A GEO agency usually delivers advice, not execution. We show where it goes wrong and what a good agency does instead.
Most agencies that call themselves a GEO agency mainly write reports. The real work then stays with you: adjusting the technology, publishing and building authority. That is not a feeling, it follows from research and from practice.
In this article we go through four problems. Advice without execution, claims that do not hold, self-made visibility and the confusion between visible and good. After that we explain what you may expect from a good agency.
Advice without execution
Almost every GEO agency sells audits, but few agencies do the work themselves. De GEO Experts studied fifteen Dutch GEO agencies in April and May 2026. All agencies offered technical audits and content creation, and 93% advised on authority.
Execution is the weak point. According to the same study (April to May 2026), 27% carry out the technical implementation in full and 20% offer active PR. At the same time, 73% charge between €2,000 and €3,000 per month.
The explanations fall short too. Of the agencies, 80% called authority the most important factor, but fewer than a third could explain how you build it. That is the finding of the qualitative study by De GEO Experts (May 2026).
It is a small, qualitative study, so read the percentages as a direction. The conclusion is clear, though: execution in technology, publishing, authority and PR often stays with the business owner. You then pay for a plan you have to carry out yourself.
Claims that do not hold and self-made lists
Some agencies promise more than they can deliver. In September 2026 Estrelle mapped 256 providers and measured 42 of them in depth. For 4 of the 20 providers, the website carried a claim that was unverifiable or incorrect.
One example from that study is a Wikidata registration that does not exist. Note: Estrelle is a GEO specialist itself and puts itself in first place on its own list. That does not make the finding untrue, but you should know it.
Estrelle also found that AI mentions, technical foundations and transparency about services barely relate to each other. An agency that is mentioned often is therefore not automatically strong technically or open about what it offers. So check claims yourself with the questions to ask your agency.
Many rankings of GEO agencies are written by a GEO agency. In August 2026 EchoWi opened 29 readable rankings in four countries. 21 of them came from vendors in the category; all 21 listed themselves, 19 of them in first place.
The 7 lists from parties without a stake never listed themselves, according to the same analysis (August 2026). Think of a CRM company, trade press or a business school. EchoWi, incidentally, sells GEO consultancy itself.
There is a reason for those lists. Rand Fishkin described in October 2025 that "best x agency" lists in many places are associated with appearing in AI answers. He added a warning straight away:
If this sounds like a recipe for using spam techniques to change AI answers fast, well my friend, you're paying attention.
What Fishkin means: anyone who reads this as a manual sees exactly the problem. According to him, Wil Reynolds showed that many SEO agencies put themselves at the top of lists this way. Why we advise against it, you can read in why you had better not manipulate AI answers.
Visible is not the same as good
The most mentioned agency is not necessarily the best agency. In the GEO benchmark by Gold Lemon (September 2026), GPTBureau appears in 15.2% of the answers. That is the highest score, but its transparency about services is 0.0 and its technical score 43.9.
That transparency about services is the lowest of the top 20, according to the same benchmark (September 2026). Gold Lemon is a GEO provider itself and is included in the list as the measuring party. The index also states honestly what it does not measure (translated from Dutch):
This index measures visibility in AI answers and the provider's own website, not the results an agency achieves for clients.
That is the heart of it. Visibility says something about marketing, not about what an agency achieves for clients. That is why, in our follow-up client calls with reference clients, we call clients ourselves.
What our founder saw inside agencies
Founder Gijs Bodenstaff worked at several agencies and set up local SEO teams there. What follows is his practical experience, not research. We mention it because it explains why execution so often gets left undone.
Many agencies are owned by investors. Staff there often have to be 80% billable or more, while keeping up in this field takes at least 15 hours a week. That is Gijs's experience, as you can read under who is behind this comparison site.
The result is predictable. There is no time to test claims yourself, so they get copied. That is why Gijs runs his own tests via LocalSEOLab.nl, rather than repeating what others publish.
What a good GEO agency does do
A good agency does the work and shows how it measures. That sounds obvious, but according to the studies above it is the exception. Look for these characteristics:
- The agency carries out technical, publishing and authority work itself, or states in advance exactly what stays with you.
- It measures AI visibility as a percentage across many repeated questions, never as a position.
- It makes no claims you cannot check, such as registrations that do not exist.
- It does not put itself at the top of its own list without disclosing that interest.
- It lets you call its reference clients, instead of only showing logos.
About that measuring: Rand Fishkin concluded in January 2026 that positions in AI answers are close to meaningless. He did call visibility as a percentage across many runs a reasonable measure. You can read more in why a position in ChatGPT does not exist.
What you can do now
- Ask your agency in writing which execution it does itself and what stays with you.
- Check every claim on the agency's website, such as registrations, certificates and client names.
- Ask how AI visibility is measured: how many questions, how often repeated and as a percentage.
- Call a few reference clients yourself and ask what was actually carried out.
- Compare agencies on the independent ranking of GEO specialists as soon as the first edition is published.
Frequently asked questions
What does a GEO agency do?
A GEO agency tries to make you visible in the answers of AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google AI. In practice, many agencies mainly deliver audits and advice. The execution then often stays with you.
Why do many GEO agencies not do the work themselves?
Execution takes time and expertise in technology, publishing and PR. Reports are easier to sell and to scale. So ask in advance what the agency does itself. See also: LSAI method.
Is the agency mentioned most in ChatGPT also the best?
No. Being mentioned often says something about marketing, not about results for clients. Benchmarks that measure visibility say so themselves. See also: AI visibility tally sheet.
How do I spot an untrue claim by an agency?
Check the claims you can look up, such as registrations, certificates and named clients. If you cannot find a claim, ask for proof. If none comes, you know enough.
Can I trust rankings of GEO agencies?
Only if the maker discloses its interest and shows its method. Many lists are written by an agency that puts itself at the top. Look at who publishes the list and whether a calculation is included.
May an agency guarantee a position in ChatGPT?
Guaranteeing a position is impossible, because AI answers keep changing. An honest agency measures visibility as a percentage across many repeated questions. To us, a position guarantee is a warning sign.
What should a good GEO agency show me?
Concrete execution for existing clients, a measuring method with repeated questions and references you can call yourself. It should also say which work stays with you.
Why does an agency put itself at the top of a list?
Because lists in many places can influence what AI tools mention. That is marketing, not an independent judgement. An honest agency discloses its interest when it makes its own list.
Is what the founder says about agencies research?
No. What Gijs Bodenstaff says about agencies is practical experience from his own work. We label it as such and keep it separate from published research.
Is the founder's own agency ranked as well?
No. The founder and his own brands are not ranked. That way we avoid putting ourselves at the top.
Sources
- De GEO Experts: Wat bieden GEO-bureaus in Nederland daadwerkelijk aan? (April tot May 2026)
- Estrelle: Marktinventarisatie GEO-aanbieders Q3 2026 (September 2026)
- EchoWi: Best GEO Agencies: Who Ranks Whom (August 2026)
- Rand Fishkin, SparkToro: We've Learned More About How to Appear in AI Answers (October 2025)
- Gold Lemon: GEO-benchmark oktober 2026 (September 2026)
- Rand Fishkin, SparkToro: NEW Research: AIs are highly inconsistent when recommending brands or products (January 2026)