Common questions, honest answers.

SEO optimizes for ranking in Google's blue-link results. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) optimizes for being cited in AI-generated answers from ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews. The technical work overlaps (schema, page structure, page speed), but the off-site strategy is different. AEO depends heavily on listicle inclusion, Reddit presence, and entity authority. Not just backlinks.

No. SEO and AEO co-exist. Google AI Overviews source from organic results. ChatGPT Search sources from Bing's organic index. The technical foundations overlap. You need both; one without the other leaves citations on the table.

A large share of ChatGPT's search citations come from Bing's index. ChatGPT Search runs on Bing. If you're invisible on Bing, you're invisible to ChatGPT Search. Getting properly indexed in Bing Webmaster Tools is one of the highest-ROI single actions you can take for ChatGPT visibility.

A citation is when an AI engine names your brand or links to your domain in its answer to a user prompt. We track three things: whether your brand is mentioned, whether you're linked, and where in the answer you appear (top of the answer carries far more weight than a footnote).

Three things. One: we measure citations weekly across five engines, not quarterly. Two: we treat listicle PR as a primary service line (it drives 40-72% of AI citations and most agencies skip it). Three: founder-led delivery. No juniors writing the strategy, no juniors writing the content.

A combination of automated weekly prompt runs across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews, plus manual verification on top queries. Each query is tracked over time for citation rate, share of voice, and position. You see the dashboard in your Slack channel every Monday.

A 5-signal evaluation of how your brand shows up across the five engines for 3-6 topics you care about. Visibility, share of voice, citation rate, average position, sentiment. Delivered as a shareable PDF within 3 business days.

AEO Retainer is $6,000/month flat. Enterprise scope is priced custom. Both are on the /pricing page in full detail. No hidden fees, no surprise quote inflation.

It's what real founder-led AEO costs to deliver. Below this, the work cuts corners; the corners cost you citations. We've done the math on what it takes to track 30+ queries weekly, run 4 listicle pitches a month, ship technical work, and produce content, and have the founder doing it.

90-day minimum so the methodology has time to land. After that, month-to-month with 30 days' notice.

No retroactive refund. But if month one doesn't produce the agreed deliverables (100% schema coverage by week 4, llms.txt live, citation monitor running, 4 listicle pitches sent), we extend without billing until they're shipped.

Fair. Three answers. One: pricing is on the page, no surprise quote inflation. Two: 90-day minimum, then month-to-month, leave if it isn't working. Three: the founder built this on her own brand before charging anyone. ANTE is the first place I'd send a friend who needed this, and that's the bar.

Schema and llms.txt are visible to AI engines within 30 days. Listicle inclusions typically land 60-120 days after the first pitch wave. Citation count meaningfully shifts in 90 days. Traffic and revenue impact follows by month 6+. Anyone promising faster is overstating.

No agency can. What we guarantee: 100% schema coverage by week 4, llms.txt published in week 1, weekly citation monitor live by week 4, four listicle pitches sent in month 1. Citations are downstream of those deliverables.

30 days notice after the 90-day minimum. We hand over the citation tracking config, the schema work, the content briefs, and the listicle pitch tracker. You keep everything we built.

Abigail Nathan. Founder. Every Slack message, every PR, every report. No junior account managers, no outsourced delivery. That's the model.

Two answers. The workflows and infrastructure are documented and portable. Your monitor configuration, dashboards, and content production survive any single point of failure. And it's a paid retainer at a price that lets you switch agencies if needed. The risk profile is asymmetric in your favor.

They're all great. They're also 20-100+ person agencies with enterprise pricing. ANTE is founder-led for $6,000/month. If you're a Series A-C SaaS and you want the operator who built this on her own brand, that's us. If you're Fortune 500 and need 12-person team coverage, hire them.

In poker, the ante is the cost of entry. The baseline you put up to play. AI search is the new baseline. Pay the ante or watch from the sidelines.