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| Name | Best for | Location | Key services | AEO service URL |
| Vanguard 86 | Experiments and ROI | New Plymouth (NZ wide) | AI page graders; structured data; LLM-ready content; technical AEO; fan-out research | https://www.vanguard86.com/aeo-services |
| Flow Media | AI Overviews focus | NZ (remote) | AEO strategy; AI Overviews; structured data; FAQs; monitoring | https://flowmedia.co.nz/ai-search/aeo/ |
| The Digital Hive | Full-stack AEO + build | Auckland | SEO/AEO; content; web build; measurement | https://thedigitalhive.co.nz/seo-aeo/ |
| Fabric Digital | GEO and LLM signals | Auckland | GEO strategy; structured data; content to win AI answers; AI search optimisation | https://fabricdigital.co.nz/generative-engine-optimisation |
| First Page New Zealand | Perplexity playbooks | NZ wide | Perplexity SEO; content tuning; AI search optimisation | https://firstpage.nz/perplexity-seo/ |
Why AEO now matters in digital marketing
Answer Engine Optimisation, also known as Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and AI SEO, means optimising your website so large language models (LLMS) can extract, cite, and reference your brand on answer engines such as Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.
Google began rolling AI Overviews to hundreds of millions of users in May 2024 and targeted more than one billion people by year end, placing summarised answers above classic results with cited sources.
By October Q1 2025 Google said AI Overviews reached more than one billion monthly users across 100+ countries, and reporting monthly reach above 1.5 billion.
ChatGPT adoption is also exponentially increasing. OpenAI disclosed 100 million weekly users in late 2023, with later reporting indicating substantial growth through 2025.
Perplexity has become a major AI search destination, with strong monthly traffic and category rankings tracked by Similarweb and other market monitors.
Returns are following the audience. McKinsey reports that companies investing in generative AI for marketing and sales see revenue increases of 3–15% and sales ROI gains of 10–20%.
Optimising for AEO aligns your content with the way large language models compose answers. Clear questions and concise answers, strong off-page presence, and custom structured data increase the chance your brand becomes the cited source in AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.
Benefits of working with an AEO agency
Early adoption of AEO can create an outsized advantage while most competitors are still learning. Unlike older SEO where you targeted a few keywords and aimed for page one, AEO goes deeper by aligning structure, entities, and proof so models can cite your brand inside answers.
Optimising for large language models is a strategic way to position your business where users now look first as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews continue to grow.
Benefit 1: They make your brand part of the answer
AEO places your brand inside answer units across Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity. The work focuses on how those systems compose replies and which sources they cite. Done well, your name appears where people now read first.
Benefit 2: They structure pages for LLMs
Agencies model how large language models extract facts, then refit your pages to match. Expect crisp questions in subheadings, compact direct answers, and structured data that clarifies who and what the page is about. That makes quoting your content easy and reliable.
Benefit 3: They add the right entities
Entity work removes questions about your people, products, and places. Names, roles, and relationships are made explicit on the page and reinforced off site. Clear entities help models pick the correct brand when answers are assembled.
Benefit 4: They track AI surfaces as well as search results
Good reporting covers where you show up inside AI answers. You should see visibility across AI Overviews, mentions in LLM responses where available, and movement for prioritised prompts. This widens the view of what performance looks like.
Benefit 5: They improve trust signals
AEO raises the quality of author pages, sources, and citations so claims are easy to verify. Third party citations compliments clear ownership and article dates. Strong E-E-A-T helps models trust your content and helps readers believe it.
Benefit 6: They test and learn quickly
Work moves in small, deliberate steps. Each change has a clear reason, a page set, and a simple measure of success. If it works, we roll it out. If it doesn’t, we stop early. Momentum without the risk.
Benefit 7: They connect content and technical fixes
Content structure should pair well with matching technical work. Internal links, structured data, and performance improvements work alongside new copy. This keeps crawlers efficient and gives models clean, consistent material to reuse.
How to choose an AEO partner in New Zealand
Agencies are shifting from traditional SEO to AEO, but not all of them are ready. Some vendors sell AEO without a clear scope, the right tools, or the data needed to prove answer capture across LLMs. Choose a reputable partner before you sign a contract, and insist on a written scope, named delivery team, and measurement that ties activity to commercial outcomes.
Delivery clarity and named people
Know who will do the work and where they sit. Ask for the lead strategist, the technical specialist, the content lead, and the analyst by name, plus time zones, availability, and the shared tools you will use for briefs, questions, and feedback.
Proof before you sign
Request evidence that is directly related to AEO work. Good signs include featured snippets won, appearances in Google AI Overviews, citations in Perplexity, structured data deployed at scale, and at least one short case linking changes to commercial outcomes. Proof should be public or easy to verify.
Scope across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews
A credible partner should target all three platforms and can explain how they differ. Listen for how they structure question and answer blocks for extraction, how they choose and maintain schema types, how they strengthen entities, and how they track inclusion and attribution over time.
Measurement tied to revenue
Reporting must go beyond rankings. Expect visibility metrics for AI Overviews, an answer capture rate, mentions in ChatGPT and Perplexity where available, qualified conversions, and assisted revenue.
Low risk experimentation
Well run programmes use small, time boxed tests that ship quickly and roll back cleanly. You should see a simple plan, the page set to change, the expected impact, the success metric, and a review date that ends in a clear roll forward or roll back decision.
Fit with your CMS and data stack
Results improves when the agency works with what you already use. Confirm experience with your CMS templates, how they deliver schema at scale, how they integrate with analytics and your CRM, and who drafts, approves, and implements changes.
Collaboration rhythm that prevents drift
Agree a simple cadence before you start. A weekly meeting to unblock work, and a monthly review rather than only charts will keep progress visible. Keep a single point of contact who can move content and development.
Red flags to avoid
Treat first place guarantees, anonymous delivery teams, link schemes, the absence of a schema plan, weak or missing entity work, reporting that ignores AI surfaces, and proposals full of tasks but light on outcomes as reasons to walk away.
5 Best AEO Agencies in New Zealand
Now you know why AEO matters and what to look for. The agencies below stand out across the country with the ability to win answer visibility across LLMs. Each business explains where they fit, what makes them different, and how they support measurable outcomes.
1) Vanguard 86 — Best for Experimentation-Led AEO & ROI Focus
Vanguard 86 is a fit when you want AEO tied to measurable commercial outcomes rather than vanity wins. The programme blends page-level experiments with technical and content work designed to surface your brand in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, then reports on tangible impact. Find more about Vanguards AEO services here.
Services include:
- AI website and page grader reports to spot answer gaps
- Custom structured data mapped to templates
- Content restructuring for LLM extraction (Q&A and entity clarity)
- Technical page optimisation to improve LLM crawlability
- Fan-out query research and deep keyword research
- Off-page LLM signals and E-E-A-T enhancements
- Experiment design, rollout, and measurement cadence
2) Flow Media — Best for LLM and voice answer monitoring
Flow Media leans into instrumentation: they track how often assistants and answer engines select your brand, then optimise to lift those selections. Their AEO service names Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and voice surfaces explicitly, with long-tail question mapping and ongoing monitoring.
Services include:
- AEO strategy focused on AI Overviews and assistants
- Long-tail question mapping for answer capture
- Structured data and FAQ frameworks
- Ongoing monitoring of AI Overviews and voice results with dashboards
Works with: Property, multi-location services, national brands, B2C and B2B.
Key clients: Century 21.
3) The Digital Hive — Best for AEO-led content structuring
The Digital Hive focuses on making pages easy for LLMs to quote. They reframe headings as natural questions, target featured snippets, and apply schema and knowledge-graph signals so models can extract clean answers. A combined SEO/AEO service page outlines this on-page emphasis.
Services include:
- Question-first subheadings and concise direct answers
- Featured-snippet targeting and content tuning
- Schema and entity signalling to strengthen disambiguation
- Voice and natural-language optimisation within SEO/AEO retainers
Works with: SMEs, local services, ecommerce, B2B and B2C.
Key clients: Skylight Experts, Accurate Cleaners.
4) Fabric Digital — Best for generative-engine (GEO/AI SEO) roll-ins alongside broader SEO
Fabric operates as a full-funnel digital agency and folds AI-era SEO into broader programmes. While their site positions end-to-end digital marketing, they highlight tailored search strategies delivered with hands-on implementation which is useful if you need GEO/AI SEO rolled into multi-channel work.
Services include:
- Tailored search programmes with technical and on-page work
- Content and site structure improvements to support answer extraction
- Ongoing optimisation integrated with paid and web delivery teams
Works with: NZ SMEs and mid-market, local services, ecommerce, B2B.
Key clients: iKitchen, Max Security, Nice Buy.
5) First Page New Zealand — Best for platform-specific playbooks
First Page NZ focus on AI SEO and Perplexity SEO. If you want tactics shaped to how Perplexity and Gemini cite sources, their materials align to that model.
Services include:
- Perplexity SEO and AI SEO content tuning
- Strategies to be cited inside ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI layers
- Question-driven content and structured data aligned to each engine
Works with: Startups to enterprise, B2C and B2B across many verticals.
Key clients: Green Homes, Superior Hair, KKang.
Ready to stay visible as AI changes search?
AI is already reshaping how people find local businesses. When someone in Australia or New Zealand asks their phone for the best provider, the answer often comes from brands that LLMs (large language models) already recognise and trust. The businesses appearing first are not always the biggest. They are the ones whose content is clear, verifiable, and supported by genuine customer signals.
If your competitors are being cited in AI results while you are not, now is the time to act. AEO helps ensure that when people search for products or services like yours, your business is the one AI recommends with confidence.
Start building visibility, credibility, and trust in AI-powered search today.
Explore AEO Services
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