FAQ · Because you like to be two steps ahead
Questions to ask before you hire us
The questions marketing leaders ask us on the first call: what AI visibility is, how it fits with SEO, how we prove results, what it costs and how much of your team’s time it takes. If yours isn’t here, ask us directly.
01
AI visibility basics
What the work is, and how it sits next to the search program you already run.
Read the full guide →What is AI visibility?
AI visibility is whether AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews choose your brand as a source, mention it in their answers and describe it accurately. It decides whether you’re named when a buyer asks an AI for a recommendation, and whether what it says about you is right. The work is often called GEO (generative engine optimization) or AEO (answer engine optimization); AI visibility is the outcome those tactics aim for.
Is this just SEO with a new name?
No, but it’s built on SEO. SEO is foundational to GEO: crawlable pages, clear structure, consistent facts and real authority are what get you into the pool of sources AI draws from. GEO layers on top of that, into the decision-making layer, where the model picks one answer and decides which brands to name and how to describe them.
The two correlate strongly, but they aren’t the same. You can be the first result on page one of Google and still never show up in an AI answer. That’s because a model does the background research the average searcher never does: it reads past the top result, checks reviews, comparisons, forums and press, and only names you if those sources back you up.
SEO earns a ranked link that a person clicks. GEO earns a place inside the answer itself, often with no click at all. So the question changes from “did we rank?” to “were we selected, and were we described correctly?”
Do we have to stop doing SEO?
No. Traditional SEO still feeds the web content AI draws from, so strong rankings help. AI visibility covers the extra work SEO doesn’t: how easily models can extract your content, the language they use about you, the third-party sources that corroborate you, and how each platform describes you. Treat it as an extension of your search program with its own measurement, not a replacement.
Which AI platforms do you cover?
ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Google Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot and Meta AI. Each one picks sources differently, so we track and report them separately rather than as one blended number.
AI still sends very little traffic. Why invest now?
Judged by clicks alone, AI is still a small channel for most brands. But the recommendation happens inside the answer, before any click, and much of the demand it creates shows up later as branded search or direct traffic that analytics never credits to AI. Models also learn slowly: what the web says about you now shapes how they describe you months from now. We cover the full case in why being recommended by AI matters.
02
Results & accountability
How we define success, how we report it, and what happens if it isn’t working.
See the case studies →How do you define and measure results?
We agree on what a result is before any work starts, tied to revenue and pipeline rather than impressions. Then we measure how AI actually treats your brand: how often you’re mentioned, where you appear in answers, the sentiment and accuracy of what’s said, and which sources get cited, across many prompts and repeated over time. AI answers vary from run to run, so a single screenshot proves nothing; trends across many prompts do.
How fast will we see a difference?
Content and structure changes typically show up in AI answers within 2–4 weeks. Corroboration from third-party sources takes longer to build, and durable change across every platform usually takes months of consistent work. That’s why the AI Undercurrent runs for seven months rather than one.
Can you guarantee AI will recommend us?
We can’t promise any single answer. The AI platforms decide what they say, and they change how they decide. What we commit to is focused work in the categories and questions where your buyers ask for recommendations: removing the reasons a model skips or misdescribes you, and earning you a place in the sources it trusts. Not every tactic lands on every platform, so we track what moves across many prompts, report it monthly, and put more effort behind what’s working.
What if your strategy isn’t right for our business?
Then we’ll tell you upfront, before you spend anything. We’re not the right partner for:
- Local businesses
- Brands without a strong product or reputation to build on yet
- Companies looking to hide problems or bury legitimate criticism. We correct what AI gets wrong about you; we don’t hide what it gets right. We’re not a reputation management firm.
- Anyone asking us to do something sketchy
Why is this different from what our last vendor promised?
Fair question. You get a scored baseline before we change anything, a written plan for what we’ll fix and why, and monthly reporting against the metrics agreed at the start. Our track record is in the retention numbers: clients who stay past six months stay 4.3 years on average, and 75% increased their budget with us last year.
Do you use the same strategy for every client?
No. Every engagement starts from your own baseline: how AI describes you today, who it recommends instead, and which sources it trusts in your category. The plan follows from that, so no two clients get the same one.
Who will actually handle our account?
A senior lead owns every account, and they stay on it. Only three people have left our team in three years, so the people you start with are the people you keep.
How much of our team’s time will this take?
Less than you’d expect. Ongoing clients typically meet with us for 30 minutes every two weeks by video; everything else runs over email, Slack and Asana. Clients see the best results when deliverables are implemented within 48 hours, so the one thing we ask for is quick access and approvals.
Who implements the work: you or us?
It’s split. For your own website and channels, we give your team specific, prioritized implementation guidance, and your IT, web or content team makes the changes in your own systems. We don’t log in to your website or accounts: every company runs a different CMS with its own developers and approvals, and keeping changes with the people who own them avoids access problems and keeps accountability clear. Anything off-site, on pages your brand doesn’t control, we handle ourselves: third-party sites, listicles, editorial coverage, and community threads on Reddit and forums.
Will it look like we couldn’t do this ourselves?
No. Bringing in specialists for a new channel is a strategic call, and the results belong to your team. The Executive Game Plan and monthly reports are written to share with leadership.
What happens when an AI platform changes how it works?
We expect it. Search has always shifted under our feet, and AI platforms are no different. We monitor every platform continuously, see shifts in the data early, and adjust the plan before they cost you visibility.
04
Pricing & getting started
What it costs, how it starts, and what to do if you’re not ready yet.
View pricing →What services do you offer?
Three, and they work together:
- AI Undercurrent: our core program. We assess how AI understands your brand across six layers, then fix what’s holding you back.
- Citation Outreach: we earn your brand a place in the pages AI already cites for your buyers’ questions.
- AI Reputation: we correct what AI gets wrong about you, especially after a rebrand, merger or product change.
How much does it cost?
The AI Undercurrent is $18,000 a month for a seven-month program in three phases: Baseline (month one), Correction (months two to four) and Expansion (months five to seven). Citation Outreach and AI Reputation are scoped to your category and goals, and we’ll quote them after a first call.
What does the first month look like?
The Baseline phase: we agree on goals, score your brand across all six layers of our methodology, audit your own properties, capture how each AI platform describes you today, and deliver a Fix-First Roadmap of what to change first and why.
We already work with an SEO agency. Do we need to switch?
No. We often work alongside SEO agencies, and our own background is in SEO, so we speak the same language as your current partner. Some clients do move their SEO to us because they’d rather have one partner for both search and AI. That works too.
What if we’re not ready to commit yet?
That’s fine. We regularly help marketing leaders build the case for budget approval with senior leadership. In the meantime, read the AI Visibility Engineering guide, subscribe to the newsletter, or follow us on LinkedIn.