Search for the best GEO agencies in the UK and you will find plenty of helpful-looking rankings. I checked three of the lists that came up. Each one was published by an agency, and each one put its own agency at number one.
This article is part of my small business guide to SEO.
To be fair, all three said so on the page. But it is a neat illustration of how a lot of "generative engine optimisation" works: take a long-standing marketing tactic (in this case, publishing a "best of" list that includes yourself), point it at AI tools, and give it a new name.
This guide goes through the services GEO agencies typically sell, what each one really is, and whether it is worth paying for. It is written for small business owners weighing up a GEO quote, and it is based on Google's published guidance, independent research and my own test of ChatGPT's local recommendations.
First, a quick reality check on GEO
GEO stands for generative engine optimisation: getting your business mentioned in answers written by AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews. I explain the background in GEO vs SEO, but three facts matter before you read any proposal:
- Google says it is still SEO. Its July 2026 guidance states that optimising for its generative AI features "is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO."
- AI tools mostly run searches and summarise the results. For local searches in my test, ChatGPT recommended 85% of the businesses in Google's map results and showed their Google star ratings to the exact review.
- AI traffic is still small. Similarweb data for January 2026 put AI platforms at roughly 0.15 to 0.25% of global web traffic.
None of that means AI visibility is unimportant. It means you should expect any GEO service to explain exactly what it does that SEO does not.
The GEO services, one by one
1. AI visibility tracking and "share of voice" scores
What it is sold as: A monthly dashboard showing how often ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity mention your business when people ask relevant questions, usually as a percentage or score that goes up as the agency works its magic.
What it really is: Running a list of prompts through AI tools and counting mentions.
The problem: AI answers are not stable. In my test, I ran the same 10 local searches through ChatGPT three times each. Only 40% of the businesses it recommended appeared in all three runs. For "boiler repair Woking", ChatGPT named 30 different businesses across three runs, and just one appeared every time. In one run, most of the businesses it listed were not in Woking at all.
A score built on answers that change every time you ask is measuring a lot of noise. A rise from 12% to 18% "share of voice" could easily be random variation dressed up as progress.
Worth paying for? Not as a headline deliverable, and not as a separate fee. I do set up ChatGPT visibility tracking for clients, but I report it as a trend over several months alongside rankings and enquiries, because one month's score says very little on its own. Your Google map rankings, reviews and enquiries are far more reliable measures.
2. llms.txt files
What it is sold as: A special file that tells AI models about your business, so they understand and recommend you.
What it really is: A proposed text file placed on your website, similar in spirit to a sitemap. No major AI company has confirmed it uses llms.txt when deciding what to cite.
What Google says: Its AI features guidance says llms.txt and similar files "neither harm nor help your site's visibility or rankings in Google Search." Google's John Mueller has compared llms.txt to the old keywords meta tag, which search engines stopped using years ago.
Worth paying for? No. If you want one, plugins like SEOPress can generate it in minutes. It should never be a line item on a monthly invoice. I go into this in more detail in llms.txt and the other AI SEO myths.
3. "AI-optimised" content rewrites
What it is sold as: Rewriting your web pages into short, self-contained "chunks", question-and-answer blocks or a special structure that AI tools can extract more easily.
What it really is: Content editing. Sometimes useful, often unnecessary.
What Google says: "There's no requirement to break your content into tiny pieces for AI to better understand it," and "You don't need to write in a specific way just for generative AI search."
Worth paying for? Only if your content is weak to begin with, in which case you need better content for people, not a special format for machines. Clear headings, direct answers to common questions and specific detail about your services help readers, Google and AI tools equally. That is the kind of work covered in how to optimise website content for SEO.
4. Schema markup "for AI"
What it is sold as: Structured data that helps AI models understand your business.
What it really is: Schema markup, which SEOs have been adding to websites for over a decade. LocalBusiness, Service, FAQ and Review schema are all standard.
Worth paying for? Schema is worthwhile, but it is a one-off technical SEO task, not a monthly AI service. Google's guidance confirms there is no special AI-only markup you need.
5. "Entity building" and knowledge graph work
What it is sold as: Building your brand's "entity" so AI models recognise your business as a trusted, distinct thing.
What it really is: Making sure your business name, address, phone number, services and description are consistent across your website, Google Business Profile, directories, social profiles and trade bodies. Local SEO calls these citations and has done for years.
Worth paying for? Yes, as part of SEO. This is valuable work, and my test backs it up: directories or trade bodies were cited as sources for 9 of the 10 searches, with Checkatrade cited for 8. But if your SEO provider is not already doing it, the problem is your SEO, not a missing GEO service.
6. Brand mention campaigns
What it is sold as: Getting your brand talked about in places AI models read, sometimes including Reddit threads, forums, "best of" articles and listicles.
What it really is: Digital PR and link building. The legitimate version (local press coverage, supplier case studies, industry awards, genuine community involvement) is excellent and has always helped SEO. Ahrefs' study of 75,000 brands found web mentions correlated more strongly with AI Overview visibility than backlinks did.
The problem: The shortcut versions include planted Reddit comments, fake reviews and paid placements on low-quality "top 10" lists. These can damage your reputation when they are spotted, and review platforms and communities actively remove them.
Worth paying for? The legitimate version, yes, as part of your SEO and PR. If a proposal mentions Reddit or forum "seeding", ask exactly how the posts will be written and by whom.
7. Self-published "best of" lists
What it is sold as: Content designed to be cited when someone asks an AI tool for the best provider in a category.
What it really is: The oldest trick in affiliate and agency marketing. You publish "The 10 Best [Your Service] Providers", include yourself (often at the top), and hope search engines and AI tools pick it up.
Worth paying for? A useful, honest comparison page can be good content. A thinly disguised advert ranking yourself first is not, and readers increasingly see through it. The three GEO agency lists I checked at least disclosed they had ranked themselves. Many lists do not.
8. Guaranteed placement in ChatGPT or AI Overviews
What it is sold as: "We will get you recommended by ChatGPT."
What it really is: A promise nobody can keep. No agency controls what AI tools say, just as no agency can guarantee a number one ranking on Google.
Worth paying for? No. Treat any guarantee as a red flag. If you want to pay to appear in AI tools, advertising is the honest way to do it, and I cover that separately on my ChatGPT ads management page.
GEO services at a glance
| GEO service | What it really is | Worth a separate fee? |
|---|---|---|
| AI visibility scores | Counting mentions in unstable answers | No |
| llms.txt file | A text file with no confirmed effect | No |
| AI-optimised rewrites | Content editing | Rarely |
| Schema for AI | Standard schema markup | No, one-off SEO task |
| Entity building | Citations and consistent listings | No, it is local SEO |
| Brand mention campaigns | Digital PR and link building | Only the legitimate kind, as part of SEO |
| Self-published "best of" lists | Self-promotion | No |
| Guaranteed AI placement | An impossible promise | Never |
Questions to ask before you sign a GEO contract
If you are considering a GEO proposal, these questions will quickly show whether it adds anything to your SEO:
- What will you do each month that my SEO provider does not already do? Ask for a list of tasks, not outcomes.
- How do you account for AI answers changing between runs? If they cannot explain how they separate real progress from random variation, their reporting is not worth much.
- Can you show me a before-and-after for a business like mine, with enquiries, not just a visibility score?
- Will any of the work involve Reddit, forums, reviews or lists you publish yourselves? If yes, ask exactly how.
- If I stopped paying for GEO but kept my SEO, what would I lose?
My guide on how to choose an SEO agency has more questions that apply just as well here.
What is actually worth paying for
Strip away the new labels and the work that improves your visibility in AI tools is the same work that improves your visibility in Google:
- A complete, well-managed Google Business Profile.
- A steady flow of genuine reviews on the platforms your customers use.
- Accurate listings on the directories and trade bodies relevant to your sector.
- A fast, crawlable website that clearly explains your services and locations, with AI answer crawlers not accidentally blocked.
- Genuine mentions and links from local press, suppliers, partners and industry bodies.
If your SEO covers those, a separate GEO retainer is unlikely to add much. If it does not, fix your SEO. For a line-by-line look at pricing, read paying twice for SEO: what a GEO add-on actually buys.
Conclusion
Most GEO services are existing SEO and PR tactics with a new name, a few (llms.txt files, AI visibility scores, guaranteed placements) have little or no evidence behind them, and the useful parts belong in any competent SEO campaign. That does not make every agency selling GEO dishonest. It does mean you should ask exactly what you are paying for before you pay for it twice.
Every SoNick SEO package includes Google Business Profile management, technical SEO, Bing Webmaster Tools set-up, rank tracking and monthly reporting as standard, and I can set up ChatGPT visibility tracking too. There is no separate GEO retainer. If you have a GEO proposal on your desk and want a second opinion, get in touch and I will tell you honestly what it adds.
