An AEO SEO consultant is a search specialist who gets your business ranking in Google and cited inside AI answers at the same time. They combine classic SEO (technical fixes, content, links) with answer engine optimisation, so tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Claude and Copilot recommend you when buyers ask questions.
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This page covers the role itself: what the work looks like week to week, what you should get, when to hire one, and how to spot a bad one.
Want a second pair of eyes right now? Get a free SEO strategy session and we'll look at your AI visibility with you.
Why the Role Combines SEO and AEO
AEO means answer engine optimisation. GEO, generative engine optimisation, is the same goal under a different name. The GEO term comes from a 2023 research paper on optimising for generative search engines, and people now use both terms interchangeably.
Here is the key point. AI engines lean on the same foundations Google does. If your pages are blocked, slow, thin or have no links pointing at them, you are hard to find and hard to trust. That is why the best people in this role are strong SEOs first. AEO is the layer on top, not a replacement.
If you want to learn this side yourself, the AI Profit Boardroom ($69/mo) is where Julian teaches AI SEO every week.
What an AEO SEO Consultant Does Week to Week
The work is not one big project. It is a steady rhythm. A typical month looks something like this.
Week 1: Prompt tracking and baseline
The consultant runs a set of 20 to 30 real buyer prompts through ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. They record who gets mentioned and which URLs get cited, usually in a simple spreadsheet. They also check Google Search Console for the pages and queries that already bring you traffic.
Week 2: Technical and entity fixes
Next comes the plumbing. Are your pages indexable? Is robots.txt blocking crawlers you actually want? Is the HTML clean and the site fast? Then they look at brand signals: a consistent name everywhere, a proper about page, author bios, and schema such as Organization, FAQ and Article, checked with Google's Rich Results Test.
Week 3: Content that answers directly
AI engines like pages that answer the question in the first sentence. So the consultant rewrites or briefs content with clear openings, short paragraphs, FAQs and tables. Classic SEO targeting still applies, so each page also maps to the keywords people search in Google.
Week 4: Links, mentions and reporting
Finally, off-site work. AI answers cite sources, so the consultant works on getting you mentioned and linked on the sites those engines pull from, plus reviews and third-party lists in your niche. Then they rerun the prompts and compare against last month. Over a few months, that comparison is what tells you whether the plan is working, which pages to double down on, and which competitors are gaining ground.
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Typical Deliverables
| Deliverable | What it covers | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Prompt list | 20 to 30 real buyer prompts for your market | You optimise for what people actually ask |
| AI visibility tracker | Who is mentioned and which URLs are cited, per engine, per month | Shows progress over time |
| Technical fixes | Indexing, robots.txt, speed, clean HTML | Engines can only cite what they can reach |
| Entity and schema work | Brand name, about page, author bios, Organization, FAQ and Article schema | Helps engines understand who you are |
| Answer-first content | Clear first sentences, FAQs, tables, keyword targeting | Easy for AI to quote and for Google to rank |
| Link and mention plan | Outreach to sites AI pulls from, reviews, third-party lists | Off-site signals drive trust and citations |
Want to start with a proper check of where you stand? Read about the AEO audit, then book a free SEO strategy session to talk through it with us.
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Signs You Need One
Not every business needs this help today. These are the signs that you probably do:
- You ask ChatGPT or Perplexity about your category and your competitors show up, but you do not.
- Your Google traffic is flat even though you keep publishing.
- Your brand name, about page and author details are inconsistent across the web.
- You have no idea which sites AI engines cite in your niche.
- Nobody on your team owns AI visibility, so it never gets checked.
If two or more of those sound familiar, the role pays for itself in focus alone. Someone owns the prompt list, someone checks it every month, and someone pushes the fixes through instead of letting them sit in a backlog. That consistency is most of the job.
The good news is that the first step is free. Book your free strategy session and we'll run through a few of your buyer prompts together so you can see where you stand.
Consultant, Agency or Do It Yourself?
There are three honest routes. Pick the one that fits your budget, time and skills.
- Hire a consultant if you have a team that can make changes but you need direction, strategy and someone to keep the plan on track.
- Hire an agency if you want the work done for you, including content and link building, without adding headcount.
- Learn it yourself if you have more time than budget. The free DIY method above (prompt list, monthly checks, Search Console, Rich Results Test, robots.txt) gets you a long way.
For the learn-it-yourself route, the AI Profit Boardroom ($69/mo) covers AI SEO and automation, and the SEO Elite Circle ($97/mo) goes deeper on SEO. Grab the 200+ AI SEO Prompts and the free link building book too. If you are automating parts of the workflow, the Agent OS guide shows how Julian runs agents, and Goldie Bench compares AI models on real tasks.
Still unsure which route fits? Book your free strategy session and we'll help you decide.
How to Vet an AEO SEO Consultant
Ask these questions on the first call:
- Which prompts will you track, and how did you choose them?
- How do you record AI mentions and citations each month?
- What will you do about links and off-site mentions?
- How does this work support my Google rankings?
- What will you need from my team each week?
And watch for these red flags:
- Guaranteed AI citations. Nobody controls AI answers. A promise like that is a guess.
- No tracking. If they cannot show you who was cited last month versus this month, you are flying blind.
- No link strategy. AI engines cite sources. Without a plan to get you onto them, the work stalls.
- Ignoring classic SEO. AEO without indexable, fast, well-linked pages rarely sticks.
Want to compare names? Here is our list of the best AEO consultant picks, and if you want broader search help, the best SEO consultant list.
What Working With Julian's Team Looks Like
Julian Goldie has 10+ years in SEO and founded Goldie Agency, a self-described 7-figure SEO and link-building agency focused on AI-first SEO and AI-answer visibility. He wrote the best-selling book SEO Link Building Mastery, holds a 100% Upwork job success score, and teaches AI SEO and AEO daily to 430K+ YouTube subscribers.
It starts with a free strategy session. That is a call where the team looks at where you stand in Google and AI answers, and maps out a plan with you. From there, the work follows the same rhythm described above, with manual outreach and no PBNs on the link side. No guarantees, just a clear plan and the work done properly.
Book a free SEO strategy session to get started.
FAQ
What does an AEO SEO consultant do?
They improve your visibility in both Google and AI answers. That means prompt tracking, technical fixes, schema and entity work, answer-first content, and links and mentions on the sites AI engines cite.
Is AEO the same as GEO?
Yes, in practice. Both aim to get your brand cited in AI-generated answers, and people use the terms interchangeably. Whatever label a consultant uses, ask to see how they track mentions and citations. The method matters far more than the name.
How fast will I see AI citations?
Nobody can promise a timeline. AI answers shift often. What you can expect is steady tracking so you can see whether mentions are moving month to month.
How do I talk to Julian's team?
Get a free SEO strategy session and we'll look at your AI visibility with you. That is the first step to working with an AEO SEO consultant who knows both sides of search.
