10 Best Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) Agencies (2026)

Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the work of getting your brand named, cited and described correctly in AI answers. Think ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode.

It matters because buyers now ask those tools first. G2's 2026 buyer report found 51% of B2B software buyers start research in an AI chatbot.

Most brands hire help because AEO spans several teams at once. Content, digital PR, Reddit, technical SEO and reporting all feed what AI engines say about you.

We looked at 10 agencies that sell AEO as a core service, not a footnote. Checked September 2026.

A quick note first: we build Orchly, which is AEO software, not an agency. We're not affiliated with any agency below, and none of them paid to be here. This list is based on each agency's own site, the case studies and research they publish, and client reviews where we could find them.

Do you need an AEO agency or an AEO platform?

An agency makes sense when you have budget but no people. You pay for strategy, writers, PR contacts and someone accountable for the results.

A platform makes sense when you have a marketer or two who can own AEO in house. Orchly is the full agentic AI search optimization platform for that setup:

• Real answers, daily. Tracks your prompts in the actual ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews interfaces. Gemini, AI Mode, Claude and Grok are add-ons.
• Citations and Mention Gap. Shows every page AI cites, and the cited pages that name your competitors but not you.
• Perception and fact check. See the objections AI raises about you, and claims that contradict your approved facts on pricing and products.
• Agents that act on it. The Content Agent drafts articles and refreshes, the Activation Agent drafts outreach to sites AI cites, and the Site Health Agent flags technical issues.
• Google in the same place. Keyword rank tracking, Search Console and GA4 sit next to your AI visibility.

Plans start at $49/month, and Pro is $125/month with white-label reports and AI traffic analytics. See Orchly pricing or start a free trial.

It's not either/or, either. Plenty of agencies run client AEO on a platform like ours, and we have a setup for agencies with a workspace per client.

AEO agencies compared

1. Petra Labs: best for enterprise AEO tied to revenue

Petra Labs calls itself "your AI search team." It pairs its own measurement platform with an embedded services team and custom attribution.

It's young. The company was founded in 2025 in New York and raised a $5.2M seed round led by Work-Bench in July 2026.

The pitch is end-to-end ownership: prompt maps per buyer profile, tracking, the content and PR work itself, then attribution back to pipeline.

What stands out

• Attribution is the product. Petra builds custom attribution (marketing mix modeling plus multi-touch) to connect AI visibility to revenue, which most agencies don't attempt.
• They do the execution. The team builds content, places citations and handles distribution across owned, earned and social channels, including YouTube creators.
• Published case studies. Petra has written up work with Zapier and Novig. The Novig numbers (0% to 21% visibility in six months) are Petra's own claims.

Things to consider

• High floor. Engagements start at $15,000/month, and Petra says typical deals run $250,000 to $600,000+ a year on annual terms.
• Little outside validation. We found no meaningful G2 or Capterra reviews, and it doesn't publish the exact list of engines it tracks.

Best for: Enterprise brands that want one partner to own AEO strategy, execution and revenue attribution.

Engagement: From $15,000/month, annual partnerships, sales-led, no trial.

2. iPullRank: best for enterprise technical AI search strategy

iPullRank is Mike King's New York agency. It frames its work as "relevance engineering," a mix of information retrieval, content strategy, digital PR and user experience.

If your problem is technical and your site is huge, this is the shop people in the industry tend to point to.

It also gives a lot away. The AI Search Manual and the free Qforia query fan-out tool are both public.

What stands out

• Structured program. The AI Search Strategy Program delivers a keyword portfolio, an omnimedia content audit, a measurement plan, a technical assessment and a roadmap.
• Enterprise client list. Its homepage names Target, Adidas, American Express, CVS and Nordstrom.
• Deep on fan-out and retrieval. Few agencies publish as much on how AI Mode and AI Overviews pick sources.

Things to consider

• Pricing isn't published. Third-party lists quote very different minimums, so budget for enterprise rates and confirm on the first call.
• Strategy heavy. Programs lead with audits and roadmaps, so check how much writing and PR execution is in scope.

Best for: Large, technically complex sites that need an AI search strategy and a measurement plan.

Engagement: Tiered programs (Emerging over 3 months, Growth over 12 months, Elite); pricing on request.

3. Graphite: best for research-led AEO

Graphite is a San Francisco growth agency run by Ethan Smith. It has an in-house AI research team led by Chief AI Officer Gregory Druck, PhD.

Its line on AEO is blunt: "Great SEO is free AEO. Offsite is the real difference."

Graphite publishes its research under Five Percent, and a lot of AEO debates in 2026 cite it.

What stands out

• Fixed prompt sets. Graphite tracks a fixed, research-backed prompt list, typically 200+ queries a quarter, instead of chasing whatever a tool suggests.
• Offsite focus. Its AEO service prioritizes the publishers, communities and Reddit threads that shape your money prompts.
• Known tech clients. Webflow, n8n, Hinge Health, BetterUp and MasterClass. Graphite reports 94% share of voice growth from LLMs for Webflow.

Things to consider

• No public pricing. Everything runs through a sales conversation.
• Bring your own tracker. Citation tracking works from "data from your tracking tool," so you may still need to pay for AEO software.

Best for: Tech companies that want AEO decisions backed by data, not playbooks.

Engagement: Custom quote.

4. Discovered Labs: best for B2B SaaS startups

Discovered Labs is an AEO-first agency for B2B SaaS, founded by growth marketer Liam Dunne and former Stanford AI researcher Ben Moore.

It sells three things: AEO, SEO and Reddit marketing. The pitch is pipeline, not visibility scores for their own sake.

It's also one of the few AEO agencies that publishes full pricing.

What stands out

• Transparent pricing. Plans start at €6,995/month, or €5,995/month on a six-month commitment, with a €4,370 diagnostic credited to your first retainer if you sign within 14 days.
• Month-to-month. Contracts run with 30 days notice, which is rare at this level.
• SaaS case studies with numbers. It lists incident.io (+68% AI visibility score), Gladia and Granola. These are the agency's own figures.

Things to consider

• Content volume caps. The entry plan covers up to 20 content units a month, so net-new landing pages need the higher tier.
• Small team. Pods are four to seven people, so capacity can be tight if you need a lot at once.

Best for: Growth-stage B2B SaaS teams that want AEO tied to demos and signups.

Engagement: From €5,995/month (6-month) or €6,995/month (monthly); custom from €15,995/month.

5. Omniscient Digital: best for B2B software content programs

Omniscient Digital is an "organic growth agency for B2B software companies." Generative engine optimization sits next to SEO strategy, content, technical SEO, link building and digital PR.

It has offices in Austin, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston.

Its GEO thinking leans on brand mentions over backlinks, and on presence across Reddit, YouTube and TikTok.

What stands out

• Published minimum. "Full-service engagements start at $10,000 a month," so you know the entry price up front.
• AI search case studies. OnBoard (+88% AI visibility) and Convert (LLM visibility up 81% and AI citations up 140% in 60 days), per the agency.
• Content depth. Its Jasper and Order.co work shows it can run a blog as a revenue channel.

Things to consider

• B2B software only. Consumer and ecommerce brands should look elsewhere.
• Content first. AEO is folded into a broader organic program, not sold as a standalone sprint.

Best for: B2B software companies that want AEO inside a full content and SEO program.

Engagement: From $10,000/month.

6. NoGood: best for growth brands that want AEO plus paid and social

NoGood is a New York growth agency with offices in Miami and Dubai. It sells AEO as a full service and runs an AEO course.

It works with Goodie, an AEO platform, as its tech partner for monitoring and content.

NoGood covers ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Copilot, alongside Google.

What stands out

• Four clear pillars. Visibility intelligence, content, earned media and digital PR, and technical AEO.
• Commerce case study. NoGood reports 23x AI search traffic and 27x conversions from AI platforms for SteelSeries, year over year.
• Bigger brand roster. Nike, MongoDB, Intuit and Oura appear on its site.

Things to consider

• Premium retainers. NoGood says its average retainer is above $20,000/month.
• Broad agency. AEO is one service among paid, creative and growth, so ask who on the team actually owns it.

Best for: Funded SaaS, fintech, health and consumer brands that want AEO alongside other growth channels.

Engagement: Custom; average retainer above $20,000/month.

7. Avenue Z: best for PR-led AEO

Avenue Z pitches "PR that powers media and AI search." It has offices in New York, Miami and Orlando.

That PR angle matters. AI engines lean on third-party coverage, and Avenue Z's AEO work centers on placements in publications LLMs rely on.

It also offers AEO for ecommerce and agentic commerce work.

What stands out

• Earned media built in. PR, content and technical work run as one system rather than separate retainers.
• Platform partnerships. Avenue Z lists itself as a partner of Profound, Peec AI and Writesonic, among others.
• Fintech proof. Its Prometeo case study reports 357% AI visibility growth and 867% more AI referral traffic in six months.

Things to consider

• Pricing not published. You'll need a call to get a number.
• Check the tactics. The Prometeo work lists llms.txt among the fixes. That's fine as hygiene, but it isn't a ranking lever on Google (more below).

Best for: Consumer, fintech and emerging tech brands where press coverage drives what AI says.

Engagement: Custom project or retainer.

8. Five Blocks: best for AI reputation management

Five Blocks is a New York reputation firm with about two decades in search reputation. It now applies that to what AI says about companies and executives.

Its AIQ platform polls eight engines daily: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, AI Overviews, Perplexity, Grok, Claude and AI Mode. It ties each answer back to its sources.

Then it works on those sources: Wikipedia, third-party coverage and owned properties.

What stands out

• Entity and Wikipedia work. Few AEO agencies offer Wikipedia strategy and entity optimization as core services.
• Crisis ready. It handles reputation crises, which matters when AI repeats an old story about you.
• Works with your advisors. It partners with PR firms, communications teams and law firms.

Things to consider

• Not a growth agency. The goal is accurate, favorable descriptions, not more pipeline from category prompts.
• Discreet by design. Five Blocks doesn't publish its client list or pricing, so vetting takes more calls.

Best for: Fortune 500s, regulated companies and executives worried about how AI describes them.

Engagement: Custom; pricing not published.

9. Go Fish Digital: best for ecommerce and consumer brands

Go Fish Digital is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with offices in Boston, DC, Phoenix, San Diego and Jacksonville.

Its GEO service mixes semantic content audits, passage-level optimization for AI Overviews and ChatGPT, technical fixes and digital PR for brand citations.

It also built its own tool, Barracuda, which scores pages against 14 factors and monitors how you show up in ChatGPT.

What stands out

• Own tooling. Barracuda gives the team page-level analysis without relying only on third-party trackers.
• Digital PR in house. Citation building on "authoritative, LLM-friendly sources" is part of the core service.
• Consumer client list. Uber, Lowe's, LegalZoom and Joybird appear on its site.

Things to consider

• No AEO-specific case study numbers. Its GEO page leans on SEO and paid wins rather than AI citation results.
• Full-service shop. GEO sits beside SEO, paid and reputation work, so confirm how much of the team is dedicated to it.

Best for: Ecommerce and consumer brands that want GEO, PR and SEO from one team.

Engagement: Custom proposal.

10. Minuttia: best for mid-size B2B SaaS on a smaller budget

Minuttia is a B2B SaaS content agency that now sells Google and AI search strategy together. The mix includes human and AI-assisted content, digital PR, Reddit marketing and agent analytics.

It reports 60+ B2B SaaS clients and a 94% average client retention rate as of June 2026.

It's selective. Minuttia says clients need $10M+ ARR, Series A+ funding, or clear growth.

What stands out

• Lower entry point. Minuttia lists a minimum project size of $4,000+, below most agencies here.
• Agent analytics. Reporting covers how AI crawlers see your site, not just rankings.
• Retention. A 24+ month average client tenure suggests clients stay.

Things to consider

• SaaS only. The playbook is built for software companies.
• Few AEO case numbers. Its public results are mostly retention and SEO, not AI citation gains.

Best for: Established B2B SaaS teams that want AEO and SEO without an enterprise retainer.

Engagement: From $4,000+ per project.

What a good AEO agency should deliver

Whoever you hire, ask for these in writing:

• Prompt tracking across engines. A fixed set of buyer prompts, tracked on a schedule in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, AI Overviews and AI Mode, with share of voice against named competitors.
• Citation and source analysis. Which pages AI cites for your prompts, and which of those mention competitors but not you. That list drives the rest of the work.
• Content restructuring. Clear answers, comparison and pricing pages, fresh data. Updating what exists, not only publishing more.
• Digital PR and mentions. Real placements on the publications, review sites and communities AI already trusts.
• Technical and crawler access. Making sure AI crawlers aren't blocked and your key pages render and get indexed.
• A reporting cadence. Monthly at minimum, with AI referral traffic and conversions next to visibility. If you want to see the tracking side first, here's how citation tracking works.

Red flags

• "Guaranteed #1 in ChatGPT." AI answers change by user, location and day. No one controls them, and Discovered Labs, to its credit, states plainly that it doesn't guarantee rankings.
• llms.txt as the fix. Google's AI optimization guide, published May 2026, says you don't need llms.txt or special markup for its AI features.
• Pages spun up for every fan-out query. The same guide warns that making separate pages to target fan-out queries can violate spam policies.
• Fake mentions. Seeded Reddit posts and paid "reviews" are a bad sign. Google's guide says inauthentic mentions don't help, and they can damage trust fast.
• No baseline. If the agency can't show your starting visibility before work begins, you'll never know what they changed.

Which AEO agency should you choose?

• You're an enterprise and want revenue attribution: Petra Labs, or iPullRank for technical strategy.
• You're a B2B SaaS company: Discovered Labs for startups, Omniscient Digital for bigger content programs, Minuttia on a tighter budget.
• Press and reputation shape your AI answers: Avenue Z for PR-led growth, Five Blocks for reputation and Wikipedia.
• You have a marketer who can own it: run AEO in house with Orchly from $49/month.