AI Search Optimization Service (AEO / GEO)
Get quoted when AI answers
ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overview now answer your customers' questions before they ever visit your website. Hirira is an AI search optimization agency that makes sure your business is the answer, not the afterthought.
No signup required. Just your website.
THE PROBLEM
88% of businesses are invisible in AI search
A 2026 study manually checked 1,700 businesses across 32 industries. Only 11.9% showed up when people asked ChatGPT for a recommendation, even businesses that already rank on page one of Google.
of businesses never get cited by ChatGPT
of Google page-1 businesses still don't show up in AI search
of Google Ads spenders are also invisible in ChatGPT
Source: 2026 AI Search Visibility Report, Omni Eclipse — 1,700 businesses checked manually across 32 industries, 3 countries.
DEFINITION
What is AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)?
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), also called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), is the practice of structuring a business's content, data, and technical signals so that AI systems such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overview cite and recommend that business directly inside an answer, instead of only ranking a blue link in traditional search results. Where SEO optimizes for a ranking algorithm, AEO optimizes for a citation decision, the moment an AI model chooses which sources to name, quote, or summarize when responding to a person's question.
A 60-second way to check your own AEO visibility right now
- Open ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini and ask a natural buying question a customer would actually type, for example "best [your service] in [your city]."
- Note whether your business is named in the answer. If it isn't, ask directly: "what about [your business name]?" and see whether the AI even recognizes it.
- Repeat the same question on two or three AI tools, since citation behavior can differ noticeably from one engine to the next.
- Ask the same question with your closest competitor's name instead of your own. Whatever shows up for them and not for you is usually the fastest gap to close.
This is a simplified version of what a Hirira Snapshot does formally, across every major AI engine, with a written report and a prioritized fix list.
OUR WORK
What a Hirira Snapshot audit finds
An excerpt from a real Hirira Snapshot audit, run for a dental practice client. This is the kind of finding every engagement starts with.
Blu Dental · Boca Raton, FL
Hirira Snapshot — AI Visibility Audit
Why the gap: the competitor has a structured FAQ page answering exact patient questions, 340+ reviews versus 58, and coverage in two local “best dentist” roundup articles that AI models pull from directly. None of that is unusual to fix, it's exactly the kind of gap a Hirira Snapshot is built to find.
Request a Free Check for Your BusinessWHAT WE DO
We make your business the answer AI gives
Visibility Audit
We test the real questions your customers ask, across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overview, and show you exactly where you stand versus competitors.
Content & Technical Fixes
Direct-answer content structure, schema markup, and the technical signals AI models weigh when deciding who to cite.
Ongoing Monitoring
Monthly tracking of citation frequency and share of voice, so you know if it's working, not just hoping it is.
PACKAGES
Pick your starting point
Hirira Snapshot
$500–2,000
one-time audit
Full visibility test across 15-25 real customer questions, technical baseline, prioritized action plan. Delivered in 1-3 weeks.
Start HereHirira Starter
$1,500–3,000/mo
monthly retainer
Monthly visibility report, 1-2 new pieces of direct-answer content, ongoing schema implementation.
Get StartedMost popular
Hirira Growth
$3,000–8,000/mo
monthly retainer
3-6 pieces of content/month, full-site schema audit, deep competitor tracking, quarterly strategy review.
Get StartedHirira Enterprise
$8,000–20,000+/mo
custom scope
Multi-engine tracking, dedicated resources, and proprietary data assets built to earn citations AI can't get elsewhere.
Talk to UsNo long-term lock-in. Retainers are month-to-month with 30 days' notice to cancel.
HOW IT WORKS
From invisible to cited, in four steps
Free initial check
Reply with your website, we run test prompts before you commit to anything.
Snapshot audit
The full picture: where you stand, why competitors win, what to fix first.
Fix and monitor
Implement recommendations yourself, or run it as an ongoing retainer.
Monthly reporting
Plain-language updates on what changed and why, no vanity metrics.
WHY HIRIRA
AEO/GEO specialist, not generalist SEO
Most agencies still optimize for Google rankings. AI citation behaves differently, and we focus on that exclusively.
Direct, senior-level work
Every audit and every piece of content is done by the person managing your account, not handed off to a junior team.
Honest reporting, no overpromising
We report leading indicators, citation frequency and share of voice, transparently. Never guaranteed rankings we can't control.
FAQ
Questions, answered directly
SEO optimizes for Google's ranking algorithm, a list of blue links. AEO/GEO optimizes for how AI models select and summarize sources when they answer a question directly, often without showing any links at all. A page ranking number one on Google can still be completely invisible in ChatGPT; a 2026 study found 77% of businesses ranking on Google's first page still don't get cited in AI search.
No, and we're cautious of anyone who says yes. AI platforms are third-party systems outside our control, and their models change often. We commit to the scope of work, the methodology, and transparent monthly reporting on citation frequency and share of voice.
AI-search citation isn't a set-and-forget fix. Citation volatility data suggests visibility can shift 40-60% month to month as models update and competitors publish new content, so staying visible takes ongoing maintenance, similar to how search rankings needed continual upkeep.
Technical fixes like crawler access and schema markup can be reflected within weeks. Content-driven citation growth typically takes 60-90 days to compound, since AI models tend to need repeated, consistent signals before a source becomes a default citation.
No. Retainers are month-to-month with 30 days' notice to cancel, and there is no cancellation fee.
A Hirira Snapshot, the one-time AI visibility audit, runs $500 to $2,000 depending on how many locations, competitors, and AI engines are covered. Ongoing retainers start at $1,500/month for Hirira Starter. Exact pricing is confirmed in a written Proposal before any work begins.
Yes, for a lot of it. The self-check above costs nothing and takes a minute. Schema markup, FAQ pages, and review generation are all things a business can do in-house with enough time. What an agency mainly buys you is the audit methodology across every engine at once and the ongoing monitoring, since AI citation behavior shifts monthly.
Yes. Hirira is run remotely and works with clients worldwide; AI search visibility is checked per country and per language where relevant, since ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini can return different results depending on the user's location.
In practice, none, the industry hasn't settled on one term. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) are both used to describe optimizing for AI-generated answers instead of traditional search rankings. Hirira uses both terms interchangeably for that reason.