AI & AutomationESTIMATEDROOM TO ENTER

GEO / AEO Agency

Help brands get cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews — the successor to traditional SEO.

Fully remoteRecurring revenueNeeds an existing skillAI-assisted

The Money Label

Cash score63
Startup cost$$$$$A$0–749
Ready in1–3 mo
Hours a week15–25 hrs/wk
Skill floorLearnable in weeks
RiskMEDIUM
Effort15–25 HRS/WK
CeilingA$4.5k–22k/MO
SaturationRoom to enter
EvidenceESTIMATED
Hype gapnone identified in the pricing itself, but treat any single citation-tracking number with caution — tools disagree with each other and none is an industry standard yet.
Available inUS · GB · CA · AU · DE

Why that grade Pricing comes from GEO-focused agency marketing pages, a genuinely new category with no independent income audits yet as of late 2026. Course-seller index 4/10.

Figures are researched estimates, not guarantees. Check local rules before you trade.

Why anybody pays for this

As more people ask ChatGPT and AI Overviews for recommendations instead of clicking search results, brands that don't get cited by name simply become invisible to a growing share of buyers — and almost nobody inside a typical SME understands how citation works yet.

Agency retainers reported at $2,000-15,000/mo depending on brand size; audits sell for $1,500-5,000. Early-mover agencies with case studies command premium pricing over generic SEO agencies pivoting into GEO.

Good fit if

Someone with an SEO or content-marketing background willing to learn a genuinely new discipline before most competitors catch up.

Skip it if

Anyone who wants a mature, well-documented playbook to follow — you'll be helping invent the methodology as you go, which is uncomfortable for beginners.

What actually goes wrong

There is no agreed measurement standard yet — different citation-tracking tools report different numbers for the same brand — so proving ROI to a skeptical client is genuinely harder than classic SEO, and the field's methodology could shift under you as platforms mature.

The playbook

5 steps to your first paying customer

What the steps cost
A$75
estimate A$62–749

Set up

01

Learn how AI answer engines actually source citations

A$0 · 4.5 hrs

Study how ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews pull from structured data, third-party mentions, Reddit/forum presence and clear factual pages — this is genuinely different from classic SEO ranking factors.

Done when You can explain, in your own words, how ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews source citations differently from classic Google ranking factors.

First customers

02

Build a free AI-citation audit for a prospect

A$75 · 6 hrs

Show them exactly where they currently appear (or don't) versus competitors across ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews — this is your opening pitch.

Done when You've built and delivered one free AI-citation audit showing a real prospect where they appear — or don't — against named competitors.

Watch out: Be upfront that different tools report different numbers — pick one and be consistent.

Profound, Otterly or Peec AI · A$75

3 more steps in this playbook

The rest of the playbook: what to charge, what you need in place before you take money, where the first customers come from, and what each step costs.

Free forever · no card · 30 seconds

Building a moat

Reasonably easily at the tactical level, but the field is new enough that genuine early experience and case studies are a real, if temporary, moat.

01

Documented before/after citation-share case studies from real clients

02

Proprietary tracking/reporting dashboards that make your reporting feel more rigorous than competitors'

03

Early relationships with the citation-tracking tool vendors themselves

Exit options

Merge into or get acquired by a larger digital marketing agency once GEO is a standard line item, or license your methodology/reporting system to other agencies.

What changes where you are

Same idea, different rules. One playbook, with the facts that actually differ overlaid per market.

United Arab Emirates

Emerging demand from hospitality and real estate brands wanting AI-chatbot visibility.

Germany

AI answer-engine usage is behind the US/UK, so buyer education is a bigger part of the sales process.

United Kingdom

Strongest early demand from B2B SaaS and ecommerce brands, similar to the US market.

United States

The most mature buyer education so far; also the most agency competition entering in 2026.

Similar, but different