Is an LLM SEO Agency for SaaS Worth It for a Small Team?

Hiring an LLM SEO agency for SaaS is worth it when buyers in your niche already ask AI tools which software to use, and your site isn't giving those tools anything to quote.

It isn't worth it when the product is still changing shape every month.

This page is for owners of small software businesses who want a straight answer before signing anything.

If you want that answer for your own company, grab a free SEO strategy session with Julian Goldie's team.

What you'd be hiring someone to do

Strip away the jargon and the work has four parts.

First, making sure AI search tools are allowed in and can read your pages.

Second, writing the pages buyers look for: help docs, fair comparisons, "alternatives to" pages and integration guides.

Third, making your company name and product name consistent everywhere, so AI tools don't mix you up with someone else.

Fourth, earning mentions and links on sites your buyers already read.

Google says this is still SEO.

Its guide to generative AI search states that optimising for AI search "is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO."

So you're not buying magic, you're buying good SEO aimed at the places buyers now ask questions.

Which software businesses get the most from it

Some SaaS companies are a natural fit.

Niche B2B tools where buyers compare three or four options before booking a demo.
Products with lots of integrations, because "does it work with my accounting app" is a question AI tools answer constantly.
Tools that replace spreadsheets or a well-known older product, since "alternatives to" searches are common.
Companies with real docs that are currently hidden behind a login or a broken help centre.

In each case, the content you need already exists inside the business.

It just isn't public, readable or organised.

Which ones should wait

Hold off if any of these sound like you.

You haven't settled on who the product is for.
Your product name or category is about to change.
You have no time to review drafts, because only you know how the product really works.
You need sales next week, since this is slow, compounding work.

Waiting six months and fixing the basics yourself is a sensible choice.

In that time, get your help docs public, settle on one product name, and start writing down the questions customers ask most.

When you do hire, that groundwork means the agency starts on the useful work from week one instead of chasing access and basic facts.

It also gives you a fair way to judge them, because you'll know what "done" looks like for the simple jobs.

What the work looks like month by month

A sensible first quarter usually runs like this.

Month one is access and fixes: crawler rules, pages that don't load properly for bots, and anything hidden from search.

Month two is the high-intent pages: one or two comparison pages and your most-used integrations.

Month three is reputation: getting listed and mentioned on partner directories and roundups in your category.

Reporting should run through all three.

Google now has a Generative AI performance report in Search Console, and Bing offers an AI Performance report that counts how often Copilot cites your pages.

📞 Not sure your software business is ready for this? Book a free SEO strategy session and talk it through with Julian's team: what to fix first, what to leave alone, and whether hiring help makes sense at your stage. → Book your free SEO strategy session

The technical part, in plain English

Here's the bit owners often skip, and it matters most.

ChatGPT search only shows your site if you let OpenAI's search crawler in.

OpenAI's help article on ChatGPT search says to allow OAI-SearchBot and make sure your hosting doesn't block OpenAI's published IP addresses.

Perplexity and Claude have their own search crawlers, documented on Perplexity's crawler page and Anthropic's support site.

Many SaaS sites block these by accident, often through a security setting at the hosting company.

Another common problem is a site built so the words only appear after JavaScript runs.

Google's JavaScript guidance notes that not every bot can run JavaScript, so some AI tools see a blank page.

A good agency checks both in week one.

Risks you should know about

There are four real risks, and none of them are reasons to avoid the work.

Promises nobody can keep. Google says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking, and OpenAI says ChatGPT placement isn't guaranteed.

Page spam. An agency that pumps out hundreds of near-identical pages can trip Google's scaled content abuse policy.

Bad links. Paid links that pass ranking credit break Google's link spam rules, so paid placements should carry rel="sponsored".

Your name on it. Google's hiring page reminds owners that "you are responsible for the actions of any companies you hire".

The fix for all four is the same: ask what they'll do, in writing, before they start.

What to keep in-house

Some jobs should never leave the business.

Final say on product claims and comparison tables.
Owner access to Search Console, your domain and your analytics.
Approval of any outreach sent in your company's name.
Screenshots and walkthroughs from your own account.

Hand over the research, the drafting, the technical checks and the outreach legwork.

Keep the judgement.

🔥 Rather learn AI SEO yourself before you hire anyone? Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get step-by-step video trainings, the installable Agent OS, four live coaching calls every week and a 7-day refund window, alongside 3,600+ members. → Join the AI Profit Boardroom

Questions to ask before you sign

Use these on every call.

Which of our pages are blocked from AI search crawlers today?
Can you show me pages where AI tools cite a client, and explain what you changed?
Will you share every change you make to our site?
How do you build links, and how are paid placements marked?
Is your AEO and GEO advice in line with Google's official guidance? Google added this exact question to its hiring page.
Who owns the content and accounts if we stop working together?
What will you report on, and how often?

A confident agency answers these quickly.

How to judge progress without being promised anything

Since nobody can promise rankings, measure the things that are in the agency's control.

Were the crawler and rendering fixes done, and can you see them yourself?
Did the agreed pages go live on time, and are they accurate?
Are AI impressions in Search Console moving, even slowly?
Is Bing's report showing any citations of your pages in Copilot answers?
Are trial sign-ups or demo requests arriving from chatgpt.com or perplexity.ai referrals?

That last one is something you check in your own analytics, where ChatGPT visits usually show up with chatgpt.com as the source in our experience.

Ask for the same dashboard every month, so you can compare like with like.

If the agency keeps changing what it reports on, ask why.

How to brief an agency in one page

A good brief saves weeks of back and forth, and it shows you how well the agency listens.

Write down five things before your first call.

Who your best customers are, in one sentence.
The three tools buyers most often compare you with.
Your five most-used integrations.
Where your docs and help centre live, and who controls them.
Questions customers ask your sales or support team every week.

That last list is gold.

Those questions are exactly what buyers type into AI tools, and the answers belong on your site.

Google's own advice is to write content people find useful rather than chasing every phrasing of a question, so start from real customer conversations.

Red flags

A guaranteed #1 or a guaranteed ChatGPT mention.
A "secret method" they won't explain.
Private blog networks or link packages with no named sites.
Selling llms.txt as a way to rank in Google. Google says Search ignores those files.
A cold email claiming you're "not listed" on search engines. Google calls that out by name.

Three example businesses, step by step

A bookkeeping app for local accountants.

Make the help centre public and readable without logging in.
Write a page for each accounting system it connects to, with setup steps.
Get listed in the partner directories of those systems.

A booking tool for hair salons.

Fix the hosting setting that blocks AI crawlers.
Publish one fair page comparing it with the tool salons leave most.
Ask happy salon owners if they'd talk about it on their own sites or in trade groups, with no incentives attached.

A small marketing agency that built its own reporting tool.

Give the tool its own consistent name and an about page that says what it does.
Write a short case study using its own published numbers.
Pitch it to two roundups of reporting tools in the category.

Where Goldie Agency fits

Goldie Agency is Julian Goldie's SEO, GEO, AEO and link building agency.

By Julian's own published numbers, it has run 1,000+ SEO and link building campaigns for 240+ clients, with a 100% Job Success Score on Upwork.

Its homepage describes its link building as "Manual outreach, no PBNs", and its case studies include an apps client, The Wheel Generator, that it reports grew 767%.

Julian also shares his AI search tests with 425K+ YouTube subscribers.

That's useful context, not a promise about your results.

If you'd like to compare notes with a wider service view, see our breakdown of LLM SEO services.

The quick decision test

Answer yes or no to three questions.

Do buyers compare tools before they buy? Do you have docs or integrations worth showing? Can you give two hours a week to review work?

Three yeses mean it's worth a conversation.

Fewer than that, learn the basics first.

Either way, you can book a free SEO strategy session to check your answers.

📞 Got your shortlist of questions ready? Book a free SEO strategy session and put every one of them to Goldie Agency. No obligation, and you leave with a plan either way. → Ask Goldie Agency your questions

🎁 Free help while you decide Download the 200+ AI SEO Prompts to draft your own briefs and comparison pages, and get Julian's free link building book to understand how outreach really works. → Learn AI SEO yourself in the AI Profit Boardroom

Also On Our Network

FAQ: Is an LLM SEO Agency for SaaS Worth It? A Small Business Owner's Guide

Is an LLM SEO agency different from a normal SEO agency?

The core work is the same SEO, and Google says so. The difference is extra attention to AI search crawlers, citations and reporting from tools like ChatGPT search, Perplexity and Copilot.

How soon will a small SaaS see results?

Nobody can promise a timeline or a ranking. Technical fixes can be done in weeks, while content and reputation work builds over months.

Can I do some of this myself first?

Yes. Checking crawler access, making docs public and writing one fair comparison page are all things an owner can start on. Many owners learn this inside the AI Profit Boardroom.

What should I never hand over to an agency?

Owner access to your domain, Search Console and analytics, plus final approval of product claims and outreach sent in your name.

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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

Work through the decision test, keep the judgement in-house, and if it adds up, book a free call to see whether an LLM SEO agency for SaaS is the right next step for your business.