Every agency selling answer engine optimization has been doing it for roughly the same short time, which removes the usual way of judging competence. What remains is what they claim and how they talk about uncertainty.
The nine
- Guaranteed citations or placements. Nobody controls what a model says. A guarantee is either meaningless or describes manipulation.
- Confident explanations of the algorithm. Source selection is not documented. Certainty about internals indicates confidence, not knowledge.
- Reporting organic traffic as the AEO metric. That is SEO reporting with a new label on the deck.
- A default prompt set. If they have not built prompts around your buyers, they are measuring a generic market.
- Content volume as the primary deliverable. The usual binding constraints are identity and corroboration, neither of which is solved by publishing.
- No mention of entity consistency. The cheapest high-return work in the discipline. Omitting it suggests they have not done this before.
- Unwillingness to say what will not work. Every category has channels that do not pay back.
- Long lock-ins in a fast-moving field. Twelve months mostly protects them.
- Data you cannot export. If your baseline lives only in their dashboard, leaving costs you your history.
What good looks like instead
Specific about method, honest about uncertainty, willing to describe the unglamorous first month, and able to show an actual before-and-after in what an assistant says about a client.
The tell is how they handle a question they cannot answer. A practitioner says they do not know and explains what they would test. Someone improvising fills the gap with confidence.
Considering an AEO engagement? Our free AI Visibility Report gives you the baseline before you commit to anything. Request one.
Frequently asked questions
What are the warning signs of a bad AEO agency?
Guaranteed citations, confident explanations of how models select sources, organic traffic reported as the AEO metric, default prompt sets, content volume as the main deliverable, no mention of entity consistency, long lock-ins, and data you cannot export.
Can an agency guarantee AI citations?
No. Nobody controls what a model outputs, and answers vary between sessions. A guarantee is either meaningless or implies manipulation that would not survive scrutiny.
How do I judge AEO competence when nobody has a long track record?
By method and honesty rather than tenure. Ask for a before-and-after in what an assistant says, ask what will not work for you, and watch how they handle a question they cannot answer.