Hiring a generative engine optimization agency in 2026 is not the same decision as hiring an SEO agency in 2015. The discipline is newer, the standards are less settled, and the wrong choice will cost you months of momentum while your competitors get cited in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Overview answers instead of you. The seven questions below give B2B buyers a practical filter to separate agencies that understand this space from those that are repackaging old SEO work under a new label.

TL;DR

• GEO is not SEO with a rebrand. Ask any candidate agency to show you exactly which LLM behaviors they are optimizing for and how they measure it.

• Demand to see real benchmark prompts, not just a vague "AI visibility score."

• Find out whether the agency handles strategy and execution together, or whether you will be handed a dashboard and left to figure it out.

• Confirm they understand B2B lead generation through AI channels, not just traffic or impressions.

• Check for client exclusivity. If they run the same playbook for your direct competitor, your gain is also their gain.

About the Author: Simaia is an agentic marketing team that runs the full AI visibility playbook for B2B companies across APAC, having grown client AI search visibility from 0% to 45% within 2.5 months and delivered a 10x increase in inbound leads for a global manufacturer.

What Actually Makes a GEO Agency Different from an SEO Agency?

A generative engine optimization agency optimizes for how large language models retrieve and cite brand content, not just how search engines index and rank web pages. While SEO focuses on keyword rankings in traditional results, GEO focuses on whether a brand appears in the synthesized answers that ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overview generate when a buyer asks a question.

The distinction matters because the signals are different. Google's ranking algorithm rewards backlinks, page authority, and keyword density. LLMs weight source credibility, structured factual claims, and whether content appears on the platforms each model has been trained to trust. A blog post optimized only for Google may never get cited by ChatGPT. An agency that does not account for this difference is not doing GEO regardless of what it calls itself [nativedigital.com].

Question 1: Can You Show Me the Exact Prompts Behind Your AI Visibility Score?

Every credible GEO agency should be able to show you the benchmark prompts they use to measure AI visibility before and after their work [nativedigital.com]. If an agency gives you a single composite score without revealing the underlying questions, you cannot verify what is actually being measured or whether those questions reflect how your buyers search.

What to look for:

• A defined set of prompts tested across multiple models (ideally 40 to 60 per audit cycle)

• Prompts written from the buyer's perspective, not the brand's

• Separate scores per model (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overview) rather than a blended average

Question 2: What Does a 90-Day Outcome Look Like for a B2B Company in My Category?

This question separates agencies with a repeatable process from those who are figuring it out as they go. A strong LLM optimization agency should be able to describe specific outcomes at specific time horizons, not just activities [nativedigital.com].

Outcomes worth asking about directly:

• AI visibility percentage across target models at 30, 60, and 90 days

• Volume of content placed on the sources each LLM cites (LinkedIn, Reddit, industry media)

• Whether lead identification is included, meaning can they tell you which companies visited your site after finding you in an AI answer

Question 3: How Do You Decide What Content Gets Written and Where It Gets Placed?

Not all content placement is equal across models. ChatGPT tends to cite LinkedIn and authoritative media. Google AI Overview cites Reddit threads and structured on-site content. A B2B content marketing agency operating in the GEO space needs to match content format and distribution channel to the specific model behavior it is targeting [nativedigital.com].

Ask the agency to walk you through their decision logic:

• Which platforms do they prioritize for which models?

• How do they format on-site blog content so LLMs can extract and cite it, rather than just index it?

• How do they pace content volume against existing Google Search Console health to avoid harming current organic rankings?

That last point is frequently overlooked. Publishing a large volume of new content quickly can destabilize existing rankings if it is not managed against crawl budget and indexing signals.

Question 4: Do You Handle Strategy and Execution, or Will I Need to Operate a Dashboard?

This is the question most buyers forget to ask, and it is where many ChatGPT SEO agency engagements break down [meerkatmediagroup.com] [seoptimer.com]. Some vendors sell access to a tool or a report. Others run the entire operation on your behalf. For most B2B companies without a dedicated in-house marketing function, the latter is the only viable option.

The right agency covers:

• AI search audit and competitor gap analysis

• Content writing, formatting, and placement

• Media outreach and press release distribution

• Lead identification from inbound AI referral traffic

• Reporting and iteration, without requiring your team to log in and interpret anything

Question 5: Have You Worked with B2B Companies in a Comparable Category, and Can You Share Results?

Industry experience matters more in GEO than in traditional SEO because the buyer journey in B2B is specific. The prompts a procurement manager types into Perplexity when researching a manufacturing supplier are structurally different from those a consumer types when shopping for software [exploredigital.com] [seoptimer.com].

When evaluating case studies, look for:

• Measurable AI visibility growth (percentage of target prompts where the brand appears)

• Evidence of b2b lead generation through AI channels, not just traffic increases

• Specifics, such as AI bot visit growth, number of LLM-optimized assets published, or domain authority changes from media placement

Question 6: Do You Offer Client Exclusivity Within a Market or Category?

This question is particularly important for companies in competitive niches [seotuners.com]. If a best AI marketing agency is running an identical playbook for your direct competitor in the same city or vertical, every piece of visibility they win for them is visibility they are also winning against you. Ask for a direct answer. Request names if they can share them, and ask whether they enforce any exclusivity rule by keyword set or geography [seotuners.com].

Question 7: What Would You Deliberately Not Recommend for Our Situation?

The best agencies tell you what not to do [greenlanemarketing.com]. An agency that recommends everything is either selling scope or has not thought carefully about your specific context. A strong GEO partner should be able to say, for example, that paid AI advertising is premature for your budget stage, or that a particular platform does not index content in a way that influences the LLMs your buyers actually use.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a GEO agency? A GEO agency optimizes a brand's visibility inside AI-generated answers on platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Overview, rather than in traditional search rankings.

How is GEO different from SEO? SEO targets keyword rankings in standard search results. GEO targets citation and retrieval by large language models, which use different signals including source credibility, content structure, and platform distribution.

How long does GEO take to show results? Visible improvement in AI citation rates typically appears within 60 to 90 days when content is published at sufficient volume and placed on the right sources.

What makes a GEO agency right for B2B specifically? B2B buyers use AI tools to research vendors, compare categories, and shortlist suppliers. A specialist understands how to frame content around those research prompts, not just consumer queries.

Should I run GEO and SEO at the same time? Yes, provided they are coordinated. Content volume for GEO should be paced against Search Console health to avoid disrupting existing organic rankings.

How do I measure GEO success? Through benchmark prompt testing across multiple models, tracking the percentage of target queries where your brand appears before and after the engagement [nativedigital.com].

Do I need to hire in-house for GEO? Not necessarily. A done-for-you agency covers strategy, writing, distribution, and reporting without requiring internal headcount or technical knowledge.

About Simaia

Simaia is an agentic marketing team built for B2B companies that want to be found by buyers using ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overview. Operating as both the strategic brain and the executional body, Simaia runs the complete AI visibility playbook end-to-end: audit, content creation, distribution, media placement, and lead identification. For B2B companies across APAC without a full in-house marketing function, Simaia replaces the need to hire separately for strategy, content writing, PR, and lead intelligence. The engagement is set up in under 30 minutes and requires no internal technical operation.

If you are evaluating a GEO agency for your B2B brand and want to see what an AI search audit actually looks like for your category, visit Simaia to get started.