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A GEO agency is a marketing partner that shapes a company's content, entity signals, and third-party citations so generative AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews retrieve, cite, and ideally recommend that company by name inside their answers.
If you lead marketing, you've probably fielded several nearly identical "AI visibility" pitches by now. The question that separates them is whether an agency can get you recommended by name. Getting cited in passing is a much lower bar.
The stakes are no joke. A March 2026 G2 survey of software buyers found 51% now start their research with an AI chatbot more often than with Google.
This guide covers seven B2B-focused agencies and a framework for judging any pitch's proof. For most buyers, GEO and answer engine optimization (AEO) describe the same discipline. Ten Speed uses AEO as its primary term, but this page also uses GEO language because that's how many buyers search.
Key takeaways
- A citation shows an AI model knows your brand exists, while a recommendation names you as the vendor to choose.
- A repositioned SEO retainer with "GEO" added to the pitch is not a distinct AI-visibility process, so ask for separate benchmarks.
- GEO and SEO share signals like authority and topical depth, but ranking position and AI citation are separate outcomes.
- Choosing between in-house and an agency depends more on marketer bandwidth and ideal customer profile (ICP) clarity than on budget.
- An unexplained "AI visibility score" is a warning sign unless the agency can tie it to pipeline or revenue.
What's the difference between a citation and a recommendation in AI answers?
A citation means an AI answer referenced your page as a source. A recommendation means it named your brand as the vendor to choose. Ask every agency which one its reporting measures, and have it define four terms:
- Mention rate
- Citation rate
- Share of voice
- Average position within AI answers
G2's research also found that AI chatbots are now the top source influencing software shortlists, and 69% of buyers said a chatbot surfaced information that led them to a different vendor than expected. Ten Speed's analysis of 7,000+ evaluation-stage citations found product pages led at about a quarter, while cautioning that citation volume is not a revenue outcome.
Conflict of interest behind this list
Disclosure: Ten Speed wrote this guide and lists itself first, at #1, among the seven agencies below. Every competitor entry relies on third-party sources such as Clutch, G2, and independent reviews. Clutch notes it may earn fees for some placements, so we used its review data and set its rankings aside. Since pricing and services shift, cross-check any figure and offerings against each agency's Clutch profile and G2's research.
How we evaluated these GEO agencies
We scored each agency on named clients, pricing transparency, verifiable third-party ratings, and evidence of recommendation-level proof. Ten Speed competes directly with these firms, so everything here about them comes from public sources. Any claim without a verifiable source was left out.
The sharpest difference is proof. Directive and Siege Media have deep Clutch review bases, while Optimist and Animalz rest mostly on reputation, and no review count alone shows recommendation-level results.
1. Ten Speed
Ten Speed runs AEO as a dedicated discipline with its own audit and benchmarking instead of folding it into a content retainer.
- Best for: B2B teams with an in-house marketer and a clear ICP.
- Pricing: Typical engagements run $10,000–$25,000 a month, with strategy reviewed each quarter.
- Notable clients: Bitly, Workvivo, TechSmith, Rasa, ProsperOps, and Metaplane, as shown on our homepage.
- What we do well: Company-reported proof includes $50M+ in organic ARR generated, a 70+ client NPS, and an 8:1 client-to-strategist ratio, plus a Visible case study with +98% keywords in positions 1–10 and +90% monthly traffic value.
- Potential limitations: Our AI-answer benchmarking is newer than the legacy SEO offerings at larger agencies, so ask us for current examples.
2. Omniscient Digital
Omniscient Digital is an Austin-based organic growth agency for B2B software companies, founded in 2019, that describes its work as optimized for both search engines and generative AI, per its Clutch profile.
- Best for: B2B software teams wanting SEO, content, and GEO in one program.
- Pricing: Clutch lists a $5,000+ minimum and $100–$149 an hour; an independent roundup puts full-service retainers near $10,000 a month.
- Notable clients: SAP, Adobe, TikTok, Asana, Loom, and Jasper, as listed on its Clutch profile.
- What they do well: Clutch shows 4.8/5 from 6 reviews. A March 2026 review from an AI-SaaS client reports domain rating rising from 52 to 60, tripled search impressions, and 10x more top-three keywords in six months, plus improved LLM visibility.
- Potential limitations: Reviewers cited slower content turnaround, and one called the price somewhat steep. GEO is also only 10% of its Clutch-listed SEO focus.
3. Siege Media
Siege Media calls itself a full-service GEO agency built on content, digital PR, and SEO, according to its Clutch profile.
- Best for: Teams wanting content and digital PR inside one GEO program.
- Pricing: Clutch lists a $5,000+ minimum and $100–$149 an hour, with $50,000–$199,999 the most common project size across 38 reviews.
- Notable clients: Intuit, Asana, Zendesk, Quicken Loans, and Chime, as listed on Clutch.
- What they do well: Clutch shows 4.9/5 from 48 reviews, 44 of them verified. An August 2026 review reports a 400% increase in AI visibility for high-priority tracked prompts.
- Potential limitations: Clutch's client mix skews toward eCommerce, business services, and financial services, with information technology at 10%, so B2B SaaS buyers should ask for relevant examples. Typical project sizes also run above many growth-team budgets.
4. Animalz
Animalz is a B2B SaaS content marketing agency founded in 2015, known for premium editorial and thought leadership, and now offering AEO services and AI-assisted workflows, per an independent 2026 review.
- Best for: Funded B2B SaaS teams wanting premium thought leadership with AEO layered in.
- Pricing: Not officially published; the same review cites third-party estimates near $8,000 a month.
- Notable clients: The review lists Google, Atlassian, Amplitude, Auth0, Intercom, Segment, and Wistia, drawn from Animalz's client wall.
- What they do well: Editorial quality and compounding, authority-building content.
- Potential limitations: As of June 2026, its Clutch profile carried zero reviews. It's a content shop, so don't expect technical SEO or link-building depth. Ask for current AEO case studies.
5. Directive
Directive is a B2B marketing agency whose Clutch profile describes a "DiscoverabilityOS" methodology built for AI-powered discovery.
- Best for: B2B teams wanting GEO inside a broader acquisition program.
- Pricing: Undisclosed. Clutch's review summary cites $10,000 to over $60,000 annually depending on services, and $10,000–$49,999 is the most common project size across 41 reviews.
- Notable clients: Recent Clutch reviewers include iCIMS and Corti.
- What they do well: Clutch shows 4.8/5 from 56 verified reviews, and GEO is 25% of its listed SEO focus. A January 2025 iCIMS review praises its B2B SaaS knowledge and proactive updates on AI Overviews.
- Potential limitations: SEO is only about 10% of its Clutch-listed service mix, which also spans paid media, PR, and commerce. Some reviewers noted disruption from account-team changes.
6. RevenueZen
RevenueZen is a B2B SEO and content agency with recent Clutch reviews that mention AEO work.
- Best for: B2B teams wanting SEO and content with AEO support at flexible budgets.
- Pricing: A Clutch review summary says engagements range from $1,000 to $50,000 depending on scope.
- Notable clients: Not named in the sources reviewed; Clutch reviews are largely anonymous.
- What they do well: A December 2025 review says its blog content increased keyword rankings, AEO visibility, SEO visibility, and direct organic leads.
- Potential limitations: Clutch's summary notes some clients experienced delivery delays, and the December reviewer wanted better scheduling.
7. Optimist
Optimist is a B2B SaaS SEO and AEO agency founded in 2016, with a dedicated AEO service and AI-referred lead tracking, per an independent 2026 review.
- Best for: B2B SaaS teams wanting senior specialists and AEO alongside SEO.
- Pricing: Not public; Clutch lists a $5,000+ minimum, and third-party estimates put AEO from about $2,500 a month.
- Notable clients: The review lists Semrush, ZoomInfo, and Superhuman.
- What they do well: A clear "AEO plus SEO" approach with pipeline-level case studies.
- Potential limitations: It has one Clutch review (5.0/5), so independent proof is thin.
Want help sorting your shortlist? Ten Speed also works with B2B professional services teams.
How do SEO, AEO, and GEO relate?
SEO, AEO, and GEO share underlying signals like authority and topical depth, but ranking position and AI citation are separate outputs. Ten Speed uses AEO as its main term; GEO is the label many buyers and platforms use for the same work.
Strong SEO alone doesn't guarantee an AI recommendation. Conductor, which sells AEO software, surveyed 250+ enterprise executives and found 94% plan to raise AEO/GEO investment in 2026.
How do you evaluate a GEO agency's proof?
Ask whether the agency can show recommendation share and connect that visibility to pipeline. Anchor every question to spotting a rebadged SEO retainer:
- Can you report recommendation share separately from citations? A rebadged retainer reports only rankings and traffic.
- Define mention rate, citation rate, share of voice, and average position. Get definitions before you sign.
- Show one brand named as a recommendation. Silence is a red flag.
- Tie visibility to outcomes. Ten Speed ties AEO reporting to pipeline impact and organic ARR, and you should hold every pitch to that bar.
Should you hire a GEO agency or build in-house?
Hire an agency if you have a named marketer and a clear ICP but limited bandwidth. Build in-house first only if you can dedicate a person to organic with enough time to benchmark AI answers, and define your ICP before hiring anyone.
Ten Speed's own model pairs a 4–6-week discovery phase with 90-day roadmap reviews, which small in-house teams rarely have bandwidth to replicate.
Red flags in a GEO pitch
- "We added GEO to our services this year." No track record means you're funding their learning curve.
- "Our AI visibility score is up 40%." Ask what the score measures and how it connects to pipeline.
- "We'll get you to the top of ChatGPT." Outputs vary by prompt and model, so guarantees are overselling.
- "GEO is a separate workstream from SEO." The disciplines share signals, and siloing them wastes work.
- "AI optimization" with no defined scope. A vague statement of work is how a rebadged retainer hides.
What does GEO cost for B2B teams?
GEO pricing varies with scope, company stage, and whether it's bundled into an existing retainer, so read every figure as a range. Conductor found enterprises allocated an average 12% of digital marketing budgets to AEO/GEO in 2025.
For context, Gartner reports CMOs put 15.3% of marketing budgets into AI initiatives overall, with only 30% reporting mature readiness. That figure covers all AI spending, of which GEO is only one part.
Choosing a GEO partner with proof
The real differentiator among GEO agencies isn't who claims "AI visibility" loudest. It's who can show named clients, sourced ratings, and recommendation-level proof. Use the evaluation standard above on every shortlist, including ours.
Ten Speed is an operator-led partner that treats AEO as a co-equal discipline with SEO, and we hold ourselves to the same evidentiary bar as every agency here.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to see results from a GEO agency's work?
Timelines depend on your existing content depth, how competitive your category is inside AI answers, and what you choose to measure. Early signals, like first citations, usually appear before a brand gets reliably named as the recommended vendor, which takes longer to build. Ask any agency for a baseline and defined checkpoints.
Can a GEO agency guarantee my brand will be cited or recommended in tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity?
A GEO agency cannot credibly guarantee specific citations or recommendations in tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity, because generative models produce different answers for the same prompt depending on context, timing, and model updates. Any agency promising guaranteed placement is overstating what the discipline can control. The realistic goal is improving mention rate and share of voice over time.
Is a GEO agency worth it for a small B2B marketing team, or only for larger companies?
GEO work is ideal for lean teams that already have a clear ICP and at least one in-house marketer to manage the partnership, since the agency builds on existing content and positioning. Companies without that foundation often spend the first few months on strategy and content gaps before AI-visibility work can gain traction. Series A through Series D B2B companies are typically well positioned for this kind of engagement.
If I already have an SEO agency, do I need a separate GEO agency too?
Not necessarily, since SEO and GEO rely on overlapping signals like topical authority and content structure, and some agencies handle both under one engagement. The real question is whether that agency treats GEO as its own measured discipline, with distinct benchmarking for AI-answer visibility, or bolts it onto standard SEO reporting. If a single agency can show separate GEO metrics alongside SEO performance, consolidating the work often reduces coordination overhead.
What contract length should I expect when hiring a GEO agency?
Engagements range from month-to-month arrangements to annual contracts, depending on the agency's model and how much upfront strategy work is required. Because AI platforms change quickly, a flexible arrangement with quarterly strategy reviews generally serves B2B teams better than a rigid annual lock-in. Ask any agency how often they revisit strategy and whether early termination carries a penalty before signing.
