AEO Agency UK: The 7-Step Process To Run It Right (2026)

An AEO agency UK businesses can rely on runs a fixed sequence: access first, crawlers second, facts third, answers fourth, and measurement throughout.

This is the operator's version of that sequence, with the exact robots.txt lines, meta tags and schema types I check, and the places where an AI agent saves hours.

If you would rather have my team run it with you, book a free SEO strategy session and we'll walk through your site on the call.

What an AEO engagement actually changes on a UK site

Answer engine optimisation is the work of getting your pages picked as sources when someone asks Google AI Mode, ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Claude or Copilot a question.

Google is blunt about where that work sits.

Its guide to optimising for generative AI features says that, from Google Search's perspective, optimising for generative AI search "is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO".

So the engagement does not replace SEO.

It narrows SEO onto the things AI answers lean on: crawl access for several bots, clean business facts, pages that answer real buyer questions, and reporting on AI citations.

Everything below is one of those four jobs.

Step 1: Get read-only access and a baseline before anyone edits anything

Start with access, and keep it read-only.

Google's page on hiring an SEO says that at the audit stage you should only grant read access to Search Console, not write access.

The operator checklist for week one:

Search Console: a restricted user on the domain property.
Bing Webmaster Tools: a read-only user, so you can open the AI Performance report.
Analytics: viewer access, so you can segment referral traffic from AI tools.
A list of 20 to 40 buyer questions in the client's own words, collected from sales calls, enquiry forms and reviews.
Screenshots of what Google AI Mode, ChatGPT and Perplexity say today for ten of those questions, dated.

Those dated screenshots are the only reliable baseline you will ever have, so take them before the first change.

Step 2: Audit robots.txt for every AI search crawler, not just Googlebot

Most AI engines send a search crawler and a separate training crawler, and the client can treat them differently.

OpenAI's crawler overview says each setting is independent, so a site can allow OAI-SearchBot to appear in ChatGPT search while disallowing GPTBot.

Perplexity's crawler docs say PerplexityBot surfaces sites in results and is not used to crawl content for foundation models.

Anthropic's crawler page warns that disabling Claude-SearchBot may reduce your visibility in Claude's search results.

A starting block for a client who wants search visibility but no training use looks like this:

User-agent: Googlebot
Allow: /

User-agent: Bingbot
Allow: /

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /

User-agent: Claude-SearchBot
Allow: /

User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /

User-agent: ClaudeBot
Disallow: /

User-agent: Google-Extended
Disallow: /

Confirm the training choices with the client in writing, because they are a business decision, not an SEO one.

Then check the CDN and firewall, because a robots.txt allow does nothing if the edge network blocks the bot.

OpenAI's ChatGPT search help article says the host or CDN must allow traffic from OpenAI's published searchbot IP addresses.

OpenAI also notes that robots.txt changes can take about 24 hours to be picked up, so don't re-test the same afternoon.

Step 3: Check snippet and preview controls that silently remove pages from AI answers

This is the step agencies skip, and it is often the whole problem.

Google's robots meta tag documentation says nosnippet also applies to AI Overviews and AI Mode.

A restrictive max-snippet value limits what can be shown, and data-nosnippet hides the wrapped section.

Run a crawl and flag every page carrying any of these:

<meta name="robots" content="nosnippet">
<meta name="robots" content="max-snippet:0">
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
<div data-nosnippet>...</div>

Old WordPress themes and cookie plugins sometimes wrap the main content in data-nosnippet by mistake.

On Bing, the webmaster guidelines say NOARCHIVE blocks Copilot use, and NOCACHE limits it to the URL, title and snippet.

Fix these before writing a single new page.

📞 Want this sequence run on your site this month? Book a free SEO strategy session and my team will check your crawler access, preview controls and top buyer questions live, then hand you a prioritised list. → Get your free AEO strategy session

Step 4: Lock down entity facts with Organization and LocalBusiness markup

AI answers stitch together facts from many places, so contradictions cost you.

Pick one canonical version of the business name, address, phone, opening hours and service area, then make every surface match it.

Website footer and contact page.
Google Business Profile, following the Business Profile guidelines on using the real-world business name.
Bing Places and the main UK directories the client already uses.
Structured data on the homepage and contact page.

For markup, use Organization on the homepage, with sameAs pointing at the client's real profiles, as Google's Organization structured data docs describe.

Add LocalBusiness or a subtype such as Dentist or Plumber where the business serves customers in person.

Google is clear that no special schema is needed for AI features, and that structured data should match the visible text.

Treat schema as clean labelling, not a lever.

Step 5: Build answer pages from real buyer questions, not fan-out lists

Group the question list from Step 1 into page-sized topics.

A Manchester accountant might end up with five pages: switching accountants mid-year, sole trader versus limited company, Making Tax Digital deadlines, what the first meeting covers, and fees explained in plain English without numbers on the page.

Each page opens with a direct two-sentence answer, then the detail, then proof from the business itself.

Google asks for "non-commodity content", meaning first-hand expertise that goes beyond what anyone could summarise.

Its guide also warns that spinning out a separate page for every possible query variation, to manipulate rankings or AI responses, breaks the scaled content abuse policy.

Ten strong pages beat a hundred thin ones every time.

Use UK spelling and UK terms throughout, because that is how the buyers phrase the question.

Step 6: Earn mentions and links inside Google's link spam policy

AI answers often name brands that other trusted sites already talk about.

That makes digital PR and link building part of AEO, not a separate service.

Do it within Google's spam policies, which define link spam as creating links primarily to manipulate rankings.

Paid placements are fine when they carry rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow", as Google's guide to qualifying outbound links explains.

Goldie Agency describes its own outreach as "manual outreach, no PBNs", which is the standard to hold any provider to.

Google's AI guide also says chasing inauthentic mentions isn't as helpful as it looks, so skip forum spam and fake reviews entirely.

Step 7: Measure citations, impressions and referrals every month

Measurement is where most AEO reports fall apart, so set it up properly in week one.

Google: Search Console's generative AI performance reports, which Google's June 2026 announcement says reached all websites worldwide on 31 August 2026, show impressions, pages and countries.
Bing and Copilot: the AI Performance report shows total citations, cited pages and grounding queries.
ChatGPT: in our own analytics, ChatGPT referrals usually show up with a chatgpt.com source, so filter for it.
Manual checks: rerun the dated screenshots from Step 1 once a month with the same prompts.

Report the trend per question, not a single vanity score.

Where AI agents speed the work up

An agent is useful for the repetitive half of this sequence.

Fetching robots.txt and headers for every crawler and flagging mismatches.
Crawling the site for nosnippet, noindex and data-nosnippet tags.
Drafting Organization and LocalBusiness JSON-LD from the contact page, for a human to check.
Clustering 200 raw sales-call questions into ten page briefs.
Building a prospect list of relevant UK publications for outreach, as a draft only.

The judgement calls stay human: which training bots to block, which questions are worth a page, and what proof the business can actually show.

If you want to learn AI SEO yourself and run these agent workflows in-house, the AI Profit Boardroom has the step-by-step trainings.

Gotchas I see on almost every UK audit

llms.txt: Google's AI guide says Google Search doesn't use llms.txt, so it neither helps nor harms there; build one only for other tools that read it.
Google-Extended: blocking it does not affect Search; Google's common crawlers page says it is not used as a ranking signal.
ChatGPT-User: it fetches pages for users, robots.txt may not apply, and OpenAI says it isn't used to decide what appears in search.
Business Hub in ChatGPT: OpenAI's help centre says (Nov 2026) local stores and restaurants can currently claim only an existing US listing, so most UK high-street firms can't use it yet.
Bot-blocking plugins: security plugins often block unknown user agents by default, including OAI-SearchBot.

Three small-business runs, written as steps

A dental practice in Bristol:

Allow OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot and Claude-SearchBot in robots.txt.
Add Dentist markup that matches the contact page.
Write one page per treatment question patients actually ask, such as whether a filling hurts.
Ask happy patients for reviews without offering anything in return.

An online tea shop in Edinburgh:

Keep the Merchant Center feed current, which Google's AI features page lists as worth checking.
Write comparison pages in the owner's voice, based on tasting notes only they have.
Pitch two UK food blogs for genuine reviews, marking any paid placement sponsored.

An electrician serving Leeds:

Set the Business Profile as a service-area business with real service areas.
Write a page on what an EICR inspection involves, with photos from real jobs.
Check Bing AI Performance monthly for grounding queries that mention the trade.

How to vet an AEO agency UK operators would trust

Use Google's own interview questions, then add the AI one Google added in 2026.

Do you cite official Google, OpenAI and Bing documentation for your recommendations?
Is your AEO advice aligned with Google's official guidance on generative AI features?
Which crawlers will you allow, which will you block, and why?
Will you share every change you make, with the reasoning?
How will you report AI citations, and from which tools?
Do you need write access in the first month, and if so, why?

Walk away from anyone selling secret methods, a "special relationship" with Google, or link networks.

For more on hiring an individual instead of a team, see our guide to choosing an AEO specialist, and for the generative side, the GEO agency UK walkthrough.

What no one can promise you

Google's hiring page states that no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.

Bing's guidelines say GEO does not guarantee grounding or citations, and OpenAI's help article says placement in ChatGPT search is not guaranteed.

So a good engagement promises the inputs: access fixed, facts consistent, answer pages shipped, mentions earned, reporting accurate.

The outputs are earned over months, and you should see the evidence in Search Console and Bing, not in a sales deck.

Goldie Agency works with UK businesses remotely and uses this same sequence, built on Julian Goldie's own published numbers of 1,000+ SEO and link building campaigns.

📞 Ready to hand the sequence to a team? Book a free SEO strategy session and we'll map which of the seven steps your site needs first. → Book your strategy session now

🔥 Rather run every step with your own agents? Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get step-by-step video trainings, the installable Agent OS and four live coaching calls a week, so you can learn AI SEO yourself. → Join the AI Profit Boardroom

🎁 Two free tools for the steps above Grab the 200+ AI SEO Prompts for audits and briefs, plus the free link building book for Step 6. → Book a free SEO strategy session

Also On Our Network

FAQ: AEO Agency UK

What is the first thing an AEO engagement should check?

Crawler access. If robots.txt, a CDN or a security plugin blocks OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot or Claude-SearchBot, no content work will get you cited in those tools.

Should I block GPTBot and ClaudeBot?

That is a business choice about training use. OpenAI and Anthropic both treat their training and search crawlers separately, so blocking the training bots does not remove you from their search results.

Does nosnippet stop my page appearing in AI Overviews?

Yes. Google says nosnippet applies to AI Overviews and AI Mode as well as normal results, so check for it before anything else.

How long until an AEO change shows up?

OpenAI says robots.txt changes take about a day to register. Content and authority changes take longer, so judge progress over several months of reports.

Do I need llms.txt for Google AI Mode?

No. Google says Google Search does not use llms.txt, so it neither helps nor harms your Google visibility.

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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

Run the seven steps in order, and if you want a second pair of eyes, book a free strategy session with the AEO agency UK businesses can test before they commit.