Citation optimisation
Content structured to be extracted and quoted by AI systems, with verifiable sourcing.
01 / AEO & GEO
Rank better in ChatGPT and every other LLM.
Answer Engine Optimisation and Generative Engine Optimisation — the work that decides whether AI systems cite your brand or your competitor's.
What is changing
Search is moving into the answer
Consumers now expect instant, accurate answers. As search shifts toward AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT Search, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot, visibility is no longer only about blue links.
Some AI results correlate closely with Google's SERPs. Many do not — a large share of AI answers cite sources that never rank on page one, which is exactly the opening for brands that act early.
AEO is optimising your content so AI systems can understand, extract and cite it. A key part is citation optimisation: verifiable data, outbound references, internal linking and original insight so models treat you as credible.
What we do
Our AEO services
Schema & structure
Entity markup and clean structure so machines understand who you are and what you do.
Topical authority
Structured content clusters that make you the default source on your niche.
Share of Voice tracking
Custom AEO reporting on how often you appear across the major AI engines.
Off-site presence
The third-party sources, listings and mentions models actually pull from.
Monthly AI reporting
Real placement and citation data for the South African market, not estimates.
1stSA agencies specialising in AEO
4Engines tracked: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews
130+Active client campaigns
48hrResponse time on every enquiry
FAQ
Common questions
Is AEO different from SEO?
It shares foundations — good technical health and genuine authority help both. But AEO optimises for extraction and citation inside an answer, which needs different content structure and different measurement.
How do you measure AEO success?
Share of Voice across the major AI engines, citation counts, and the queries you appear in — tracked monthly and compared to your competitors.
Which industries does this work for?
We run AEO for e-commerce, hospitality, B2B services, healthcare, real estate and iGaming. Anywhere buyers ask questions before they buy, AEO applies.
Can we do AEO without SEO?
You can, but it is rarely optimal. The same content and authority work lifts both, so most clients run them together.
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