With millions of brands competing for attention online, search remains one of the most important ways customers discover products and services. But search is no longer limited to ranking well in Google. AI-powered search engines and large language models (LLMs) like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude are now shaping how people find answers, evaluate options, and make decisions. Instead of scrolling through Google’s search engine results pages and clicking through each result, users increasingly rely on AI-generated responses to tell them what to choose.
If your brand isn’t being surfaced, cited, or recommended by these AI systems, you’re missing visibility at a critical moment in the buying journey.
This is where an AI search and LLM optimization agency can help. These agencies focus on making brands understandable and discoverable within AI-driven search experiences. Their work spans entity optimization, answer-focused content, technical foundations, and authority signals that influence how AI models retrieve and present information to the end user. With generative search evolving rapidly, working with a partner that understands how these systems work and how to optimize for them is becoming a competitive necessity. So what kind of agency should you be looking for? An AI search and LLM optimization agency.
What Is an AI Search and LLM Optimization Agency?
An AI search and LLM optimization agency helps brands improve how they are interpreted and surfaced by AI-powered search engines and answer engines. Rather than focusing solely on rankings, these agencies optimize entities, content structure, and technical signals so AI systems can accurately understand your brand and confidently include it in generated answers. The goal is simple: increase visibility, credibility, and demand in AI-driven search experiences.
Top Reasons to Hire an AI Search and LLM Optimization Agency in 2026
As mentioned before, search competition isn’t just about rankings anymore. As AI-generated answers take up more space in the search journey, brands need specialized expertise to stay visible. Working with an AI search and LLM optimization agency helps your business:
- Adapt to AI-Driven Search Changes: These agencies track how LLMs and answer engines evolve and adjust strategies accordingly.
- Increase AI Visibility: AEO and GEO strategies help your brand appear in AI-generated answers where decisions are being made.
- Capture Demand Earlier: Visibility inside AI responses allows brands to influence buyers before they reach traditional search results.
- Focus on Growth: Let experts manage AI search optimization while you focus on running your business.
How to Choose the Right AI Search and LLM Optimization Agency
Not all agencies are equipped for this shift, in fact, most have stuck their heads in the sand when it comes to AI. When evaluating an AI search and LLM optimization partner, look for:
- Proven AI Search Experience: They should understand how LLMs retrieve, summarize, and recommend information—not just traditional SEO.
- Strong Technical and Entity Expertise: AI systems rely on clean structure, clear entities, and authoritative signals.
- Clear Communication: You should know what’s being done, why it matters, and how success is measured.
- Custom Strategy: Avoid generic solutions; AI search optimization should align with your business goals.
- Demonstrated Results: Look for real examples of improved visibility in AI-driven search environments.
Choosing the right partner ensures your brand remains discoverable as search continues to shift toward AI-powered experiences.
Best Ecommerce AEO/GEO Agencies in the U.S. to Work With in 2026
Stryde
- Overview: Stryde helps brands own the entire search ecosystem: traditional search, AI-driven search, and emerging LLM discovery channels. Their approach focuses on making brands machine-readable, entity-rich, and consistently referenced across AI-generated answers.
- Specializations: AI search optimization, LLM optimization, ecommerce SEO, Google Ads, content strategy, entity optimization
iPullRank
- Overview: iPullRank is widely regarded as one of the most technically advanced SEO agencies in the world, with deep expertise in how search engines and AI systems process information.
- Specializations: Enterprise SEO, AI-driven content strategy, technical SEO, entity optimization
- Why Clients Work With Them: Their ability to translate complex systems into executable strategies makes them a go-to partner for brands navigating AI-driven search changes.
- Visit their website
Seer Interactive
- Overview: Seer Interactive blends SEO, data science, and analytics to help brands understand how AI systems interpret and surface content.
- Specializations: SEO, data analytics, AI visibility analysis, paid media
- Why Clients Work With Them: Seer’s data-first culture and transparency help brands make smarter decisions in uncertain, fast-changing search environments.
- Visit their website
Animalz
- Overview: Animalz focuses on high-quality, authoritative content designed to influence both human readers and AI-driven systems.
- Specializations: Content strategy, AI-friendly content creation, B2B SEO
- Why Clients Work With Them: They excel at creating thought leadership content that LLMs trust, summarize, and cite.
- Visit their website
Siege Media
- Overview: Siege Media creates content engineered to earn links, citations, and authority—key signals for AI-driven discovery.
- Specializations: SEO content marketing, digital PR, link building
- Why Clients Work With Them: Their content consistently becomes source material for AI-generated answers due to depth and clarity.
- Visit their website
Amsive Digital
- Overview: Amsive helps enterprise brands adapt to AI-driven search through technical SEO, structured data, and omnichannel strategy.
- Specializations: Technical SEO, AI search optimization, paid media, analytics
- Why Clients Work With Them: Strong technical execution combined with enterprise-scale strategy.
- Visit their website
Growth Plays
- Overview: Growth Plays focuses on modern SEO strategies that align with how LLMs understand entities, relationships, and authority.
- Specializations: AI SEO, content systems, topical authority frameworks
- Why Clients Work With Them: They’re known for building scalable content ecosystems that perform well in generative search.
- Visit their website
SearchPilot
- Overview: SearchPilot uses controlled SEO testing to measure what actually influences rankings and AI-driven visibility.
- Specializations: SEO testing, AI search experimentation, enterprise SEO
- Why Clients Work With Them: Their testing-first approach removes guesswork in an era of rapid algorithmic change.
- Visit their website
Blue Array
- Overview: Blue Array supports in-house teams with advanced SEO and AI search consulting.
- Specializations: SEO strategy, AI search enablement, training
- Why Clients Work With Them: Brands value their ability to upskill teams while navigating AI-driven shifts.
- Visit their website
NoGood
- Overview: NoGood blends growth marketing with AI-aware content and experimentation.
- Specializations: SEO, AI content optimization, growth marketing
- Why Clients Work With Them: Their agile experimentation model fits brands operating in fast-moving markets.
- Visit their website
OmniSEO (by Clickstream)
- Overview: OmniSEO focuses specifically on optimizing brands for visibility inside AI answers, not just rankings.
- Specializations: AI search optimization, LLM visibility, content engineering
- Why Clients Work With Them: They are one of the few agencies explicitly building frameworks for generative search.
- Visit their website
Distilled (Now Brainlabs)
- Overview: Distilled has long been known for its technical SEO and forward-looking search research.
- Specializations: Technical SEO, AI-driven search strategy, enterprise consulting
- Why Clients Work With Them: Their methodologies often influence industry-wide best practices.
- Visit their website
Fractl
- Overview: Fractl specializes in data-driven content that earns citations and authority.
- Specializations: Digital PR, data studies, content authority building
- Why Clients Work With Them: AI systems often surface their research-heavy content as trusted sources.
- Visit their website
Search Science
- Overview: Search Science applies rigorous experimentation to SEO and AI search optimization.
- Specializations: SEO testing, AI visibility analysis, technical SEO
- Why Clients Work With Them: They help brands understand why something works—not just that it works.
- Visit their website
Kalicube
- Overview: Kalicube focuses almost exclusively on brand entity optimization and knowledge graph presence.
- Specializations: Entity SEO, knowledge graph optimization, brand SERP control
- Why Clients Work With Them: Their work directly influences how AI systems understand and represent brands.
- Visit their website
The reality is that search in 2026 looks very different than it did just a few years ago. As AI-powered search engines and large language models continue to shape how people discover, evaluate, and choose brands, visibility is no longer limited to blue links on a results page. Brands now need to be understood, trusted, and referenced by AI systems themselves. Partnering with an agency that specializes in AI search and LLM optimization can help ensure your business stays discoverable as these platforms evolve. Whether you’re an established brand looking to protect your market position or a growing company trying to gain an edge, investing in the right partner today can make the difference between being recommended by AI—or being left out of the conversation entirely.
Greg is the founder and CEO of Stryde and a seasoned digital marketer who has worked with thousands of businesses, large and small, to generate more revenue via online marketing strategy and execution. Greg has written hundreds of blog posts as well as spoken at many events about online marketing strategy. You can follow Greg on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn.