How is AEO different from SEO?

SEO focuses on ranking your pages in search engines. AEO focuses on getting your brand cited and recommended by AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. SEO optimizes for keywords and rankings, while AEO optimizes for how AI reasons about your brand: entity authority, structured information, and content that directly answers the questions buyers are asking AI. AEO doesn't work without SEO. LLMs pull from the same web content that search engines index, so if Google can't find you, neither can ChatGPT. That's why AEO is a layer on top of solid SEO foundations, not a replacement.

How does Sighted handle AEO and SEO together?

Every engagement starts with your SEO foundations: site structure, schema markup, crawlability, meta optimization, content architecture. These are the quick wins we ship in the first 30 days. Once the foundation is solid, we layer the AEO-specific work on top: building entity authority in your category, structuring content so LLMs can reason about it, creating citation-ready pages that answer your buyers' real questions, and tracking your visibility across AI platforms. The two reinforce each other: better SEO makes your content more discoverable by AI, and AEO-optimized content tends to perform well in traditional search too.

What does Sighted actually do?

We build content systems that get your brand recommended by AI. That starts with an audit: how AI sees you today, where you're missing, what competitors are getting cited for. Then we build the foundation: brand context documents, knowledge layers, and the technical fixes your site needs. From there, we launch content projects incrementally, including BOFU comparison pages, FAQ sections, blog content, and repurposing assets to long form content. Each one builds on the last. Everything we build is designed to work as an interconnected system, not a collection of one-off pages.

Which AI platforms does Sighted optimize for?

We optimize across the full AI search ecosystem: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot. Our approach is platform-agnostic because all of these systems pull from similar signals: authoritative, well-structured content that clearly answers real questions. We track your visibility across all of them so we can see where you're gaining ground and where there's still work to do.

How does Sighted measure success?

We track AI visibility metrics, brand mentions across LLM platforms, citation frequency, sentiment, share of voice vs competitors, and how those shift over time. On the organic side, we monitor the fundamentals: rankings, traffic, and content performance and how these are influencing growth. We provide monthly visibility reports that show what moved, what's working, and what to focus on next. As the engagement matures and your AI presence grows, we work with you to connect visibility to pipeline and revenue metrics.

How quickly will we see results?

Based on our team's experience, initial visibility shifts can appear within a few weeks as AI models incorporate new content. But meaningful, sustained impact builds over 3–6 months depending on your starting position, competitive landscape, and how much content ground you need to cover. The technical quick wins (schema, meta optimization, structural fixes) show results faster. The content engine takes longer but compounds over time. We provide weekly and monthly reports so you can track progress as it happens.

What does the engagement look like day-to-day?

It depends on the pace you choose, but typically: a shared Slack channel or async workspace for ongoing communication, weekly or biweekly check-ins to review progress and align on priorities, and monthly reports covering visibility metrics and next steps. We work as an extension of your team, not a black box that sends deliverables. You'll have visibility into what we're building, why, and what's coming next. We bring recommendations, you make the calls.

What's the minimum commitment?

Our minimum engagement is 3 months. AEO is a system-building exercise. The first month is audit, context, and foundations. The real compounding starts in months 2–3 as content layers connect. Committing to less than 3 months means you'd be paying for the setup without staying long enough to see the returns. That said, within those 3 months you have full flexibility on pacing and scope. We can start with focused pilots and scale up, or move faster if the budget and bandwidth allow.

Can we control the pace and budget?

Yes. We structure engagements so you decide the speed. Some clients start with one or two focused projects per month, like a comparison page series, a FAQ overhaul, or a schema cleanup. Others want to move faster and layer multiple workstreams from the start. We recommend maintaining continuity regardless of pace: AI models value freshness, so a static site that stops publishing will lose ground over time. The system works best when there's always something new going live and existing content getting refreshed.

What happens when we're ready to bring this in-house?

That's a success scenario for us, not a problem. Some companies we've worked with reach a point where they want to hire in-house to own the system we've built. When that happens, we shift from driving execution to advising. That means helping your team ramp up, documenting the workflows, and staying available for strategy and oversight. The goal was always to build something that outlasts our involvement. We'd rather help you scale sustainably than create dependency.

What if we already have an SEO agency or in-house SEO?

That's common and works well. We're not here to replace your SEO team; we layer on top of what they're doing. In practice, we coordinate with your existing SEO function on technical changes, share visibility data that benefits both organic and AI search, and focus our effort on the AEO-specific work that most SEO teams aren't set up for yet: LLM visibility auditing, entity authority building, citation-optimized content, and structured knowledge layers. If anything, having strong SEO foundations already in place means we can move faster on the AEO side.

Do we need existing content to get started?

No. We've worked with companies that had hundreds of published pages and companies starting nearly from scratch. The audit phase tells us what you have, what's usable, and what needs to be built. If you have existing content, we assess what can be restructured or improved for AI visibility. If you're starting fresh, we build the content plan from the ground up based on your category, competitors, and the questions your buyers are asking. Either way, the process is the same. We just calibrate the starting point.

What industries does Sighted work with?

We specialize in B2B, primarily SaaS, fintech, and professional services companies with complex products where buyers do serious research before purchasing. These are the categories where AI search is already reshaping how people evaluate and shortlist vendors. Our approach works best when there's real depth to your product story and a competitive landscape worth navigating.

Privacy

Privacy Notice

Last updated 24 April 2026

1. Who we are

Sighted is a consultancy operated by John Mears as a sole trader, based in the United Kingdom at 12 Rosewood Drive, Ashford, TN25 4QF. In this notice, “Sighted”, “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to this individual operator. You can reach us at hello@sightedagency.com.

We act as the data controller for personal data collected through sightedagency.com and our direct communications with you.

2. What data we collect

We only collect personal data when you choose to share it with us, or when you use our site. Specifically:

Contact data. If you email us or book a call, we collect your name, email address, company name, and any information you include in your message.
Booking data. If you book a call through our Calendly link, Calendly collects your name, email address, and scheduling information on our behalf.
Analytics data. We use Vercel Analytics to measure aggregate site performance. This does not use cookies and does not identify individual visitors.

We do not buy personal data from third parties, and we do not collect special category data (such as data about health, ethnicity, or political opinions).

3. How we use your data and our legal basis

We use personal data only for purposes you would reasonably expect:

To respond to your enquiries and schedule meetings. Legal basis: your consent and our legitimate interest in operating our business.
To provide services to you if we enter into a contract. Legal basis: performance of a contract.
To measure site performance in aggregate. Legal basis: legitimate interest in maintaining and improving our site.
To comply with legal obligations where we are required to retain or disclose information. Legal basis: legal obligation.

4. Third-party processors

We rely on a small number of reputable providers to run our business. Each processes personal data on our behalf under appropriate contractual terms:

Vercel. Hosts the website and provides anonymous analytics.
Calendly. Processes meeting bookings.
Google Workspace. Provides our email and document storage.

We review these providers periodically and only use services that offer appropriate safeguards for personal data.

5. Cookies and similar technologies

The site does not set non-essential cookies at this time. For details on the cookies or similar storage used by our third-party embeds, see our Cookie Policy.

6. How long we keep your data

We keep personal data only as long as needed for the purpose it was collected, or as required by law. In practice:

Email correspondence is retained for up to 24 months unless an active relationship continues.
Booking records are retained for up to 12 months.
Contract and billing records are retained for the period required by UK tax and accounting law (typically 6 years).

7. Data transfers

Some of our processors, including Vercel and Calendly, are based in the United States. Where personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom, transfers are made under appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

8. Your rights

Under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Right of access
Right to rectification
Right to erasure
Right to restrict processing
Right to object to processing
Right to data portability
Right to withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@sightedagency.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk if you believe your rights have been infringed.

9. Children

Our services are intended for business customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe we hold such data, please contact us and we will delete it.

10. Changes to this notice

We may update this notice from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of the page. For significant changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify you directly.

11. Contact us

Questions about this notice or about how we handle your data? Email us at hello@sightedagency.com.