90%
of the businesses AI assistants picked were named from their own site
Picks Index, 729 first picks across 139 markets, September 2026
32%
of local business sites show a price, and 25% book online
Picked by Agents live sample, 236 sites in Dallas and Phoenix, September 2026
45%
of consumers have used AI tools for local business recommendations, up from 6%
BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey, February 2026, n=1,002 opt-in panel
What an AI SEO agency should actually deliver
SEO was built for a results page with ten links. An AI assistant reads a few of those pages and writes one short answer with two to four businesses in it. The job of AI SEO is to be in that answer for the questions that bring you work.
So the deliverable is not a stack of articles or a dashboard. It is your business named, for your customers' questions, in the assistants they use, with proof you can read in the assistant's own words.
“If an agency cannot show you the assistant's answer before and after, it is selling activity, not results.”
How our AI SEO service works
- 01
Run the real questions
We write the questions your customers ask, with a place and a need in them, like "who can replace a water heater today in 75034", and run them through ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Meta Muse, Grok and Instinct.
- 02
Read why you were passed over
Each run keeps the pages the assistant opened, who it named, and its stated reason. When it names a competitor because it could see their price and not yours, that is the brief.
- 03
Fix what you own, ourselves
The deciding fact on your service pages in plain text, your Google Business Profile, the directories the assistants cite, and a booking path an agent can finish. We make the changes, not a to do list.
- 04
Re-run monthly
Same questions, same competitors, same places. You see whether the pick moved, and why, in a report you can read in five minutes.
Why local businesses need a different kind of agency
The AI visibility tools are built for brand teams tracking hundreds of prompts. A local business is chosen on a handful of questions asked near it. In our Picks Index the assistants named a business from its own site 90% of the time, and what they looked for was plain. A price, an opening, a service area and a way to act.
Most local sites leave those out. In our live sample only 32% showed a price and 25% let a customer book online. That is why our work is mostly publishing facts, not writing more pages.
What we report
Picks first. For each question, whether each assistant named you, who it named instead, and why. Then three numbers kept apart. AI referrals we observed in your analytics, customers who told you an assistant sent them, and our estimate of new business. We never blend them into one figure, and we never promise revenue.
Typical AI SEO agency vs Picked by Agents
| Typical AI SEO agency | Picked by Agents | |
|---|---|---|
| Deliverable | Articles, schema and a visibility score | The facts, profile and booking path that decide the pick |
| Evidence | Estimated share of voice across prompts | The assistant's own answer and reasons, saved per run |
| Assistants | ChatGPT and Google, blended | ChatGPT, AI Mode, Gemini, Muse, Grok and Instinct, read one by one |
| Terms | Often a 6 or 12 month contract | Month to month |
| Guarantee | Usually none | Named by the assistants in 90 days or we work free |
Questions we get asked
What does an AI SEO agency do?
- An AI SEO agency works to get a business mentioned and recommended in the answers AI assistants write, in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews, Gemini and others. Ours focuses on one part of that, being the business an assistant names when a local customer is ready to hire.
How are your AI SEO services different from regular SEO?
- Regular SEO gets your pages found. Assistants then read those pages and drop businesses that hide the fact the customer asked about. We check that in the assistant's own words and fix the page, the profile and the booking path when it falls short. Keep your SEO agency, we work beside them.
Which businesses do you work with?
- Local businesses with a big ticket and an owner who decides. HVAC, plumbing, roofing and other home services, dental and medical practices, law firms, and groups with several locations.
How much do your AI SEO services cost?
- Every program is month to month, with a free first report so you see where you stand before you spend anything. The current programs and prices are on our pricing section.
How long until I am named?
- Assistants that browse live can reflect a page change within days. Profile and directory changes take longer. We agree the questions and a baseline in writing first, and you are named within 90 days or we keep working free until you are.
Your next step
See what the assistants say when your customers ask.
Your first report is free. It shows the questions we ran, who each assistant named, and where they stopped on you.
Or write to Greg at greg@pickedbyagents.com.