These are the questions we hear on calls and the ones people put to AI engines. Straight answers, no hedging.
What is AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)?
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring your content so AI answer engines β ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot β can extract it and cite your business as the answer. Traditional SEO aims to rank a page below the answer; AEO aims to be quoted, cited and recommended inside it.
What is the difference between SEO, AEO and GEO?
SEO earns you rankings in search results. AEO makes your content easy to extract as a direct answer in snippets and AI responses. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) influences which sources a large language model trusts and cites when it synthesises a recommendation. They're complementary layers, not competitors β strong SEO is the foundation that makes AEO and GEO possible in the first place.
Is SEO still worth it in 2026 with AI search?
Yes. AI answer engines still pull from crawlable, indexed, authoritative pages β roughly 40% of Google AI Overview citations rank in the organic top 10, and nearly 70% rank in the top 100. Google confirmed in 2026 that Search fundamentals still apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no special extra requirements. SEO isn't being replaced by AI search; it's the entry ticket to it. What changed is that ranking alone is no longer enough β you also need to be extractable and citable.
Why doesn't my business show up in ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews?
Usually one of five reasons: AI crawlers are blocked or your pages aren't indexable; your content isn't structured as direct answers to real questions; your business entity is inconsistent across your site, Google Business Profile and directories; you lack third-party citations on sources AI leans on (Reddit, LinkedIn and YouTube rank among the most-referenced domains for major LLMs); or your content lacks the evidentiary signals β statistics, expert quotes, inline citations β that models treat as credibility proxies. An AI visibility audit tells you which one is actually blocking you.
How much do SEO and AEO services cost?
Most small and mid-sized businesses invest between $500 and $5,000 per month in SEO. AEO is commonly added at roughly $800β$1,200/month, or bundled into a combined search visibility retainer in the $2,500β$5,000 range. What drives the number is market competitiveness, geographic scope, and how much content and technical work is required to compete. We scope every engagement individually β the starting point is a free visibility audit, not a fixed package you have to squeeze into.
How long does it take to see results from SEO and AEO?
Local SEO and Google Business Profile improvements often move within 4β8 weeks. AEO citations typically start appearing in 4β8 weeks for sites that already have authority and content, and 3β6 months for sites starting from scratch. Competitive national SEO generally takes 6β12 months. Freshness helps: ChatGPT shows a strong recency bias in what it cites, so consistent publishing accelerates results more than a one-time campaign.
How do I get my business cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity?
Six things, in order: allow AI crawlers; publish answer-first content that leads with a clear 40β60 word answer directly under a question-shaped heading; deploy accurate schema markup that matches your visible content; keep your entity data identical across your website, Google Business Profile and every directory; add statistics, attributed expert quotes and inline citations (Princeton's GEO research found expert quotes lifted citation probability ~41% and statistics ~30%, while keyword stuffing hurt it); and build presence on the third-party sources AI actually leans on.
Can you do local SEO for HVAC, plumbing, roofing and other trades?
Yes β service-area businesses are a core focus. That work centres on Google Business Profile optimization, Map Pack visibility, service and city landing pages, local citations, review velocity and response management, plus Local Service Ads and click-to-call campaigns for the jobs that need booking today. Profile completeness is the cheapest Map Pack lift available, and complete profiles are around 70% more likely to earn visits.
Do you offer white-label SEO and AEO for agencies?
Yes. We partner with web design, marketing and local agencies as a behind-the-scenes fulfilment team β audits, technical SEO, answer-first content, schema, AI visibility tracking and client-ready branded reporting, all delivered under your brand. You own the client relationship, the pricing and the margin. Agencies typically apply a 100β200% markup on white-label search work. We stay invisible.
Which countries does Tony Web Studio serve?
We work with clients across the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan, and we take on projects worldwide. Search and AI visibility work is delivered remotely, and our team runs on US business hours for calls and reporting. The United States is our primary market focus.
Can you guarantee first page rankings or AI placement?
No β and neither can anyone else. Google and the AI platforms control their own ranking and citation systems, and between 40% and 60% of AI-cited sources change month to month across Google AI Mode and ChatGPT. Anyone promising guaranteed placement is either overconfident or selling you something. What we commit to is a defined scope, transparent reporting on rankings, Map Pack position, AI citations and leads, and work grounded in what the evidence actually supports.
Do I need SEO and AEO, or can I just pick one?
If your customers use both Google and AI tools β and they do β you need both, but they're not separate budgets doing separate work. The overlap is large: clear structure, entity clarity, authoritative evidence and clean technical foundations serve rankings and citations at the same time. Running them as one program is cheaper and more coherent than hiring two vendors who'll disagree about how to structure the same page.