Be the answer when someone asks an AI who to hire.
People now ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Mode for recommendations, and the assistants answer with a handful of names. We make sure yours is one of them, and we measure it. Some people call it generative engine optimization, some call it answer engine optimization. It's the work of getting your business cited when someone asks an AI who to hire. Month to month, flat $95 an hour.
Four names, one job.
The terminology hasn't settled, so people search for this work under several names. Here is what each one means, and why we don't sell them separately.
GEOgenerative engine optimization
Being cited in AI-generated answers: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews, Claude, Gemini, Copilot.
AEOanswer engine optimization
Being the direct answer to a question: featured snippets, voice results, chat answers.
LLMOlarge language model optimization
How the models themselves describe your brand when asked. It matters most for big brands; for most of our clients it's a by-product of doing the first two well.
AI SEOthe plain-English name
What we call it, because it says what it is: search engine optimization for the AI-driven kind of search.
We don't sell them separately. They're one discipline with a changing name.
Where we get you cited
The six assistants people actually ask. Each one finds and ranks sources a little differently; we track your visibility in all of them and report it monthly.
ChatGPT
Search · Shopping · Citations
The largest audience and the most direct recommendations. Draws on Bing's index and its own crawl, so both matter.
Perplexity
Answers · Sources · Shopping
Cites sources aggressively and rewards pages that answer a question completely on one page.
Google AI Mode
AI Overviews · AI Mode
Sits on top of Google's own index. Classic SEO is the price of entry; structure and clarity decide who gets quoted.
Bing & Copilot
Copilot · Bing chat
Underrated. Bing's index feeds ChatGPT and Copilot, so being indexed and understood there pays twice.
Claude
Web search · Citations
Growing quickly with business users. Favors sources that are specific, well organized, and honest about what they are.
Gemini
Gemini app · AI Overviews
Google's assistant, sharing signals with AI Mode. Strong on entities: who you are, where you are, what you do.
We also watch Meta AI, Grok, and DuckDuckGo's assistant. One assistant for one product line is a perfectly normal engagement.
What every client gets
No tiers, no packages. The same standard whether you're a local service business or a national brand.
$95 an hour. Same as everything else.
AI search is new enough that some agencies price it like a mystery. We don't. It's the same flat $95 an hour as every other service, and you'll see the hours on every invoice.
The hours depend on where you're starting. A business with a clear identity, a healthy site, and good reviews needs less than one whose facts are scattered and contradictory across the web. We'll estimate before we start.
If your classic SEO is the real problem, we'll say so and fix that first. The assistants are built on the same foundations.
What clients say
In their own words, from Clutch and Google reviews.
“We've worked with a lot of agencies. Ernst Media is the first one where the person on the call was the person doing the work.”
“Evan and his team have been invaluable to our marketing. They've helped us take our online advertising to the next level, and they're always happy to explain what they're doing and why.”
What we do differently
The three things that matter most in AI search, and how most agencies get them wrong. The full argument
Straight answers.
Is GEO different from AEO?
No. Generative engine optimization and answer engine optimization describe the same approach with a different emphasis: one on being cited inside AI-written answers, the other on being the direct answer to a question. We use both terms so people can find us, and we do both as one job.
Do we still need regular SEO?
Yes. Google's own guidance says the same fundamentals apply to its AI features. AI search sits on top of good SEO, not instead of it: a fast, well-structured site, clear facts about your business, and real authority. If your classic SEO is the real problem, we'll say so and fix that first.
How do you measure AI search?
Three ways: AI referral traffic in an AI Assistant channel in GA4, brand-mention monitoring across the major assistants for the questions your customers ask, and citations tracked over time. We'll be honest that AI results change month to month more than rankings do, which is exactly why we measure them monthly.
Which AI tools do you optimize for?
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, and Microsoft Copilot, plus the sources they cite: Reddit, LinkedIn, YouTube, directories, and review sites.
Can you guarantee ChatGPT will recommend us?
No. Nobody controls what an assistant says. We can measure how often it mentions you today, do the work that reliably improves it, and show you the change every month.
How do you measure it?
We build a list of the questions your customers actually ask, run them across each assistant on a schedule, and record whether you're mentioned, how you're described, and which sources are cited. That baseline is the first thing we deliver.
How long does it take?
Structured data and entity fixes can show in the assistants within weeks, because they re-crawl often. Content and authority work takes three to six months, like classic SEO. We'll tell you which is which before we start.
We're a local business. Does this matter for us?
Yes. "Best plumber near me" is now asked to assistants as often as to Google, and they lean on your Business Profile, reviews, and consistency. Local is often where the fastest wins are.
Is there a minimum?
No minimum spend, since there's no ad budget. We do say no when we can't see a path to leads, and we'll tell you on the first call rather than bill for it.
Tell us where you want to show up.
We read every message the same day. If it looks like a fit, the next step is a 30-minute call, not a sales sequence.
