Why AI SEO strategies differ for agencies

Most AI SEO advice assumes one of two audiences.

In house teams optimizing their own product.

Solo consultants running scrappy experiments for a single niche.

Agencies operate in a different reality.

You are not just trying to rank clients. You are competing with other agencies for credibility, differentiation, and mindshare. When a founder asks ChatGPT “Which agency should I hire for AI SEO?” or “Best SEO agencies for SaaS,” the model is not evaluating keyword density. It is evaluating who appears to understand the category best.

That changes the playbook.

AI SEO for agencies is not about executing tactics quietly in the background. It is about proving, at scale, that your agency understands AI search better than anyone else. The strategies below focus on how agencies can use AI SEO itself as a competitive weapon against other agencies.

1. Map AI driven query patterns for agency buying intent

Agencies need to study different queries than in house teams.

Your prospects are not asking “How does SEO work?” They are asking questions like:

• best AI SEO agencies

• SEO agency vs in house team

• alternatives to traditional SEO agencies

• AI SEO agency for SaaS

• how agencies optimize for ChatGPT and AI search

Test these directly in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini and document:

• which agencies are mentioned by name

• what credentials or explanations get cited

• what content formats are referenced

This reveals what the AI already associates with authority in your space and where your agency is invisible. That insight should drive your positioning, not just your content calendar.

2. Build category authority around AI SEO, not just services pages

Most agencies rely on generic services pages that look interchangeable.

AI prefers agencies that define and explain the category itself.

Instead of leading with “Our AI SEO services,” agencies should publish:

• a clear definition of AI SEO written for decision makers

• pages explaining how AI search differs from Google SEO

• content that outlines how buyers should evaluate AI SEO agencies

If your agency does not own the category narrative, AI engines default to whoever does. Competing agencies that publish clearer explanations will outrank you even with fewer backlinks.

3. Optimize thought leadership for extraction, not persuasion

Agency content often over-indexes on sales language.

AI does not care.

It extracts explanations.

Every flagship page should include:

• a plain language definition of AI SEO near the top

• explicit breakdowns of strategies and tradeoffs

• structured sections with headers AI can parse

• lists, frameworks, and step-by-step logic

• FAQs written the way prospects actually ask questions

If your expertise cannot be lifted cleanly into an AI answer, another agency’s explanation will be used instead.

4. Publish agency comparison content, even when it feels uncomfortable

Comparison content is one of the strongest ways to outrank other agencies in AI search.

This includes:

• AI SEO agency vs traditional SEO agency

• boutique agency vs large SEO firm for AI search

• when to hire an agency vs a freelancer for AI SEO

These pages must be factual and balanced. Explain who each option is best for and where the tradeoffs lie.

AI systems reward neutrality. Agencies that acknowledge limitations and context are trusted more than agencies that oversell themselves.

5. Treat internal playbooks and frameworks as ranking assets

Most agencies keep their best thinking private.

In AI search, that is a mistake.

Agencies that publish:

• AI SEO frameworks

• diagnostic checklists

• process explanations

• measurement methodologies

become reference points for models. These documents often get cited more than polished landing pages because they demonstrate how the work actually gets done.

Your process is not just IP. It is an authority signal.

6. Eliminate positioning drift across your own site

Agencies are especially vulnerable to inconsistency.

One page says “AI SEO.” Another says “GEO.” A third talks about “LLM optimization.” Documentation uses different terminology than sales pages.

AI cross references all of this.

Agencies should audit:

• homepage messaging

• service descriptions

• blog explanations

• case study language

• documentation and playbooks

If your agency cannot describe its value consistently, AI confidence drops and competitor agencies with clearer positioning win the citation.

7. Expand agency presence where AI looks for expert validation

AI models do not learn only from agency websites.

They learn from:

• Reddit threads discussing agencies

• founder and marketer reviews

• podcast transcripts

• conference talks

• expert commentary on blogs and communities

Agencies that show up consistently as educators and problem solvers across the web are remembered more often by AI systems than agencies that only publish on their own domain.

Visibility outside your site compounds authority inside AI answers.

8. Track competitive AI visibility, not just client traffic

Agencies need different success metrics than in house teams.

Beyond traffic, track:

• how often your agency is cited in AI answers

• which competitor agencies appear alongside you

• whether you are framed as a primary or secondary option

• how your visibility changes across different query types

This allows you to prove that your agency is winning mindshare in AI search, even before inbound leads spike.

That is the difference between running AI SEO for clients and using AI SEO to beat other agencies at their own game.

How Telepathic helps agencies win deals and outrank competitors

Most agencies struggle with AI SEO for one simple reason.

They are optimizing blind.

AI engines do not publish ranking reports. There is no Search Console for ChatGPT or Perplexity. Agencies are expected to deliver results without visibility into how models interpret, select, and cite content.

Telepathic fixes that gap.

Telepathic shows agencies exactly how their clients appear inside AI answers, including:

• visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overview

• which specific pages are cited and which are ignored

• which competitors are repeatedly surfaced by AI engines

• where content structure, explanations, or formats are missing

This turns AI SEO from guesswork into a repeatable agency workflow.

From invisible to cited: how agencies use Telepathic in practice

Consider a SaaS client ranking well on Google but struggling with lead quality.

Traditional SEO reports show healthy traffic. Telepathic reveals the real problem: competitors dominate AI answers for category, comparison, and alternative queries that influence buying decisions.

With this visibility, agencies can act with precision.

They use Telepathic insights to:

• rewrite the category definition so it aligns with how AI explains the space

• create or refine comparison and alternatives pages that AI prefers to cite

• restructure documentation to answer common evaluation and setup questions

• standardize messaging across pages to improve AI confidence

Instead of guessing what might work, agencies can prove why specific changes are needed and how they impact AI visibility.

That is the difference Telepathic enables.

Agencies stop reacting to AI search and start using it to win clients, retain accounts, and outperform other agencies that are still optimizing in the dark.

Want to deliver AI SEO confidently to clients? Book a demo and see how Telepathic helps agencies turn AI visibility into a scalable service.

FAQs

What is AI SEO for agencies?

AI SEO is optimizing client content and brand presence so AI search engines cite them in generated answers.

Is AI SEO replacing traditional SEO?

No. It extends it. Rankings still matter, but appearing in AI answers now drives discovery.

What content formats matter most for AI SEO?

Category pages, comparisons, alternatives, FAQs, and documentation.

How do agencies prove AI SEO results?

By tracking AI citations, query coverage, and competitive presence over time.