You have three AEO proposals on your desk. All three promise “visibility in ChatGPT”. One costs twice the others, one guarantees first position in AI answers, and one reads like last year’s SEO proposal with the word “AI” added. How do you tell them apart in a 45 minute call?
The short answer: ask questions that force specifics. A good AEO agency in Dubai can show you its prompt set, explain how it measures AI share of voice across repeated runs, name the exact deliverables in month one, and tell you what it will not promise. Vague answers on measurement and guarantees of “ranking number one in ChatGPT” are the two biggest red flags.
Below are the 12 questions I would ask, what a good answer sounds like, and the red flags behind each. There is a scoring sheet at the end you can use across agencies.
Questions about AEO strategy and approach
1. “What exactly will you do in the first 30 days?”
Good answer: a named list. Baseline prompt testing across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot, a crawler access check, an entity and schema review, a content gap list against the prompts where competitors appear, and a first batch of page fixes.
Red flag: “strategy and onboarding” with no deliverables. If month one produces nothing you can open, you are paying for a sales handover. Our AEO audit checklist shows what a proper first deliverable contains.
2. “How is your AEO work different from your SEO work?”
Good answer: an honest overlap. Most AEO rests on SEO basics, and the agency should say so. The extra work is usually prompt research, answer first rewrites, third party mentions, entity consistency and AI specific measurement.
Red flag: claiming AEO is a completely separate discipline that replaces SEO. Google’s own AI features documentation says there are no additional requirements or special optimisations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode beyond normal SEO eligibility. For how to balance the two, see AEO vs SEO: where to spend first.
3. “Which AI platforms matter most for my buyers, and why?”
Good answer: a view based on your audience. A B2B software firm selling into DIFC may care most about ChatGPT and Copilot. A clinic may care more about Google AI Overviews and Maps. An agency that has tested prompts in your category before the call is a strong sign.
Red flag: the same answer for every client, usually “ChatGPT”, with no reasoning.
4. “How do you handle Arabic and UAE specific prompts?”
Good answer: they test Dubai, Abu Dhabi and UAE versions of prompts, and Arabic versions if you sell to Arabic speakers, and they check what local directories and publications AI tools cite in your category.
Red flag: a global template with “Dubai” added to the keywords. Google suggests asking any search provider about their experience in your country or city; the same applies to AEO.
Questions about AEO delivery and content
5. “Will you use AI to write content, and how is it reviewed?”
Good answer: AI may assist, but every page is edited by a person who knows the subject, includes first hand detail, and is checked for accuracy. Ask who signs off on facts and figures.
Red flag: a promise of 50 or 100 AI written pages a month. Google’s spam policies name “using generative AI tools or other similar tools to generate many pages without adding value for users” as scaled content abuse. Volume publishing can hurt both rankings and the pages AI tools draw from.
6. “How will you get us mentioned on sites that AI tools cite?”
Good answer: a plan built from evidence. They look at which directories, review sites, media and associations appear as sources in AI answers for your prompts, then target those with PR, listings, reviews and expert commentary.
Red flag: paid link packages or bulk guest posts on unrelated sites. These carry the same risks in AEO as in SEO.
7. “What technical changes will you make to our site, and will you tell us about each one?”
Good answer: a clear list (robots.txt and CDN bot settings, structured data, page speed, internal links, rendering checks) and a change log you can see. Google lists “will you share with me all the changes you make to my site” as a question to ask any provider.
Red flag: changes made without your approval, or access requests broader than the work needs.
8. “Do we need an llms.txt file or special AI schema?”
This one is a useful honesty test. Google states plainly that you don’t need new machine readable files, AI text files or special schema to appear in its AI features.
Good answer: “It is optional and low effort, but it is not what moves results for Google. Standard structured data that describes your business accurately still helps search engines understand you.”
Red flag: selling llms.txt or “AI schema” as the core of the package.
Questions about AEO measurement and reporting
9. “How do you measure AI visibility, and can I see the prompts?”
Good answer: a fixed prompt set you can review, run several times per engine each month, reported as AI share of voice and citation rate against named competitors. They should also connect Google Search Console and the Bing AI Performance report.
Red flag: a proprietary “AI visibility score” with no method behind it, or screenshots of single answers. A study reported by Search Engine Land found AI tools returned the same list of brands less than 1 time in 100 across repeated runs. One screenshot proves very little. See AEO KPIs to report to your CEO for a reporting model that holds up.
10. “How will you connect AEO to leads and pipeline?”
Good answer: a GA4 channel for AI referral traffic, a “how did you hear about us” field that includes AI assistants, and CRM source fields so AI sourced pipeline shows up in your sales reports.
Red flag: reporting that stops at impressions and mentions.
11. “What results do you expect, and by when?”
Good answer: leading indicators first (recrawls, citations on specific prompts) in weeks, broader share of voice and leads over months, with a clear explanation of what depends on you. Our guide on how long AEO takes sets out a realistic 30, 60 and 90 day picture.
Red flag: any guarantee of position. Google says it directly in its guidance on hiring a search provider: “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google”. With AI answers changing run to run, a guaranteed spot in ChatGPT is even less credible.
12. “What does it cost, what is the minimum term, and what do we own at the end?”
Good answer: a clear monthly fee in AED, a defined scope, a reasonable notice period, and confirmation that you own all content, data, prompt sets and reports. Compare the quote against the ranges in our AEO pricing guide for the UAE.
Red flag: long lock ins, setup fees with no deliverables, or tracking dashboards you lose access to when you leave.
AEO agency scoring sheet
Score each agency from 0 to 2 on every question: 0 for a vague answer or red flag, 1 for a partial answer, 2 for a specific answer with evidence. Anything under 16 out of 24 deserves a second look before you sign.
| Area | Questions | What a 2 looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy | 1 to 4 | Named month one deliverables, honest SEO overlap, platform choice backed by your audience, UAE and Arabic prompt testing |
| Delivery | 5 to 8 | Human edited content, evidence based mention plan, visible change log, no llms.txt upsell |
| Measurement | 9 to 11 | Reviewable prompt set, share of voice across repeated runs, pipeline tracking, realistic timeline |
| Commercials | 12 | Clear AED fee, fair notice period, you own everything |
If you want to see how an engagement looks when these answers are built in, read AEO services in Dubai: what you get and what it costs.
FAQs on hiring an AEO agency in Dubai
What should I ask an AEO agency before hiring?
Ask what they will deliver in the first 30 days, how they measure AI visibility across repeated prompt runs, whether you can see the prompt set, how they connect AEO to pipeline, what results they expect and by when, and what you own at the end of the contract.
Can an AEO agency guarantee my brand will appear in ChatGPT?
No. AI answers change from run to run, and Google states that no one can guarantee a number one ranking. Treat any guaranteed position in ChatGPT or other AI tools as a red flag.
Do I need llms.txt or special schema for AI search?
Google says you do not need new machine readable files, AI text files or special schema to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Standard structured data that describes your business accurately is still useful.
Is it risky if an AEO agency uses AI to write content?
It can be. Google’s spam policies treat using generative AI to produce many pages without adding value for users as scaled content abuse. Ask how content is reviewed and who checks facts before publishing.
How do I compare AEO agency proposals?
Score each agency from 0 to 2 on twelve questions covering strategy, delivery, measurement and commercials. Specific answers with evidence score highest, while vague answers and guarantees score zero.
Need help choosing an AEO agency in Dubai?
Have proposals on your desk and want an independent read? Send them over for a second opinion and I will tell you which answers hold up and which do not.
Disclaimer: This article is general guidance for evaluating agencies and does not refer to any specific provider. Quotes and figures come from the sources linked in the text and reflect their dates. AI search platforms and their documentation change often.
