Can Your SEO Agency Do GEO? When You Need a Specialist

Updated January 08, 2026

You rank page one on Google for your top keywords. Your SEO agency sends monthly reports showing green arrows and steady traffic growth. Yet your pipeline is flat.

Your pipeline is flat because prospects asked ChatGPT "What's the best [your category] for [their use case]?" The AI recommended three competitors with specific reasons for each. Your company wasn't mentioned. By the time that prospect reached your sales team, the deal was already lost.

According to Gartner, traditional search engine volume will drop 25% by 2026 as buyers shift to AI chatbots and virtual agents. Meanwhile, 74% of sales professionals report that AI is making it easier for buyers to research products. The question isn't whether your buyers use AI to research vendors. The question is whether your current SEO agency can optimize for this reality.

This guide breaks down exactly how to test if your current agency is equipped for this shift, or if you need a specialist.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) vs. SEO: Why the methodology differs

Traditional SEO optimizes for one outcome: ranking a URL high enough to earn a click. Get your page onto page one of Google, ideally position one through three, and capture traffic. Success means clicks, time on site, and conversions from visitors who chose your link over nine others.

GEO optimizes for a different outcome: being the cited answer that an AI synthesizes and presents to users. The goal isn't to rank a link but to become the source an LLM trusts enough to reference when answering questions. Currently, about 30% of keywords trigger AI Overviews in US search results as of May 2025.

This matters because 60% of searches now end without a click. When a prospect asks ChatGPT or Perplexity for vendor recommendations, they don't always click through to your site. The AI synthesizes information from multiple sources and presents a consolidated answer. If you're cited, you're in the consideration set. If you're not cited, you're invisible.

The technical difference comes down to keywords versus entities. Traditional SEO focuses on matching words to queries through keyword density, title tags, and backlink anchor text. Entity-based optimization clarifies meaning so Google and AI systems can accurately place your content within their semantic networks.

For example, traditional SEO for "project management software" optimizes around that exact phrase and related keywords like "task tracking" and "team collaboration." Entity-based GEO clarifies relationships between concepts like "Agile methodology," "Gantt charts," and "resource allocation," building authority signals that help LLMs understand your product's place in the category ecosystem.

The conversion advantage is substantial. Research analyzing millions of website visits shows AI search visitors convert at rates 4-5x higher than traditional organic search on average. By the time an AI search user visits your site, they've already compared options and learned about your value proposition, making them far more likely to convert.

5 signs your current SEO agency is "AI-washing" their services

Every agency now claims they "do AI" or have "adapted for the AI era." Most are AI-washing: adding buzzwords to their service descriptions without changing their methodology. Here are five specific signs your agency isn't equipped for true GEO work.

1. They cannot track citations across AI platforms

Ask your agency: "How often does ChatGPT cite our brand when prospects ask category questions?" If they can't answer with data, they're not doing GEO. You need to monitor how brands appear across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Research shows that G2's visibility score climbed from 6.3% to 14.9% between August and October 2025, ranking first overall ahead of Microsoft, HubSpot, Salesforce, and Google.

Most traditional agencies rely on Google Analytics and ranking tools like Semrush or Ahrefs. These tools measure keyword positions and traffic, not AI citations. Specialized GEO partners build or use proprietary tools to test queries across multiple AI platforms, measure citation frequency, calculate share of voice, and benchmark against competitors.

2. Their "AI strategy" is just using ChatGPT to write blogs

Using AI to generate content is not the same as optimizing for AI discovery. True GEO involves building brand authority through mentions on high-authority sites, creating content with information gain, and structuring information for LLM retrieval.

AI writing tools help you produce content faster. GEO methodology ensures LLMs cite that content. One boosts productivity. The other builds strategic authority.

3. They focus on keyword density instead of information gain

Traditional SEO measures success by whether you've included target keywords enough times in the right places (title, H1, first paragraph, meta description). Information gain measures the value new content adds beyond what's already available on the web. LLMs prioritize sources that introduce new, relevant information rather than rehashing existing content with keyword variations.

If your agency's content brief template still includes "keyword density targets" and "LSI keyword lists" without addressing what unique information your content provides, they're optimizing for 2015 Google, not 2026 AI systems.

4. They ignore third-party validation sources like Reddit, G2, and Wikipedia

Research shows more than half of references and citations come from earned third-party media, not owned content. Brands appearing simultaneously on Wikipedia, Reddit, and G2 show a 2.8x higher likelihood of being cited by both ChatGPT and Perplexity.

If your SEO agency isn't actively working to secure and maintain accurate presence on Wikipedia, earn positive reviews on G2 and Capterra, and participate strategically in Reddit discussions, they don't understand how LLMs triangulate information to assess authority.

5. They promise "guaranteed rankings" in AI results

While SEO tactics can predictably improve rankings over time, GEO operates probabilistically. No agency can guarantee your brand will appear in every relevant ChatGPT response because LLMs synthesize information dynamically based on the specific query, user context, and training data.

Legitimate GEO partners talk about citation rates (the percentage of relevant queries where you're mentioned), share of voice (your citation frequency versus competitors), and probabilistic improvement over time. They measure success in trends and benchmarks, not absolute guarantees.

The technical skills gap: What true GEO requires

The skill set for effective GEO differs substantially from traditional SEO. Understanding this gap helps you evaluate whether your current agency can realistically deliver results or whether you need specialized expertise.

Entity-level authority and knowledge engineering

Entity-based SEO is a content optimization strategy built around concepts, relationships, and context rather than isolated keyword phrases. Search engines and LLMs identify entities (distinct concepts, people, places, or things) and connect them through knowledge graphs to interpret meaning and determine topical authority.

You need technical understanding of schema markup, knowledge graphs, and how LLMs evaluate entity relationships to determine which sources are authoritative on specific topics.

The CITABLE framework for content structure

Discovered Labs developed the CITABLE framework to ensure content is optimal for LLM retrieval while maintaining quality for human readers:

• C - Clear entity and structure: LLMs favor content that's both easy to understand and properly sourced, citing this type more often.
• I - Intent architecture: Content must directly address user intent and adjacent questions that naturally follow.
• T - Third-party validation: More than half of references come from earned media, not owned content.
• A - Answer grounding: Every claim must be verifiable with authoritative sources.
• B - Block-structured for RAG: Q&A format performs best for AI search, structured content with headings and lists is almost as effective, while dense paragraphs perform worst.
• L - Latest and consistent: 65% of AI bot traffic targets content published or updated within the last year.
• E - Entity graph and schema: Explicit relationships in copy help LLMs understand how your brand connects to the broader category.

Data and analytics capabilities

Measuring GEO performance requires tracking capabilities most traditional agencies lack. Effective measurement includes monitoring AI Citation Frequency (how often your brand appears in AI responses to target queries), Share of AI Voice (percentage of AI citations in your category that reference your brand versus competitors), AI-Driven Conversion Rate (how visitors from AI platforms convert compared to other sources), and Brand Authority Signals.

Princeton GEO research finds optimization increases LLM visibility by 30-40%, with sites cited across four or more AI platforms 2.8x more likely to appear in ChatGPT responses.

Comparison: Traditional SEO agency vs. specialized GEO partner

Decision framework: When to keep your agency vs. hire a specialist

The decision to keep your existing SEO agency, add a specialized GEO partner, or switch entirely depends on your business model, buyer behavior, and current performance.

Scenario A: Keep your SEO agency

Traditional SEO remains valuable for B2C companies with transactional intent, e-commerce and local services focused on direct conversions, and lower ticket items with high volume sales models. Currently, Google sends 345 times more traffic than all AI platforms combined.

Scenario B: Hybrid model (keep SEO, add GEO specialist)

The hybrid approach makes sense for large B2B organizations with complex technical SEO needs, companies with substantial existing domain authority, and brands where GEO complements SEO in offering comprehensive digital visibility.

Your existing SEO agency continues handling technical website health (site speed, crawlability, indexation), backlink acquisition, and traditional ranking optimization. You add a specialized GEO partner to handle AI-optimized content production, third-party validation building, citation tracking and reporting, and entity authority development.

Scenario C: Switch to a GEO specialist

Specialized GEO partners make most sense for sectors with question-driven research cycles including B2B/B2C SaaS and high-consideration e-commerce. These categories see outsized gains because buyers conduct extensive research, compare multiple options, and increasingly use AI tools to synthesize information.

If your business operates with high ACV B2B SaaS models, buyers who use ChatGPT and Perplexity for vendor research, long sales cycles where early visibility matters, and declining organic pipeline despite consistent SEO investment, you likely need specialized GEO expertise.

The data supports this decision: sectors where buyers research extensively see conversion rates significantly higher from AI traffic compared to traditional search. When Ahrefs analyzed their own traffic, they found 0.5% of visitors came from AI Search but represented 12.1% of signups, a conversion rate 23x higher than traditional organic search.

Pros and cons of hiring a specialized GEO agency:

Pros:

• Higher conversion traffic from prospects who've already compared options
• Princeton research shows optimization increases LLM visibility by 30-40%
• Future-proof positioning as AI channels grow rapidly
• Specialized expertise in citation tracking and entity optimization
• Month-to-month flexibility allows testing before long-term commitment

Cons:

• Attribution challenges in zero-click environments where typical ROI frameworks don't translate
• Results take 3-4 months to reach full optimization
• Higher investment compared to maintaining status quo with existing SEO agency

How Discovered Labs approaches GEO for B2B SaaS

Discovered Labs specializes exclusively in getting B2B SaaS companies cited by AI platforms when prospects research vendors. Our approach differs from traditional agencies adding "AI optimization" as an afterthought.

The audit: Finding where you're invisible

We start by testing 50-100 core commercial and informational queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews. This AI Visibility Audit reveals exactly where competitors are cited while you're invisible, which queries trigger AI responses in your category, and how third-party sources currently represent you.

The fix: Daily content using CITABLE

We publish CITABLE-optimized content designed as direct answers to buyer questions. Each piece follows entity-first architecture, includes verifiable facts with authoritative sources, uses block structure optimized for LLM retrieval (Q&A format, tables, lists), and targets specific citation opportunities identified in the audit. We implement FAQ schema, Article schema, and entity markup on every piece so AI platforms can easily extract and verify information.

We work to earn mentions on platforms LLMs commonly cite: industry publications through original research, Reddit discussions through authentic community participation using aged, high-karma accounts, review sites like G2 and Capterra, and authoritative forums relevant to your category.

The proof: Measurable citation growth

Internal case studies show clients achieving significant improvements in AI-referred traffic and conversions through systematic GEO optimization. We track citation rate across platforms, share of voice versus top competitors, trending queries where you're gaining visibility, and content performance analysis identifying what drives citations.

The contract: Month-to-month, we earn the work

We operate on month-to-month terms with no long-term contracts. If we're not delivering measurable citation growth and pipeline impact, you can cancel with 30-day notice. This structure forces us to prove value continuously rather than relying on contract lock-in. Compare this to traditional agencies that require 6-12 month commitments regardless of performance.

Frequently asked questions about GEO agencies

How long does it take to see results from GEO optimization?

Some initial citations can appear within weeks of optimization, particularly for branded queries. Entity optimization results typically require 90-180 days for broader topical authority gains that impact AI Overview inclusion and knowledge graph positioning. Building to strong citation rates across priority queries typically takes 3-4 months of consistent content production and third-party validation building.

Can I just use AI writing tools in-house instead of hiring a GEO agency?

AI writing tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Jasper help with content creation but don't provide the strategic framework for GEO. They can't audit your current AI visibility across platforms, develop query strategy based on competitive gaps, track citation rates and share of voice, or build entity authority through third-party validation. Tools help write faster. Strategy determines what to write and how to structure it for citations.

Does GEO replace traditional SEO?

No. Traditional SEO remains critical because Google still sends 345 times more traffic than all AI platforms combined. Rather than replacing SEO, AI search creates an additional optimization opportunity. The winning strategy combines both. Many traditional SEO factors (publishing helpful content, ensuring crawlability, securing brand citations) drive visibility in both Google and LLMs.

What metrics should I track to measure GEO success?

Track citation rate (percentage of target queries where your brand appears in AI responses), share of voice (your citations versus competitors in your category), AI-referred traffic volume and conversion rates, and branded search volume growth. Unlike traditional SEO where rankings and traffic are primary metrics, GEO success centers on whether AI platforms recommend you when prospects research solutions.

How do I know if my buyers are actually using AI for research?

If you operate in B2B/B2C SaaS or other sectors with complex solutions, your buyers are using AI. 74% of sales professionals report that AI is making it easier for buyers to research products. Ask your sales team whether prospects mention using ChatGPT during discovery calls. Check if "AI search" or specific AI platforms appear in your analytics as referral sources.

Ready to see exactly where competitors are cited while you're invisible? We'll test 50-100 buyer queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews in your AI Visibility Audit. Month-to-month terms, no long-term contract. Book a strategy call to see if we're the right fit.

Key terms glossary

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): The practice of optimizing content to appear as sources and citations in AI-generated responses from platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Claude.

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): Creating and optimizing content to ensure it is easily discoverable by answer engines that directly provide concise answers to user questions.

Large Language Model (LLM): An AI system trained on vast amounts of text data that can understand and generate human-like text, powering tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.

AI Overview: Google's AI feature that produces AI-generated summaries of search results, appearing when their systems determine they'll be most helpful.