Your customers have stopped scrolling Google results. They ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google’s AI Overview “who’s the best X in Melbourne” and get three to five names. AEO — Answer Engine Optimization — is the work of getting your business into those answers.

What an AEO agency actually does

AI engines don’t rank pages the way Google does. They synthesise answers from sources they trust. Getting recommended comes down to four workstreams:

  • Entity engineering — consistent Organization schema, llms.txt, and identical business details across every platform, so AI knows exactly who you are
  • Citable content — pricing guides, comparison pages and FAQ hubs written the way AI likes to quote: direct answers, real numbers
  • Citation building — directories, local media and industry lists. AI recommends businesses that third parties already mention
  • Monthly answer monitoring — we run a fixed set of buyer questions through the major AI engines and report where you appear (and where competitors do)

Pricing

  • AEO audit + foundation build: $800–$2,000 one-off
  • Monthly AEO management: $500–$1,500/month
  • SEO + AEO combined: $1,000–$2,500/month

Why Melmel

We test everything on our own site first. Recent receipts: our “Melbourne web design” keyword recovered from position 23 to position 6 in seven days after a structural fix — the full case study with Search Console data is public. We’re a bilingual (English/Chinese) team, which also makes us one of the few agencies that can run AEO across both English and Chinese AI ecosystems.

FAQ

How long does AEO take to work?

On-site foundations take effect in 2–4 weeks. Appearing in AI answers typically takes 6–12 weeks, because AI engines refresh their source pools slower than Google crawls.

Is AEO worth it for small businesses?

Local services benefit most. AI answers list only 3–5 businesses — making that list means capturing demand your competitors never see.

Do you guarantee appearing in ChatGPT answers?

No honest agency can — AI outputs aren’t deterministic. What we guarantee is the measurable inputs: schema, citations, content, and monthly tracking so you see movement.

Ask for a free AI visibility check — we’ll show you exactly which answers you’re missing from →