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10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an AEO Agency
By the seenai research team · Atlanta, GA
Answer first
Before hiring an AEO agency, ask how they verify AI rankings, who does the work, what their methodology is, how they measure AI traffic, and what happens if results do not come. The answers separate real answer engine optimization from rebranded SEO packages.
The ten questions, and what good answers sound like:
- How do you verify AI rankings? Good: logged-out accounts, no memory, repeated over time. Bad: screenshots.
- How do you measure AI traffic? Good: GA4 AI referral channels tied to conversions.
- Who does the fulfillment? Good: named in-house people. Bad: partners they cannot name.
- What is your methodology? Good: entity association, consensus building, query fan-out content, schema, freshness. They should teach you the concepts freely.
- Do you handle technical implementation yourselves? Schema, sitemaps, llms.txt should be built, not plugged in.
- How do you build third-party presence? Mentions drive AI visibility; an on-site-only plan is half a plan.
- What is your niche? Depth in your industry compounds; generalists relearn on your dime.
- Do you work with my competitors? Exclusivity should be in writing.
- What if it does not work? Money-back terms in writing beat reassurance.
- Can I see verified results? Real client outcomes you can check yourself, not anonymized graphs.