AEO Services — Get Your Business Cited by AI
AEO services (Answer Engine Optimization) are the work of getting your business named and cited when customers ask AI tools — ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, Perplexity, Gemini — for a recommendation. At Kickass Websites, that work starts with a live AI visibility audit and runs through content, structured data, and the entity consistency that makes a model trust you enough to put your name in its answer.
We’re a Phoenix agency, and our founder has been building websites for local and trade businesses since 2008 — 700+ sites and counting. We added AEO because we watched it happen in real time: customers stopped scrolling a list of ten and started taking the AI’s word for who to call. If the AI doesn’t know you, you’re not in the running — and most of your competitors aren’t in the running yet either.
What you get, in one line: we find out where the major AI engines stand on your business today, fix the technical and content gaps that keep you out of their answers, and track your visibility as the engines start naming you.
What’s included in our AEO services
1. AI Visibility Audit (this is where everyone starts)
We run your business through the major answer engines — ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Gemini — using the exact questions your customers ask: “best [your service] in [your city],” “who should I hire for X,” “is [your company] any good.” You get a plain report of where you show up, where you’re invisible, who the AI recommends instead, and the specific reasons you’re being left out.
This is our lead magnet and our starting point, and it’s free. Get yours here.
2. Content built to be quoted
Answer engines lift answers. We rewrite and structure your key pages so they’re liftable: a direct answer in the first line, question-style headings, FAQ blocks, and the facts, figures, and named sources the models reach for. The 2024 GEO research found that adding citations, quotations, and statistics raised a source’s visibility in AI answers by up to 40% — so we build that in deliberately.
3. Structured data (schema markup)
We implement the schema that tells a machine what a human reads at a glance — LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage, Article — so the engines parse your pages correctly instead of guessing.
4. Entity and citation consistency
The AI sees your business in dozens of places: your site, Google Business Profile, reviews, directories. When your name, address, phone, hours, and story all line up, the model trusts the entity and cites it. When they conflict, it hedges or skips you. We find the conflicts and clean them up.
5. Technical AI access
We confirm the AI crawlers — GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended — can actually reach your site. A lot of sites quietly block the exact bots they’re trying to win. (We’ve found this misconfigured on sites whose owners had no idea.) We also handle llms.txt and crawler-facing fundamentals.
6. Tracking and reporting
We re-check the engines on a schedule and show you the movement — where the AIs have started naming you, and where the next gap is.
How the process works
- Free audit. You request the AI Visibility Audit. We scan the engines and send the report.
- Walkthrough. We go over what it found — the gaps, the quick wins, the bigger fixes — and you decide if you want help closing them.
- Build. We do the content, schema, entity, and technical work. You approve before anything ships.
- Track. We watch your visibility climb and report on it.
No long-term lock-in to find out whether this is for you — the audit tells you that before you spend a dollar.
Who AEO services are for
- Local and trade businesses — contractors, home services, clinics, shops — whose customers ask AI “who’s the best near me.” This is our core. It’s who we build for.
- Service businesses with a research-heavy buyer — anyone whose customers vet them online before calling.
- Businesses in a growing market — like Phoenix and Maricopa County, where new residents without an established “guy” are asking AI for one daily.
If you sell to people who ask questions before they buy, AEO is for you. If your customers walk in off the street and never touch a phone, it isn’t — and we’ll tell you that.
Why Kickass Websites for AEO
Plenty of agencies bolted “AEO” onto their menu the week the term went mainstream. Two things make our version real:
- We run a live AI scan, not a slideshow. Our audit actually queries the engines about your business. It’s the same tool that proves the work, which is why we lead with it for free — we’d rather show you than tell you.
- We’ve done the unglamorous part 700+ times. AEO sits on a foundation of fast, clean, crawlable websites. Our founder has been building those since 2008. We’re not learning the foundation on your dime.
A quick note on honesty, because the category is full of hype: AEO is not magic, and anyone guaranteeing you “the #1 spot in ChatGPT” is selling something nobody can deliver. What we can do is measurably improve whether and how often the engines cite you, and prove it with before-and-after scans.
AEO and your local market
If you’re in the Valley, AEO and local SEO in Phoenix are one motion for us, not two invoices. A local business gets surfaced in an AI answer using many of the same signals that win the map pack — a trustworthy site, a consistent business entity, real reviews. We build them together. New term you’ve heard for the same idea — generative engine optimization? That’s our GEO services, and it’s the same discipline.
If you’re still getting your head around the category, start with the plain-English explainer: What is Answer Engine Optimization? And if you’re weighing this against your existing search work, AEO vs SEO lays out how they fit together.
Frequently asked questions
How much do AEO services cost? It depends on the shape your site and your business entity are in, which is exactly what the free audit reveals. Some businesses need a few targeted fixes; others need the foundation rebuilt first. We scope it after the audit so you’re paying for the work you actually need — not a one-size package.
Do I need a new website to do AEO? Not always. If your current site is fast and crawlable, we can layer AEO onto it. If it’s slow, broken, or invisible to crawlers, we’ll be honest that the foundation comes first — there’s no point optimizing for AI on a site the AI can’t read.
Can you guarantee ChatGPT will recommend me? No, and run from anyone who does. The engines don’t sell placement and nobody controls their output. We guarantee the work and prove the movement with before-and-after AI scans — not a ranking we can’t control.
How is this different from regular SEO? SEO wins you a spot in the list of links. AEO wins you a mention in the AI’s answer. They share a foundation but aim at different targets — full breakdown on AEO vs SEO.
Do you only work with Phoenix businesses? AEO isn’t geographically bound — we can do it for a business anywhere. We’re based in Phoenix and know the Maricopa County market cold, so local Valley businesses get the deepest version. But the audit and the work travel.
Written by Steve Halverson, founder of Kickass Websites in Phoenix, Arizona. Building websites for local and trade businesses since 2008 — 700+ and counting. Published June 2026.
Start with the free AI Visibility Audit
See exactly where ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Gemini stand on your business today — and what’s keeping you out of their answers. No cost. No obligation.