Should You Hire A GEO Specialist? A Small Business Guide

Hiring a GEO specialist makes sense when your customers already ask AI tools who to buy from, and your business doesn't come up in the answer.

This guide is for owners deciding whether that hire is worth it, what you actually get, and what to ask before you sign anything.

Short on time? Book a free strategy session with Julian's team and talk it through with someone who does this daily.

The plain-English version of what a GEO specialist does

GEO means generative engine optimisation.

Think of it as getting your business named and linked when someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot or Google's AI Overviews a question you can answer.

The specialist checks that those tools can read your website, that your business details match everywhere, that your pages say something useful, and that other real sites talk about you.

Google is clear that none of this is a separate discipline.

Its guide for generative AI features treats GEO as part of normal SEO.

So if someone pitches GEO as a replacement for SEO, that's your first warning sign.

Is your customer already asking AI?

Before you spend a minute on this, test it.

Open ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google, and ask the questions a customer would ask before calling you.

"Who's a good accountant for a small café near me?"

"Which wedding florist does dried flowers?"

"What's the best software for booking dog grooming appointments?"

Write down who gets named and which websites get linked.

If competitors appear and you don't, a GEO specialist has something to fix.

If nobody local appears at all, your money might go further on your Google Business Profile first.

What the work includes, line by line

A crawl check. Making sure the search bots for ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude aren't blocked. OpenAI's bot docs say a site that blocks OAI-SearchBot won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers.
Business details. One name, one address, one phone number, matching on your site, your profiles and directories.
Page rewrites. Turning thin service pages into pages that answer real customer questions with your own experience.
Mentions. Getting genuine coverage from suppliers, local press, trade bodies and partners.
Tracking. Setting up the free AI reports from Google and Bing so you can see if anything changed.

Which businesses get the most out of it

Service firms with considered purchases do well, because buyers research before they ring: accountants, solicitors, builders, clinics, consultants.

Niche ecommerce shops do well too, because shoppers ask AI to compare products.

Software companies get the most, since buyers ask AI for "alternatives to" and "best tool for" lists all day.

Businesses that win mainly on walk-in traffic, like a corner shop, usually get more from their Google Business Profile and reviews than from a GEO specialist.

A worked example: a local accountancy practice

Here's how a three-partner accountancy firm might run it.

First, the owner asks ChatGPT and Perplexity five questions their clients ask, and notes that two competitors get named.

Second, the specialist finds the website blocks unknown bots at the hosting firewall and gets OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot allowed.

Third, the firm's "Services" page gets split into clear pages for bookkeeping, payroll and year-end accounts, each written by a partner with real examples.

Fourth, the firm asks the local business network it already belongs to for an accurate member profile with a link.

Fifth, after a few weeks, the owner checks Search Console's AI report and the analytics referrals from chatgpt.com.

That's the whole loop, and you can see each step happen.

A second example: an online tea shop

A small ecommerce brand selling loose-leaf tea runs the same loop with a product twist.

Step one: ask AI tools "best oolong for beginners" and "where to buy loose-leaf tea online", and note which shops get linked.

Step two: check that product pages show tasting notes, origin and brewing steps as plain text, not only in images.

Step three: keep the Merchant Center feed up to date, which Google's AI guidance mentions for product details.

Step four: share a genuinely useful brewing guide with tea clubs and hobby writers, and make sure any paid or gifted coverage carries rel="sponsored".

📞 Not sure if GEO is the right next step for your business? Book a free SEO strategy session and Julian's team will tell you where AI search fits for your market, and where it doesn't. → Grab your free strategy session

The risks owners should weigh

The biggest risk is paying for activity that can't be measured.

Insist on before-and-after numbers from tools you control, not just screenshots of chatbots.

The second risk is shortcuts.

Fake reviews, paid links passed off as editorial, and hundreds of thin pages can all hurt you.

Google's spam policies cover link schemes and scaled content, and Google says you're responsible for what anyone you hire does on your site.

The third risk is lock-in: make sure your content, accounts and data stay in your name.

What nobody can promise you

No reputable specialist can promise you'll be named by ChatGPT.

OpenAI's help article on ChatGPT search says placement is not guaranteed.

Google's "Do you need an SEO?" page says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking, and tells you to find someone else if they do.

What a good specialist can promise is a clear plan, clear reporting and work that follows each platform's published rules.

What a sensible first 90 days looks like

Month one is diagnosis.

Expect a written audit covering bot access, business details, your top pages and a baseline of the AI numbers.

Month two is fixing.

Technical blocks get cleared, your profiles get tidied, and the two or three pages that matter most get rewritten with your input.

Month three is earning attention.

That means genuine mentions from partners, suppliers and local organisations, plus a first look at whether impressions and referrals moved.

If a specialist wants to skip straight to month three, ask why.

Mentions pointing at a site AI tools can't read are wasted effort.

Keep control of your accounts and content

Set this up before work starts, not when the contract ends.

Your Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, analytics and Business Profile should be owned by your own business email, with the specialist added as a user.

Any content they write should be yours outright, stated in the agreement.

Any outreach should go out under a name you're comfortable being associated with.

Google's hiring page notes that you're the one responsible for what a hired SEO does, so keep the keys.

Specialist or agency: which suits a small business?

A freelance GEO specialist is often enough for a single-location business with a small website.

You get one point of contact and a tight scope.

An agency makes more sense when the work spans fixes, content, outreach and local profiles at once, or when you need cover if one person is off sick.

Goldie Agency, for example, describes itself as an SEO, GEO, AEO and link building agency, so all four pieces sit under one roof.

Julian's own published numbers on his about page list 1,000+ SEO and link building campaigns and 240+ clients, with a 100% Job Success Score on Upwork.

Ten questions to ask before you sign

Which AI tools will you focus on for my type of customer, and why?
Can you show me the official docs behind each recommendation?
Google's hiring page now asks whether AEO and GEO advice matches Google's AI guidance. Does yours?
Will you start with read-only access?
What will you change on my site in the first month?
How will you get other sites to mention us, and is any of it paid?
Which reports will I see, and can I log in to the tools myself?
Who owns the content and accounts if we stop working together?
What happens if a change hurts traffic?
Will you say in writing that you can't guarantee rankings or AI mentions?

Red flags that should end the call

A guaranteed #1 or a guaranteed ChatGPT mention.
Talk of a "special relationship" with Google or OpenAI.
A "secret" method they won't explain.
Private blog networks or bulk link packages.
Selling llms.txt as the main fix. Google says its Search ignores those files.
Cold emails claiming your site is "not listed" anywhere; Google's own hiring page warns about exactly these.

How to measure it without being a marketer

You need three numbers, and all of them are free.

One: impressions in Google's generative AI report in Search Console, which shows how often your pages appeared in AI features.

Two: citations in Bing Webmaster Tools' AI Performance report, which counts how often Copilot and Bing's AI summaries cite you.

Three: visits from chatgpt.com in your analytics, which in our experience is how ChatGPT referrals usually appear.

Check them monthly and ask your specialist to explain any movement.

How much of this can you do yourself?

More than you'd think.

Testing customer questions, fixing your business details and writing better service pages are owner jobs anyway, because you know the answers.

The technical checks and outreach are where a specialist earns their keep.

If you want to learn AI SEO yourself first, the AI Profit Boardroom walks you through it with trainings and live calls.

🔥 Learn GEO for your own business first Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get step-by-step video trainings, the installable Agent OS, four coaching calls a week and daily Q&A, so you can learn AI SEO yourself before you hire. → Join the AI Profit Boardroom

When hiring is clearly worth it

Hire when three things are true.

Your buyers research before they buy.

Competitors already show up in AI answers for your questions.

And you don't have the hours to run fixes, content and outreach yourself each week.

If only one of those is true, start with the do-it-yourself steps above and revisit in a quarter.

Want the regional angle? See how GEO agencies work for UK businesses.

📞 Want a straight answer on whether to hire? Book a free SEO strategy session and get a straight read on your site, your competitors and what GEO work would change. → Book the free strategy session

📘 Free resources for owners Download 200+ AI SEO Prompts to test your own visibility, and get the free link building book to understand how mentions are earned. → Book a free SEO strategy session

Also On Our Network

FAQ: Should You Hire A GEO Specialist? What Small Businesses Get, Risk And Should Ask

Do small businesses need a GEO specialist?

Only if customers research with AI tools before buying and competitors already appear in those answers. Walk-in businesses often get more from their Google Business Profile first.

What should a GEO specialist deliver in the first month?

A crawl and access check, a list of business-detail fixes, a content plan for your key service pages, and a measurement baseline from Search Console, Bing and analytics.

Is GEO different from SEO?

Google says optimising for generative AI search is still SEO. GEO is a focus on AI answers, built on the same foundations.

Can I check my AI visibility for free?

Yes. Google Search Console has a generative AI report, Bing Webmaster Tools has an AI Performance report, and your analytics will show visits from chatgpt.com.

What is the biggest red flag when hiring?

A guarantee. Google says nobody can guarantee a #1 ranking and OpenAI says ChatGPT placement is not guaranteed.

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About Julian

I'm Julian Goldie, an SEO entrepreneur, author and founder of the AI Profit Boardroom, which has 3,400+ members.

I help business owners scale with AI agents, automation and SEO.

I've built a 7-figure SEO and link building agency, Goldie Agency, with a team of 70+ SEO experts.
I've grown a YouTube channel to 400,000+ subscribers.
I wrote "Link Building Mastery".
My Udemy courses have taught over 29,000 students.

→ Get my best AI training inside the AI Profit Boardroom

Test the questions, fix the basics, then book a free strategy session or learn the process inside the AI Profit Boardroom before you pay anyone to be your geo specialist.