AEO & GEO services
AEO & GEO Services: Get Your Brand Cited in AI Answers
When buyers ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews who to hire, your business should be part of the answer. Netsurge combines technical SEO, answer-first content and third-party authority to earn the citations that turn into leads.
- Tested across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and AI Overviews
- Reported on citations, not only rankings
What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?
Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring your content, website and brand signals so AI assistants and search engines can find, trust and quote you in direct answers. GEO (generative engine optimization) pursues the same goal with a focus on being cited inside AI-generated responses. Together, AEO and GEO are often called AI search optimization.
Buyers now ask full questions such as “Which SEO agency works with healthcare clinics in Toronto?” and receive a short list instead of ten blue links. Some of those answers resolve without a click, and the businesses named are chosen from many sources at once: your site, review platforms, directories, articles and community discussions.
AEO builds on the foundations of SEO. It adds clear entities, passage-level answers and consistent third-party mentions, so the brands these systems rely on are yours.
How AEO and GEO differ from traditional SEO
The two work together. SEO earns the ranking and the click; AEO earns the mention and the recommendation.
| Traditional SEO | AEO and GEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank pages and win clicks | Be cited, quoted and recommended in answers |
| Unit of content | The page | The passage, definition, list or table that answers one question |
| Key signals | Relevance, links, technical health | Entity clarity, quotable facts, structured data, third-party mentions, plus the SEO basics |
| Measured by | Rankings, organic traffic, conversions | Citation share across tracked prompts, accuracy of descriptions, AI referral traffic, attributed leads |
What our AEO and GEO service includes
Six workstreams, scoped to your services, locations and competitors.
AI visibility audit
We run 40 to 60 buyer prompts across the major AI platforms and record who gets mentioned, which sources are cited and where you are missing.
Crawl access and technical setup
A deliberate policy for AI crawlers, clean rendering, fast pages and an llms.txt file, so answer engines can reach and read your best content.
Answer-first content
Service pages, guides and FAQs rewritten with direct answers, definitions, comparison tables and steps, in the formats AI systems quote. See our content marketing work.
Entity and schema markup
Organization, Service, FAQ and author markup, and one consistent description of your business everywhere it appears. Try our free JSON-LD schema generator.
Third-party authority
Reviews, directory listings, “best of” roundups, expert commentary and community participation, the sources AI answers lean on most.
Tracking and reporting
Monthly reports on citation share, description accuracy, AI referral traffic and the leads that follow, with clear next actions.
How we work
A clear sequence, with a baseline first so progress can be shown rather than claimed.
Audit
Prompt testing, competitor citations, technical review and a gap list ranked by impact.
Plan
Priority pages, prompts and sources, agreed with you and tied to the services that earn the most.
Build
Technical fixes, schema and answer-first rewrites on the pages that matter most.
Earn
Reviews, listings, roundups and expert placements that put your name where AI looks.
Measure
Monthly re-testing against the baseline, then refreshing what works and dropping what does not.
No one can promise a placement in an AI answer, because results vary by prompt, user and model update. We commit to the work, the tracking and the transparency.
Results
Numbers are already telling the story!
+262%
Healthcare clinic group, US
Organic leads in six months after a service-page rebuild, local and AI SEO.
8.1x
B2B software firm, Canada
Citations across tracked AI prompts after answer-first content and schema work.
+78%
Ecommerce brand, Australia
Non-brand organic revenue after category page optimization.
Who AEO is for
AEO pays off most where buyers research with questions before they contact anyone, and where a recommendation carries weight.
- Healthcare and wellness practices
- IT services and software companies
- Local and multi-location businesses
- Professional and B2B services
- Ecommerce brands (see ecommerce SEO)
- Agencies and consultancies that sell on expertise
Good fit signals
- Your buyers ask “who is the best” or “how do I choose” questions
- You already have, or are building, solid SEO foundations
- Competitors are being named in AI answers and you are not
Ways to work with us
Start small, then scale the scope as the data shows where the opportunity is.
AI visibility snapshot
Free
A quick read on where you stand today.
- 5-10 buyer prompts tested
- Mentions and competitors found
- Top 5 fixes
AEO audit and roadmap
from $99 one-time
The full diagnosis and a plan you can run with us or without us.
- 40 to 60 prompts across five platforms
- Technical, content and entity review
- Prioritised 90-day roadmap
AEO programme
from $999 per month
Ongoing execution and reporting.
- Answer-first content and schema
- Third-party authority building
- Monthly tracking and reporting
AEO and GEO questions, answered
What is the difference between AEO and GEO?
AEO (answer engine optimization) and GEO (generative engine optimization) describe the same goal: being quoted or recommended in AI-generated answers. AEO is the older term, rooted in featured snippets and voice search. GEO focuses on large language models. We treat them as one discipline and cover both in a single programme.
What is AI search optimization?
AI search optimization is the work of getting your brand found, mentioned and cited in AI-powered search tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews. It includes answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO), and it builds on technical SEO, answer-first content and third-party authority.
Do I still need SEO if I invest in AEO?
Yes. AI assistants and Google’s AI features rely on crawlable, well-structured pages, and many of them draw on search results. Strong technical SEO, content and links are the foundation. AEO adds answer-first structure, clear entities and third-party mentions on top, so we usually run the two together.
Can you guarantee my brand will appear in ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity?
No, and be wary of anyone who does. AI answers vary by prompt, user and model update. What we can do is remove the barriers, publish content worth quoting, build third-party mentions and track progress against a baseline, so you can see whether your visibility is moving.
How long does AEO take to show results?
Technical fixes and content updates can be picked up within weeks, but a meaningful change in how often AI engines cite you usually takes a few months, because mentions build across many sources. We set a baseline in the first month and report movement monthly, so progress is visible early.
How do you measure AEO results?
We track a fixed list of buyer prompts across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews each month. For every prompt we record whether you are mentioned, cited with a link and described accurately, alongside referral traffic from AI platforms and the leads attributed to them.
Which AI platforms do you cover?
We cover ChatGPT, Google Gemini and AI Overviews, Perplexity, Claude and Microsoft Copilot. The priorities depend on where your buyers ask questions, which we identify in the audit. Each platform favours different sources, so we test them separately instead of assuming one result applies to all.
How much do AEO services cost?
Cost depends on site size, competition, the number of services and locations, and how much content and outreach is needed. We start with a free AI visibility snapshot so any proposal is based on your real gaps, then quote a fixed monthly scope. Contact us for a quote.
Which countries do you serve?
Netsurge works with businesses in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia, with teams in the US, Canada and India. Because AI answers differ by country, we test prompts from your target market and build local signals such as listings, reviews and regional mentions.
Find out if AI is recommending you, or your competitors
Request your free AI visibility snapshot. We will test your key buyer prompts and send you what we find.
Prefer to talk first? Use the Let’s Talk button in the menu and mention AEO.
