In short
A reputable GEO agency is open about how it works and measures, and it doesn’t promise mentions in AI answers or the top spot on Google. It states what each price covers and keeps accounts and profiles in your name. Use the 12 questions in this how-to to compare agencies on your first calls and spot good answers.
Key takeaways
- Google, Microsoft and OpenAI themselves say that rankings and citations in their systems can’t be guaranteed.
- Reliable measurement uses a fixed set of customer questions, several AI systems, several runs per question and a baseline up front.
- Search Console, Business Profile and directory listings should be in your name; the agency gets its own access with the rights it needs.
- Lists of the “best GEO agencies” often come from agencies themselves. Check who publishes a list and whether spots are paid for.
How do you prepare for a first call with a GEO agency?
Prepare for the first call by sending every provider you’re comparing the same 12 questions in advance and asking for written answers. That way, you can compare the answers side by side. The questions cover method, measurement, commitments, pricing and your rights to accounts and data.
Our GEO guide explains what generative engine optimization (GEO) involves and what’s proven about it. For the call itself, have three things ready:
- Your customers’ questions: a set of 10, worded the way they reach you by email, by phone or in person. Every measurement should be built on these (question 6).
- A list of your accounts: domain, hosting, Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, Google Business Profile and directory listings (question 11).
- Your goal and budget: for example, more inquiries for a particular service or accurate facts about your company in AI answers.
You may not need an agency at all. Google says small local businesses can probably handle much of the work themselves (external site). Our how-to on getting recommended by ChatGPT covers the basics of doing it yourself.
| No. | Question to ask | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What do you mean by GEO, and how much of it is SEO? | GEO is sold as a replacement for SEO, or the method stays secret |
| 2 | Do you first check whether AI systems can read my site? | no check of robots.txt, firewall or page source |
| 3 | What do you base your recommendations on? | llms.txt or structured data as the main lever |
| 4 | How will we get mentioned on other websites? | bought articles, links or list spots without disclosure |
| 5 | Who writes the content, and how many pages are planned? | hundreds of similar pages in a few weeks |
| 6 | Which questions, systems and runs do you use to measure? | a screenshot as proof, no measurement before work begins |
| 7 | What metrics do you report, and where do they come from? | a score whose calculation isn’t disclosed |
| 8 | What do your case studies and list rankings prove? | first place in the agency’s own list as the main evidence |
| 9 | What do you commit to, and what don’t you? | guaranteed mentions or claims of a special relationship with Google |
| 10 | What does the price cover, and how long am I locked in? | a monthly price without a scope, a long commitment without a baseline |
| 11 | Whose name are the accounts and profiles in? | profiles in the agency’s name, or handing over your password |
| 12 | What content and data do I get if we part ways? | question list kept as a trade secret, reports only as screenshots |
Done when every provider on your shortlist has received the 12 questions before the call, and your customer questions and account list are ready.
How do you check a GEO agency’s method?
To evaluate a GEO agency’s method, ask three questions: how it separates GEO from SEO, whether it checks your website’s technical access first, and what it bases its recommendations on. Good answers draw on guidance from Google and Microsoft and label the agency’s own experience as such.
Question 1: “What do you mean by GEO, and how much of it is SEO?”
For Google, optimizing for AI search is still SEO. Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode are rooted in the same core ranking and quality systems as the rest of Google Search (Google, as of Jul 10, 2026 (external site)). For Bing and Microsoft Copilot, the Bing Webmaster Guidelines (external site) name the same foundation as for traditional search: crawling, indexing and ranking.
Good answer: The agency tells you which part of its work is classic SEO. It also tells you what it does on top of that for AI answers, such as consistent company facts across all channels or measurement in several AI systems. Our comparison GEO vs. AEO vs. SEO explains how the terms differ.
Red flag: GEO is sold as a replacement for SEO, or the agency won’t explain its method. Google advises caution if a provider “is secretive or won’t clearly explain what they intend to do.”
Question 2: “Do you first check whether AI systems can read my site?”
Crawlers are the programs that search engines and AI providers use to fetch websites. If your website blocks the AI providers’ search crawlers, it may not appear in their answers. For ChatGPT search, OpenAI (external site) names two conditions: its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, must be allowed to crawl the site, and your host or CDN must let its requests through. A CDN is the network that delivers your pages. Perplexity (external site) recommends the same for its crawler, PerplexityBot. For Google’s AI features, a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown with a snippet.
Good answer: The agency checks your robots.txt, the file with rules for crawlers, as well as your firewall and CDN. It checks whether Google and Bing have indexed your pages, and whether your key details are in the HTML your server delivers. The HTML matters because the major AI crawlers didn’t run JavaScript in a 2024 measurement by Vercel (external site). The first step of our how-to shows how to check this yourself. To see which crawlers exist, read our article on AI crawlers and robots.txt.
Red flag: The agency only talks about content and mentions and never looks at robots.txt, firewall settings or the page source.
Question 3: “What do you base your recommendations on?”
Many popular GEO tips aren’t backed by evidence. Google lists several things you can ignore for Google Search (external site), including llms.txt and similar files, breaking content into small chunks and special markup. According to Google, you can recognize good advice because it labels claims as opinion based on data or experience, or backs them up with official Google guidance (external site).
Good answer: For every recommendation, the agency says whether it’s backed by evidence or based on its own experience, and it names sources. It shows you every planned change to your website in advance and explains why. Google suggests asking whether a provider will share all the changes it makes to your site and explain the reasoning behind its recommendations. Our guide shows which claims about GEO are proven.
Red flag: An llms.txt file or structured data is presented as the most important lever. According to Google, its search engine doesn’t use llms.txt, and structured data isn’t required for its AI search. Our article on llms.txt has more on this.
Done when every agency on your shortlist has answered these three questions and every proposed step comes with a reason or a source.
How does a GEO agency handle content and mentions?
A reputable GEO agency looks for genuine reasons for other websites to mention you and writes a small number of pages built on your own knowledge. Paid mentions without disclosure and large numbers of near-identical pages go against Google’s and Microsoft’s guidelines and can hurt your website.
Question 4: “How will we get mentioned on other websites?”
Google’s AI features can surface what people write about products and services online, for example in blogs, videos and forums. But according to Google (external site), seeking inauthentic mentions “isn’t as helpful as it might seem.” Microsoft counts link buying and artificial social media promotion that fakes popularity as violations of Bing’s guidelines (external site).
Good answer: The agency looks for genuine opportunities for others to write about you, such as expert articles, interviews, trade associations, industry directories and real customer reviews. It’s upfront about paid placements and labels them as advertising. The section What role do your website and mentions on other sites play? in our guide explains how mentions relate to being named in AI answers.
Red flag: Packages with a set number of bought articles, links or list spots, with no word on how they’ll be labeled. Google reminds you that, ultimately, you’re responsible for what the companies you hire do.
Question 5: “Who writes the content, and how many pages are planned?”
Google treats it as spam when many pages are generated mainly to manipulate search rankings rather than to help users. Under Google’s spam policies (external site), that applies no matter how the pages are created. Google also treats a separate page for every variation of a search query as a violation if its main purpose is to manipulate rankings or AI answers. Google doesn’t rule out AI writing tools, as long as the result meets its guidelines.
Good answer: The agency tells you who writes the content and who checks it for accuracy. It plans a small number of pages around your customers’ real questions and draws on your expertise, such as your own figures and typical cases from your business. According to Google, original content like this will likely do more for your presence in AI search in the long run than any other suggestion in its guide.
Red flag: Hundreds of pages in a few weeks, lots of city pages with almost identical text, or content that nobody at your company has read before it goes live.
Done when you know who writes and checks your content, how many pages are planned and which mentions would be paid for.
How does a GEO agency measure, and what do its case studies prove?
Reliable measurement puts a fixed set of your customers’ questions to several AI systems, each question more than once, and starts with a baseline before any work begins. Case studies only count if they state the baseline, period and method. A single screenshot or a spot in a ranking proves little.
Question 6: “Which questions, systems and runs do you use to measure?”
AI answers vary a lot, so runs, or repetitions of the same question, matter. In a SparkToro study, there was less than a 1 in 100 chance that ChatGPT or Google’s AI, asked 100 times, would give the same list of brands twice. The same order was even rarer, at about once in 1,000 runs. One of the authors works for an AI tracking vendor.
Source: SparkToro (external site), · vendor study · 2,961 runs of 12 questions in 3 AI tools
A study with German-language questions recommends at least seven runs per question per day to track whether a brand gets mentioned.
Source: Schulte, Bleeker, Kaufmann (preprint) (external site), · queried from servers in Switzerland
Good answer: The question list is built from your customers’ questions and stays the same over time. The agency names the systems, the number of runs, the language and the country, and it says whether it asks its questions logged in or logged out. It measures a baseline before work begins. Google advises looking for a provider that’s interested in your business and asks what makes it unique and how your customers find you. Our how-to on measuring AI search visibility explains how to set up a measurement like this.
Red flag: A single screenshot as proof, a fixed “position” in ChatGPT, or no measurement before work begins.
Question 7: “What metrics do you report, and where do they come from?”
Two reports come straight from the search engines. Since August 31, 2026, Google Search Console has offered the generative AI performance report for all websites. It shows how often links to your site appeared in AI Overviews and AI Mode (Google Search Console Help (external site)). If you don’t see the report, Google says your site usually hasn’t had enough of these impressions yet. In Bing Webmaster Tools, AI Performance shows how often Copilot and AI-generated summaries in Bing cite your pages (Microsoft Bing, Feb 10, 2026 (external site)). According to Google, third-party tools don’t have access to its internal ranking data.
Good answer: The report separates whether you’re mentioned, linked as a source or recommended. It names the data source for every figure and shows drops as clearly as gains. It includes the data from Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
Red flag: A proprietary score whose calculation the agency doesn’t disclose, or tools that supposedly use internal Google data. Google explicitly warns against tools like these.
Question 8: “What do your case studies and list rankings prove?”
Google advises asking for examples of previous work and talking to past clients yourself (Google Search Central (external site)). GEO adds a problem of its own: agencies themselves publish many of the “best GEO agency” lists, and AI assistants cite lists like these. What we found is under From our work.
Good answer: A case study states the baseline, period, question list, systems and method, and you’re allowed to talk to the client. Traffic from Google Search alone doesn’t prove visibility in AI answers.
Red flag: First place in a list the agency publishes itself, presented as the main evidence, or badges whose origin and cost remain unclear.
Done when you’ve seen a sample measurement with a question list and baseline from every agency and have talked to at least one past client.
What does a GEO agency commit to, and what does it cost?
A reputable GEO agency commits to a scope of work, a method and reports. It can’t commit to rankings or mentions, because Google, Microsoft and OpenAI themselves say that these can’t be guaranteed in their systems. On price, what counts is exactly what’s included and how long you’re locked in.
Question 9: “What do you commit to, and what don’t you?”
Google states: “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.” It also warns against providers that claim a “special relationship” with Google (Google Search Central (external site)). According to Bing’s guidelines (external site), GEO doesn’t guarantee citations in AI answers, and OpenAI (external site) says placement in ChatGPT search results isn’t guaranteed. Google also says it never accepts money to include sites in its organic search results or to rank them higher. Organic means the unpaid results.
Good answer: The agency commits to what’s in its own hands: services, delivery dates, method, reports and named contacts. For rankings, it gives you realistic expectations. That’s also how Google describes a good audit: with realistic estimates of the improvement and of the work involved.
Red flag: Guaranteed mentions in ChatGPT, “number one in AI answers” or hints at a special relationship with Google.
Question 10: “What does the price cover, and how long am I locked in?”
You can only compare quotes if every line item has a defined scope. That covers what gets reviewed and what gets implemented, how many hours or pages are included and what costs extra. Our cost guide on GEO pricing lists market prices with sources.
Good answer: Every amount comes with a written scope, the cost of measurement tools is listed separately, and the quote states the minimum term and notice period. In our assessment, a one-time audit with a fixed scope is a good way to start, because afterward you can decide on a retainer with measurements in hand.
Red flag: A monthly price with no breakdown of services, or a long commitment before a baseline has been measured.
Done when every quote states in writing what’s committed and what isn’t, what each line item covers and how you can cancel.
Who owns the accounts, content and measurement data?
Accounts and profiles should be in your name, and the agency should get only the permissions it needs for its work. Before work begins, the contract should state in writing which content, question lists and measurement data you’ll receive at the end.
Question 11: “Whose name are the accounts and profiles in?”
Whoever owns an account decides who gets access. In Google Search Console, owners have full control and can add and remove other users (Search Console Help on owners and users (external site)). A Google Business Profile can have several owners but only one primary owner, and managers can’t add or remove users (Google Business Profile Help (external site)).
Good answer: You remain the owner of your domain, hosting, Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, Business Profile and directory listings, and the agency gets its own user or manager access. For an audit, read access to Search Console is enough. Google advises against granting write access at this stage.
Red flag: The agency creates profiles under its own name or asks for your password. For Business Profiles, Google says each user needs their own Google Account, so no one has to share a password.
Question 12: “What content and data do I get if we part ways?”
Content, question lists and measurement data are created for you, but they may sit in the agency’s tools. Have the contract set out which rights you get to content, graphics and reports, and which data you receive if you part ways. If personal data is involved, data protection belongs in the contract, too.
Good answer: The contract lists your usage rights to content, graphics and reports individually. If you part ways, you get the question list, raw data and reports in an open format, such as a CSV file. The agency names the tools in which your data is processed.
Red flag: The question list counts as the agency’s trade secret, reports come only as screenshots, or the contract skips data protection although the agency gets access to customer data.
Done when your account list shows you as the owner of every account, and the draft contract covers usage rights, the handover of your data and, where needed, data protection.
What applies to GEO agencies in Germany and the EU?
The agency should measure in German and with the German market in mind, and it should include Bing, which Microsoft Copilot also relies on. What you should settle in the contract is covered under question 12.
If you’re hiring an agency for the German market, raise these two points in your first call.
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Measure in German: Location and language can affect AI answers. The authors of the study with German-language questions note that their results from Swiss servers may not carry over to other markets (Schulte et al., Apr 8, 2026 (external site)). So ask in which language and from which country the agency measures.
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Include Bing: In October 2026, Bing held a 19.74% desktop market share in Germany, and Copilot relies on the same foundation as Bing search. So an agency should check Bing and Copilot, too.
Source: StatCounter (external site), · monthly figure, October 2026
Done when the quote states the language and country of the measurement and includes Bing and Copilot.
From our work: who tops the “best GEO agency” lists?
In lists that agencies publish themselves, the publisher usually comes out on top. For our market review in October 2026, we took a closer look at 12 providers of GEO services in the German-speaking market. Seven of them ran their own page on the best GEO agencies. We opened these seven pages again on November 7, 2026. Six are set up as lists, and the publisher appears in all six, in first place in five of them. The seventh is a guide that presents the publisher as a leading GEO agency.
| What we checked | Count |
|---|---|
| Pages opened | 7 |
| Of these, set up as a list | 6 |
| Publisher appears in its own list | 6 of 6 |
| Publisher in first place | 5 of 6 |
| Page says the publisher is on the list | 4 of 6 |
| Selection criteria named | 5 of 6 |
| Weighting of criteria named | 2 of 6 |
AI assistants use lists like these as sources. In a Peec AI study of software questions, about 11% of citations came from lists in which companies ranked themselves at the top. The share stayed stable over 12 weeks.
Source: Peec AI (external site), · vendor study · 232,000 citations, December 2025 to February 2026
A comparison site can also make money from its list. One of the sites we looked at states openly that its recommended providers pay it a flat fee or a commission. So a spot on a list tells you little about an agency’s work.
How to check a ranking yourself:
- Open the legal notice (Impressum) or About page of the site behind the list. Does the publisher sell GEO services itself?
- Look for the publisher in the list. If it’s there, the page should say so in a sentence of its own.
- Read the method. Does the list name its criteria, how they’re weighted and when the assessment was made?
- Open the page source: on Windows, press
Ctrl+U; in Chrome on a Mac, pressCommand+Option+U. Search it forsponsoredwithCtrl+F(Command+Fon a Mac). Google recommends (external site) this attribute for links that are ads or paid placements. If the attribute is missing, that doesn’t prove nothing was paid for.
We don’t publish a ranking of the best GEO agencies ourselves. Our own answers on method, measurement, pricing and ownership are on our generative engine optimization page and in our methodology.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an official certification for GEO agencies?
There’s no certification from Google. Google says it doesn’t evaluate third-party services for SEO, answer engine optimization (AEO) or GEO, and it advises you to be wary of claims of Google approval (Google’s guidance on third-party SEO services (external site)). For any other seal or badge, ask who awards it, for what and whether the agency paid for it.
Do I need a separate GEO agency on top of my SEO agency?
Not necessarily, because for Google, optimizing for AI search is still SEO. Ask your SEO agency first which of the 12 points it already covers, and get a second quote only for the gaps. That way, you don’t pay twice for the same work.