On October 16, 2026, my team and I audited 25 established US agencies to see how their positioning compares with real search demand. We checked the main term in each agency’s H1, title tag, navigation menu, and URL slug, and compared those labels against 12 month US search volume and cost per click (CPC) data from Ahrefs Keywords Explorer.
AI SEO Has the Most Buyer Demand, Yet Few Agencies Lead With It (Share of US buyer intent searches for each term against the share of the 25 audited agencies that lead with it)
Twelve of the 25 US digital agencies we audited use Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) as the main term to sell their AI search service. That accounts for 48% of the agencies in our study. However, AI SEO accounts for 42% of the buyer intent search volume across the keywords we shortlisted, while only four of the 25 agencies lead with it on their primary service pages.
12 of 25 US Agencies Lead With GEO (The term each agency uses in the H1 or title of its main AI search service page)
Most agencies name their service pages using industry terms rather than the words buyers type into Google when looking to hire an agency. Because of this gap, agencies miss out on high volume commercial traffic and end up paying much more per click on crowded keywords.
How We Separated Buyer Intent From Research Searches
Many keyword studies fall short because they mix basic informational searches with commercial buyer intent. For this study, we split the shortlisted keywords into two clear groups. Learning keywords are bare terms without hiring modifiers, while buyer intent keywords add words like agency, services, company, consultant, or white label.
We also removed ambiguous keywords that skew the search volume totals. For example, searches for “aeo” mostly go to American Eagle Outfitters, while “geo services” and “geo company” relate to the GEO Group. We also removed “aio seo” because it refers to a WordPress plugin, and “ai citations” because people use it to check how to cite AI tools in school papers.
Removing those unrelated terms gave us an accurate view of what decision makers search for when they are ready to hire an agency.
Ambiguous Keywords Removed From the Totals (“aeo”, “geo services”, “aio seo”, “aeo company”, “ai citations”, “geo company”)
How the Four Main Service Terms Compare on Buyer Demand
When we looked at the service pages and the shortlisted keywords, the market split into four main terms:
How the Four Main Service Terms Compare (US buyer intent keywords for each term, 12 month average)
- AI SEO: This term generates 11,300 monthly buyer intent searches, which is 42% of the total buyer intent demand across the entire list of keywords we shortlisted. Four agencies including Coalition Technologies, Ignite Visibility, SmartSites, and Thrive Agency use this as their main term to sell their service. I also noticed that competing agencies see an average ad value of $19,825 per agency for this keyword cluster, which is the highest among all the buyer intent keywords in our research. While “ai seo services” gets 5,000 searches at a $1.10 CPC because some users look for software tools, “ai seo company” gets 2,100 searches at a $17.00 CPC and “ai seo agency” gets 3,800 searches at a $9.00 CPC.
- Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): This keyword cluster brings in 7,210 monthly buyer intent searches, making up 27% of the buyer intent demand we shortlisted. Twelve agencies including Directive, First Page Sage, Go Fish Digital, Seer Interactive, Siege Media, and iPullRank lead with GEO on their service pages. I also noticed that GEO has the highest volume weighted CPC at $19.87, with “generative engine optimization agency” reaching $25.00 per click. Because 12 agencies split the $139,100 total monthly ad value, the average value per agency drops to $11,592.
- Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): This cluster generates 5,720 monthly buyer intent searches, or 21% of the buyer demand in our dataset. Six agencies including Amsive, NP Digital, Omniscient Digital, Searchbloom, Single Grain, and Victorious use AEO as their main service label. Supply and demand match closely here, with an average ad value of $12,821 per agency and a weighted CPC of $13.62. I also noticed that AEO has an average keyword difficulty of just 5, making it the easiest of the top three terms to rank for organically.
- AI Search Optimization: This term accounts for 1,750 monthly buyer intent searches, which is 6% of the buyer demand we tracked. Three agencies including 97th Floor, Big Leap, and Wpromote use it as their primary page label. The cluster carries a weighted CPC of $19.20, an average keyword difficulty of 8, and an average monthly ad value of $11,200 per agency.
Not All AI SEO Searches Are Equal (“ai seo services” vs “ai seo agency” vs “ai seo company” monthly US searches and CPC)
How Agencies Use Secondary Terms Across Their Pages
Most agencies do not stick to just one term on their website. They lead with one primary term in their H1 and add the other terms in their subheadings, FAQ sections, metadata, or navigation menus.
While 12 agencies use GEO as their main H1 term, 24 of the 25 agencies mention GEO somewhere on their service page or navigation. Seventeen agencies include AI SEO, 15 include AEO, 14 mention AI Search Optimization, and 8 mention LLMO.
Agencies Lead With One Term and Hedge With the Rest (Primary term in the H1 or title vs used anywhere on the service page, nav or a sibling page)
The most common secondary term we found was AI Visibility. Twenty one of the 25 agencies include AI Visibility on their pages, yet not a single agency uses it as their primary term.
The keyword data shows why agencies avoid leading with it. AI Visibility gets only 550 monthly buyer intent searches, or 2% of the buyer demand we shortlisted, while carrying a very high keyword difficulty of 53.
How Search Trends Changed Over the Past Year
We also compared three month search averages from September through November 2025 against July through September 2026 to see where buyer interest is moving. Learning searches for the full term “generative engine optimization” dropped by 74% over the year, falling to 2,023 monthly searches by September 2026.
However, buyer intent searches for GEO kept growing. Searches for “generative engine optimization agency” grew by 158% and “generative engine optimization services” increased by 55% over the same period, even as the shorter query “geo agency” dropped by 54%.
Fewer people are searching to learn what GEO means today. The buyers who already know the term are searching directly for an agency to hire.
At the same time, AEO grew across both bare and buyer intent searches. Searches for “answer engine optimization” increased by 37% over the year to reach 8,741 monthly searches in September 2026, passing both “ai search optimization” at 6,035 and “ai seo” at 5,806.
Searches for “Generative Engine Optimization” Fell While AEO Rose (US monthly searches for the bare terms, September 2025 to September 2026)
Several other buyer intent keywords in our shortlist also showed strong movement over the year:
- AI search optimization services: Increased by 330% over the year, making it the fastest growing buyer intent keyword in our study.
- AEO services and AEO agency: Grew by 119% and 81% over the year, while keeping a very low keyword difficulty between 2 and 3.
- AI SEO company and AI SEO agency: Grew by 91% and 60% over the year, showing that buyers still prefer simple, direct terms when hiring.
- LLM SEO: Dropped by 43% in bare searches down to 1,120 monthly searches, while buyer intent searches for LLMO stayed small at 600 per month.
Most Buyer Intent Searches Grew as Learning Searches Shifted (Change in average monthly US searches, September to November 2025 vs July to September 2026)
Our audit of US digital agencies reveals a costly disconnect: agencies are optimizing for industry buzzwords while buyers are searching for practical solutions!
Nearly 50% of agencies lead with Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), even as broad informational interest in the term drops. Meanwhile, AI SEO drives 42% of all commercial buyer searches, yet only 16% of agencies prioritize it on their service pages.
Furthermore, while informational searches for GEO have declined, targeted buyer intent queries and demand for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) continue to rise rapidly.
For agencies to capture high-value commercial traffic and lower customer acquisition costs, they should align their primary messaging with terms that directly reflect buyer search behavior.
Dileep Thekkethil
AuthorDileep Thekkethil is the Director of Marketing at Stan Ventures and an SEMRush certified SEO expert. With over a decade of experience in digital marketing, Dileep has played a pivotal role in helping global brands and agencies enhance their online visibility. His work has been featured in leading industry platforms such as MarketingProfs, Search Engine Roundtable, and CMSWire, and his expert insights have been cited in Google Videos. Known for turning complex SEO strategies into actionable solutions, Dileep continues to be a trusted authority in the SEO community, sharing knowledge that drives meaningful results.