What does an SEO agency do?
An SEO agency helps your pages rank in search results. The work covers technical fixes, keyword research, page content, local listings and links from other sites.
Results are measured in rankings, impressions, clicks and, most importantly, enquiries and sales from organic search.
What does an AI SEO agency do?
An AI SEO agency works on how AI assistants describe and recommend your business. The aim is to be the source an answer quotes, or the business it suggests, when someone asks ChatGPT or Gemini for a recommendation.
That means clear facts in plain text, pages that answer questions directly, structured data, the same details across every listing, and coverage on the sites AI tools read.
SEO agency vs AI SEO agency: where do they overlap?
More than the labels suggest. AI answers lean heavily on the web. Google says its AI features use the same foundations as normal search, so a page that can't be found or trusted rarely gets cited.
- Shared: technical health, crawlable content, clear pages, local listings, reviews and mentions on other trusted sites.
- More SEO: keyword targeting, rankings, link building and click-through from results pages.
- More AI SEO: answer-first copy, consistent facts across the web, structured data, AI crawler access and tracking mentions in answers.
How are results measured differently?
SEO has mature tools: Search Console, rankings and analytics. AI SEO is newer. It's measured by tracking a set of real questions across assistants, counting citations and mentions, and watching referral traffic from AI tools.
Ask any agency exactly how they'll measure both, and how often they'll report.
How do you choose between them, step by step?
Use these steps to work out what you need before you speak to anyone.
- Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity the questions your customers ask. Note whether you appear, and who does.
- Check Search Console for how your pages rank for your main services.
- If neither works, start with the foundations. They help both.
- If you rank well but don't appear in AI answers, you need AI SEO on top.
- If AI tools mention you but you don't rank, the SEO basics need work.
- Ask each agency how they'll measure both, and what they'll do in the first month.
- Avoid anyone who promises a set ranking or a guaranteed AI recommendation.
Do you need both?
Most businesses do, because customers use both. The good news is that one team can do both, since the groundwork is shared.
What you don't want is two agencies giving you conflicting advice about the same pages.