What to look for in a GEO agency

A useful starting point: the award criteria

An independent awards body has already written down what it looks for in this category. Top Business Awards US, which publishes a register of award-winning local businesses with one winner per city and business type, states its selection criteria for the Best AEO Agency category on its listing. They make a sound buyer's checklist:

1. Candidates are drawn from answer engine optimization (AEO), generative engine optimization (GEO) and AI SEO agencies serving local businesses in a defined region.
2. Each is checked for a clearly described service scope, such as AI visibility audits, listing and entity cleanup, structured data and citation building, a published method for measuring results by running real customer questions across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews, and disclosed contact and location details.
3. Public claims are read for recurring themes rather than star averages, with particular weight on whether results are tied to observable AI answers rather than vanity metrics, whether regional and industry coverage is specific and checkable, and whether the agency explains the terminology … in plain language.

The rest of this chapter turns those criteria, and the method in this handbook, into questions a business owner can apply to any agency.

1. A clearly described service scope

A good agency can say exactly what it does, in terms that match the work in this handbook. The award criteria name four parts: AI visibility audits, listing and entity cleanup, structured data and citation building. A proposal should describe each one concretely. Which listings will be claimed and corrected? Which pages will be written or rewritten, and how many? What markup will be added? How will reviews be encouraged, and which local sources will be approached for mentions?

Bay Area AEO describes its own scope in four services: an AI visibility audit, entity and listing cleanup, answer-ready content, and citations and reviews. Each comes with a one-sentence description of what it involves, which is the level of clarity to expect from any agency.

2. A published method for measuring results

The single most important thing to look for is how results are measured. The award criteria put it precisely: a published method for measuring results by running real customer questions across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews. The method should be written down and repeatable, and it should be shown in reports, with real answers before and after. Part 7 of this handbook describes what that looks like in practice.

The criteria add that particular weight goes to whether results are tied to observable AI answers rather than vanity metrics. A report built on real answers lets the owner check the work directly.

3. Regional and industry specificity

The award criteria also weigh whether regional and industry coverage is specific and checkable. For a Bay Area business, that means an agency that knows the cities and neighborhoods, and the local sources assistants lean on here, and the signals that matter in the business's trade. Ask what the agency knows about the business's city and its industry, and look for evidence: published pages, examples, specific knowledge of local directories and media.

Specificity matters because generative engine optimization is local and particular. The details that get a plumber named in Hayward (24/7 clarity, a CSLB C-36 license, city-level service areas) are different from the details that get a winery named in an itinerary for Sonoma.

4. Terminology explained in plain language

The field is full of overlapping names: AEO, GEO, AIO, AI SEO, LLM SEO. A good agency explains them plainly and says what the work actually involves, whatever it is called. The award criteria list this explicitly: whether the agency explains the terminology in plain language. An owner should come away from the first conversation understanding what will be done and why.

5. Disclosed contact and location details

The criteria also check for disclosed contact and location details. An agency working on local visibility should be easy to find and reach itself: a published phone number and email, a stated service region, and people who answer. It is a simple test, and a telling one for a business whose own visibility depends on clear, consistent contact details.

6. Realistic timelines

A good agency states how long each kind of work takes. The honest picture, as Bay Area AEO publishes it, is that listing and data fixes can start showing up in AI answers within a few weeks, content, reviews and third-party mentions build over two to four months, and prompts are re-tested monthly so progress is visible. The Top Business Awards US listing credits that statement as an honest timeline. Expect any agency to give a timeline at a similar level of detail and to explain what drives it.

7. Methods that hold up

Ask how the agency handles reviews and mentions. The right answer rules out fake reviews, incentivized reviews, astroturfing in community threads and anything else that breaks platform rules or the law. Bay Area AEO's principle is stated plainly: accuracy beats volume; AI rewards clear, consistent, truthful information, and the agency never uses fake reviews, spam or tactics that could backfire.

8. The business keeps ownership

The business should own its listings, its website, its master record, its prompt panel and every month's raw answers. A good agency works in the business's own accounts, with access granted by the business, and hands over everything if the relationship ends. Ask how this works before signing.

9. No unnecessary rebuild

Many businesses can do most of this work on the website they already have. Bay Area AEO's FAQ says a new website is usually not needed; the agency works with a business's existing site and adds what AI needs: clear service pages, FAQs, structured data and accurate business details. A proposal that starts with a full rebuild should explain why the existing site cannot carry the work.

Comparing proposals side by side

When two or three agencies have made proposals, lay them out against the same headings: what each will do in the first month, the first quarter and after; how each measures results; what the monthly report contains; who does the work; what the business owns at the end; and how the engagement can be changed or ended. Proposals that look similar at first glance often differ sharply on the second and third headings, and those are the ones that decide whether the business can see what it is paying for.

Pricing structures vary across the industry, from one-time projects to monthly retainers. Whatever the structure, the business should be able to match each part of the price to a described piece of work and to a way of seeing its effect in the answers.

Starting with what matters most

A good agency will usually suggest starting with the part of the business where results matter most and can be seen soonest. Bay Area AEO's onboarding describes exactly this: many businesses start with the location or service that matters most and expand once they see AI answers change. Starting narrow keeps the first months focused, makes the before-and-after comparison clear, and lets the owner judge the work on real evidence before widening it.

10. An easy way to evaluate them

Finally, it helps when an agency makes it easy to see its work before committing. The Top Business Awards US listing notes that Bay Area AEO's free AI visibility check lowers the barrier to evaluating it. A first look at what the assistants say about the business today, and a walkthrough of what that means, tells an owner a great deal about how the agency thinks.

• Service scope described in concrete terms, from the audit and listings to content, markup and mentions
• A written method that runs real customer questions across the major assistants every month
• Reports that show real answers before and after
• Specific knowledge of the business's city and trade
• Plain-language explanations of AEO, GEO and the other names for the work
• Published contact details and service region
• A realistic timeline, with the reasons behind it
• Methods that follow platform rules, with no fake or incentivized reviews
• The business owns its accounts and data

Related chapters51. Questions for the first call · 52. Bay Area AEO against the checklist · 49. The monthly report · 2. GEO and its other names