FAQ
Everything you wanted to know about AI search.
General
What is CiteLead?
CiteLead (citelead.com) is an Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) agency. CiteLead gets businesses cited and recommended by ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude, and offers a free, instant AI visibility audit at citelead.com/free-ai-audit.
What is an AEO and GEO agency?
An AEO and GEO agency helps brands get mentioned, cited and recommended by AI-powered answer engines such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude. CiteLead combines answer-first content, technical SEO, entity optimization and citation building into one program, and measures results as AI share of voice and pipeline.
What is the difference between AEO, GEO and SEO?
SEO earns rankings in traditional search results. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) structures content so engines can extract it as a direct answer. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) increases how often large language models mention and recommend your brand in generated answers. They share foundations, and the strongest programs run all three together.
How do you measure AI visibility?
We track a defined set of buyer prompts across each AI engine, sampling repeatedly to account for answer variance. We report mention rate, citation rate, position, sentiment and share of voice against competitors, plus AI-referred traffic and conversions in your analytics.
How long until we see results?
Technical fixes and answer-first rewrites can show up within weeks of re-crawling. Off-site authority and recommendation share typically build over three to six months. You get a baseline in month one so progress is always measurable.
Can you guarantee our brand will be recommended by ChatGPT?
No one can honestly guarantee the output of an AI model. We commit to transparent measurement, the work in your plan and month-to-month terms, so we only keep your business by moving the numbers.
Do you work with small businesses?
Yes. Our one-time AI Visibility Audit is designed for small teams, and our Growth plan suits most SMB and mid-market companies. Local businesses benefit especially from Google Business Profile, review and local-citation work.
Do you still do traditional SEO?
Yes. It is part of every engagement. Google AI Overviews draw heavily on pages that already rank well, so technical SEO, content quality and authority remain foundational to AI visibility.
What industries do you work with?
We focus on B2B SaaS, professional services, healthcare and wellness, e-commerce and local service businesses: categories where buyers increasingly ask AI assistants for recommendations before contacting a vendor.
Are there long-term contracts?
No. Retainers are month-to-month after an initial 90-day sprint, which is the minimum time needed to measure meaningful change.
AI Visibility Audit
How long does an AI Visibility Audit take?
Most audits are delivered in 10 business days, including a live walkthrough of findings and the 90-day plan.
Which AI engines do you test?
ChatGPT (including search), Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Microsoft Copilot. We can add vertical engines on request.
Do I need a retainer after the audit?
No. The audit is a standalone deliverable. Many teams execute the plan in-house; others hand it to us.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
What is the difference between AEO and SEO?
SEO aims to rank pages in a list of links. AEO aims to have your content selected and quoted as the answer itself. AEO builds on SEO fundamentals but optimizes for extraction rather than clicks.
How quickly does AEO show results?
Snippet and AI Overview changes can appear within weeks of re-indexing. Durable gains usually compound over three to six months.
Will AEO hurt my existing rankings?
No. Answer-first structure, schema and clearer content are also positive signals for traditional search.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Is GEO the same as AEO?
They overlap. AEO focuses on being extracted as a direct answer; GEO focuses on being mentioned and recommended in generated responses, which depends heavily on off-site authority and entity signals. CiteLead runs both as one program.
Can you guarantee ChatGPT will recommend us?
No honest agency can guarantee model outputs. We guarantee the work, transparent measurement against a baseline, and month-to-month terms so we keep earning your business.
Does GEO work for local businesses?
Yes. Local GEO leans on Google Business Profile, reviews, local citations and location pages, which strongly influence AI answers for “near me” style questions.
AI Citation Building & Digital PR
Do you buy links or fake reviews?
Never. We earn placements through genuine outreach, original data and expert contribution. Manipulative tactics risk penalties and erode trust with both people and models.
Why do community sites matter for AI?
Forums and discussion platforms are among the most frequently cited sources in AI answers because they contain first-hand experience. Authentic participation there influences how models describe you.
Technical SEO for AI Search
Should we block AI crawlers?
Blocking training crawlers is a business decision, but blocking retrieval crawlers like OAI-SearchBot or PerplexityBot usually removes you from live AI answers. We help you choose a policy deliberately.
Does llms.txt improve rankings?
Not on its own. It is a low-cost, emerging convention that helps some AI tools understand your site. We implement it as a complement to strong content and authority, never a substitute for it.
AI Search Analytics & Reporting
Can you track AI traffic in Google Analytics?
Partially. Many AI engines pass referrers, which we segment into a dedicated channel. We combine that with prompt-level tracking to capture visibility that never results in a click.
Find out what AI says about you.
Run a free AI visibility audit. We ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude your buyers’ questions live and show you where you stand, in about a minute.