What a GEO or AI-visibility agency actually does
Generative engine optimisation, GEO, is the work of getting a brand named and cited inside the answers that ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity generate. It overlaps with SEO but is not the same job. The AI answer is decided less by where a page ranks and more by the third-party sources the engine trusts, the structured data it can extract, the clarity of your entity, and whether the specific facts a buyer asks about are stated plainly on your pages. A good partner works on those levers, not just on keywords and links.
Because the category is new, providers come from different starting points, and that shapes what they are good at. It is worth understanding the three groups before you choose.
1. AI-visibility monitoring platforms
These are software tools that measure how often, and how, your brand appears across the AI engines. They track your share of AI answers, the competitors that appear instead, and the sources being cited, usually as a dashboard you log into.
Monitoring tools are valuable for continuous measurement, and essential if you want to track movement over time. Their limit is straightforward: they show you the problem, they do not fix it. A dashboard tells you that you are absent from an answer; it does not claim the third-party profiles, correct your entity, or write the structured content that changes it. If you have an in-house team to act on the data, a tool may be all you need.
2. Content and SEO agencies extending into GEO
Many established content and SEO agencies have added a GEO or AEO service as AI search has grown. Their strength is content: they are good at producing the volume of well-structured, well-optimised material that helps a brand get found.
The question to ask this group is how much of their GEO offering is genuinely different from their existing SEO work, and how deep they go on the parts of AI visibility that are not content: the entity and Wikidata work, the third-party citation strategy across reviews, directories and forums, and measurement across all the AI engines rather than Google alone. For content-led brands this group can be an excellent fit; the risk is paying for a GEO label on what is largely a traditional content programme.
3. Specialist AI-search practices
A smaller group works on AI search as its primary discipline, combining measurement and execution. The distinction that matters is doing both halves of the job: measuring visibility across all the major AI engines, interpreting what the data means for your specific market, and then carrying out the work that moves it, the entity and schema groundwork, the third-party profile and review strategy, and the content direction that gets you cited.
This is where SearchIntel sits. Our own position is that a dashboard is not a strategy and a content programme is not an AI-search strategy. We measure across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity; we explain what the results mean for your market; and we do the work to improve them, backed by twenty years of search strategy including time at Google, Tripadvisor and Viator. We would rather show a brand exactly which queries the engines run for it, and where it is winning or losing, than hand over a score with no plan attached.
The five questions that separate a real partner from a repackaged one
Whichever group you lean toward, the same questions do most of the work.
- Do they measure across all the AI engines, or just one? ChatGPT runs on Bing, Claude on Brave, Gemini and AI Overviews on Google. A partner that only watches Google is missing most of the picture.
- Do they do the work, or only report it? A dashboard shows the gap; ask who claims the profiles, fixes the entity, and writes the structured content.
- Do they understand third-party citation strategy? Most AI answers are built from reviews, directories, forums and publishers, not your own site. A partner who only touches your website is optimising the wrong surface.
- Can they show you the queries the engines actually run? The strongest signal that a partner understands the mechanism is being able to show you the searches AI writes for your brand, and who it cites instead of you.
- Is the strategy tied to your market, or generic? The sources and competitors that decide the answer differ by sector. Generic advice is a warning sign.
The honest summary
If you need measurement, a monitoring platform is the cheapest way to get it. If you have a content-led brand and a team to execute, an SEO agency with a credible GEO practice can serve you well. If you need someone to measure across every engine, tell you what it means, and do the work that changes it, that is what a specialist AI-search practice is for. The category is moving fast, so judge each provider on the five questions above rather than on the label they use.
See where you stand first
Before you hire anyone, look at your own position. Use our free AI visibility checker to see how you appear across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Mode, with a score out of 100 and the competitors AI names instead of you. For a full read across 50 to 100 buyer-intent queries with a plan attached, book a call. To understand the mechanism first, see how ChatGPT chooses and cites its sources.
Frequently asked questions
What is a GEO agency?
A GEO agency, for generative engine optimisation, helps a brand appear in the answers that AI platforms like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity generate. It differs from a traditional SEO agency in that the goal is being named and cited inside an AI-written answer, which is decided largely by third-party sources, structured data and entity signals, rather than ranking a page in a list of blue links.
How do I choose an AI visibility or GEO agency?
Decide first whether you need measurement, execution, or both. Then ask five questions of any provider: do they measure across all the AI engines or just one; do they do the work or only report it; do they understand third-party citation strategy across reviews, directories and forums; can they show you the searches the engines actually run for your brand; and is the strategy tied to your market rather than generic. Those questions separate a real AI-search partner from a repackaged SEO one.
What is the difference between a GEO agency and an SEO agency?
An SEO agency optimises to rank a page in Google's list of results, where the user clicks through. A GEO agency optimises to be named and cited inside an AI-generated answer, where there is often no click at all. The levers differ: GEO depends heavily on third-party sources the AI trusts, structured data it can extract, entity clarity, and presence in the specific reviews, directories and publishers each engine cites, rather than on backlinks and keyword rankings alone.
Do I need an AI visibility tool or an agency?
A monitoring tool tells you where you stand across the AI engines; it does not fix it. If you have the in-house team to interpret the data and do the work, a tool may be enough. If you need someone to explain what the data means and carry out the entity, content and third-party citation work that moves it, you need an agency or a specialist practice. Many brands use both: a tool for continuous measurement and a specialist for interpretation and execution.