January 23, 2026

At the height of search engine dominance, SEO was the key way to get your business seen online. Now, however, more and more users are turning to generative AI answer engines for quick and succinct summaries of the best answers to their questions. This has drastically changed the way media companies and other online businesses earn visibility.

If you want to capitalize on the growth of AI engines, one of the best ways is to research Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), the process of making your business ideal for exposure via AI answer engines. There are many agencies out there that can help you get started with GEO, and below, we’ll give you some selection criteria and a few top agencies to check out in the coming year! 

How We Evaluate GEO Agencies

As with SEO before it, GEO is a complex subject. It’s often not practical to approach it on your own. Fortunately, there are many agencies out there who have mastered GEO and can help you get started optimizing your business, but you have to be wary of how to choose between them.

GEO is very new as a field, so “expertise” in it is something of a double-edged sword. It can be hard to judge whether an agency that offers GEO consultation is actually a good fit for you. With that in mind, we have compiled a list of criteria for you to consider when selecting a GEO agency.

Evaluation Criteria

When choosing a GEO agency, here are some of the things you should be looking for:

  • Clear GEO methodology–not just “AI SEO” branding
  • Measurement and reporting of AI metrics such as citations/mentions, prompt coverage, and share of voice
  • Technical SEO capability in fields such as indexation, architecture, and structured data
  • A content library strategy that is built for retrieval by AI generators
  • Authority-building strategies like digital PR, credible links, and brand footprint
  • Proof of impact and relationships across other industries such as SEO

Questions To Ask

Once you zero in on a few options, here are some key questions to ask your potential GEO agencies:

  • How do you track AI citations/mentions over time?
  • What does the first 30-60 days include?
  • How do you decide what content to create vs refresh vs consolidate?
  • How do you build authority safely and credibly?
  • What KPIs will you report monthly?

Best GEO Agencies To Work With

1. Zupo

Best For

B2B brands that want strong GEO practices, well-established SEO fundamentals, and authority-building support.

GEO Strengths

  • AI visibility baselining
  • Prompt set tracking
  • Content library strategy
  • Citation-oriented optimization

Ideal Client

B2B, SaaS, and service businesses that need measurable progress and clear prioritization.

What We Deliver

Naturally, we believe that Zupo offers the best GEO services for your business. While most agencies simply focus on practices, Zupo goes beyond to create a comprehensive and focused GEO strategy for your business, complete with an AI visibility framework designed to ensure that you appear in relevant searches, are associated with positive brand sentiment, and are represented accurately by AI summaries.

Advantages

  • Leader in AI Visibility research and testing.
  • Processes built around actual AI results trends.
  • Strong brand and AI alignment focus.
  • High-touch, high-communication team.

2. Bastion Agency

Best For

Brands in search of a single partner for communications, campaigns, digital, and web experiences.

GEO Strengths

  • Useful for aligning PR, content, creative, and digital execution
  • Proven track record at SEO
  • Clients have experienced 3x increases in organic traffic and revenue

Ideal Client

Businesses with difficulty creating a cohesive GEO strategy across multiple departments.

What They Deliver

Bastion has a high level of trust in integrated marketing and communications. Their large footprint can help you mold your brand narrative in addition to focusing on on-site content.

Advantages

  • Full-service agency
  • Ability to scale
  • Cross-functional delivery

3. Fire & Spark

Best For

Teams looking for creative experimentation and AI-adapted SEO strategies with a primary focus on revenue generation.

GEO Strengths

  • Strong GEO thought leadership
  • Strategic, revenue-oriented framing
  • Measurable ROI focused on important metrics

Ideal Client

Businesses looking to create a revenue-focused GEO strategy integrated with marketing growth.

What They Deliver

Fire & Spark anticipates and evolves ahead of GEO and SEO trends and has extensive experience across various industries. They prioritize ongoing, collaborative dialogue with your business team to develop and execute a pragmatic strategy based on factors such as competitor gap analysis, authority building, and AI search optimization.

Advantages

  • Clients have experienced a 109% increase in organic revenue
  • Google Partner, Ads, and Analytics Certified
  • Expert partner of Shopify and HubSpot

4. Seer Interactive

Best For

Businesses looking for an AI-driven search strategy and which are open to enterprise experimentation.

GEO Strengths

  • GEO-specific services
  • Research-backed approach
  • Emphasize structured data and schema

Ideal Client

Enterprise teams seeking a research-driven partner, strong analytics, and a clear focus on GEO.

What They Deliver

Seer is highly-focused on GEO, offering clients clear definitions and strategies specific to AI generators, whereas other agencies simply reuse SEO language. Their content strategies are explicitly geared towards how AI tools locate and create answers.

Advantages

  • Connects schema and content work to LLM understanding
  • Out-of-the-box thinking and experimentation to create unique results
  • Extensive communication of both positive and negative results

5. Siege Media

Best For

Creating content and digital PR engines engineered to generate AI citations and reference links.

GEO Strengths

  • Services are positioned around data, PR, and refresh systems
  • Future-focused, customer-driven strategies
  • Fusion of data journalism, digital PR, and freshness-driving technology

Ideal Client

Businesses looking for data-driven, scalable content updates designed to capitalize on proven AI trends.

What They Deliver

Siege Media offers a differentiated approach to GEO that places AI searches at the forefront of their strategy. They have a defined process for GEO that begins with identifying a business’ relevance-driven keyword difficulty, guides them through a comprehensive audit and retooling process, and then measures and iterates results with LLM trackers.

Advantages

  • Over $148 million in yearly client traffic value
  • Extensive industry experience
  • Major clients including TransUnion, Chime, Zillow, and PayPal. 

6. Conductor

Best For

Teams that are in need of GEO education, workable benchmarks, and enablement.

GEO Strengths

  • Strong GEO definitions
  • Benchmarking research
  • Comprehensive measurement frameworks 

Ideal Client

Businesses looking for a fundamental GEO strategy based on the three key capabilities of AI success: visibility, content generation, and technical performance.

What They Deliver

Though Conductor is not a traditional GEO agency, it offers vital benchmarks and research in the GEO field, including success standards based on AEO and GEO KPIs. Its measurement frameworks can be used in tandem with traditional agencies to provide a more nuanced look at how a business’ numbers are stacking up.

Advantages

  • Easy-to-use, all-in-one solution
  • Accelerated impact with end-to-end workflows
  • Built for enterprise scale, complexity, and security

7. Development Counsellors International (DCI)

Best For

DMOs, tourism boards, hospitality and travel brands, or place-based organizations.

GEO Strengths

  • GEO strategies deliberately aimed at travel PR and economic development marketing
  • Focus on AI trends specifically related to increased visitor arrivals and demand
  • Storytelling-focused optimization

Ideal Client

Businesses or destination venues that need to increase visibility, attract guests and visitors, and want to capitalize on AI marketing.

What They Deliver

DCI is an agency specializing in travel PR and tourism marketing for destinations and place-based brands. This highly-specific niche requires a different set of GEO practices, and DCI’s procedures are focused on optimizing destination venues for exposure via AI-generated search answers.

Advantages

  • Extensive destination experience and partnerships
  • Robust place-branding and marketing strategy capabilities
  • Exceptional credibility in the destination and travel industry

8. 9Sail

Best For

Law firms needing increased digital visibility and long-term marketing strategies.

GEO Strengths

  • Trend-based research designed to capitalize on changing landscapes
  • Strategically prioritizes connection with high-intent users who frequently engage with AI
  • Comprehensive website overhaul designed to maximize every aspect of your site

Ideal Client

Law firms looking to redesign their websites to increase digital visibility, generate leads, grow brand awareness, and increase relevant traffic.

What They Deliver

Like DCI, 9Sail is a specialized GEO agency. 9Sail focuses on creating digital marketing strategies and AI optimization for law firms. They assist firms in creating content, coming up with legal-specific SEO and GEO strategies, increasing brand credibility and authority, and dominating search rankings.

Advantages

  • Many clients experience 10x+ ROI
  • Major partners such as Romano Law, Frier Levitt, and Jacobs Berger, LLC
  • Sustainable growth plans for continuous GEO optimization 

9. Holland Adhaus

Best For

B2B businesses looking specifically for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and website redesign.

GEO Strengths

  • Customizable AEO audits and scorecards
  • Actionable insights focused on improving citations and trust signals
  • Focus on content, schema, and snippets

Ideal Client

Businesses of varying size that want either DIY AEO services or collaborative, full-service AI visibility management.

What They Deliver

Holland Adhaus is a marketing agency based in Cincinnati that specializes in optimizing client websites to appear in AI engine answers. Offering three plan tiers for different levels of AEO, they offer AEO keyword and content briefs, page optimization templates, strategy sessions, quarterly reporting, and even comprehensive tracking dashboards for high-level clients to track performance on major LLMs like SERP, SGE and ChatGPT.

Advantages

  • Clear pricing and directives
  • Offers free website audits for uncertain clients
  • Google and HubSpot partner

What Is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?

GEO Definition

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is a new concept in online visibility that is similar to classic search engine optimization (SEO), but geared towards generative AI answer engines. GEO, put simply, is the process of optimizing online content for inclusion in AI-generated answers, such as citations, mentions, and recommendations. GEO is an extension of SEO, content strategy, and authority building.

How GEO Works

GEO works by providing businesses with a set of practices and guidelines aimed at making their content more likely to be one of the chosen sources or examples referenced by an AI-generated answer to an online query. AI systems choose sources based on key factors like relevance to the topic, readable structure, high degrees of trust, and informational consistency. When basic SEO was the norm in online visibility, the most important metric of success was how highly-ranked your webpage was for its queries. With GEO, single rankings are less important than being an AI’s cited source, as being among the citations of an AI-generated answer automatically catapults you to the top of the list, making your page more visible.

Key Takeaways

  • Online visibility now spans both Google rankings and citations by AI assistants
  • Trust signals and third-party validation are often the differentiators between visibility and obscurity
  • Measurements of success in visibility must now include AI visibility, not just rankings

Common GEO Agency Red Flags

The agencies above are all great choices if you want to start optimizing your business for AI answer generators, but there are some red flags to look out for when researching other potential agencies.

Keep an eye out and avoid agencies that: 

  • Have no GEO measurement plan
  • Make vague “AI optimization” claims without showing you their process
  • Only offer rankings reports, not reports on citations or mention tracking
  • Have no verifiable examples of outcomes for existing clients

Conclusion

GEO is about becoming the source AI answers rely on! These days, visibility is uniquely tied to AI, and without it, there’s no way you can succeed. The right GEO partner combines technical expertise with extensive content libraries, proven authority, and reliable measurement of key metrics. Based on those metrics, Zupo is the best pick on this list for comprehensive GEO that offers practical, proven, long-lasting strategies for visibility and AI optimization.