What's Worth Paying For in a GEO Package? (Malaysia 2026)

On 5 November 2026 we read the websites of five Malaysian agencies that sell AI SEO, meaning search engine optimisation (SEO) aimed at AI answers as well as Google results. All five list GEO (generative engine optimisation) or AEO (answer engine optimisation). The pages we read split the two labels differently. In our reading, the aim is the same: getting your business named when an AI tool answers a customer's question.

Google's guide of 15 May 2026 warns that "many suggested 'hacks' aren't effective or supported by how Google Search actually works". So part of a quote may be ordinary SEO renamed, or work Google says it does not need.

• Local business, such as a dental clinic in Petaling Jaya: pay for a one-off check that search and AI bots can read your site, plus monthly AI answer tracking, so you know whether AI answers name you.
• National brand, such as a property developer selling in the Klang Valley and Johor: add genuine press coverage and industry listings, so other sites write about you.
• Happy with your SEO agency: ask it to add AI answer tracking, and skip a second retainer.

Below are the five items we found on those pages, what Google, OpenAI and Microsoft say about each, and whether it is worth paying for in a GEO or AEO package.

One job, several labels

Google's position is short: "optimizing for generative AI search is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO", meaning ordinary search engine optimisation (AI optimisation guide). So when a quote prices GEO or AEO separately from SEO, ask what work you get that your SEO plan does not already cover. Our guide to AI SEO vs traditional SEO explains the terms in full.

1. AI answer tracking: worth paying for

One agency's page offers to measure "how often ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and AI Overviews mention you versus competitors". Another tracks customer questions "in English, BM and Chinese" (BM is Bahasa Malaysia) each month.

In our view, this is the one item that is new work, because a Google ranking report does not tell you what AI answers cite.

One study by an SEO software company, using 15,000 prompts and data from early July 2025, found that on average "only 12% of links cited by ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot appear in Google's top 10 results for the same prompt". The authors say their results "may have changed" since.

Google's Search Console, its dashboard for site owners, has offered every site a report since 31 August 2026 that counts impressions in AI Overviews (the AI summary at the top of some results) and AI Mode (Google's chat-style search). Impressions are times you appeared. It reports them by page, country, date and device, but it does not show the answers.

For ChatGPT, our method is simple: each month, ask the questions your customers ask, such as dentist in Petaling Jaya open on Sunday in English and the same question in BM, and write down who is named.

Before you pay, ask to see the question list and a baseline taken before work starts. If a tool does the asking, ask which tool and how it picks the questions.

Google's advice on hiring an SEO says it "doesn't evaluate or endorse third-party SEO tools, and these tools don't have access to Google's internal ranking data". In our view, treat any tool's score as a snapshot of the answers on the day it ran.

2. Crawler access: a one-off check

Crawlers are the bots that read your site for search engines and AI tools. OpenAI says sites that opt out of its search crawler "will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though can still appear as navigational links".

Google asks that crawling be allowed in robots.txt, the small file that tells bots what they may read, "and by any CDN or hosting infrastructure". A CDN is the network that serves your site quickly.

Ask your developer to confirm that Googlebot, OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot are not blocked. Repeat the check after a site move. It is not a monthly retainer. Our guide on how to get recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews covers it step by step.

3. "AI-ready" schema: ordinary SEO, not an AI extra

Schema is code that labels parts of a page for machines. One agency sells "Structured Data & AI-Ready Architecture".

For its own AI features, Google is direct: "You don't need to create new machine readable files, AI text files, or markup to appear in these features". There is "no special schema.org structured data that you need to add".

Beyond ordinary Search eligibility, meaning your page is indexed and can show with a snippet, the one extra condition is that your site stays included in Search Console's generative AI features setting, which is the default. Even then, Google says showing isn't guaranteed.

Schema still earns its place. Google recommends it "as it helps with being eligible for rich results on Google Search", meaning listings that show star ratings or prices. So budget for schema under your normal SEO work.

If a quote also lists an llms.txt file (a plain-text summary of a site for AI tools), Google says "Google Search ignores them", and that keeping one for other systems is "completely fine". We keep one on this site, but do not pay for it as a Google product.

4. FAQ and answer-first rewrites: only if your answers are missing

An answer-first rewrite puts the direct answer in a page's first line. One package lists "FAQ section implementation (AEO-lite)".

Google says "You don't need to write in a specific way just for generative AI search". Microsoft's Bing says "Clear headings, tables, and FAQ sections help surface key information".

Our view: if your main customer questions already have clear answers on your site, under plain headings, you do not need to pay for this as a separate line item. If they do not, write those answers for customers first, in the language they actually ask in, whether English, BM or Chinese.

5. Mentions on other sites: real work, priced like it

One agency offers "Digital PR & Citations". Google says its AI features "can show what's being said about products and services across the web, including in blogs, videos, and forum discussions". It also warns that seeking inauthentic mentions "isn't as helpful as it might seem".

In our experience, press coverage and genuine industry listings take relationship work and cost real money. Our reading: planted forum posts and fake reviews are the inauthentic kind. Walk away from any package that offers them. Ask exactly where each mention will come from.

What to ask before you sign

• Do you guarantee AI mentions or rankings? Google's advice on hiring an SEO: "If they guarantee you that their changes will give you first place in search results, find someone else". OpenAI says ChatGPT search placement "is not guaranteed".
• How do you measure your success? That question is on Google's own list. Expect the question list and monthly results.
• What access do you need? For an audit, Google says to "only grant read access to Search Console".
• Which of these five items is on my quote, and at what price? That last question is our own, not Google's.

Your next step

Mark each line of your quote against the five items. Then ask for one month of AI answer tracking, with the question list, before you commit to a retainer.

Every one of our AI SEO plans for Malaysian businesses includes AI answer tracking across ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, at 10 to 50 customer questions a month.

Essential, the entry plan, is RM899 a month, billed month to month. If we did not build your website, there is a one-time RM899 onboarding fee. Our higher Growth and Managed plans waive it. We do not guarantee AI mentions.

For businesses in Kuala Lumpur, see our Kuala Lumpur AI SEO service. For Singapore, see our AI SEO page for Singapore. For wider market prices, see our SEO price guide for Malaysia, and for how our own approval-gated service works, what an AI SEO agent does.

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