Your competitor just showed up in ChatGPT's answer to "best project management software." You didn't. Google's AI Overview cited three brands for "best CRM for small teams." Yours wasn't one of them. You're shipping content, but AI systems ignore it. You need an AI search optimization agency that can fix this, but most can't prove they know what they're doing.
This scorecard helps you separate real capability from empty promises. You'll get a weighted evaluation system you can copy into your vendor review, a list of red flags that signal trouble, and ready-to-send RFP questions. By the end, you'll know exactly which agency deserves your budget and which ones to ignore.
Quick definition: AI search optimization means improving how your brand gets understood, selected, and cited by AI assistants and generative search results. This includes Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Bing Copilot.
What is an AI search optimization agency?
An AI search optimization agency helps you get included in AI-generated answers across search and assistant platforms. This work differs from traditional SEO because the goal isn't just rankings and traffic. You're optimizing for inclusion, accuracy, and citation quality in AI responses.
Traditional SEO agencies focus on what shows up in blue links. AI search optimization focuses on what AI systems say about you when someone asks a question. The technical foundation overlaps, but the execution layer is different. You need structured data that machines can parse, entity clarity so AI systems understand your relationships and attributes, and content formatted as source material rather than just conversion-focused pages.
A capable agency delivers artifacts you can use and measure. You're not buying strategy decks. You're buying schema graphs, entity maps, citation-ready page templates, monitoring dashboards, and governance playbooks. These artifacts prove the agency knows how to engineer eligibility and track results.
The platforms that matter today include Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT (via Bing and direct queries), Perplexity, Gemini, and Bing Copilot. Each platform pulls from different sources and applies different ranking signals, but they all reward the same core qualities: clarity, structure, authority, and citation-worthiness.
What you should receive in 30 days
Your agency should deliver four things within the first month. First, an AISO baseline showing where you appear today across key queries and platforms. Second, technical eligibility fixes covering schema implementation, indexation hygiene, and entity disambiguation. Third, priority page upgrades focused on your top revenue pages, formatted to serve as reliable sources. Fourth, a measurement plan with recurring monitoring so you can track inclusion, citations, and answer accuracy over time.
If your agency can't commit to these four deliverables in the first 30 days, they're selling process instead of outcomes.
When you need AISO vs classic SEO
Classic SEO still works when your primary goal is rankings and organic traffic. If your category doesn't trigger AI answers yet, your brand isn't showing up in assistant responses, and your site has strong technical foundations, stick with traditional SEO for now. You're optimizing for blue link visibility, and that's fine.
You need an AI search optimization agency when AI surfaces control your category's discovery. This happens when Google shows AI Overviews for your core queries, competitors get cited repeatedly while you don't, or the answers AI systems give about you are incomplete or wrong. If your category is comparison-heavy (software, services, products), AI answers dominate the SERP. You're invisible if you're not in those answers.
Here are seven common triggers that signal you need AISO:
Competitors get cited, you don't. If rivals appear in AI answers for "best X" or "X vs Y" queries while your brand is absent, you have an eligibility or citation-worthiness gap.
Branded queries return wrong information. When someone asks an AI assistant about your product and gets outdated pricing, incorrect features, or confused attributes, you're losing trust and conversions before prospects reach your site.
High-stakes content needs accuracy. Regulated industries (healthcare, finance, legal, education) can't afford AI systems repeating incorrect claims. You need governance, source-of-truth documentation, and drift monitoring to keep answers accurate.
Content doesn't get picked up. You publish strong content but AI systems never use it as a source. This signals structural issues with how your pages present information, entity clarity problems, or indexation barriers.
Multiple markets create confusion. If you operate across languages, regions, or product lines, AI systems often mix up entities. You need explicit disambiguation through schema and structured data so AI platforms understand which entity they're referencing.
Comparison queries exclude you. When prospects search "X alternative" or "Y vs Z," your absence from AI-generated comparison tables means you're losing consideration before the buyer even visits your site.
Attribution errors hurt your brand. AI systems cite your content but attribute it to a competitor, or they cite you for claims you never made. Both scenarios damage credibility and send traffic to the wrong place.
Understanding the fundamental differences between AISO and classic SEO helps you decide which investment makes sense for your business right now.
The AI search optimization agency scorecard (weighted)
This scorecard gives you a structured way to evaluate any agency. Score each category from 0 to 5, multiply by the weight, and total your results. Agencies scoring below 70 lack the capability or proof to deliver durable results. Require evidence for every score: links, screenshots, templates, deliverables, or client references.
| Category | Weight | What "good" looks like (evidence) | Score (0–5) | Weighted score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eligibility & structure | 20 | Clear schema strategy (JSON-LD), entity mapping, indexation hygiene; can show example schema graph + page templates | ||
| Proof (case studies) | 15 | Named outcomes (citations/visibility lift), before/after examples, artifacts delivered; references available | ||
| Measurement & monitoring | 15 | Baseline + ongoing tracking across engines; "drift" detection; reporting cadence and KPIs | ||
| SEO-safety & risk | 15 | Plays within Google guidelines; avoids spam; explains what they won't do; change logs & rollback plan | ||
| Governance & accuracy | 10 | Ownership model, approvals, brand facts source-of-truth, update playbooks for sensitive info | ||
| Speed to impact | 10 | 10–15 day quick wins on top pages; clear prioritization; time-to-first-result expectations | ||
| Content operations | 15 | Repeatable content system: briefs, templates, SME workflows, internal linking plan, multilingual entity consistency | ||
| Total | 100 |
Scoring guidance
Scores of 0-1 mean the agency offers vague promises with no artifacts or proof. They talk about strategy but can't show you templates, schema examples, or reporting dashboards. Scores of 2-3 indicate partial proof and limited monitoring. They might have one case study or a basic tracking setup, but their system isn't repeatable across clients. Scores of 4-5 signal a repeatable system backed by evidence and governance. The agency shows multiple examples, provides clear artifacts, and explains how they measure and maintain results over time.
Minimum bar checklist
Set three hard requirements before you move forward. First, the agency must score at least 70 out of 100 on the total scorecard. Second, they must score 4 or 5 on either Eligibility & structure or Measurement & monitoring. These two categories are non-negotiable because they determine whether the agency can engineer eligibility and prove results. Third, they must provide at least two concrete artifacts during the evaluation process. Ask for redacted examples of schema graphs, page templates, monitoring dashboards, or change logs.
If you need structured auditing and ongoing monitoring to support your agency selection, start with an AISO Audit to establish your baseline. Once you're working with an agency, use AISO Monitor to track whether they're actually moving the metrics that matter.
Red flags when hiring an AI search optimization agency
Watch for these warning signs. Each one signals either inexperience or dishonesty.
Guaranteed outcomes
Any agency promising "guaranteed citations" or "#1 in ChatGPT" doesn't understand how AI systems work. Citations depend on relevance, authority, source quality, and algorithmic factors no agency controls. Guarantees are sales tactics, not reality.
No mention of structured data or entities
If the agency talks only about "prompting" or "content optimization" without explaining schema, JSON-LD, entity disambiguation, or knowledge graph connections, they're treating AI search like keyword SEO. That approach fails because AI systems need structured context to understand and cite your content.
What to do instead: Ask them to walk through their schema strategy and show examples of entity maps or structured data implementations they've deployed for other clients.
Vague measurement plans
Agencies that can't explain how they track inclusion, citations, and answer accuracy across platforms are guessing. "We'll monitor impressions" isn't a measurement plan. You need query-level tracking, platform-by-platform coverage, citation source analysis, and drift detection protocols.
No governance or accuracy maintenance
AI answers drift over time as platforms retrain models and ingest new content. If the agency has no plan for monitoring drift, correcting inaccuracies, or maintaining a source-of-truth document for brand facts, your initial gains will decay within months.
What to do instead: Require a governance workflow that defines ownership, approval processes, and recurring correction sprints.
Mass content without quality controls
Agencies pushing scaled content production without SME review, fact-checking, or editorial standards create citation liabilities. One inaccurate claim repeated by AI systems damages your credibility more than being absent from answers.
Risky tactics
Automated link schemes, scaled low-value pages, keyword-stuffed content, or any tactic that violates Google's spam policies puts your entire site at risk. SEO penalties hurt traditional rankings and AI visibility simultaneously.
What to do instead: Ask explicitly what tactics they avoid and how they ensure compliance with search guidelines. Request change logs and rollback plans.
Can't show deliverables
If the agency can't provide examples of templates, schema, monitoring reports, or change logs during the sales process, they won't provide them after you sign. Artifacts prove competence. No artifacts means no system.
One-size-fits-all packages
AI search optimization requires prioritization based on your revenue pages, query set, and competitive positioning. Cookie-cutter packages ignore these realities. You need a custom plan that focuses resources on pages that actually drive business outcomes.
No collaboration model
Regulated industries and technical products require SME input, legal review, and compliance checks. If the agency has no process for collaborating with your internal teams, they'll produce content that's ineligible for citation or violates your brand guidelines.
What to do instead: Define collaboration requirements upfront and confirm the agency has experience working within similar constraints.
Overconfident claims about AI platforms
Agencies that promise they "control" how ChatGPT or Perplexity rank sources don't understand these systems. You can improve eligibility and citation-worthiness, but you can't guarantee outcomes. Honest agencies frame results as improvements in visibility and inclusion, not guarantees.
RFP questions to ask (copy/paste)
Use these questions in your RFP or initial discovery calls. Strong agencies answer all ten with specifics. Weak agencies give vague responses or dodge questions about proof and measurement.
Which AI surfaces are you optimizing for and why? How do you measure inclusion and citations across these platforms?
Show us an example of the schema or structured data you've shipped for a client. Redacted is fine, but we need to see actual JSON-LD and understand your entity strategy.
What are your first 10 actions in the first 14 days after we sign?
How do you decide which pages to optimize first? Walk us through your prioritization framework based on revenue, intent, and query set.
What does your monitoring look like over time? Show us example reports and explain how you detect and correct answer drift.
How do you ensure SEO safety and guideline compliance? What tactics do you explicitly avoid, and how do you document changes for rollback if needed?
What artifacts do we own at the end of the engagement? List specific templates, dashboards, briefs, and change logs.
How do you handle brand facts and accuracy? Describe your source-of-truth process, approval workflows, and governance for regulated or sensitive content.
What internal team time do you need from us? Break down requirements for SMEs, dev resources, content teams, and legal/compliance review. How do you minimize this burden?
What results have you achieved that are closest to our industry or use case? Can we speak to a reference client?
If an agency can't answer these questions with specifics during the evaluation, they won't deliver specifics after you sign.
Two mini examples of what "good" looks like
These examples show outcomes and artifacts without overpromising. Results vary by category, competition, and starting point, but these patterns repeat across successful generative engine optimization and answer engine optimization engagements.
Example 1: B2B SaaS (comparison-heavy category)
A project management software company faced a problem. Competitors appeared in AI-generated answers for "best project management software" and "Asana vs Monday" queries. The client didn't.
Outcome: Increased inclusion in AI answers for "best X software" queries and competitive comparison questions. More qualified demo requests from non-branded search and AI assistant referrals.
Artifacts delivered:
- Schema graph upgrade implementing Organization, SoftwareApplication, and FAQ structured data across 15 core pages
- "Alternatives and comparisons" content template deployed to 10 high-priority comparison pages
- Monitoring dashboard tracking citation frequency, query coverage, and competitive positioning across Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT
Example 2: Regulated services (accuracy-sensitive)
A healthcare provider discovered AI assistants gave incorrect information about their services, pricing, and availability across multiple locations. This damaged trust and sent patients to competitors.
Outcome: Reduced incorrect AI answers about services and pricing. Improved consistency across languages and geographic markets. Established governance process to keep answers accurate when policies change.
Artifacts delivered:
- Brand facts source-of-truth document with approval workflow connecting legal, compliance, and marketing teams
- Page-level citation upgrades for three revenue-critical service pages, restructured around patient questions and outcomes
- Drift alert system with monthly correction sprints to identify and fix inaccuracies before they spread
Both examples share common patterns: clear prioritization based on business impact, structured data as a foundation, content formatted for AI consumption, and ongoing monitoring to maintain results.
How AISO Hub can help
We run AISO X-Rays in 10 to 15 minutes. You send us your site and your top three revenue pages. We analyze your current AI visibility, identify eligibility gaps, spot the biggest citation blockers, and prioritize your fastest wins. You get a clear snapshot of where you stand and what to fix first.
If you need a complete baseline before choosing an agency or building an internal program, start with our AISO Audit. You'll receive a full technical assessment covering schema implementation, entity clarity, indexation health, and citation readiness across your priority pages. This audit gives you the data to evaluate agency proposals and hold vendors accountable to measurable goals.
Once you're optimizing, use AISO Monitor to track inclusion, citations, and answer accuracy over time. You'll get automated drift detection, platform-by-platform reporting, and alerts when inaccuracies appear so you can correct them before they damage trust.
We focus on three outcomes: engineering eligibility so AI systems can understand and cite your content, building governance so your answers stay accurate over time, and proving results through measurement that connects AI visibility to business impact.
Send us your site and top three pages. We'll show you what's blocking citations and what to prioritize next.
Conclusion
Most agencies selling AI search optimization services can't prove they know what they're doing. They talk about "AI SEO" without showing schema examples, case studies, or monitoring dashboards. They promise results they can't measure and deliver strategy decks instead of artifacts.
This scorecard changes that. You now have a weighted evaluation system, a list of red flags that signal trouble, and RFP questions that separate real capability from empty promises. Score any agency honestly using this framework. Require evidence for every category. Set your minimum bar at 70 out of 100 with strong scores on eligibility and measurement.
Start with an AISO X-Ray if you want to see where you stand before choosing an agency. Send us your site and top three revenue pages. You'll get a snapshot of your current AI visibility, your biggest gaps, and your fastest wins in 10 to 15 minutes. No sales calls required. Just clear data you can use to make better decisions about AI search optimization.