My Agency Is Recommending AEO on Top of SEO — Is It Worth It?

# My Agency Is Recommending AEO on Top of SEO — Is It Worth It? You just received an email from your marketing agency. Between two lines about your Google performance, a new line appears in the quote: "AEO — Answer Engine Optimization." Additional cost. Vague explanation. You wonder whether this is concrete or just smoke and mirrors. You're not alone. The question comes up every week on Reddit. ## What people are saying in the field On r/DigitalMarketing, a user posts: *"My marketing agency is recommending AEO (AI search) on top of SEO. Is this legitimate?"* Responses are divided. Some say it's the future. Others say it's SEO rebranded to justify a higher invoice. On r/Agentic_SEO, another professional shares their confusion: *"Client wants AEO and GEO instead of SEO — I honestly don't know what to do."* Even agencies don't always know what they're talking about. And then there are the oversimplifications: *"Just add a llms.txt file and add FAQs and lists when posting."* As if a text file and a few Q&As were enough to appear in ChatGPT answers. The reality is more nuanced. But before judging whether your agency is selling you something solid or nonsense, you need to understand exactly what we're talking about. ## SEO, AEO, GEO — three acronyms, one question ### SEO (Search Engine Optimization) You know this one. It's the foundational work to appear in Google, Bing, and other classic search engines. Keywords, quality content, backlinks, site speed, technical structure. It's been around for 25 years and remains the foundation of all online visibility. ### AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) AEO targets engines that provide direct answers instead of listing links. First Google Featured Snippets, then the AI answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude. The goal: have your brand or content cited when a user asks a question to an AI. Concretely, AEO involves: - **Structured content** — clear answers to precise questions, formatted to be easily extractable by an AI - **Structured data (schema markup)** — so machines understand what your page contains - **A llms.txt file** — an emerging format that allows LLMs to understand your site quickly (comparable to robots.txt for AI engines) - **Authority signals** — mentions on Reddit, Quora, LinkedIn, specialized forums. AIs rely on these sources to validate a brand's credibility. ### GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) GEO is a more recent term, often confused with AEO. The difference is subtle: GEO focuses specifically on optimization for generative search engines — those that generate a complete answer rather than pointing to a site. We're talking about Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and ChatGPT's search mode. In practice, GEO and AEO overlap enormously. GEO emphasizes how your brand is represented in a generated answer, not just being cited. ### The truth nobody says clearly A Reddit comment sums up the situation well: *"AEO is basically an extension of SEO, not a completely separate thing."* That's the key. AEO and GEO don't replace SEO. They build on it. A site with terrible technical SEO will never be cited by ChatGPT. A site without quality content has no chance of appearing in Perplexity. The hierarchy is clear: 1. **Solid SEO** — technical foundation, content, authority 2. **AEO** — optimization layer for AI answers 3. **GEO** — specific layer for generative engines Skipping step 1 to go directly to step 2 or 3 is building on sand. ## When AEO is really worth it AEO isn't relevant for everyone at the same time. Here are the situations where it makes sense: ### Your basic SEO is already in place You have a fast site, correctly indexed, with content that ranks on your strategic keywords. Adding an AEO layer at this stage is a logical evolution, not a luxury. ### Your prospects already use AI to search In B2B, more and more decision-makers begin their research with ChatGPT or Perplexity before going to Google. If your target audience is tech-savvy or works in a fast-moving sector, AEO is already an acquisition channel. ### Your sector is competitive on Google If the top Google positions are held by giants with SEO budgets 10 times higher than yours, AI engines represent an opportunity. AIs don't rank solely by domain authority — they look for the best answer. A smaller but more precise site can be cited before a market leader. ### You're an invisible expert You have the expertise, the clients, the reputation — but online, you don't exist. AEO combined with an authority signal strategy (publications on Reddit, LinkedIn, Medium) can accelerate your visibility on AI channels even without years of accumulated backlinks. ## When it's NOT worth it ### Your site has fundamental problems Non-indexed pages, no HTTPS, catastrophic speed, duplicate content. In this case, every euro spent on AEO is a wasted euro. Fix the technical SEO first. ### Your agency can't explain what they'll do "We'll optimize your AI presence" is not a deliverable. If the agency can't detail the concrete actions — schema markup, structured content, llms.txt, authority signal strategy — that's a red flag. ### The price is disproportionate AEO is not a magic service requiring proprietary tools at €5,000/month. If your agency bills AEO as a completely separate service with a budget equal to or greater than SEO, ask questions. ## Warning signs in an agency Here's what should make you pause: **The agency presents AEO as a replacement for SEO.** This is wrong. One feeds the other. A serious agency integrates them, it doesn't oppose them. **No concrete metrics.** How do we measure AEO success? The number of mentions in AI answers (what's called the Prompt Recall Rate), referral traffic from AI engines, the evolution of visibility per query. If the agency has no dashboard or measurement method, they're navigating blind. **No visible technical work.** AEO involves schema markup, content structure modifications, potentially a llms.txt file, a strategy for structured FAQs. If the only deliverable is "AI-optimized content," it's repackaging. **The agency is discovering the topic at the same time as you.** If your contact can't explain the difference between AEO and GEO, or doesn't know llms.txt, there's a competency problem. The market is new, but the fundamentals have been documented since 2024. **No integrated approach.** SEO, AEO and GEO work together. If your agency sells them as three separate services with three different teams, you'll pay three times for actions that overlap. ## What a serious approach should include A well-executed AEO/GEO strategy includes: - **AI visibility audit** — where do you appear (or not) in the answers of ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini? - **Technical correction** — schema markup, content architecture, metadata, llms.txt - **AI-first content** — pages structured to directly answer the questions your prospects ask AIs - **Authority signals** — presence on Reddit, Quora, LinkedIn, Medium, specialized forums in your sector - **Continuous measurement** — a dashboard tracking your AI visibility, not just your Google rankings - **Integration with existing SEO** — not a silo, but a coherent extension ## In summary AEO is a real subject. It's not marketing buzz. AI search engines are changing how your prospects find vendors, products and solutions. Ignoring this channel means falling behind. But AEO is not a magic service. It's a natural extension of well-executed SEO. If your agency presents it this way — an additional layer, integrated, with concrete actions and measurable metrics — it's probably worth it. If they sell it to you as a separate, vague, and expensive service, find another partner. At [AISOS](https://aisosystem.com), this is exactly the approach we've chosen: an integrated system that combines technical SEO, AEO and GEO in a single platform. AI visibility audit, correction of structural gaps, AI-first content deployment, authority signals, and a dashboard that measures everything — Google visibility and AI visibility. Not three separate services, one coherent system. --- ## FAQ ### Will AEO replace SEO? No. AEO is an extension of SEO, not a replacement. Classic search engines remain the main channel for the majority of searches. But AI engines are gaining market share, and not preparing for them would be a mistake. The ideal is an integrated strategy that covers both. ### How much does AEO cost compared to SEO? AEO shouldn't double your budget. Most AEO actions (schema markup, structured content, llms.txt) integrate into existing SEO work. Be wary if an agency bills AEO as a completely independent service with a budget equivalent to SEO. ### How do you measure AEO results? Key metrics are the Prompt Recall Rate (PRR) — the percentage of relevant queries where your brand is mentioned by AIs — referral traffic from AI engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity), and the number of citations in generated answers. A good provider should have a way to track this. ### What is the llms.txt file everyone talks about? The llms.txt is a file placed at the root of your site (like robots.txt) that provides AI models with a structured summary of your company, your services, your prices and your value proposition. It's an emerging standard that helps AIs understand and cite your site more easily. It's not a silver bullet, but it's a concrete tactical element of an AEO strategy.