How to choose an ecommerce AEO agency: what to check, what to ask, and when to walk away
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How do I choose an AEO agency for my online store?
Pick one that works on your products, not just your brand, and that understands ecommerce. On the first call, ask how they measure, what they need from you, and who fixes what. Walk away from guarantees, jargon-filled reports and long contracts before any work is done.
Before you book a call: two checks
Do they work on your products, or just your brand?
Does that agency only work on the brand, meaning your company’s reputation and how easy it is to find? Or do they also map out the buying questions for your individual products and link them together? That’s where you want to be. When you’re selling a product, you don’t only want your brand to have great authority in AI answers. You want your products themselves to be considered in those answers too, so they get recommended to your potential customers.
Do they understand ecommerce?
Are they working only with ecommerce, or with clients in all types of sectors? That’s not to say they can’t do ecommerce if they work in other sectors. But you want to make sure they have a great understanding of yours, because the nuance is different. Individual products aren’t like a brand selling one service, or a few services linked to one brand identity. If you sell phone chargers, phone cases and screen protectors, those are three completely different products, with three completely different competitive sets and different buying questions.
Five questions to ask on the first call
“Which AIs do you check, and how often?”
And how often are they checking the different patterns and questions among the buying questions, intent questions and early-research questions that might surface your product?
“How will I see what’s changed?”
Is it done in a way where you can clearly see from point A, where they started, to point B, where you’re going to be? Does it make sense to you, or does it sound like jargon? For the client, it should be very simple to understand. The operator’s job is to take something complex and report it back in a way that’s easy to follow.
“What do you need from me?”
The agency is only going to be as effective as the information you give them. Give them everything about your products, and a good understanding of the types of people who buy them. If you’ve got sales history, even better. If you don’t, have a deep understanding of your ideal customer. The more information you give, the quicker they understand the buying intent and focus their search.
“What do you fix, and what do I fix?”
What are the expectations and the deliverables? Are they taking care of everything, or are there parts you need to do? If you’re expected to do things you weren’t aware of, that’s one problem. If you expected them to do something they’re not going to do, that’s another. Both can hurt the results you’re looking for.
“What happens if AI changes how it picks products?”
It can happen. At any point, the AIs can change the sources they cite. Some sources gain weight, and others lose the influence they had on a set of buying questions. So short-term work won’t necessarily last, especially as this field keeps changing. That’s why I always say working long term is better. More importantly, make sure you have the right expectations, and ask what the fallback is if a major change happens while you’re working together. Weigh that up when you pick an agency, along with your own commitment.
“If it all goes to plan, what does that look like for me?”
Bonus question
If it all goes well, you’re recommended consistently for those buying questions. You go from not being considered at all to being one of the brands it keeps coming back to. That lets you win more of the sales from the people searching for your product, without spending a lot on ads to get the same return. And it keeps growing. That’s a beautiful thing once you have the right strategy and the right agency working with you. It’s what we look to offer.
Red flags: when to walk away
“We’ll get you to #1 in ChatGPT in 30 days.”
I’d definitely walk away from that, because they’re selling you a dream. Nobody can tell you you’re going to rank number one. It’s not how it works. This isn’t a Google page where someone can say who ranks number one. These answers change all the time, organically, and based on what your market is searching for. If someone guarantees you number one, you’re being oversold, and they’d lose all credibility in my eyes.
Reports full of jargon you can’t act on.
A lot of information that doesn’t let you do anything. Information is great, but it’s not great information if you can’t act on it. Ask exactly what they’ll show you in their reports. You want information that lets you draw a conclusion about making more money. If it doesn’t, it’s pretty useless.
They can’t explain how they’ll measure.
Ask how they’ll measure what they did today versus day 30. If they can’t explain it in a simple way that makes sense, that’s a dead relationship that will waste your money. In the end, you won’t understand your results, because they can’t explain how they’re measuring them.
A long contract before any work is done.
A long contract before any deliverables locks you in for a period where you don’t know if it’s going to work. At the same time, to really gauge real results, I’d say 90 days is where you want to be. It’s the minimum to really get the benefits. Within the first month, you should see meaningful work, with the right reporting, the right measurements and a strategy that makes sense, so you gain confidence. Beyond 90 days with no tangible results, there might be a bigger issue at play.
“We’ll write you hundreds of blog posts.”
A lot of agencies just talk about writing hundreds of articles, putting them everywhere and hoping one sticks so you get cited. They’re basically flooding the market with AI articles. I’d walk away from that. It won’t gain you any real traction.
What a good monthly update looks like
Where you started
A good agency first maps out where you are right now. How many mentions are you getting across the different AIs? Is your site optimized to get them? Then every report measures the same things, so you can see if the work gained you more citations and more visibility, and so more chances to make sales.
Where you’re picked, and where you’re not
Say you’re picked on ChatGPT, but on Perplexity you’re not picked at all and your rivals are. You want to understand why you’re picked on ChatGPT, why your rivals are picked on the other one, and how to close that gap. It’s not one channel, it’s several. Each AI uses information differently, so your work has to cover all of them.
What got fixed, what’s next, and what it means for sales
Exactly what they did, why they did it, and what they’ll keep doing to build on the momentum. The more you’re recommended, and the more competitive sets you’re in, the more the AIs treat your product as the best fit for the buyer. That leads to more sales from those searches.
When not to hire an agency yet
Your basics aren’t done.
If you’re not crawlable, or your website just isn’t in good shape: your schema, your descriptions, your products. If a human came to your website and wouldn’t buy, it’s too early for this. You’ve got to get the foundation right before you build the house.
There’s no market yet.
Maybe you’ve got a great product, but nobody is searching for it yet. You can still get in place now if you believe that will change, so you’re well placed as the market grows. But you’re betting on the future, not on now.
You want results tomorrow.
If you contact an agency today and want to be recommended tomorrow, this isn’t for you. If you want results tomorrow, you need to pay for them. Paid ads are probably your route to get in front of the most people in the shortest time. But if you want to be discovered over a long period, concentrate on your AEO strategy. The seeds you plant today sprout over months and years. You get the fruits of your labor for longer, without having to keep reinventing your ads.
Why I built Mercenta only for ecommerce
I’ve been consulting for ecommerce companies for a few years, mostly on systems and automations. That led to helping people source products from China. When I saw how AI was changing the way people search for products, I wanted to understand how it works for individual products. My passion was really there. So I doubled down on understanding why things happen in these channels, and on putting clients’ products in front of people organically, in the best way I can.
That’s why we only do ecommerce. A lot of people do this for SaaS. A CRM has lots of features, but it’s still one product. If you sell phone accessories, trainers or beds, you could be selling many products, each for different people, with their own pros and cons. Each of those buyers asks specific questions about a specific product. So it’s more work and more analysis. But once you put the work in, each product shows up for the people searching for it, through the questions they ask the AIs and, more importantly, the questions the AI asks them back.
The checklist
Tick these off as you go.
FAQ
Can an agency guarantee I’ll be #1 in ChatGPT?
No. AI answers change all the time. Anyone who guarantees it is overselling.
How long before I see results?
Give it 90 days to judge properly. In the first month, you should already see meaningful work and clear reporting.
Does an agency that also works outside ecommerce rule itself out?
No, but check that they understand products. Each product has its own rivals and buying questions.
Can I check where I stand before I talk to anyone?
Yes. Run a free check at mercenta.ai.
About me
I’m Nick Acquah, founder of Mercenta. We only work with e-com brands, and we do one job: get your products recommended by AI over your competitors’, so you make more sales.
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