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. Our own business, Shamrock Electrical, was cited by ChatGPT 72 hours after the work went live, 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.
72 hours
Shamrock Electrical's first ChatGPT citation
21 working days
Fixed scope, fixed price, verification report at the end
90-day guarantee
Cited, or we keep working at no extra cost
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
Which industries do you work with?
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 ex. VAT. 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 was cited 72 hours after its schema and FAQ content went live. We were running the prompts. ChatGPT went from not naming Shamrock at all 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.
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. Shamrock Electrical's first ChatGPT citation appeared 72 hours after its schema and FAQ content went live, but the full programme covers far more than that first page.
What does the 90-day citation guarantee cover?
If your business is not cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews within 90 days of the programme completing, we keep working at no extra cost until it is. No conditions and no small print.
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 is available separately if you want it once the citations are in place.
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
The free AI Visibility Check runs your buyer prompts through ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI and sends you a personalised report within 24 hours. 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.