklist with a new title. They should be able to show you what they’re testing, what kind of experiments they’re running, and what happened, including the stuff that didn’t work.
In a space that’s barely a year or two old in its current form, “we tried things, some of them failed, and here’s what we learned” is a much healthier sign than a perfect, generic promise that looks like it was written five years ago.
The AEO Agency Scorecard (Use This to Compare Candidates)
I really recommend that you build a simple scorecard before you talk to any AEO agency. Maybe a Google Sheet, a 1–5 rating, and the same questions for everyone during a Zoom call.
Start with strategy clarity: When they listen to your situation, can they explain your problem back to you in your own words? Do they talk in plain numbers like leads, sales, and revenue ranges, or do they hide behind unclear metrics like “visibility” and “brand exposure”? If you leave the call more confused than before, that’s already a low score.
Then look at the proof quality: Can they show case studies in your industry or at least in a similar business model? Not generic “we grew traffic by 300%” slides, but concrete examples: search console screenshots, analytics, or dashboards that they can walk you through and explain what they did and why it worked.
If they can’t show you anything and only talk in theoreticals, take note.
Next, check their content standards. Ask for samples. Does their content read like a generic AI-generated piece, or does it sound like a real human with experience wrote it?
Do they understand and clearly think about E-E-A-T, or do they ignore it? Remember, you need pages that answer the main question fast, then slowly build trust with depth, sources, and clear next steps.
You should also score them on how they handle third-party signals like links and mentions.
Are they still pushing old-school guest post farms and random link swaps, or do they focus on real editorial mentions, digital PR, and placements that a brand can be proud of?
Finally, ask how they track success. Do they only report classic keyword rankings and organic sessions, or do they have a way to monitor visibility in AI Overviews, answer boxes, and tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity for your core prompts?
If they claim to do AEO but can’t show how they measure it, that’s a problem.
When you interview each SEO agency, write everything down in this scorecard, rate them from 1 to 5 on each point, and compare side by side.
It’s much easier to pick the right partner when you’ve forced yourself to look past the sales pitch and judge how they think and work.
Related article: How to Hire an SEO Agency
How to Expose Weak AI SEO Agencies Fast
As I said, there are a lot of basic ways to test an agency: ask for case studies, dig into results, listen to how they think about strategy, and see whether they understand the gap between classic SEO and answer engine work.
All of that matters. But there’s one question that cuts through the noise very quickly.
If you want to expose weak “AI SEO” agencies fast, ask them this:
“How will you track and report our share of model, specifically, how often our brand is mentioned as a solution versus just a source in answer engines?”
A seasoned AEO agency should light up when they hear that. They should be able to explain, in simple language, how they will:
- Decide which models and platforms to monitor (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, etc.)
- Define the key prompts that matter for your business
- Re-run those prompts regularly
- Log when your brand is recommended as the actual solution (something to buy/try/use)
- And when you’re only used as a source or citation (quoted, but not chosen as the answer)
That difference: solution vs. source is everything. Being cited is nice, but being recommended is where leads and revenue come from. If an agency understands AEO, they will already be thinking this way, even if they use slightly different naming for the metric.
Now, watch how they answer.
If they drift back to generic talk about “more visibility,” “higher rankings,” or “increased impressions” without showing how they’d measure your presence inside model answers, that’s a bad sign.
It usually means they’ve just rebranded their old SEO process and haven’t really adapted it.
If, on the other hand, they can walk you through how they’d build that share-of-model view, what tools or workflows they’d use, and how it rolls into your monthly reporting, you’re probably talking to someone who’s actually in the game: testing, failing, learning, and treating AEO as its own discipline.
Red Flags That Cost Money Later
Not to be overly dramatic, but working in this industry every day, I’m seeing a trend among some peers that I really don’t like. A lot of SEO and “AI SEO” agencies are already trying to game LLMs.
They’re testing all kinds of tricks to confuse models like ChatGPT and others, hoping to grab more mentions or recommendations than they really deserve.
To be fair, some of these experiments do work in the short term. I’ve seen wins shared in Slack groups, tweets, Reddit threads, Quora answers – “look, we got into this answer with this hack,” “we forced the model to mention our brand,” etc.
If you only care about a quick screenshot to show your CEO, it can look impressive. Especially when the client has no idea how this space actually works.
However, all of these answer engines are learning fast. They’re not at Google’s level yet, but they’re moving in that direction. In the same way, black hat SEO “worked” for a while and then wiped out entire sites, these LLM tricks will eventually be detected and downgraded.
When that happens, the agency will quietly move on to the next client. You’ll be the one left holding the penalty, the damaged reputation, and the clean-up bill.
So my advice is simple: stay miles away from anyone who sells you shortcuts, guarantees, or “secret LLM hacks.” If the pitch sounds like a quick cheat code instead of a custom strategy based on good content, clear expertise, and real user value, it’s not just a risk; it’s almost guaranteed to cost you much more later.
AEO Pricing in 2026: What Is Fair, What Is Fantasy
I would say there is no “standard” price for answer engine optimization yet. It’s still a young channel, and most agencies are improvising. But if I look at what’s been happening in 2025 and what I see on the horizon with AEO, GEO, and AI SEO retainers, there is a pattern, and it helps to separate realistic budgets from pure fantasy.
When you zoom in specifically on answer engine optimization, the numbers are similar.
AEO/GEO-focused sources show three broad tiers: basic monitoring and light optimization from about $2,500–$5,000/month, full service (content + schema + multi-engine tracking) around $5,000–$12,000/month, and heavy enterprise work starting roughly at $12,000 and going up to $25,000+ when you add custom AI workflows and dedicated teams.
On the DIY side, teams that handle AEO in-house typically end up in the $500–$5,000/month range just for tools, content, and some engineering support.
So what’s a fair price for AEO in 2026? Roughly:
If you’re a small or mid-size company and someone offers serious AEO work, I’d expect at least low four figures per month.
Anything under ~$1,500–$2,000 for “full AEO management” makes me suspicious, because the tools alone plus a few senior hours already eat a good chunk of that.
For mid-market brands with a decent content footprint, a fair range usually sits somewhere around $4,000–$10,000/month if you want a team that tests, measures, and continuously adjusts and optimizes, instead of just adding a new label on old SEO tasks.
The second fantasy is on the other side: enterprise-level retainers with almost no transparency on what you’re paying for.
When a vendor quotes $20k+ per month “for AEO” but can’t show how much of that goes into content, how much into technology, how much into tracking, optimizing and reporting, and what success looks like in KPIs you care about, that’s also a red flag.
Given what we know about current market ranges, a quote at the very top end with no breakdown usually hides a lot of “we’ll figure it out later” overhead.
Contract Terms That Protect You
Once you find an AEO agency you like, don’t rush the signature. The contract is where you either protect yourself or give away all control for the next 12 months.
If possible, begin with a 8-12 week trial or a small fixed-scope project instead of jumping into a 12-month retainer.
For example:
- “Audit + roadmap + first round of content updates for X pages”
- “Prompt research + AEO tracking setup + 2 test pieces”
Make it clear in the contract that after this trial, you’re free to walk away with no penalty. This gives you a chance to see how they work, how they communicate, and whether they can handle real AEO, not just talk about it.
If you’re considering a 12-month contract from day one, make sure to ask for:
- A 3-month “review point” where you can cancel with 30 days’ notice
- Specific, measurable KPI targets with milestones
- Or a 6-month initial term, not 12
You’re not buying a gym membership. You’re hiring a partner for something that’s changing every month. You need an exit if they don’t deliver or if the fit is off.
Also read: SEO vs. PPC: 2026 Guide for Beginners
Can You Work Without a Contract at All?
For very small tests, some agencies will work month-to-month with a simple agreement or even just a clear SOW and invoice. That can be fine if the scope and expectations are written somewhere. But once you’re talking about real money and 3–6 months+ work, get a proper contract. “Trust us” is not a strategy.
The Key Takeaways
2026 is going to change how a lot of companies think about search. Classic SEO isn’t going away, but answer engine optimization is already reshaping who gets seen, who gets trusted, and who quietly disappears from the conversation.
If you’re choosing an AEO agency now, you can’t just hire whoever shouts “AI SEO” the loudest and hope it works out.
In this guide, I walked through what I look for myself: clear goals, real AEO processes (not rebranded old-school SEO), a proper scorecard to compare agencies, and the red flags that usually come back to bite you six months later.
If you take nothing else from this, remember this: don’t buy a label, buy a team that understands how answer engines think, test, and evolve.
If you’re looking for a partner who lives in this space every day, NEWMEDIA.COM is built exactly for that. We’ve worked with leading brands, we test across LLMs and AI search engines, and we’re comfortable being judged on real outcomes.
What Is the Difference Between AEO and Traditional SEO?
Traditional SEO is about getting your pages to appear as blue links: rankings, clicks, and traffic.
AEO is different. Here you’re not just fighting for a spot on page one; you’re fighting for a spot inside the answer. That means your content needs to be structured, clear, easy to quote, and easy to turn into lists, summaries, and short explanations.
In classic SEO, “rankings” are the main output. In AEO, the question is: when someone asks this question in an answer engine, does the model see us as a reliable source and a valid solution, or do we simply not exist in that conversation?
Can an AEO Agency Guarantee Visibility Inside AI Answers?
Short answer: no, and anyone who says “yes” is selling you a dream.
Answer engines are changing all the time. Models get updated, prompts shift, new competitors enter the space, and even small content changes can move things around. An agency can greatly improve your chances by making your site easier to understand, quote, and recommend, but it can’t control the final answer.
What Metrics Prove AEO Progress?
You still look at classic SEO metrics: organic traffic, conversions, revenue – those are very important. But for AEO, you also need model-facing signals.
The key questions are: are we appearing more often inside answers for our core prompts, and how are we mentioned? Are we appearing as a recommended solution, or just as a citation at the bottom? Over time, you should see more prompts where your brand appears, and a higher share of those where you’re the suggested option.
On top of that, you track how these exposures tie back to leads, trials, demos, or sales.
How Long Does AEO Take to Impact Revenue for a Competitive Niche?
In my previous guide, I explained how long SEO takes, and again, if you’re in a competitive market, AEO is not a “two-week win.” In most cases, you’re looking at a few months just to research prompts, rework priority content, and set up tracking. Then you need time for models to pick up those changes and start “learning” your brand as a reliable source.
For a tough niche, I’d mentally frame it like this: 3–4 months to lay the groundwork and start seeing movement in answers and mentions, and 6–12 months to see those changes translate into steady, measurable revenue impact.
Could you get early wins faster? Yes, sometimes. But if you walk in expecting instant sales from AEO in a crowded space, you’ll either burn out or fall for shortcuts.
What Does “Entity Work” Mean, and Why Does It Matter?
“Entity work” is just a way of saying: make it crystal clear who you are, what you do, and how all the pieces of your brand connect. You’re not just stuffing keywords into pages; you’re building a clean “profile” of your brand that machines can recognize and trust.
That means your brand name, products, founders, locations, categories, and main topics appear consistently across your site and important external sources.
When models see that pattern enough times, they stop treating you like a random site and start treating you as a known entity in that space.
For AEO, that’s huge. If the model doesn’t understand your entity, it’s much harder for it to recommend you confident answers.
Do I Need Digital PR for AEO, or Can Content Alone Work?
You can start with just content, especially if your niche is not very competitive yet. Strong, well-structured, useful content still goes a long way. But in most serious markets, content alone will only get you so far.
Digital PR, brand mentions, and HQ links help models see you as more than just “another blog.” They show that other trusted sites talk about you, reference you, or include you in lists.
Should My Writers Change Their Style for AEO?
I wouldn’t ask writers to become robots for AEO. The goal isn’t to kill your brand voice; it’s to make it easier for models to use your content.
What usually works best is a mix: keep your natural tone, but tighten structure. Clear headings, direct answers high on the page, short definitions where needed, then deeper context and examples below.
Think: “answer quickly, then teach.”
You can absolutely stay conversational, tell stories, and use your own voice. Just make sure that if a model needs a clean sentence to explain something or a tidy list of steps, it can find those pieces easily without digging through endless B.S.
When Does It Make Sense to Build AEO Capability In-House?
It starts to make sense when AEO is not “an experiment” anymore, but a core channel. If you’re a brand with a lot of content, serious SEO history, and real budgets, keeping all of this knowledge outside your company forever is not ideal.
In-house makes sense when you have enough work to keep someone busy researching prompts, tweaking content, talking to your dev team, and working closely with marketing and product. At that point, AEO becomes part of how you shape offers, pages, and even messaging.
A good path is often: work with a specialist agency first, learn from their process, then slowly hire or train someone internally to carry that work forward while still collaborating with external experts when needed.
