Generative engine optimization agency
A generative engine optimization agency that shows you the citation
A generative engine optimization agency gets a business named and cited when someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Google AI for a recommendation. Clever Merchants does that with one difference: we show you the citation. Shamrock Electrical, a business we run for its owner, went from being named in 1 of 10 buyer questions in April 2026 to first of five retailers in ChatGPT by June, and every programme ends with a verification report of screenshots.
Three fixed-price programmes: GEO for Ecommerce at €6,500, GEO for Service Businesses at €7,500, and GEO for Construction and Trades at €7,500. Each runs 21 working days and carries a 90-day citation guarantee.
First of five
Shamrock Electrical in ChatGPT by June 2026, up from 1 of 10 buyer questions in April
21 working days
Fixed scope, fixed price, verification report at the end
90-day guarantee
Named or cited, or one more round free
Definition
What is a generative engine optimization agency?
An agency that makes a business citable by AI answer engines: structured data, question-shaped content, consistent entity details, third-party mentions, and tracking of the results.
When someone asks ChatGPT which electrical wholesaler to use in Dublin or asks Perplexity for a solar installer in Cork, the engine does not return ten blue links. It writes an answer and names two or three businesses inside it. Generative engine optimisation, to use the spelling we would use in conversation, is the work of becoming one of those names. A GEO agency does that work for you.
The difference between agencies is mostly in what they will show you afterwards. Some report on traffic. Some report on rankings in a tool. We report on the answer itself: the prompt, the engine, the date, and the screenshot with your business in it. Our full process is on the GEO methodology page, and if you are choosing between agencies, what to look for in a generative engine optimization agency sets out the questions to ask any of us.
Not sure AI search is the right place to start? The free AI Readiness Review looks at the whole business, not just visibility, and takes three minutes.
The mechanisms
How do you get a business cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity?
Five mechanisms: schema markup, pages that answer buyer questions directly, identical business details everywhere, a third-party citation footprint, and a fixed prompt set tracked throughout.
01
Schema markup
Organization, LocalBusiness, Service, Product and FAQPage structured data that tells an answer engine exactly what the business is, what it sells and where it operates. This is the layer most sites are missing entirely.
02
Question-answering content
Pages built around the questions buyers actually type, each with a direct answer in the first sentence. Engines lift these answers into their responses and attach the source.
03
Entity consistency
The same business name, address, phone, description and category everywhere the engines look: your site, Google Business Profile, directories, LinkedIn. Contradictions cost citations.
04
Third-party citation footprint
Mentions on the listicles, directories and industry pages the engines already trust, so the business is corroborated somewhere other than its own website.
05
Tracking against a fixed prompt set
A written set of buyer prompts agreed at the start, run before and after across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI, with screenshots of every citation won.
None of these is secret. The difference is doing all five, in the right order, on a real business, and then checking whether the engines noticed.
Programmes
GEO programmes by industry, with prices
Ecommerce stores, service businesses such as B2B and professional firms, and construction and trades companies, each with its own fixed-price programme and prompt set.
| Programme | Who it is for | Price | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| GEO for Ecommerce | Online stores that want products and the store itself named in AI shopping answers | €6,500 | 21 working days, 90-day citation guarantee |
| GEO for Service Businesses | B2B firms, professional services, agencies and consultancies asked for by name | €7,500 | 21 working days, 90-day citation guarantee |
| GEO for Construction and Trades | Electrical contractors, plumbers, solar installers, roofers, HVAC and general contractors | €7,500 | 21 working days, 90-day citation guarantee |
All prices are one-time, and no VAT is added because Clever Merchants is not VAT registered. Every programme is delivered remotely, and the price is the same wherever the business is based.
Verification
How do you prove it worked?
We agree a fixed set of buyer prompts at the start, run them before and after across each engine, and hand you the screenshots.
The prompt set is written down on day one: the questions your buyers ask, phrased the way they ask them, for each engine. We run every prompt before any work starts and record who is named. That is the baseline, and it is usually not you. Then we run the same prompts again at the end of the 21 days and at re-check points afterwards.
This is how we know Shamrock Electrical went from being named in 1 of 10 buyer questions in April 2026 to first of five retailers in ChatGPT by June. We were running the prompts. ChatGPT went from naming Shamrock in 1 of 10 buyer questions to saying it was the obvious one for Irish electrical supplies, and Perplexity and Gemini followed in the weeks after. The screenshots are in the Shamrock Electrical case study.
The distinction
GEO agency vs SEO agency: what is the difference?
An SEO agency works to rank a URL in a list of links. A GEO agency works to get the business named inside the answer.
The two overlap at the foundations: a crawlable site, fast pages, content worth reading. They diverge in what they optimise for. SEO measures positions and clicks. GEO measures whether an engine names you, how often, and for which prompts. A business can hold position one on Google and be absent from every ChatGPT answer about its category, and we see that combination constantly.
The practical consequence is that the work is different: structured data over backlinks, direct answers over keyword density, entity consistency over anchor text. The full comparison, with a side-by-side table, is on GEO vs SEO.
AI SEO agency
Is a generative engine optimization agency the same as an AI SEO agency?
Usually, yes. AI SEO agency is another name buyers use for the same work: getting a business named in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI answers.
The work has collected several names while the category settles: generative engine optimisation, AI SEO, answer engine optimisation and LLM SEO. When a business owner searches for an AI SEO agency, they generally want what this page describes: to be recommended when a buyer asks an AI assistant who to use. If that is what you are after, an AI SEO agency and a GEO agency are the same purchase, and the questions to ask are the same.
There is one catch. Some agencies use "AI SEO" to mean traditional SEO done faster with AI tools, such as articles drafted by a language model to rank in Google's ten blue links. That can be a legitimate service, but it is a different one, and it does not by itself get you named inside an AI answer. The quickest way to tell which you are being offered is to ask what the report at the end will show: rankings and traffic, or the prompt, the engine and the answer with your business in it.
As an AI SEO agency, we report on the answer. The mechanisms are the five set out above, the relationship with ordinary search is on GEO vs SEO, and a plain explanation of the discipline is in what is generative engine optimisation. To see where you stand before choosing anyone, take the free AI Visibility Check.
AI SEO services
What do AI SEO services include?
AI SEO services make a business easy for AI tools to understand, trust and cite: structured data, direct answers, consistent profiles, third-party mentions and citation tracking.
Our AI SEO services are the five mechanisms set out above, delivered as fixed-price programmes rather than an open retainer. Compared with other AI SEO agencies, the thing to check is the deliverable. Ours is a verification report: the prompt, the engine and the answer with your business named in it, captured before and after the work.
If you are comparing AI SEO agencies, ask each one three questions: which prompts will you track, on which engines, and what happens if the business is still not cited after the work? Our answer to the last one is the 90-day citation guarantee. A longer checklist is in what to look for in a generative engine optimization agency.
AEO agency
Is a GEO agency also an AEO agency?
Mostly, yes. An AEO agency optimises to be the direct answer; a GEO agency optimises to be named in AI-written answers. The work overlaps heavily.
Answer engine optimization (AEO) grew up around featured snippets and voice assistants, where one answer is read out. Generative engine optimization covers the newer case where ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI writes an answer and cites a few sources. The groundwork is the same: question-shaped pages, a direct answer in the first sentence, FAQ schema that matches the visible copy, and a business described consistently everywhere. If you searched for an AEO agency, this is the same service. The differences are explained in AEO vs GEO.
Questions businesses ask before choosing a GEO agency
How long does a GEO programme take?
21 working days from the kickoff call to the verification report. For comparison, Shamrock Electrical went from being named in 1 of 10 buyer questions in April 2026 to first of five retailers in ChatGPT by June, and the full programme covers far more than that first round of schema and FAQ work.
What does the 90-day citation guarantee cover?
We track 30 buyer prompts for your business. If, 90 days after the programme completes, your business is named or cited in fewer than 3 of the prompts that did not name it at the baseline, we do one further round of work, up to 21 working days, at no extra cost.
Do we need to stop doing SEO?
No. Good SEO foundations help, and the two disciplines share crawlability and content quality. GEO adds the structured data, entity consistency and question-shaped content that answer engines use to decide who to name.
Is generative engine optimization a one-off or a retainer?
The programmes are one-time fixed prices with no retainer required. Ongoing monitoring and fixes are available separately from €750 a month, and full retainers are €2,000 a month for ecommerce and €2,500 for service businesses.
Is a generative engine optimization agency the same as an AI SEO agency?
Usually, yes: AI SEO agency is another name buyers use for the work of getting a business named in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI answers. Some agencies use the term for writing traditional SEO content with AI tools instead, so ask what they will report on.
What do your AI SEO services include?
Schema markup, question-shaped content, entity consistency across your profiles, a third-party citation footprint and tracking against a fixed set of buyer prompts. They are sold as three fixed-price GEO programmes, each 21 working days with a 90-day citation guarantee.
Are you an AEO agency?
Yes, in the sense most buyers mean it. Answer engine optimization and generative engine optimization overlap heavily: both aim to make your business the answer an AI tool gives. Our programmes cover the AEO basics, such as direct answers and FAQ schema, and report on citations.
Do you work with businesses outside Ireland?
Yes. The work is remote, we need access rather than a site visit, and the fixed prices are the same in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Ireland.
Find out whether AI names you today
For the free AI Visibility Check, Ger reviews your answers, checks how ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI describe your business, and follows up personally the same working day. If you are already cited, we will tell you that too.
Take the free AI Visibility CheckPrefer to look at the whole business first? Take the free AI Readiness Review.