Hiring an AEO Specialist: 15 Questions to Ask First

When you hire an AEO specialist, ask questions that reveal how they test AI answers, how they improve your content and facts, and how they measure progress. Good candidates explain their method in plain words and admit what they cannot control. Weak candidates talk about secret tricks or guaranteed placements.

What an AEO specialist does

Answer engine optimization means making your business easy for AI assistants and answer features to find, understand and quote. The work covers clear answers on your own pages, structured data, consistent business information across the web, and mentions on trusted third-party sites. If you are new to the topic, our explainer on AI search vs traditional SEO is a good primer before you interview anyone.

Questions about method

1. How would you find out what AI tools say about us today? Look for a clear testing routine across several assistants, not a single screenshot.
2. Which prompts would you track for a business like ours? A strong answer includes buyer-style questions such as “which accountant in Leeds works with freelancers”.
3. How do you decide which pages to rewrite first? They should mention pages that answer high-intent questions.
4. What role does structured data play? Expect a balanced view: helpful for clarity, not a magic switch.
5. How do you handle wrong information in AI answers? Good answers focus on fixing the sources the AI relies on.

Questions about off-site work

6. Where do AI assistants in our industry get their information? They should name real source types: review sites, trade directories, comparison articles, news.
7. How would you earn mentions on those sites? Listen for outreach, useful data, expert commentary and partnerships.
8. What is your view on fake reviews or buying links? The only acceptable answer is that they refuse.
9. How do you keep our facts consistent across listings? A practical answer names a single source of truth and a review schedule.

Questions about results and reporting

10. What will you report each month? Prompt coverage, share of mentions against competitors, and accuracy of descriptions are good signs.
11. How long before we might see change? Honest specialists give a range and explain that AI answers vary.
12. Can you guarantee we will be recommended? If the answer is yes, walk away. No one controls AI outputs.
13. What do you need from our team? Expect requests for subject expertise, approvals and access.
14. Which tools do you use? They should be open about it rather than hiding behind “proprietary” claims.
15. What happens if we stop working together? You should keep all content, data and accounts.

Red flags during the interview

• Claims of being an official or certified partner of OpenAI, Google or another AI company.
• Talk of “submitting” your brand into AI training data.
• No examples of how they test or measure anything.
• Long lock-in contracts with no exit clause.

Freelancer, agency or software?

A freelance specialist suits companies with one market and a modest budget. An agency suits larger brands that need content, outreach and reporting at scale. Software is useful either way, because a specialist still needs data on which prompts mention you. Many businesses pair a part-time specialist with a tracking tool. You can read more in our guide to measuring AI visibility.

How Keboost helps

Keboost gives you, or the specialist you hire, the data to work from. It tracks the questions your customers ask across major AI assistants, shows where you and your competitors appear, and produces focused content designed to be found and cited. Plans cost €29 or €99 per month with no long contract. Run a free AI visibility check before your first interview so you can judge candidates against real numbers.