GoldieBench Blog · 9 min read
AEO SEO Consultant: What The Job Is, How To Hire One, And How The AI Models Behind The Answers Score
What an AEO SEO consultant does beyond classic SEO, what to demand, who I'd hire and how the AI models behind the answers score on GoldieBench.
An AEO SEO consultant is an expert who helps your brand rank in Google and get chosen, cited and recommended when people ask AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google's AI Mode a question.
The team I'd hire first is my own at Goldie Agency, and I'm telling you upfront so you can weigh my bias.
If you want my team to look at your brand, you can book a free strategy session and see where competitors get mentioned and you don't.
The problem it solves is that buyers now ask AI assistants who to hire, and a classic SEO plan doesn't check what those assistants say.
In this post I'll explain the role, compare it with a classic SEO consultant, list the deliverables and walk you through hiring one.
Near the end, I'll show you how the AI models behind those answers score on this leaderboard, and what that does and doesn't tell you.
What is an AEO SEO consultant?
AEO stands for answer engine optimisation, which is the work of getting your content picked when an AI assistant answers a question.
SEO is the classic work of ranking in search results, and an AEO SEO consultant does both in one plan.
You'll also hear GEO, which is generative engine optimisation, and most people use it for the same goal of appearing in AI-generated answers.
The classic work still matters, because Google's guide to AI features says a page only needs to be indexed and eligible for a snippet to appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode.
Google also says there are no additional requirements, no special schema.org markup and no new AI text files needed for those features.
So a good AEO SEO consultant builds on normal SEO rather than replacing it.
AEO SEO consultant vs classic SEO consultant
| Area | Classic SEO consultant | AEO SEO consultant |
|---|---|---|
| Main question | They ask whether you rank in Google. | They ask whether you rank and whether AI answers name and cite you. |
| Crawlers | They check that Googlebot can reach your pages. | They also check OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot. |
| Content | They match pages to search intent and keywords. | They also make each page answer the question in its first sentence. |
| Authority | They focus on backlinks. | They also plan mentions on reviews, comparisons and expert articles. |
| Facts | They check your About and contact pages. | They make your facts match everywhere, so AI tools describe you correctly. |
| Reporting | They report rankings, clicks and traffic. | They also report dated AI answers for a fixed list of buyer prompts. |
What an AEO SEO consultant should deliver
A real engagement leaves a trail you can inspect, even before results show up.
1. A prompt map and a baseline
You agree twenty to fifty buyer questions together, and the consultant records the dated answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google before any work begins.
Each prompt should be asked more than once, because AI answers vary between chats.
2. A crawl access review
You see whether Googlebot, OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot can reach your key pages through robots.txt, your firewall and your CDN.
3. A fact clean-up list
You get every place where your name, services, locations or prices don't match across your site, profiles and listings.
Google's AI features guide tells businesses to keep Merchant Center and Business Profile information up to date, so that belongs here too.
4. Answer-first rewrites
Your money pages open with the direct answer and carry short FAQ sections that use the questions buyers ask.
My own rule is to keep that first answer under fifty words.
5. A coverage plan
My strategy session page says AI platforms look for consistent signals across trusted publications, expert articles, independent reviews, comparisons and credible third-party references.
The consultant should name which of those sources to target first for your brand.
6. Honest re-checks
You see the same prompts asked again on a schedule, next to clicks, enquiries and sales.
Google counts AI Overviews and AI Mode traffic inside the "Web" search type of the Search Console Performance report.
Microsoft's AI Performance report, in public preview since 10 February 2026, shows Total Citations and Average Cited Pages for Copilot and AI summaries in Bing.
📞 Want to see these deliverables for your own brand? Book a free strategy session and an experienced strategist will walk you through a custom visibility plan and a competitor gap analysis.
Who I'd hire as an AEO SEO consultant
Goldie Agency is the SEO and link building agency I started on my own, and it now has 70+ people.It's my company, so this is the most biased section on the page.
I'm not a solo freelancer, so when you book the session you speak with an experienced strategist from my team.
The agency site lists link building with manual outreach and no PBNs, a Complete Site Audit and an AI Automation service.
AI runs around 80% of our internal operations through the same Agent OS I teach.
The strategy session page describes a free AI brand visibility session for Google, AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini, and it says the session is 100% free with no obligation.
It lists a custom visibility plan, a clear AI visibility roadmap, a strategy built around your brand, a competitor gap analysis and a plan for traffic, mentions and leads.
Paid work is scoped after the session, so I won't quote a price here.
If you'd rather compare individual experts, my best AEO consultant ranking from this batch covers people known for AI search work, and my best SEO consultant post covers respected classic consultants.
How to hire an AEO SEO consultant
| Step | What you do | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Record your own baseline of AI answers for twenty buyer prompts. | It gives you an independent record to check any report against. |
| 2 | Check your robots.txt for blocks on Googlebot, OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot. | It shows whether the consultant spots the same problem. |
| 3 | Decide whether you want an audit, a monthly partner, training or advice. | It changes who you should hire. |
| 4 | Shortlist three people who publish their own thinking on AI search. | You can judge how they think before you pay. |
| 5 | Ask every candidate the same questions. | Side-by-side answers make the choice obvious. |
| 6 | Ask for a sample report with tracked prompts and dated answers. | It proves they measure the AEO half. |
| 7 | Agree a first phase of around ninety days with a re-check date in writing. | It limits your risk and forces an honest review. |
These are the questions I'd ask on every call.
- Which buyer prompts will you track, and can I choose them with you?
- Will I see the raw dated answers and the cited sources, or only a score?
- Which third-party sources would you target first for my brand, and why?
- How do you use AI in your own work, and what does a person review before anything goes live?
- Who owns the content, the accounts and the data if we stop working together?
The common ways to buy AEO SEO consulting
I won't quote prices, because consultants and agencies scope the work after a call.
What I can show you is the shape of each engagement, so you know what to ask for.
| Engagement | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| One-off audit and plan | You get a baseline, a fix list and a priority order. | Owners who want a plan before spending more. |
| Monthly retainer | You get ongoing fixes, coverage work and re-checks. | Businesses that want a long-term partner. |
| Team training | Your staff learn the checks and the reporting. | Agencies and in-house marketing teams. |
| Advisory calls | A senior expert reviews your team's work. | Teams that do the work but want a second opinion. |
Judge the return on enquiries and sales rather than on how many prompts mention you.
Red flags when hiring an AEO SEO consultant
- Walk away from anyone who guarantees ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI will recommend you.
- Walk away from anyone who sells an AI text file or special schema as the secret, because Google says neither is needed.
- Walk away from anyone who won't record a baseline before they start.
- Walk away from anyone who only talks about AI and never about indexing, content or links.
Nobody can guarantee what a model says
Nobody can guarantee what a model says, and that includes me and Goldie Agency.
None of the companies behind ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Claude publishes a formula for which brands get recommended.
Google's own guide says meeting its requirements doesn't guarantee crawling, indexing or serving.
A consultant controls the footprint a model reads and the honesty of the reporting, and nothing more.
📞 Want a straight answer about your own brand? Grab a free strategy session with my team and leave with a clear AI visibility roadmap you keep either way.
Which AI models sit behind the answers an AEO SEO consultant works on?
Now for the GoldieBench part, and I need to be clear about what it measures.
GoldieBench scores AI models on one-shot builds such as landing pages, apps, games and visuals, on a 0 to 10 scale.
It doesn't measure which brands an AI recommends, and it doesn't measure SEO results.
An AEO SEO consultant is a person and doesn't ship a model, so there's nothing to score for the consultant.
What the board can show is how the makers of the assistants your buyers use score on their live model pages.
| Model | Maker | The maker's assistant | GoldieBench average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | Claude | 8.27 |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | ChatGPT | 8.16 |
| Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | Claude | 8.10 |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | Gemini | 7.08 |
Claude Opus 5 is the highest of these at 8.27, with GPT-5.6 Sol close behind at 8.16.
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the Gemini model on the board, so it's the closest view I have of the Gemini family.
Perplexity has no model on GoldieBench, so I can't give you a score for it.
The board can't tell you which exact model a consumer app runs at any moment, because the makers change that themselves.
So please don't read these numbers as a ranking of which AI is easiest to get mentioned in.
Which models help an AEO SEO consultant's team do the work?
The scores matter more when a model is used as a working tool rather than as the thing being optimised for.
A consultant's team might use a model to draft answer-first openings, write FAQ sections, compare structured data with the page and summarise a month of logged answers.
A model that follows a detailed brief well first time makes fewer mistakes for a human editor to catch.
These are some of the models on the board that a team could use for that work, with their live averages.
| Model | Maker | GoldieBench average |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | 8.27 |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | 8.16 |
| Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | 8.10 |
| Kimi K3 | Moonshot AI | 7.89 |
| GLM-5.2 | Zhipu / Z.ai | 7.77 |
Kimi K3 and GLM-5.2 are worth a look if a team wants options from outside the biggest American labs.
Even so, the system around the model matters more than the model itself.
A clear brief, a source of truth for your brand facts and a human editor will beat a top model with no fact checking.
So ask every consultant what they do before and after the model writes, not just which model they use.
Related reading on GoldieBench
My King of AEO post looks at answer engine optimisation from the model side.
My AI SEO optimization agency post covers what an agency should run if you need delivery as well as strategy.
From this same batch, my AEO audit post shows the checks a consultant should run in the first month.
If you'd like my team to look at your brand, you can book a free strategy session and leave with a plan for traffic, mentions and leads.
Also On Our Network
- Agent Operatorshow to hire an AEO SEO consultant in seven steps
- AI Income Deskwhat an AEO SEO consultant changes for five kinds of business
- AI Tool VerdictAEO SEO consultant vs classic SEO consultant, scored
- agentos.guidean AEO SEO consultant quick start for Agent OS users
- aiprofitboardroom.comwhy AI SEO agencies are replacing the traditional kind
Keep your own baseline, ask for dated answers, judge the system around the model, and you'll be ready to hire the right AEO SEO consultant.
FAQ
What is an AEO SEO consultant?
An AEO SEO consultant is an expert who helps your brand rank in Google and get chosen and cited in AI answers from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google's AI Mode. They combine classic SEO with answer engine optimisation in one plan.
How is an AEO SEO consultant different from a classic SEO consultant?
A classic SEO consultant focuses on rankings, clicks and backlinks. An AEO SEO consultant also checks AI crawler access, answer-first content, brand facts, third-party mentions and dated AI answers for buyer prompts.
Who would Julian Goldie hire as an AEO SEO consultant?
Julian puts his own team at Goldie Agency first and discloses the bias. The way in is a free strategy session that the page describes as a free AI brand visibility session.
Does an AEO SEO consultant use its own AI model?
No. A consultant is a person or a team, so there is no consultant model on GoldieBench. The assistants they optimise for are built by companies like OpenAI, Google and Anthropic.
How do the models behind ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini score on GoldieBench?
Claude Opus 5 averages 8.27, GPT-5.6 Sol 8.16, Claude Fable 5 8.10 and Gemini 3.6 Flash 7.08. GoldieBench measures one-shot builds, not which brands an AI recommends.
Can an AEO SEO consultant guarantee AI mentions?
No. Nobody can guarantee what a model says. A good consultant improves the footprint AI tools read and reports the answers honestly.
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