How to choose an AEO agency in the UK

A lot of agencies now talk about AEO, GEO or AI SEO, but the quality of what sits behind those labels varies a lot. Some are doing real, structured work. Others are mostly repackaging traditional SEO and adding a few AI search phrases on top.

That doesn’t mean a generalist SEO agency can’t help. Some can. But if you’re trying to choose well, it helps to know what good AEO work actually looks like and what warning signs to watch for.

This page is here to help with that. It is not a list of the “best” agencies. It is a practical guide to evaluating AEO support properly, especially if you’re comparing providers in the UK and want to understand what should sit behind the pitch.

If you want to see how Tilio approaches this in practice, you can explore our AEO agency page. If you want a defined starting point rather than a monthly plan, an AI Visibility Audit is usually the best place to begin.

Start by asking what they actually mean by AEO

This sounds basic, but it matters.

Some agencies use AEO to mean a light layer of SEO work aimed at AI search. That may include blog content, metadata improvements, FAQs and schema. Some of that work is useful, but it does not necessarily add up to a real AEO process.

A stronger AEO agency should be able to explain the work more clearly.

That usually means they can talk about:

• how visibility is measured across AI search platforms
• what prompts are being tracked
• how mentions and citations are handled separately
• how competitors are benchmarked
• how reporting turns into page-level actions

If the explanation stays vague, the delivery usually will too.

Look for tracked prompts, not just screenshots

One of the clearest signs of real AEO work is whether the agency uses tracked prompt sets.

If the proof mostly consists of screenshots from ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews, that is usually not enough. Screenshots can be useful as examples, but they are not a methodology.

Good AEO work uses defined prompts grouped around real buyer intent. That gives you a more structured view of how your brand appears across categories, comparisons, pricing questions, alternatives and shortlist behaviour.

That matters because AI visibility is not one-query deep. Buyers ask clusters of questions, not one neat keyword.

If you want to understand why prompt sets matter so much, our page on how tracked prompts work explains the logic behind them.

Check whether they separate mentions from citations

This is another important test.

A mention means your brand appeared in the answer.

A citation means a source was used.

Those are not the same thing, and an agency that blurs them together will usually give you weaker reporting and weaker recommendations.

A stronger AEO agency should be able to show:

• when your brand is being mentioned
• when your site is being cited
• which pages are being cited
• where competitors are being cited more often
• what that means in practical terms

That difference matters because citations usually give you a clearer route to action. If a pricing page, comparison page or service page is being cited, that is something you can improve. If your brand is being mentioned but your site is not being used as a source, that suggests a different issue.

Our page on mentions vs citations in AI search explains that distinction in full if you want to go deeper.

Ask how they benchmark competitors fairly

AEO is not just about whether you show up. It is about how you show up compared with the right competitors.

That means benchmarking matters. But it has to be done properly.

A good AEO agency should be comparing brands against the same prompt set, on the same platforms and across the same reporting window. Otherwise the comparison is weak.

They should also be clear about who the competitor set actually is. That sounds obvious, but vague competitor selection is one of the quickest ways to make reporting less useful.

A strong benchmark should help answer questions like:

• which competitors show up most often in the prompts that matter
• where they are being cited more than you are
• which topics or prompt groups they are strongest in
• where you are visible but underperforming
• what content or page gaps might explain the difference

If you want a deeper view of that, our page on how competitor benchmarking works in AI search explains the logic in more detail.

Make sure they can connect the data to page-level changes

This is where weak AEO work often falls apart.

An agency may be able to show that visibility is weak. But can they turn that into useful action on the site?

A good AEO agency should be able to connect measurement to practical changes such as:

• tightening service pages that are too vague
• improving pricing pages
• adding clearer comparison or alternatives content
• strengthening buyer FAQs
• improving the pages most likely to earn citations
• fixing weak internal links between commercial and supporting pages

That is a good test because AEO should not stop at visibility data. It should help you understand what to change and why.

If the work stays at the “interesting dashboard” stage, it is much less likely to move anything commercially meaningful.

Watch for over-promising

This is one of the easiest ways to spot weak AEO sales language.

Be cautious if an agency promises:

• guaranteed citations
• guaranteed mentions
• guaranteed inclusion in AI answers
• perfect measurement of every AI response
• a simple score that supposedly captures everything

That is not how this space works.

AI search is not stable in the same way as classic rank tracking. Responses vary, platforms behave differently, and not every prompt will produce the same answer every time. Good agencies should be honest about that.

That does not make the work impossible. It just means the methodology needs to be structured, comparative and grounded in patterns over time rather than over-claiming certainty.

If you want to see what honest measurement should look like, our page on how we measure AI visibility sets out what can and cannot reasonably be measured.

Check whether they have a clear starting point

A good AEO agency should not force every buyer into the same route.

Some businesses need an audit first. Others are ready for hands-on monthly support straight away.

That is why a clear starting point matters.

If an agency can only sell a large retainer, that is not usually a good sign. A more credible process is one that can explain:

• when an audit makes sense
• when monthly support makes sense
• what the setup process looks like
• what is actually delivered each month
• how progress is reviewed

For many businesses, the right first step is a structured audit. That gives you a baseline, competitor context and a clearer view of what should be fixed first before you decide whether broader support is needed.

What a good AEO agency should help you answer

By the time you finish a good agency conversation, you should have a much clearer view of questions like:

• how are we showing up across the prompts that matter
• where are competitors ahead
• are we being mentioned, cited, or neither
• which pages are helping most
• which pages are weak
• what should we improve first
• do we need an audit or a monthly plan
• what would success actually look like over time

That is the real test.

A good AEO agency should leave you with more clarity, not just more acronyms.

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