Should You Optimize for AI Search Yourself or Hire an Agency?

AEO can start with basic SEO fundamentals, but measurement and authority-building take more hands-on effort. Here's how to decide between doing it yourself and hiring an agency.

Updated 2026-07-07

Frequently asked questions

Should You Optimize for AI Search Yourself or Hire an Agency?
AEO can start with basic SEO fundamentals, but measurement and authority-building take more hands-on effort. Here's how to decide between doing it yourself and hiring an agency.
Can my site appear in AI search without any special preparation?
Yes. Pages that are indexable and eligible for snippets can appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode automatically. Google's official position is that there are no additional requirements for eligibility.
Where should I start if I'm doing this myself?
Start with a basic SEO check, review your robots.txt, add structured data (JSON-LD), and optimize images. Special files like llms.txt or AI-specific content chunking are unnecessary.
How do I measure whether it's working?
Search Console's Generative AI performance report, added in June 2026, tracks your visibility in AI Overviews and AI Mode. Interpreting that data and adjusting strategy, though, takes separate expertise.