For anyone new to it, AEO means answer engine optimisation. When someone types a question into Google or one of the AI chat tools and reads a written answer, your business may or may not get named in it. AEO is the work of making that a bit more likely. Nobody can control the answer, but you can control what’s out there for the tool to read.

Here’s what I’d try first.

Ask the tools yourself. Open two or three of them and type the questions your customers would type. “Best dentist for kids in Kothrud.” “Tuition for Class 10 maths in Pimpri.” “Wedding caterer in Pune for 200 people.” Do it on a phone too, since that’s how most people search. Write down who gets named, what the answer says and whether you appear. Do it again a week later, because the answers change. This takes an hour and tells you more than most agency audits.

Then fix your Google Business Profile. Claim it if you haven’t. Fill in every box: services, timings, area, phone number, a proper description and real photos. Add the questions people keep asking and answer them there. For a local business, this is often where the biggest gain is, and it costs nothing.

Next, make your details match everywhere. Your name, address, phone number and timings should be spelt the same on your website, your Google profile, your social pages and the directories you’re listed in. You’ll almost certainly find a mismatch. An old number, a different spelling of the shop’s name, a closed branch still showing. Fix them one by one. Search tools get confused by contradictions, and so do customers.

Write the answers on your own site. Take the twenty questions customers ask most and give each one a short page or a section, with the answer in the first two lines and the detail underneath. Write them the way you’d say them across a counter. If you work in health, money or law, check the current rules on what you’re allowed to claim, because a tool will repeat whatever your page says.

Ask real customers for reviews. Not all at once, and never invented ones. A short message after a good job, with a link, is enough. Reply to every review, the bad ones too, calmly.

Do this for six to eight weeks and look again. Ask the same questions in the same tools. Count enquiries. You may find you’ve already moved, or you may find the same gaps remain. Either way you now have a record, and you know your own business’s questions better than any agency could on day one.

So when does an agency make sense? When you don’t have the time, which is fair, because this is steady work. When you’ve done the basics and want help with the harder parts, such as technical fixes on a large website, structured data or a bigger set of pages. When you run several branches and need the details kept consistent. Or when you want somebody checking the tools for you every month and sending notes.

If you do hire one, you’ll be a much better client. You’ll have your questions, your answers and your records ready, so the agency spends its time on the things you couldn’t do. Ask who writes your pages and who checks every price, date and claim before it goes live, because these tools sometimes state wrong things in a very sure voice. Ask how they’ll measure progress, and keep the accounts in your own name. Be careful with anyone who guarantees a mention or a ranking, since nobody controls what these tools say.

Start with the hour of questions. By the end of it you’ll know whether you need an AEO agency in Pune, or only a few free weekends.

FAQs

Can I do AEO without an agency?
Many of the basics, yes. Fix your Google profile, keep your details the same everywhere, answer customers’ questions clearly on your site and collect real reviews.

How do I check if AI tools mention my business?
Type your customers’ questions into a few tools, on a phone as well, and note who is named. Repeat a week later, because answers change.

When is it worth hiring an agency?
When you lack the time, have a large site or several branches, or want regular checking and notes after the basics are done.

What if I only have a small budget?
Start with the free steps above. They often bring the biggest early gains and make any later agency work cheaper.

Can any agency guarantee a mention in an AI answer?
No. Nobody controls those answers. A fair agency promises clearer pages and regular checks, not a result.

Is AEO different from SEO?
They overlap a lot. AEO aims at being used in written answers, and good SEO basics help with both.