Don’t cancel useful SEO work because somebody put GEO on a proposal. Your website still needs to explain what you sell, and the pages bringing in customers still need looking after.

The budget question is what the new agency would add. If it proposes rewriting a service page your content team is already rewriting, you’ve found an overlap. If it can show that a cited industry page misrepresents your product, you’ve found something worth investigating.

A GEO agency should be able to explain the difference when it quotes for the work.

Google still calls the work SEO

In its guide to generative AI search, Google says these experiences rely on its core Search ranking and quality systems. It treats optimization for them as SEO. The same guide rejects the idea that pages must be chopped into tiny pieces for AI systems.

That gives you a specific claim to challenge if a provider wants to replace a useful technical guide with a collection of short answers. Ask what is wrong with the existing page and what evidence supports the proposed edit.

Google’s explanation concerns Google. An investigation of ChatGPT may involve different sources, so an agency should name the platform it tested when it presents a finding.

Keep the detail your customers need

Imagine a manufacturer with a compatibility page that helps buyers choose a replacement component. The page includes model numbers and exceptions that prevent people from ordering the wrong part.

A sensible edit might make the compatibility table easier to read or correct an old specification. Removing the exceptions to produce a shorter answer could make the page worse for the customer who needs them.

Before a rewrite, keep a copy of the page and record its search performance. Sales staff can explain which details customers ask about before ordering. That gives the editor a reason to keep or change each part of the page.

An agency should have a more specific explanation than saying the copy needs to be AI-friendly.

Investigate the sources outside your site

Sean Markey’s October 2025 RankTheory case study describes a comparison page receiving LLM citations while outside Google’s top 10. That observation is a reason to inspect citations separately from organic rankings.

The campaign also began with repeated checks of the sources appearing for SEO newsletter questions. That part of the method can reveal work an existing SEO scope hasn’t covered. For example, an industry comparison may describe a product you no longer sell.

Correcting the description requires someone to verify the facts and approach the publisher. Publishing another article on your own blog wouldn’t update that outside page.

The GEO audit should identify those gaps before an agency proposes a continuing program. Our links and mentions guide explains how to assess a proposed source rather than approve it on the strength of a domain score.

Assign the overlapping work once

Put the new proposal beside the assignments already given to your team. A content editor can use the GEO findings while keeping responsibility for the page rewrite. A technical specialist can review crawler access without having another supplier issue competing instructions.

For each task, record who will do it and which fee pays for it. Research can be a separate line from implementation, which lets you buy the missing expertise without moving every task into another retainer.

Our GEO services describe the work by task for that reason. The AEO and GEO labels don’t remove the need to compare scopes.

Set a limit on what you’re willing to learn

A first engagement can cover one product category, with a budget you can afford even if the findings don’t justify more spending. Agree on the deliverables before deciding how long the next phase should run.

The review should establish what changed on your site or on a publisher’s page, then compare the available results with the starting point. A new citation is worth recording. An inquiry from a buyer looking for a service you don’t offer is also worth recording, because it can expose a bad recommendation.

Our agency selection guide gives you questions for that budget discussion. If a provider can’t separate its proposed work from work you’re already paying for, send the scope back for revision before signing.