The difference between a programme that compounds and one that produces a good first quarter is almost always consistency. A defined monthly workflow, small enough to actually complete, beats an ambitious plan attempted twice.
Week one: measure
Run the prompt set across the assistants. Record results in the standing sheet. Note anything that changed sharply, and anything inaccurate that an assistant said about you.
Roughly forty minutes if the prompt set is twenty questions. Do not change the prompts; if a new question matters, add it rather than replacing one.
Week two: fix what measurement surfaced
Correct any inaccuracies found. Chase outstanding listing corrections from previous months. Check whether sources you were pursuing have published.
This is the week that quietly disappears when things get busy, and it is the one that produces most of the compounding.
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Week three: improve one thing
Restructure one page for extraction, or add schema to a section that lacks it, or write one piece targeting a gap the measurement showed. One item, done properly.
The temptation is to plan five. Five planned and one completed is worse than one planned and one completed, because the unfinished four generate a sense of failure that erodes the routine.
Week four: outreach and review
One or two representation requests to sources from your target list. Then a short review: what moved, what did not, what is next month's one improvement.
Quarterly, step back and compare against baseline properly. Monthly comparison of a noisy metric mostly generates anxiety.
Frequently asked questions
How much time does AEO take each month?
A workable routine is roughly a day spread across four weeks: forty minutes measuring, a few hours fixing what measurement surfaced, one substantive improvement, and one or two outreach requests.
Why do AEO programmes fail?
Usually inconsistency rather than wrong tactics. Measurement stops during busy periods, corrections go unchased, and six months later there is no history and no compounding.
How often should I review AI search results properly?
Record monthly, review properly quarterly. Monthly review of a metric that varies between sessions encourages reacting to noise.