Discover 7 alternatives to traditional SEO agencies for Answer Engine Optimization, from specialized AEO firms ($5.5K/month) to in-house teams ($403K first-year cost).
Updated November 24, 2025
Let's say you rank #1 on Google for your money term which could be "project management software." Your SEO agency sends monthly reports celebrating keyword positions and domain authority improvements. Yet when a prospect asks ChatGPT "What's the best project management tool for distributed engineering teams?", your competitors get recommended while you never appear.
You're experiencing a new form of invisibility. Your prospects spend only 17% of their time talking to vendors, letting AI assistants compile shortlists instead. Gartner research shows traditional search engine traffic will drop 25% by 2026. For your complex product and technical buyers, this is an existential pipeline threat - deals you'll never even know existed.
Your SEO agency optimizes for rankings. Answer Engine Optimization specialists engineer for citations. The difference determines whether your SaaS company appears in the AI-generated answers that now mediate half of all B2B purchase decisions.
Answer Engine Optimization means structuring content so ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity cite your brand when prospects ask for recommendations. Traditional SEO gets you ranked in a list of blue links. AEO gets you directly recommended in the answer itself, before prospects ever see a list.
The technical differences are substantial. SEO agencies build strategies around keywords, backlinks, and page authority. AEO requires semantic search optimization, knowledge graph integration, and content structured for conversational AI queries. When a prospect asks an AI assistant about software solutions, the platform doesn't return a ranked list - it synthesizes an answer from sources it trusts.
Traditional SEO agencies lack three critical capabilities:
For a detailed comparison of how AEO differs from traditional SEO, watch this comprehensive breakdown from GTMnow explaining the fundamental shift in how people discover products.
You have seven types of AEO partners to choose from, each with different capabilities, costs, and risks. Here's how they compare for your situation.
Specialized AEO agencies focus exclusively on getting B2B brands cited by AI platforms. These providers have built proprietary tracking infrastructure, developed published frameworks tested against LLM retrieval systems, and structured their operations for daily content production. They audit your current visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, produce content using frameworks tested against LLM retrieval, build third-party validation through Reddit and review platforms, and implement technical schema markup. They benchmark your share of voice vs. competitors weekly.
Monthly retainers start at $5,495 to $10,000+, depending on content volume and scope. The investment typically includes end-to-end content production, not just strategy. Excellent for B2B SaaS, fintech platforms, and technical products where buyers conduct extensive research via AI. Particularly effective for companies with complex value propositions that require detailed explanations rather than simple feature comparisons. One B2B SaaS company went from 500 to 3,500+ AI-referred trials in seven weeks using a specialized AEO approach. If you're seeing declining organic MQLs, this represents the pipeline replacement you need. The best specialized agencies offer month-to-month contracts with no long-term lock-in, reducing your risk.
Traditional SEO agencies are adding AEO services by expanding their existing teams rather than building specialized capabilities. These hybrid providers attempt to serve both Google rankings and AI visibility, often using third-party tools instead of proprietary systems. Retainers typically run $2,000-$10,000 monthly. Many charge $5K-$10K for 15 articles, which may lack the volume needed for meaningful citation gains.
The split focus between traditional SEO and AEO can dilute effectiveness in both channels. Most hybrid agencies repurpose SEO tactics rather than developing LLM-specific methodologies and lack infrastructure to measure citation rates across AI platforms. For a practical look at how some agencies are adapting their approach, Surfer Academy's guide to dominating AI search results shows the gap between traditional SEO thinking and AI-first optimization.
Generalist B2B marketing agencies offer comprehensive services including branding, content marketing, demand generation, and increasingly, AEO as an add-on. These agencies bring broad marketing expertise but often lack the technical specialization required for effective AI visibility. They handle full-funnel marketing strategy, brand positioning, multi-channel content production, marketing automation integration, and basic content optimization for search visibility.
Project-based or retainer engagements typically start at $10,000 to $25,000+ monthly for comprehensive services. AEO may be bundled as part of broader content marketing rather than a standalone focus. Good for companies needing comprehensive marketing support across multiple channels, but less effective when your primary need is AI visibility specifically. The generalist approach means these agencies lack deep technical knowledge of how LLM retrieval systems work. They may produce high-quality content that performs well with human readers but fails to get cited by AI platforms due to missing technical elements.
Building an internal AEO capability gives you complete control over strategy and execution. This approach combines hiring specialized talent with subscribing to DIY AEO tools and platforms. You get full strategic control over content direction, direct integration with product teams and customer feedback loops, use of tools like SEMrush AI Visibility Toolkit, and ability to quickly pivot based on real-time AI platform changes.
First-year cost typically reaches $403,000 when you factor in six essential roles (AEO strategist, technical SEO specialist, content production manager, data analyst, community manager, and editor), plus tool and infrastructure costs. Best for larger software companies ($10M+ ARR) with the budget and organizational maturity to support a specialized team.
The learning curve is steep and expensive. Most companies underestimate the time required to develop expertise, often taking six to nine months before seeing meaningful results. Tool subscriptions provide data but not the strategic expertise to interpret and act on it effectively. To see what an in-house implementation looks like in practice, Backlinko's tutorial on auditing AI search presence with Semrush demonstrates the complexity of even basic visibility tracking.
Public relations agencies focus on securing media mentions, industry awards, and third-party validation. These activities contribute to AEO by building the authoritative signals that AI platforms trust, but PR firms rarely have the content production capability to execute comprehensive AEO strategies. They excel at media relations, third-party mentions and citations that AI platforms value, influencer partnerships, and crisis management.
Monthly retainers typically range from $5,000 to $15,000 for ongoing PR services. PR firms excel at building authority signals through external validation, which is crucial for AI citation, but they typically don't produce the daily content volume required to achieve share of voice in AI answers. PR firms secure occasional high-value mentions but lack the content operations to build sustained topical authority.
Independent consultants and small boutique firms offer strategic AEO guidance based on their research into AI platform behavior. These specialists provide valuable strategic direction but often lack the execution infrastructure to implement recommendations at scale. They bring deep technical understanding of LLM retrieval mechanics, strategic roadmaps and AEO audits, custom research and testing methodologies, and guidance on AI platform algorithm changes.
Hourly rates run $200 to $500+ or project-based engagements ranging from $5,000 for audits to $25,000+ for comprehensive strategy development. Good for companies with existing content teams who need strategic direction but can handle execution internally. Strategy without execution often leads to plans that sit unused. The Grow and Convert Marketing Show's discussion of common AI visibility mistakes highlights how strategic knowledge alone doesn't translate to execution success.
Continuing with your existing SEO agency represents the lowest-disruption option but carries the highest opportunity cost as search behavior shifts toward AI platforms. They offer proven track records of improving Google rankings, established workflows and reporting systems, technical SEO expertise for traditional search engines, and keyword research and backlink building.
Monthly retainers typically run $2,000 to $10,000 depending on scope and company size. While traditional SEO remains important for the portion of buyers who still use Google's classic results, the percentage of zero-click searches continues to rise. Software companies focused only on Google rankings will lose visibility with the growing cohort of AI-first researchers. Traditional SEO agencies lack the frameworks, tools, and expertise to optimize for AI citations.
For a frank comparison of agency quality, Bruce Clay's breakdown of bad vs. good SEO agencies reveals why many traditional firms struggle to adapt to new search paradigms.
The table below compares the seven alternatives across the criteria that matter most: primary focus, contract flexibility, AI technical depth, content volume capability, and optimal use case.
| Alternative | Primary Focus | Contract Style | AI Tech Depth | Content Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specialized AEO Agency | AI citation engineering | Month-to-month | High (proprietary tracking) | Daily production (20-60+ articles/month) |
| Hybrid SEO/AEO Agency | Traditional SEO + basic AEO | 3-12 month contracts | Medium (third-party tools) | 10-15 articles/month |
| B2B Tech Marketing Agency | Full-funnel marketing | 6-12 month retainers | Low to medium | 8-12 articles/month |
| In-House Team + Tools | Complete strategic control | N/A (internal build) | Variable (depends on hires) | Highly variable |
| Alternative | Best For |
|---|---|
| Specialized AEO Agency | You prioritize AI visibility and pipeline impact over everything else |
| Hybrid SEO/AEO Agency | You want both Google rankings and modest AI presence |
| B2B Tech Marketing Agency | You need full-service marketing, not specialized AEO focus |
| In-House Team + Tools | You're a larger company ($10M+ ARR) with budget and patience |
| PR & Reputation Firm | You have existing content needing authority signals |
| Niche AI Consultant | You have internal execution capability seeking direction |
| Traditional SEO Agency | You're not yet prioritizing AI visibility (declining relevance) |
Evaluate potential AEO partners using these six decision factors that go beyond traditional agency criteria:
Published methodology and framework: Effective AEO requires a systematic approach, not random content production. Ask potential partners to walk through their specific framework for optimizing content for AI citation. The best providers publish their methodologies publicly, demonstrating transparency and expertise.
Proprietary tracking infrastructure: AI visibility measurement requires custom technology because platforms like ChatGPT and Claude don't provide public APIs. Ask potential partners how they track citations across AI platforms. Providers relying solely on third-party tools have limited visibility.
Software industry case studies: Look for providers with documented results from software companies similar to yours in size, product complexity, and buyer persona. Review specific metrics like AI-referred trial growth or pipeline attribution, not vague "visibility improvements."
Content production capacity: Achieving meaningful share of voice requires daily content publication, not the 10 to 15 monthly articles typical of traditional agencies. Ask about operational infrastructure for sustained high-volume production.
Technical implementation capability: Beyond strategy and content, effective AEO requires technical optimization including schema markup, entity structure, and site architecture changes. Evaluate whether potential partners have the technical SEO expertise to implement these requirements.
Flexible contract terms: The AEO category is nascent and methodologies continue to evolve. Month-to-month contracts reduce your risk when testing AEO for the first time.
Backlinko's analysis of brands that cracked AI visibility shows the common patterns among successful implementations across industries.
We built Discovered Labs specifically to solve AI invisibility for B2B software companies. Our team combines an AI researcher who built LLM systems with a demand generation marketer who helped scale B2B SaaS companies to $20M+ ARR. We use proprietary tracking technology to measure your citations across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, and we produce 20-60+ articles monthly (daily cadence, not weekly) while handling technical implementation plus Reddit marketing to build third-party validation.
Packages start at €5,495/month with month-to-month terms. We helped one B2B SaaS company grow from 500 to 3,500+ AI-referred trials in seven weeks. Request an AI visibility audit to see where you stand vs. competitors.
Your choice comes down to three factors: budget available, internal expertise, and urgency of the AI invisibility problem. Every prospect who asks an AI assistant for software recommendations and receives a shortlist excluding your brand represents pipeline you'll never see. Traditional search volume projections show significant declines through 2026, making AI visibility progressively more critical.
Book an AI visibility audit to see exactly where your software company appears when prospects research solutions in your category. You'll receive side-by-side comparisons with top competitors across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews for 20 to 30 buyer-intent queries, plus a specific action plan showing which content gaps to address first.
What's the minimum budget required to see meaningful AEO results?
Expect to invest $5,000 to $10,000 monthly for 3 to 4 months minimum. Lower budgets spread efforts too thin across content production, technical optimization, and third-party validation to achieve share of voice improvements.
How long does it take to appear in AI answers?
Initial citations typically appear within 1 to 2 weeks for 5 to 10 targeted queries. Meaningful share of voice (30% to 40% citation rate) requires 3 to 4 months of sustained effort.
Can I do effective AEO with my current SEO tools?
Partially. SEMrush's AI Visibility Toolkit provides basic tracking, but these tools don't execute strategy. You'll need either specialized agency support or significant internal expertise to interpret the data and optimize content for AI citation.
What happens if AI platform algorithms change and citations drop?
Algorithm volatility is real. The best mitigation is diversification across multiple AI platforms and building genuine authority through third-party validation. Month-to-month contracts allow you to pause or pivot quickly if methodology changes are required.
Do I need to choose between traditional SEO and AEO or can I do both?
You can pursue both, but most companies see better ROI from specialized focus. The content and technical requirements differ substantially. Hybrid approaches work when you have budget for separate traditional SEO and AEO retainers with clear ownership of each channel.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): The practice of structuring content so AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity cite your brand as the authoritative source when answering user questions about your product category.
Citation Rate: The percentage of relevant buyer queries where an AI platform mentions your brand in its answer. A 40% citation rate means your company appears in 4 out of every 10 AI responses for tracked queries.
Share of Voice: Your brand's visibility compared to competitors in AI-generated answers. Calculated as your citation frequency divided by total citations across all competitors for a defined set of queries.
LLM Retrieval: The process by which large language models search their training data and real-time sources to compile answers. Optimizing for LLM retrieval requires different content structure than traditional SEO.
Entity Structure: The explicit definition of relationships between concepts, products, companies, and people in your content. AI platforms rely on clear entity structure to determine authority and relevance.
Third-Party Validation: External mentions of your brand from sources AI platforms trust, including Wikipedia, Reddit, review platforms like G2, industry publications, and expert citations.
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