How to choose the ideal GEO partner
Authored by Simon Andrew for Saint Clair’s, Germany. Simon is director of strategy, copy and clarity at Saint Clair’s. His professional interests include brand strategy, messaging and storytelling - and how these interface with AI Visibility Strategy, GEO and generative content creation.
If search impacts your revenue, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) should be top of your to-do list. Because, as an early mover, you will win inclusion in AI answers while your competitors are still arguing about keywords.
This guide explores how to vet GEO partners, be they human, AI or a combination of both, so you can achieve measurable visibility in ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and, yes, even Google. Traditional SEO still matters.
The numbers underline the need to embrace GEO
89% of B2B buyers now use AI for purchase research (Forrester, 2024).
60% of AI searches end without a click to another site (SparkToro, 2024).
By 2028, over half of traditional search traffic is expected to move to AI platforms (SemRush, 2025).
SEO remains essential, but it's no longer sufficient by itself. In AI-driven search, users ask full questions rather than relying on keywords, for example, "What's the best GEO AI tool for a team of up to 10 people?" The focus has shifted.
What your ideal GEO partner should provide
No matter whether your GEO + SEO partner is human, AI or a combination of both, the key to a successful partnership lies in their ability to provide you with the following:
AI Visibility Audit
A visibility audit evaluates your brand’s visibility across LLMs (e.g.: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity) and traditional search engines (Google, Bing) relative to your competitors. In addition it should assess fit with your audience segments, brand identity and preferred messaging.
AI Visibility Strategy
Your visibility strategy recommends how to combine GEO and SEO into a unified workflow that amplifies your brand visibility.
The AI visibility strategy should:
Identify which large language models (LLMs) your audience uses.
Map the information sources your audience-relevant LLMs draw from.
Analyse your competitors’ activity and presence.
Include keyword research, especially of contextualised long-tail keywords, and cluster plans for both keywords and answers.
Build an entity map and answer clusters tied to revenue moments.
Analyse AI content gaps.
Offer a channel and content plan, including internal linking strategies.
Integrating GEO and SEO
Many overlook the reality that SEO plays a key role in supporting AI visibility and citations. AI engines reference content that ranks highly on Google and/or Bing, in addition to other criteria, such as content structure and authority.
Which is why you still want to maintain robust technical SEO that takes care of indexing, site health, and metadata management.
Ideally you want to optimize both SEO and GEO into one streamlined content workflow with:
Content created by brand-trained AI content assistants and moderated by expert human GEO + SEO content writers.
Content designed for both human and AI audiences, with structured data and JSON-LD schema.
Content localised in UK English, German and other European languages to maximise relevance.
Aligning GEO with your brand
When it comes to brand, your preferred GEO + SEO partner should be able to provide the following:
Deep understanding of your brand strategy and tone of voice, with seamless AI integration.
A content platform concept built around the core conviction of your brand, your brand values and messaging.
Highly targeted and customised content tailored to resonate with each of your brand audiences.
The ability to properly implement and deploy GEO + SEO across the European languages relevant to your brand.
Writer expertise required
Writers who can create people-first content optimised for both GEO and SEO are essential.
And no matter whether they use AI content creation assistants or not, their outputs should look human-written to AI crawlers.
Content should also include brand voice customisation, internal linking, source citation, AI-generated images, FAQ, compelling calls-to-action, and much more besides.
Monitoring and Optimising
Monitoring your GEO + SEO performance alone is not enough; insights gained must lead to tangible action.
Ensure every insight translates into specific actions via templates, workflows, and automated solutions.
Track brand performance in AI search results and act on data-driven recommendations.
Address content citations, technical barriers, and high-authority outreach with precision.
Comprehensive analytics
Leave nothing to chance. Conduct full site audits for GEO + SEO health to track the following:
Visibility Score – How often you’re mentioned in AI responses
Share of Voice – Your standing relative to competitors
Sentiment Analysis – AI perception of your brand
Citation Sources – Which content is referenced by AI
Also consider evaluating and addressing:
Citation Gaps – Target sites that mention competitors but not your brand.
Content Gaps – Identify and fill missing content areas not addressed by you or competitors.
Ranking Drops – Keep your content up-to-date and competitive to keep ranking up.
Enterprise-ready security
Last but not least you will want data security and privacy protocols in place that meet your internal standards as well as factor in the following:
SOC 2 Type II Compliance
GDPR Compliance
HIPAA Compliance
Bank-level encryption
TL;DR
Choose a GEO partner that treats SEO and GEO as one engine, not two departments.
They should: run an AI visibility audit (eg, on: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity + Google/Bing), design an entity map and answer clusters, and fold everything into a single content workflow - with brand-trained GPTs and human editors, question-led structure, cited sources, JSON-LD schema, internal links, and proper localisation for UK/DE and other EU markets.
Insist on measurement with, say, 30/60/90-day targets that reveals: AI inclusion rate, citation sources/quality, share of voice vs competitors, assisted conversions, and SEO health. Look for governance (prompt logs, approvals), security/compliance (GDPR, SOC 2), and clear data-handling docs.
Red flags: Be wary of promises such as “We guarantee #1 in AI answers,” absence of entity/JSON-LD work, translation-only “localization,” (all languages should be handled by native SEO content creators) or platform lock-in.
RFP litmus tests: ask them to show before/after inclusion gains, a sample entity map and 10-question cluster, the refresh policy, and exactly how they attribute revenue.
If they can do all that, congratulations, you’ve very likely found “the one” for you and your brand. If not, back away like it’s week-old sushi.
And give Saint Clair’s, Germany a call.
Or book your FREE GEO MINI-AUDIT.
FAQ
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Measuring your AI-generated traffic, mentions and inclusions in AI responses is made possible by tools like Writesonic and Profound. They track content resonance with both humans and AI, benchmark generative search visibility and reveal where your brand is being cited, surfaced and clicked.
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Benefits include enhanced user experience through direct AI answers, improved content visibility in emerging AI channels, and staying ahead of competitors.
Risks involve dependency on AI platforms whose algorithms frequently change, difficulty quantifying ROI, and content over-saturation.
An experienced GEO partner mitigates these risks by continuously adapting strategies and maintaining your content quality.
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The ideal GEO partner should expand your semantic footprint with expert, high-quality topical content, improve site authority, integrate schema and structured data, map relevant queries, and continuously monitor AI trends and user intent.
In addition, they should help build citations and ensure content aligns with evolving AI technology and compliance standards.