How to choose an AEO agency in Canada
Disclosure first: AEO.ca is a provider, so read this as the criteria we would want applied to us. The market runs from $1,000 minimums to $50,000 retainers, and almost every offer is a service page inside a generalist agency, so the questions below separate the ones with proof from the ones with slogans.
Written by Michael Landry, Founder and Head of AEO. Updated quarterly.
Ask these
- Show me your own visibility. If they cannot get themselves cited, ask how they will get you cited.
- What is the instrument, and is there a second one? One tool is a claim; two that agree are evidence.
- Who writes the content, and how do you check it is human? Ask for the standard and the measure.
- What happens in month one, and what do I have at the end of it? A plan you agreed on, or an audit that fillets your team.
- Which of these results were yours? A good agency will tell you which part of a chart it cannot take credit for.
- What is the notice period? Ninety days is reasonable because links and PR are bought in advance; a year is a lock-in.
- Do you do the PR, social and video yourselves? AEO without them falls short, and subcontracted is fine as long as it is said.
Red flags
- Guaranteed placements or guaranteed mentions. Nobody controls what an engine says.
- AI search sold without SEO foundations. The fundamentals still carry most of the result.
- Self-ranking lists as proof. Research has found that when AI Overviews cite a brand’s own best-of list, the brand is often left out of the recommendation anyway.
- No defined measurement, or a tool nobody can explain.
A note on price
Published Toronto benchmarks sit around $3,500 a month for a combined SEO and AI search retainer; enterprise minimums reach $50,000. Our plans start at $5,000, above the benchmark, and the proof on this site is how we justify it.