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AEO agency: what the work looks like, and how Dinkum does it

Short version: an AEO agency gets your business named, described correctly and cited when buyers ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. The work is five things: track a fixed set of buyer questions every week, see who gets named instead of you, fix wrong facts AI repeats about you, write answer-first pages AI can quote, and get onto the lists and directories AI cites. Nobody can promise a citation. Last updated 6 October 2026.

AEO is answer engine optimisation: getting AI tools to answer a buyer's question with your business in it. People also call it GEO (generative engine optimisation) or AI search optimisation. The names differ by agency; the job is the same. Below is what each part of the work should look like, so you can ask for it by name when you hire someone, and a plain account of how Dinkum does each part.

1. Track a fixed panel of buyer questions, every week

AI answers change from one ask to the next, so a single screenshot proves nothing. The honest way to measure is a fixed list of the questions your buyers actually ask ("best invoicing app for contractors", "who does managed SEO"), put to each engine on a schedule, with the answers recorded. Questions that don't name you matter most, because they're how a stranger finds you.

Ask any agency: how many questions, which engines, how often, and can I see the raw answers? Small differences week to week are noise; a change that holds over several weeks is a signal.

How Dinkum does it: we track a panel of buyer questions weekly across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI answers, and report on it in the weekly report.

2. Find who gets named instead, and what the AI cites

When an answer names three competitors and not you, the useful question is why. AI tools lean on particular pages: comparison articles, "best of" lists, directories, review sites and a few well-structured vendor pages. The work is listing those sources for each question, then seeing which ones you are missing from and what your own page says that theirs doesn't.

How Dinkum does it: for each question where competitors are named and you aren't, we record which pages the engines cite and which page on your site should have answered it. That list decides what gets worked on next.

3. Fix wrong facts AI repeats about you

This is the most under-sold part. If ChatGPT quotes a price you stopped charging two years ago, or a feature you don't have, buyers act on it. AI tools learn from what is published, so the fix is on the source: make your own pages state the current fact plainly, and correct the pages you control that still carry the old one.

An agency should check what AI says about your prices, plans, limits and features against what is true, and show you the mismatch and the page it traces to.

How Dinkum does it: we compare what AI tools state about you with the facts in your product and your site, and fix the pages that disagree. Every claim on a page we change has to match your product. We don't add claims to please an AI.

4. Write answer-first pages AI can quote

An engine picking a passage to quote favours a page that answers the question in its first paragraph, in plain words, then backs it up. In practice that means:

• The direct answer first: who it's for, what it costs, how it works.
• A comparison table where buyers compare things, and an FAQ where they ask follow-ups.
• Facts a reader can check, each one true on the day it's published.
• Clean titles, canonical URLs and schema, so the page is easy to read and attribute.

No page format forces an AI to cite you. It makes a good page easier to use, which is all anyone can honestly claim.

How Dinkum does it: we write or rework the page that should answer each missing question, then judge it at 14 and 28 days against the rest of the site.

5. Get onto the lists and directories AI cites

Engines often repeat what third-party lists say. If every "best X" article and directory the AI draws on leaves you out, a better page on your own site only goes so far. The work is finding those lists, working out which are worth being on, and approaching them honestly. Paid links that pass ranking signals are not part of it; they break Google's spam policies.

How Dinkum does it: each month we list the directories and listicles that engines cite for your market, and draft outreach pitches for you to send.

How the pieces fit together

How Dinkum works, in one paragraph

Dinkum ships one change a day to your site as a pull request. A second AI reviews it, pages are rendered on desktop and phone first, and you approve it, ask for changes or close it. Every change is judged at 14 and 28 days against the rest of the site. We track Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI answers. It costs $2,000 a month for one site, month to month, with no setup fee, and everything lives in your repository so you keep it if you stop. We need your site's code (on GitHub; if it isn't, we'll migrate it), Search Console access, a Slack channel and about ten minutes a day to approve a change. There are no published client results yet, so we won't quote any. For the general buyer's checklist, read how to choose an AI SEO agency.

"GEO agency" and "generative engine optimization agency"

GEO and generative engine optimization are another name for the same job. Some people use GEO for getting cited in AI-written answers and AEO for getting picked as the single answer, but the five parts above cover both, and no agency can show you a clean line between them. If a provider says GEO is something entirely separate, ask what they would do that isn't in this list.

"AI search optimization agency"

This one is the widest label. It can mean AEO, or it can mean ordinary SEO done with AI tools. Ask which. Dinkum does both: the normal search work (titles, redirects, internal links, speed, new pages) and the AI answer work, from one daily change queue. Treat "AI search optimization" as a reason to ask for a worked example of one change, not as a service in itself.

Questions to ask an AEO agency

1. Which questions do you track for us, on which engines, and how often?
2. Show me the raw answers, not a summary score.
3. What have you changed on a site because of an AI answer, and what happened afterwards?
4. How do you check what AI says about our prices and features?
5. Who edits my site, and do I approve each change?
6. What do you refuse to do? (Link buying and guarantees should be on the list.)

Questions

What does an AEO agency do?

It measures what AI tools say about your market with a fixed set of buyer questions, finds who is named instead of you and which pages are cited, corrects wrong facts, writes pages AI can quote, and gets you onto the lists and directories AI draws from.

What is the difference between AEO, GEO and AI SEO?

In practice, very little. AEO and GEO both mean getting named and cited in AI answers. "AI SEO" sometimes also means using AI tools for ordinary SEO. Ask the provider which they mean.

Can an agency guarantee I'll be cited by ChatGPT or Perplexity?

No. Nobody controls an AI model's answer. A provider can show you what is said today, fix what's wrong, and make your pages easy to quote. Treat a guarantee as a red flag.

How much does AEO cost with Dinkum?

$2,000 a month for one site, month to month, with no setup fee. It covers AEO, GEO and ordinary SEO together.

How would I find out what AI says about my business today?

Ask us for the free site review. We measure the site, check what AI tools say about it, and email the first five changes we'd make.