Summary:
- When determining how to choose a GEO agency in Singapore, start by checking whether their strategy covers relevant AI platforms for your business, prompt tracking, and on- and off-site optimisation.
- Ask for relevant case studies, sample reports, and realistic expectations.
- Compare agencies based on their methodology, deliverables, and ability to connect AI visibility with business enquiries.
With Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) gaining attention in Singapore, more agencies are promising to get businesses recommended by ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and other AI search platforms.
Some guarantee visibility. Others promise to make your brand the top recommendation. But can they deliver?
As GEO evolves, distinguishing genuine expertise from repackaged SEO services can be difficult. Before committing your marketing budget, here’s what to look for in a GEO agency, how to assess its proposals, and which promises should raise concerns.
What Should a GEO Agency Actually Do?
GEO focuses on improving how AI platforms retrieve, summarise, and recommend your brand. Unlike traditional search engine optimisation (SEO), which targets rankings in search results, GEO aims to increase your brand’s presence in AI-generated answers.
However, it’s still an emerging discipline, with no universally accepted standards for measuring success or evaluating agencies. The recommendations below offer a practical framework based on current industry practices, rather than a definitive set of requirements.
A comprehensive GEO strategy will typically address three areas:
- Visibility monitoring: Identify relevant buyer prompts, establish where your brand appears across AI platforms, and track changes over time.
- Gap analysis: Investigate barriers to visibility, including website structure, content quality, topical authority, and third-party brand mentions.
- Optimisation: Address those gaps through on-site improvements and off-site authority building, adjusting the strategy as AI platforms evolve.
What Should You Ask a GEO Agency Before You Sign?
1. How Do You Choose Which Prompts to Track?
Traditional SEO monitors keyword rankings. GEO examines whether your brand appears in responses to relevant buyer questions.
For example, rather than tracking “accounting firm Singapore,” an agency might test:
“Which accounting firms in Singapore handle small business tax?”
The prompts should reflect your customers’ questions, not a generic template.
Ask how the agency identifies them. Its methodology might incorporate keyword research, customer enquiries, and analysis of AI search behaviour.
What to look for: A tailored prompt set supported by a clear selection process.
2. Which AI Platforms Do You Monitor, and How Often?
ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot can produce different recommendations for similar questions.
Monitoring one platform provides an incomplete picture.
Ask which platforms the agency covers, how frequently it checks visibility, and whether monitoring is automated or manual.
Regular monitoring can help establish visibility trends, although the appropriate frequency depends on your objectives, industry, and budget.
What to look for: Consistent monitoring across platforms relevant to your customers.
3. What Will You Change on Our Website and Beyond It?
GEO strategies may involve both on-site and off-site work, depending on your brand’s existing digital presence and visibility gaps.
On-site optimisation may include:
- Improving content structure and factual depth.
- Implementing appropriate schema markup.
- Strengthening topical coverage.
- Ensuring consistent information about your services, customers, and locations.
Off-site optimisation focuses on strengthening your brand’s presence across credible third-party sources, including industry directories, publications, and review platforms.
Ask which activities are included, how resources are allocated, and what the agency expects each activity to achieve.
What to look for: Specific deliverables addressing both your website and your wider digital presence.
4. What Results Can You Guarantee?
AI-generated answers vary across platforms, sessions, and user contexts. Changes to retrieval systems can also affect brand visibility.
Consequently, an agency cannot reliably guarantee a particular recommendation position or mention rate.
Ask how it establishes targets, estimates timelines, and accounts for factors outside its control.
What to look for: Realistic expectations, measurable objectives, and a willingness to explain uncertainty.
How Should a GEO Agency Report Results?
Because GEO measurement is still evolving, agencies may use different monitoring tools, prompt sets, and reporting methods. Results may not be directly comparable, so focus on whether an agency applies a consistent methodology and explains the limitations of its findings.
Consistent Visibility Tracking
A screenshot showing your brand in a ChatGPT response proves only that it appeared in that particular answer.
Meaningful reporting requires a consistent set of prompts, repeated measurements, and comparisons over time.
Request a sample report showing historical trends across the platforms being monitored.
Visibility Connected to Enquiries
Brand mentions matter most when they contribute to business outcomes.
An agency should investigate whether improvements in AI visibility correspond with enquiries through methods such as:
- Customer-reported discovery sources.
- Website analytics and referral data.
- Contact form responses.
- Comparisons between visibility trends and enquiry volumes.
Attribution will rarely be exact. The agency should acknowledge those limitations rather than claim every enquiry resulted from GEO.
Transparent Performance Reviews
Reports should identify improvements, declines, and areas where performance remains unchanged.
Ask what happens when results fall short. The agency should be able to explain its findings and recommend adjustments.
What Are the Red Flags When Hiring a GEO Agency?
Watch for these warning signs:
| Red flag | Why it matters |
| Rebranded SEO deliverables | Standard blog posts, on-page optimisation, and backlinks do not, by themselves, demonstrate a GEO-specific strategy. |
| Limited platform coverage | Monitoring only one AI platform may overlook other channels your customers use. |
| Vague methodology | References to proprietary tools mean little without an explanation of how the agency identifies and addresses visibility gaps. |
| Guaranteed recommendations | AI-generated responses are variable, making fixed placement promises unreliable. |
| No relevant case studies | Experience in one industry may not translate directly to another with different customer behaviour and information requirements. |
Ask agencies to substantiate their claims with relevant examples and explain what they can realistically achieve for your business.
How Do You Compare Two GEO Proposals?
| Criterion | Questions to ask |
| Prompt methodology | How are prompts selected, and how closely do they reflect your buyers? |
| Platform coverage | Which platforms are monitored, and how frequently? |
| Off-site optimisation | Which third-party authority-building activities are included? |
| Reporting | Does the agency provide historical visibility data and connect performance to business outcomes? |
Request sample reports and an itemised scope of work.
If one proposal costs substantially less, determine whether the difference reflects fewer monitored prompts, reduced reporting frequency, or a narrower optimisation scope.
The goal is to understand what each retainer delivers, not simply which agency offers more activities.
Should You Hire a GEO Agency, an SEO Agency, or Build an In-House Team?
The right approach depends on your customers’ search behaviour, existing marketing capabilities, and available resources.
A dedicated GEO agency may suit businesses whose customers increasingly use AI platforms to research and shortlist providers. This can be particularly relevant to professional services, healthcare, finance, education, and technology businesses.
An SEO agency with established GEO capabilities can provide an integrated approach. The disciplines share foundations in content quality, technical accessibility, and authority building, although their measurement methods differ.
An in-house team offers direct control over strategy and execution. However, it needs sufficient resources for prompt monitoring, technical improvements, content development, and third-party outreach.
Before selecting an approach, assess whether your existing team can manage these responsibilities and whether AI-driven discovery warrants additional investment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GEO just SEO rebranded?
How long should a first GEO contract be?
Can I verify an agency's GEO results myself?
Where Does Heroes of Digital Fit In?
Heroes of Digital is a Google Premier Partner and award-winning digital marketing agency serving Singapore SMEs across professional services, healthcare, education, and other industries.
Our AI SEO and GEO service combines tailored prompt research, multi-platform monitoring, website optimisation, third-party authority building, and performance reporting.
We assess whether GEO aligns with your business objectives before recommending an investment.
If you’re comparing GEO agencies or exploring whether AI search should form part of your marketing strategy, speak with our team about your options.
