You don't fire your SEO agency to start AEO, and any AEO firm that suggests otherwise is telling you something about themselves. The two disciplines answer different questions: your SEO team asks whether you rank in a list of results; we ask whether the AI's one answer names you. What follows is the practical working arrangement, who does what, where it overlaps, and what coordination helps.
Who does what
| Layer | Your SEO agency | Aeova |
|---|---|---|
| The question | Where do you rank, and for which keywords? | Does the AI's answer recommend you, or a competitor? |
| Measured with | Rank trackers, Search Console, analytics | Real buyer questions asked of ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, repeatedly, method public |
| Owns | Rankings strategy, keywords, link building, the technical SEO programme | Answer measurement, citability diagnosis, the evidence layer AI draws on, before/after proof |
| Shared substrate | Structured data, machine-readable pages, freshness, consistent business details: the same foundations serve both. Coordinated on one approvals sheet to reduce duplication and keep ownership clear. | |
What we need from your SEO team
- Nothing, to start. The baseline measurement runs entirely from outside: we ask the engines what they say about you today. There's nothing for your SEO agency to do before the diagnosis exists, though per the FAQ below, we'd rather they knew from day one.
- At the fix stage: sight of the approvals sheet. Every proposed change is listed before it ships. Your SEO team sees it, flags anything they'd rather implement themselves, and keeps full ownership of their programme.
- Ideally: their hands on some fixes. They have the site access and the history. If they implement changes, our re-measurement shows whether the numbers moved afterwards, and everybody's work is visible in the same data.
For SEO professionals
If you run SEO for clients and you're reading this because one of them mentioned us: we want to work with you, not around you. You own the rankings programme; we bring the answer-layer measurement no rank tracker shows, and the re-measurement that shows movement after approved changes, including changes your team made. If you'd like the measurement layer for your own client base, or just want the methodology in full before we're ever on a call together: how we measure, or write to us: felix@aeovapartners.com.
Longer background: AEO vs SEO, the practical difference. Evaluating providers, including your incumbent's own AEO claims: the questions to demand of anyone selling this.
Common questions
Do I need to replace my SEO agency to start AEO?
No, and we'd advise against it. Your SEO agency manages how you appear in ranked search results; we measure and improve whether AI assistants name you in their one answer. Different question, shared foundations. Aeova engagements are designed to run alongside an existing SEO relationship, and the overlap work (structured data, machine-readable pages, freshness) is coordinated, not duplicated.
Will AEO work conflict with what my SEO agency is doing?
They shouldn't, if the work is coordinated, because the layers are different: they optimise for ranking positions, we optimise for being retrieved and named in AI answers. Where the work overlaps, the same fix usually helps both. We put every proposed change on an approvals sheet before it ships, so your SEO team can flag anything they'd rather own, and nothing lands on the site twice.
Should I tell my SEO agency we're bringing in an AEO firm?
Yes, and we'd rather you did it on day one. We prefer a setup where your SEO team implements some of the fixes themselves: they have the site access, they know the history, and the re-measurement can show whether their changes moved the numbers too. We're happy to walk them through the diagnosis directly.
My SEO agency says they already do AEO. How do I check?
Ask one question: how many times do you ask each AI question before quoting a number? AI answers change between identical runs, so a single check proves nothing. If the answer involves repeated measurement and proportions, they're doing it properly, keep them. If it's a screenshot or a dashboard glance, that is closer to monitoring than to a measured fix-and-prove process.
Updated July 2026