WE HAVE QUESTIONS.

The difference between great marketing and AI slop is great questions. We help you ask, and answer, the right ones.

The Deciding Factor’s free SEO/AEO audit is informed and personalized for your business. We invite you to give us some insights into your business and your goals to make your audit and audit review have real impact and actionable next steps.

Get started. Tell us about our business.

1Business SEO Keyword Goals

2Business AEO/GEO Query Goals

3Competitors

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BUSINESS SEO KEYWORD GOALS

Our team will utilize data to surface keywords for monitoring and recommend keywords you should target. Your answers should be based on your business objectives and understanding of your organization’s desired search results.

List between 5 and 10 short keyword phrases (1-3 words) that would be ideal for your organization to be found in a traditional Google or Bing search:

Use the plus sign to add your phrases.

List between 5 and 10 long-tail keyword phrases (4-8 words) that would be ideal for your organization to be found in a traditional Google or Bing search:

Use the plus sign to add your phrases.

The Reality of Search Has Changed

Search isn’t just about rankings anymore.

AI tools are now used for B2B purchasing recommendations, not just discovery. It’s changing how buyers evaluate their options, research, and pitch solutions to internal stakeholders.
Around 70% of the buyer journey is complete before anyone even speaks to your sales reps. That’s the “dark funnel,” and if you don’t have an always-on, pre-sales content engine, you’re missing potential customers.
There are 2.5 billion prompts entered into ChatGPT daily, with hundreds of millions acting like search queries.
Organic click-through rates are declining as AI Overview summarizes answers directly in search results.

How It Works

Request your audit

Complete a short questionnaire

We analyze your search and AI visibility

Join us for a 30-minute strategy session

We’ll spend this session walking you through what we found, what matters, what doesn’t and what to do next.

Frequently Asked Questions About SEO and AEO

Our work is grounded in research, strategy and collaboration. We ensure that solutions are not only creative, but practical, sustainable for the long term and reflective of your vision.

Our robust suite of services and capabilities include:

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) vs Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?

SEO focuses on ranking in search engines. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) focuses on being selected or cited in AI-generated answers on AI platforms, such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini and Google’s AI Overview. Both tactics are now essential.

What is the difference between Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?

The debate is still unsettled. You’ll get different answers from different sources, ranging from they are the same thing to they are distinctly different strategies. Our perspective is that our goal is to optimize for the engine. In this case, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Google’s AI Overview, and AI voice assistants like Siri and Alexa. Your online presence should support those platforms delivering results that:

Provide reputational reinforcement and positive sentiment about your company and products
Make you visible when people use these platforms as a research tool
Use your authoritative content to answer technical questions and position your company as a thought leader

Some pundits separate these objectives into the two different acronyms. No matter what you call it, it’s a group of strategies that target the same mechanisms for interacting with your content, and our team is dedicated to working holistically across your content strategy to achieve all these goals.

Why does AI visibility matter?

Because buyers are increasingly using AI tools to evaluate options. If you’re not mentioned or recommended, you’re not part of the conversation.

Can’t I just use an SEO audit tool?

You can, but most tools provide data without interpretation. The real value comes from understanding what to do with that data, prioritizing and taking the next steps to improve your online visibility.

Do I need to be using AI already to get an AEO audit?

You can in any place in your AI adoption journey, from AI curious to AI expert. In fact, the audit and consultation can be a valuable step for teams trying to figure out how AI visibility is affecting their business and where AI usage fits into their marketing strategy.

How does this fit into my overall marketing?

SEO and AEO don’t operate in isolation. They are simply tactics in the toolbox that are central to understanding the connections between your messaging, your content, your brand and your broader marketing strategy.