SEO Accountability + AI Search
SEO & AEO Don't Have to Be a Black Box
If you’re working with an SEO partner, are you paying for a strategy or just another subscription? We’ve talked to hundreds of marketing and sales professionals who are paying for SEO, but don’t have clarity on what their money is actually doing for their business and whether it’s tooled to support with AI search (AEO). We can help you change that.
The writing’s on the wall: it’s an AI world.
Here’s proof that it’s time to ask your partner to adapt (or find a new partner).
of B2B buyers now use AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity in their research process
Source: Loganix 2026 B2B AI Buying Behavior Analysis
of all Google searches now return an AI-generated summary above the organic results
Source: Ahrefs data, March 2026
AI-referred visitors convert at roughly 5 times the rate of standard organic search traffic
Source: Opollo 2026 AI Search Benchmark Report, 312 B2B technology firms
Get Clarity From Your SEO Partner With These 7 Questions
The SEO industry has historically been opaque with long timelines, technical language, and vague reporting that make it hard to know whether you’re getting what you’re paying for. These seven questions are what any good SEO partner should be able to answer clearly. If your vendor gives you straight answers to all seven, that’s a great sign. If they can’t, we can help you figure out what to do next.
What new content did you publish for us last month, and what was the strategic rationale behind it?
Content is the engine of everything in SEO, AEO, and GEO. Fresh, expert-driven content written for your actual buyers is what earns rankings, AI citations, and trust over time. If there’s no consistent content being produced, your results aren’t likely to improve.
Which keywords that our actual buyers search are we ranking for and which ones should we be ranking for that we aren't yet?
This is about whether the traffic you’re earning is coming from people who could actually buy from you. A good SEO partner knows the difference between keywords that look good in a report and keywords that put the right people in your pipeline.
What does our reporting track, and does it connect SEO activity to qualified traffic, leads, and pipeline?
Technical scores and error counts are website health metrics. They matter, but they’re not the whole picture. If your monthly report doesn’t draw a clear line between what your vendor does and what’s landing in your sales pipeline, it’s time to ask for a different kind of report.
How are you using our target audience's specific questions, pain points, and search behaviors to drive the content and keyword strategy?
The best SEO programs are built around a deep understanding of the buyer: what they’re actually searching, what problems they’re trying to solve, and what questions they ask at every stage of a decision. Search engines and AI tools both reward content that genuinely answers real questions from real people. This is what separates a strategy from a subscription.
Is our content structured to appear in AI Overviews, People Also Ask, and conversational search results?
Nearly half of all Google searches now return an AI-generated summary above the organic results. Buyers are increasingly getting their answers there — before they ever scroll to a traditional listing. Content that isn’t structured to earn those placements is missing a growing share of the audience.
Is our brand being cited or recommended by AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Claude when buyers research our category?
More than half of B2B buyers now start their research in an AI chatbot rather than Google. These tools synthesize information and make recommendations, and the brands they cite most are the ones with authoritative, well-structured content that AI engines trust. A good partner will have a plan to get you in the conversation.
What is your strategy for keeping us visible as search continues to evolve and how are you measuring it?
Search has changed more in the last two years than in the previous ten. A vendor who’s only optimizing for where search was (instead of where it’s going) is running a program that’s already falling behind. You deserve a forward-looking answer here.
Traditional SEO Is No Longer Enough
You might have seen things like “SEO is dead” on LinkedIn, but buyers are still using Google. They’re just getting AI-generated summaries at the top of their search results, asking questions directly in ChatGPT or Perplexity, and making shortlists before they ever visit a vendor website in addition to traditional search. The brands showing up in all three of those places have a significant advantage over the ones only optimizing for the first.
There are three connected frameworks that govern visibility in modern search, and a complete SEO program needs to address all of them:
AEO focuses on structuring content to appear in AI-generated answers directly on search results pages — things like Google’s AI Overviews, featured snippets, and People Also Ask results. These placements are increasingly where buyer journeys start, and they’re determined by how well your content answers the questions people are asking most often.
GEO focuses on ensuring your brand is cited and recommended when buyers use AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity to research vendors in your category. These tools build their answers from content they consider authoritative, and brands with expert-driven, well-structured content are the ones getting cited.
People are still using Google, and ranking well in blue-link results still matters. The point isn’t to abandon what’s working, it’s to make sure your program extends beyond it. SEO is the foundation. AEO and GEO are what complete the picture.
If your current program addresses all three, great. If it only addresses one, you’re visible in one layer of a three-layer landscape.
Let Us Meet You Where You Are
Every company is at a different place with this. Choose the path that fits where you are right now.
Get Our Clarity Tool
Includes a downloadable Google Doc with all 7 questions formatted to send directly to your current vendor. No sign-up required, all you have to do is make sure they answer the questions.
Easy & Popular
Get a Free 20-Minute Snapshot
Book a call with GBG. We’ll review your website, your current SEO program, and your AI Search visibility and give you a straight read on where you stand across all three.
- Real analysis, not a sales pitch
- Traditional SEO + AI Search coverage
- Something to act on, guaranteed
Download the Audit Toolkit
Have some analytics access and want to go further on your own first? Get the toolkit GBG uses to evaluate SEO and AI Search performance.
- AI prompts you can run against your own site data
- Vendor accountability checklist with context on what good answers look like
- Plain-language AEO and GEO explainer
Built for Technical B2B
We serve specialty manufacturers, engineering services firms, and technical industrial companies that need a marketing partner that actually understands what they do.
“Our previous agency gave us monthly reports full of metrics we didn’t understand. GBG showed us exactly what was driving pipeline and what wasn’t.”
“The technical depth in the content GBG produces is unlike anything we’ve seen from a marketing partner. Our engineering team actually reads it.”
“Your team is doing awesome! The social media and web work they are doing is making a huge difference. We have seen a direct correlation between increasing leads and when we started working with GBG.”
Precision Plating | Aerospace and Medical Manufacturing
Electro-Spec: From Invisible to #1
Electro-Spec had deep technical expertise that wasn’t showing up online. Engineers searching for answers in their specialty weren’t finding them.
GBG built a content engine around their engineering team’s knowledge — turning subject matter expert interviews into search-optimized articles that ranked #1 on Google for high-intent terms like “plating complex part” and “white bronze finish.”
In five months:
Results
Ready When You Are
Get clarity on SEO and AEO.
Find out where you stand and how far you need to go to win in today’s world of search.
Free · 20 minutes · No sales pitch