The UK now has dozens of agencies offering answer engine optimisation, also sold as GEO, AI SEO or LLM visibility. Most added it to an existing SEO or marketing practice in the last two years; a few do nothing else. The right choice depends less on the label than on whether the agency measures AI answers properly, makes the changes itself and can show results in those answers today.
We are one of those agencies, so treat this guide with the scepticism you would apply to any vendor's advice. We have tried to make the questions useful whoever you hire.
Seven questions to ask
1. Where are we named today?
A serious agency will show you, before you sign, how a sample of your buyers' questions are answered in ChatGPT, Google's AI features, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude: who is named, how you are described and which sources are cited. If they cannot, they cannot measure progress either.
2. Which questions will you track, and where do they come from?
The question set should come from your buyers' language, your sales calls and your market, not from a generic keyword list. Ask to see it and to approve it.
3. Who makes the changes?
Many problems that keep companies out of AI answers are technical: blocked crawlers, content that depends on JavaScript, inconsistent structured data. Some agencies send recommendations and wait for your developers. Others make the changes in your codebase or CMS. Know which you are buying.
4. What happens off your site?
AI assistants lean heavily on third-party sources. Ask which lists, directories, review sites and publications the agency has identified for your category, and how it will get you represented there accurately.
5. Can you show results for a current client?
Look for evidence in AI answers, with dates and the questions measured, rather than rankings or traffic charts alone. A named client you can contact is worth more than an anonymised percentage.
6. What will the report show?
A useful monthly report covers where you are named, what changed, which sources drove the change and what comes next. Ask for a sample.
7. How do you stay current?
AI assistants change their models, crawlers and sources often. Ask how the agency tracks those changes and when it last changed its own method as a result.
Red flags
- Guarantees. Google's own guidance on hiring an SEO says no one can guarantee a number one ranking. The same applies, even more so, to AI answers, which vary from run to run.
- Claims of a special relationship with OpenAI, Google or any AI company.
- Secrecy about method. You should understand what is being done to your site and why.
- Hidden prompts or mass-produced pages. Instructions to AI models hidden in pages, or hundreds of thin pages, put your site's credibility at risk.
- Measuring one assistant only, or judging results from the account manager's own ChatGPT history.
- Reports that stop at visibility without connecting it to enquiries or the questions that matter commercially.
UK agencies offering AEO and GEO
The list below is not a ranking. It shows the range of agencies selling this work in the UK, described from their own service pages in October 2026, so you can see the different models on offer.
| Agency | Based | How they describe the service |
|---|---|---|
| Passion Digital | London | AI search visibility for enterprise and B2B, alongside an established SEO practice |
| The SEO Works | Sheffield, with London and Leeds offices | A large SEO agency with its own GEO framework |
| Exposure Ninja | UK | A digital marketing agency with a GEO method covering content, schema, PR and reviews |
| Bird Marketing | UK | GEO for regulated and niche industries, within a wider marketing agency |
| Kaizen | London | Digital PR and SEO agency offering GEO and LLM SEO |
| FDRY | London | SEO agency offering AI SEO |
| ClickSlice | London | Ecommerce SEO agency offering GEO and AEO |
| Whitehat SEO | London | HubSpot and SEO agency with published AEO packages |
| POLARIS | Buckinghamshire | AI search optimisation built on an SEO practice founded in 2009 |
| Tenet | UK | Describes itself as an AI SEO-focused agency |
| Rank4AI | UK | Focused on AI SEO and LLM visibility |
| Cited | London | A specialist answer engine optimisation consultancy founded in 2025, working only on AI answers, with technical fixes made by its own team |
Specialist or established SEO agency?
Larger SEO agencies bring scale, long track records in search and teams for content and PR. Specialists bring a narrower focus and usually more senior attention on each account. If your SEO foundation is weak, an agency that can fix it alongside the AEO work may suit you best. If your SEO is already strong and the gap is specifically in AI answers, a specialist is often the better fit. Our guide to AEO agencies versus SEO agencies goes into this in more detail.
Comparing proposals
Put proposals side by side on the same points: the question set and assistants measured, who implements changes, monthly content volume, third-party work, reporting, contract length and price. Our guide to AEO costs in the UK gives published price ranges for reference.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose an AEO agency?
Ask each agency to show where you are named in AI answers today, which questions it will track, who will make the changes on your site, how it will work on third-party sources, and what results it can show for a current client. Avoid any agency that guarantees positions in AI answers.
Are there specialist AEO agencies in London?
Yes. London has both established SEO and digital PR agencies that have added AEO or GEO services and smaller specialists that focus only on AI answers, including Cited.
Can an agency guarantee my company will be recommended by ChatGPT?
No. No agency controls what an AI model says, and answers vary between runs. Treat guarantees as a red flag.
How long should an AEO contract be?
Content and third-party work usually take a few months to show in AI answers, so many agencies propose six to twelve months. Ask for a clear baseline and milestones so you can judge progress along the way.