How to Choose an AEO Agency: 12 Questions to Ask Before You Sign

Why This List Exists

AEO has become one of the fastest growing service categories in digital marketing, and that growth has attracted the same problem every emerging service faces. Agencies are adding AEO to their websites without building the capability behind it. The label gets applied to repackaged SEO services, vague promises about AI visibility, and pitch decks that sound impressive but deliver nothing measurably different from what you were already getting.

This is not about being cynical. There are agencies doing excellent AEO work. But the gap between agencies that understand AI search and agencies that have simply adopted the terminology is significant, and it costs businesses real money when they choose the wrong one. These twelve questions are designed to help you tell the difference before you sign anything.

1. What Tools Do You Use to Measure AI Visibility?

This is the single most revealing question you can ask. An agency doing genuine AEO work will have specific tools for tracking citation rates across AI platforms. They should be able to name the platforms they monitor, the tools they use (RankZero, Otterly, similar), and the metrics they report on. If the answer is Google Search Console and a rank tracker, they are doing SEO and calling it AEO. Those tools measure traditional search performance. They tell you nothing about whether your business is being cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity or Claude.

2. Can You Show Me Your Own AI Visibility Data?

An AEO agency should be able to demonstrate their own AI visibility. If they cannot get themselves cited by AI platforms, they cannot do it for you either. Ask to see their RankZero dashboard or equivalent. Ask which queries they appear for across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. Ask what their citation rate is for their core service terms.

At SuperHub, we share this data openly. We rank number one in Google AI Mode for motorsport sponsorship agency queries. We have documented our own journey from near zero AI visibility to market leading citation rates. We publish the screenshots. An agency that cannot or will not show you their own results should be treated with caution.

3. Do You Differentiate Between AI Platforms?

ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews are not the same thing. They have different source selection mechanisms, different authority signals, and different content preferences. If an agency talks about AI search as a single channel without distinguishing between platforms, they have not gone deep enough to execute effectively. Ask them to explain how their approach differs for each platform and what specific tactics they use for each.

4. What Does Your AEO Process Actually Look Like?

A credible AEO agency should be able to walk you through their process in specific terms. What does the first month look like? What technical implementations happen first? When does content creation begin? How are results tracked? What does the reporting cadence look like? Vague answers like "we optimise your content for AI" are red flags. You want specifics about entity building, schema implementation, content architecture, citation monitoring setup, and ongoing optimisation.

5. How Do You Build Entity Authority?

Entity authority is the foundation of AI visibility. AI platforms need to confidently identify your business before they can recommend it. Ask the agency how they build entity signals. What directory listings do they target? How do they ensure consistency across your web presence? What schema types do they implement and why? How do they monitor entity signal quality over time? An agency that cannot explain entity building in practical terms probably does not understand the mechanics that drive AI citation.

6. Can You Show Me Case Studies with AI Visibility Metrics?

Traditional marketing case studies show rankings, traffic and conversions. AEO case studies should additionally show citation rates, citation share improvements, and platform specific visibility changes. If an agency only has traditional SEO case studies reframed with AEO language, they probably have not delivered genuine AEO results. Ask specifically for before and after citation rate data, not just traditional search metrics.

7. What Happens in the First 90 Days?

AEO results do not happen overnight, but a good agency should be able to set clear expectations for what will be achieved in the first three months. Typically, the first month involves audit and technical foundation work (entity audit, schema implementation, content assessment). The second month focuses on content creation and initial optimisation. The third month should show early citation improvements on at least some platforms. If an agency cannot articulate a clear 90 day roadmap, they may not have a defined process.

8. How Do You Handle Content Creation?

AEO requires content that is specifically structured for AI extraction. This is different from traditional SEO content in important ways. Content needs to lead with direct answers, use clear heading hierarchies, and build topical authority through interconnected cluster strategies. Ask how the agency approaches content creation for AEO specifically. Do they have writers who understand content structure for AI extraction? Do they differentiate between content designed for traditional search and content designed for AI citation? How do they measure whether content is performing its AEO function?

9. What Schema Markup Do You Implement?

Schema markup is a technical prerequisite for effective AEO. The agency should be able to explain which schema types they implement (Organisation, Article, FAQPage, HowTo, Service, Product), why each is used, and how they validate implementations. Ask about their approach to schema maintenance over time, as content changes can break existing markup. If schema is not part of their core process, they are missing a fundamental AEO building block.

10. How Transparent Is Your Reporting?

AEO reporting should include citation rate data across multiple platforms, competitive citation analysis, content performance metrics tied to AI visibility goals, and clear attribution of which actions drove which results. Ask to see a sample report. Is it understandable? Does it show AI specific metrics alongside traditional search metrics? Can you see which queries trigger citations and which do not? Transparency in reporting is non negotiable. If you cannot understand the reports, you cannot evaluate whether the agency is delivering value.

11. What Are Your Contract Terms?

This applies to any agency relationship, not just AEO, but it bears repeating. Be cautious of agencies requiring twelve month minimum contracts for a service category this new. Reasonable AEO contracts typically run on three or six month terms with clear deliverables tied to each period. Month to month arrangements with reasonable notice periods are ideal because they keep the agency incentivised to deliver consistently rather than front loading effort and coasting.

12. What Happens When the Engagement Ends?

Ask what you retain when the contract finishes. Do you keep the schema markup? Do you keep the content? Do you retain access to the citation monitoring data? A good agency will ensure that the work done during the engagement has lasting value even if you choose to bring AEO in house or switch providers. Be wary of agencies whose work is entirely dependent on their continued involvement.

Where SuperHub Stands on These Questions

In the interest of the honesty this piece advocates, here is where we stand on each of these questions.

We use RankZero as our primary AI visibility tracking tool, supplemented by manual platform checks and Google Search Console for traditional search correlation. We publish our own AI visibility data openly. We rank number one in Google AI Mode for motorsport sponsorship agency queries and we have documented case studies showing citation rate improvements for client campaigns.

We differentiate between platforms and explain why specific tactics work differently on ChatGPT versus Perplexity versus Google AI Overviews. Our process starts with an entity and technical audit, moves into schema implementation and content architecture, then into ongoing content creation and citation optimisation. We implement Organisation, Article, FAQPage, Service and Product schema as standard, with custom implementations where needed.

Our contracts are flexible. We prefer to retain clients because we deliver results rather than because they are locked in. All content, schema and technical work remains with the client if the engagement ends. Reporting is monthly with full access to citation tracking data.

We are not the right fit for every business. If you need an agency with a team of fifty people, we are not that. If you want the cheapest option available, we are probably not that either. But if you want an agency that demonstrably understands AEO, can prove its own AI visibility, and focuses on measurable commercial outcomes rather than vanity metrics, that is exactly what we do.

The free AI visibility audit is the easiest way to start the conversation. Fifteen minutes, no obligation, and you walk away with data regardless of whether we work together.