Look for a GEO agency that measures whether AI answers cite you, earns third-party citations as core work, and is honest that no one controls the output. Ask how they track share of voice, what they own versus outsource, and how they price. Skip any shop selling guaranteed slots or renamed SEO.
What separates a real GEO agency?
A real GEO partner measures citations, an SEO shop with a new label measures rankings. That is the fastest test. Ask how they will know whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews name you, and listen for a concrete method. If the answer drifts back to keyword positions, you are talking to classic SEO in a GEO costume. What a genuine partner actually does is described in what a generative engine optimization agency does.
The questions that reveal the truth
Bring these to the first call.
- How do you measure whether AI answers cite us?
- How do you earn third-party citations, and on what kind of sites?
- What do you own in-house versus outsource?
- What can you not control, and how do you talk about it?
- How is your fee tied to measured visibility?
Clear, specific answers signal a real practice. Vague ones signal a pitch.
Measurement they can defend
A serious agency tracks share of voice in generated answers, not just blue-link positions, and can show the method behind the number. If they cannot explain how they score it, the number is decoration. The approach they should be using is laid out in the GEO KPIs that actually matter, and a good partner will already be measuring in that spirit.
Honesty about what nobody controls
The best signal is how they handle uncertainty. AI answers are generated and non-deterministic, so no one guarantees a citation or a top slot. A trustworthy agency says so plainly and sells probability and progress instead. If someone promises you a guaranteed position in ChatGPT, end the conversation. That promise is either a misunderstanding of how these systems work or a deliberate one.
How they earn citations
Ask exactly how they get you named on other sites, because that is the hardest and most valuable part. Real work means adding statistics, cited sources, and quotations to your pages, and building genuine mentions on credible third-party sites. A Princeton-led study found that kind of evidence can raise visibility in AI answers by up to roughly 40%. If their citation plan is thin, the retainer is mostly content churn.
Pricing that matches the work
Understand what you are paying for. Ranges we see run roughly $1,500 to $5,000 per month for small-business programs and roughly $2,000 to $25,000+ per month for full programs. GEO tends to price above classic SEO because citation work is hands-on. That premium is fine if the fee is tied to measured visibility. It is a red flag if it just buys more blog posts.
Read the contract, not the pitch
A pitch deck is easy; a contract reveals intent. Look at what the agency commits to deliver and how success is defined. If the agreement lists content volume and hours but never mentions measured AI visibility, you are buying activity. A serious partner will tie at least part of the engagement to a share-of-voice metric or a citation goal, and will explain what you actually pay for the way AI SEO services, what you actually pay for lays it out. Vague deliverables are not an oversight; they are how an underperforming agency protects itself from accountability, so read the fine print before the logo and the case studies win you over.
Trust the ones who say no
Counterintuitively, the best partners push back. They will tell you a keyword is not worth chasing, a promise is not deliverable, or a timeline is unrealistic. That friction is a sign they are optimizing for your results rather than your comfort. An agency that agrees with everything and guarantees the moon is selling reassurance, not outcomes. When someone tells you plainly that no one controls a generated answer and that they sell probability and progress instead, believe that they understand the work. The honesty that feels slightly disappointing in a sales call is exactly the honesty you want managing your money for the next year.
The checklist, in short
Hire the agency that measures citations, explains its method, earns third-party mentions, prices to the work, and tells you the truth about what no one controls. Walk from anyone selling guaranteed slots or dressing up old SEO. The right partner makes you more likely to be cited and honest about the rest.
Questions people ask
Ask how they will measure whether AI answers actually cite you. A real partner has a concrete method for tracking mentions across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews and can explain the scoring behind it. If the answer slides back to keyword rankings, you are talking to classic SEO with a new label, not a genuine GEO practice.
Two tells. First, they promise a guaranteed citation or top AI slot, which is impossible because answers are generated and non-deterministic. Second, they cannot describe how they earn third-party citations or measure share of voice in AI answers. Fake GEO is usually old SEO renamed, heavy on content volume and light on citation strategy and honest measurement.
Ranges we see run roughly $1,500 to $5,000 per month for small-business programs and roughly $2,000 to $25,000+ per month for full programs. GEO tends to carry a premium over classic SEO because earning citations is hands-on. The number matters less than whether the fee is tied to measured visibility rather than raw output.
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