For Kretz Consulting Group, AI search optimization means investigating how AI-assisted answers represent a brand and its locations, then implementing changes supported by the findings. We look at relevant customer questions, the information available to answer them, and observed referrals where the data exists. The work helps your team decide what to correct, what to test, and what does not yet justify further spending.
Define the questions before evaluating the answers.
A useful investigation starts with what customers need to know about your services and locations, so we agree the markets, questions, AI products to assess, and collection method. The sample cannot capture every customer's experience.
Brand and location accuracy
Check whether sampled answers describe the right services, locations, and business details. We distinguish an inaccurate statement from an omission or a competitor mention. Your team verifies the underlying facts so a proposed correction starts with information the business can substantiate.
Access to useful information
Investigate whether the relevant pages can be accessed and whether they clearly describe the service and location. The scope may include crawling conditions, page rendering, information architecture, and content. A technical fix can improve access without guaranteeing that an assistant will choose the page.
Consistency across relevant sources
Compare the website and relevant public business information when sampled answers expose a discrepancy. We identify what the brand controls, what needs a local owner, and what requires an external correction request. The recommendation explains the specific problem it is intended to address.
Observed referrals and customer actions
Review identifiable AI referrals and the inquiries, bookings, or sales associated with them when tracking permits, while recognizing that these records capture only part of discovery. A customer may encounter an answer and arrive through another route, so we keep referral reporting separate from a claim about total AI influence.
Give each proposed change a reason and a test.
The investigation may justify a content correction, a shared template change, improved access, or better measurement. Kretz scopes the approved changes through Search Engineering. Your team agrees the owner, release approval, and acceptance criteria.
Evaluate a limited set of changes
We define the observations that would support continuing, revising, or stopping the work. Repeated samples can help describe changes in answers, but they cannot by themselves isolate the cause. We record the questions, collection conditions, and relevant site changes so the comparison can be interpreted.
Keep conventional SEO in the decision
Google says its existing SEO guidance applies to AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no special AI files or schema required. Its AI-feature traffic is included in Search Console's Web reporting; those conditions are specific to Google. We assess other products within their own scope instead of assuming one universal checklist.
Begin with the uncertainty affecting your next decision.
The Search Intelligence Diagnostic is the fixed-fee starting point. We define the question sample and technical review around the business concern, then agree access, participation, schedule, and fee. We keep the scope focused on the decision your team needs to make.
What the initial scope produces
Your team receives documented observations, verified information gaps, recommended changes, and a plan to evaluate the next step, including a clear statement of where attribution remains incomplete. Implementation is proposed after the findings.
An AI-answer baseline documented for Gameday Men's Health.
231
tracked prompts
Gameday Men's Health's diagnostic established an AI-answer baseline with 231 tracked prompts and 64,553 recorded answer executions.
Documented in the April to July 2026 engagement. This measures monitoring activity. It does not establish citations earned or revenue. Exact execution dates are not specified in the study.
Search Intelligence Diagnostic study, page 5. (PDF)An answer review with a clear next step.
Record the question and answer observed
Check accuracy against your operating records
Define a test and its measurement limits
Questions about AI search optimization.
Is this the same as AEO or GEO?
Answer engine optimization and generative engine optimization are related terms used for work on AI-assisted discovery. We define the actual questions, platforms, technical work, and evaluation in the proposal so the scope does not depend on an acronym.
Can you guarantee that an assistant will recommend us?
No. Kretz can investigate representation, correct information within the agreed scope, and test changes. We cannot control which sources an assistant chooses or guarantee a recommendation, citation, or ranking.
Will this replace our existing SEO program?
The work may change priorities within it. Search fundamentals and AI-answer evaluation can share technical or content requirements, but the evidence determines the response. We agree responsibilities with the team already managing your search program.
How do you measure a commercial result?
Where possible, we follow observed referrals to qualified customer actions and revenue while reporting answer observations as a separate research measure. Improved mentions or citations do not establish incremental sales, and incomplete attribution limits any estimate of total impact.
