SEO · AEO · GEO · LLMO · AI SEO
I help businesses rank on Google and get cited, recommended and accurately described in AI answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Microsoft Copilot and Google AI Overviews. It is one strategy across five disciplines, with one person accountable for the result.
Who I am
I'm Ishtiaque Ahmed, an independent SEO, AEO, GEO, LLMO and AI search optimization consultant based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, working with clients across the United States remotely. I have spent nine years in search. I moved from performance marketing into SEO in 2017, led technical SEO as an SEO Specialist at Rayobyte, and since 2024 have built machine-learning systems at ZipTie, an AI search visibility platform. I help SaaS, education, legal and e-commerce businesses rank in Google and get cited and recommended in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Microsoft Copilot and Google AI Overviews.
My work covers the full path from a search to a sale: making a site rank in Google, making its content the answer that search features and AI assistants choose, and making sure those AI systems describe the business correctly.
I treat SEO, AEO, GEO and LLMO as layers of one job, not as separate services to sell you. They share the same foundations: crawlable pages, answer-first content, consistent facts that search engines and AI models recognize as one entity, and mentions on the third-party sites AI tools cite. Four rules guide the work:
I usually work with companies that recognize one of these situations:
SEO
A search engine optimization consultant gives strategic and hands-on advice that improves a website's organic rankings, user experience and revenue across Google, Bing and AI answer engines. The work is to find what holds the site back, decide what to fix first and make sure the fixes ship, either by doing the work or by directing your developers and writers. An SEO expert brings the depth across technical structure, content and authority to make those calls. An SEO specialist usually runs one area day to day, such as keyword research, on-page fixes or reporting. Here, one person covers all three roles.
SEO is also the foundation for AI search. Google says a page only needs to be indexed and eligible for a snippet in regular Search to appear as a link in AI Overviews or AI Mode. No special markup is required. A page that can't be crawled, indexed and trusted rarely gets cited by anything.
As a search engine optimization expert, I don't treat these as checklists. The question is which one is holding a specific page back, because that is where the next unit of effort pays off.
Every engagement starts from your own data: Search Console queries, pages stuck on page two, and the live results for the terms that bring you customers. For each priority query I check which kind of page Google rewards (a guide, a list, a service page or a tool). A page in the wrong format struggles however well it is written.
Ways to work together: Your engagement options and starting prices, e.g. one-off SEO audit from $X, monthly retainer from $Y, advisory hours at $Z. Technical fixes come first because they often show results soonest. Content and authority work builds over months, so plans are set by quarter and reviewed against your numbers.
What you can expect
AEO
Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring your content, brand signals and technical data so a search system or AI assistant gives your answer directly, and cites or recommends your brand, instead of showing a list of links. It began with featured snippets, People Also Ask and voice search. Today it also covers answers in Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Claude, and it is often paired with generative engine optimization (GEO).
SEO is measured in rankings, click-through rate and traffic. AEO is measured in AI mentions, citations and zero-click visibility: how often your page is the answer, even when nobody clicks. The writing changes too, from keyword-optimized long-form pages to conversational, direct, structured Q&A. If a buyer asks “how much does X cost” and the answer comes from a competitor's page, that competitor framed the decision before anyone visited your site.
As an answer engine optimization consultant, I start with an AI visibility and prompt audit: your priority buyer-intent questions and competitive prompts, run in search and AI tools, recording which source wins each answer and why. Then I rewrite a small set of high-value pages and recheck after recrawl. Progress is tracked as answer share (your brand-in-answer rate per platform), share of voice against competitors, and the AI traffic and conversions those answers send.
What you can expect
GEO
Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of structuring your content, brand information and website architecture so that generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Microsoft Copilot and Google AI Overviews and AI Mode retrieve, trust, cite and recommend your brand in their real-time answers, more often and more accurately. The term comes from a 2023 research paper, “GEO: Generative Engine Optimization” (Aggarwal et al.). In that study, adding citations, quotations and statistics to a page measurably improved its visibility in AI answers, while keyword stuffing did not.
SEO aims for a ranking and a click on a blue link. GEO aims to be included in the answer itself. Where SEO leans on keywords, backlinks and crawlability, GEO also leans on entity relationships, source credibility and brand mentions, which in AI answers often outweigh standard backlinks. Where AEO asks “is my page the answer?”, GEO asks “when an AI writes about my category, am I in it, and is it correct?” For many considered purchases, that AI-written shortlist is where buyers first meet vendors.
Generative engines build an answer from several sources at once. Google describes AI Mode as splitting one question into many related searches (query fan-out) and combining the results. A brand gets included when it shows up consistently across those sources, so the work goes beyond your own site:
As a generative engine optimization consultant, I start with a prompt set: the 30 to 100 questions a buyer in your market would ask an AI, from broad (“best tools for X”) to specific (“X vs Y for a 50-person team”). I run them across platforms, since each model retrieves and summarizes differently, record who gets mentioned, which sources are cited and how you are described, and turn the gaps into a plan: pages to create or fix, sources to earn mentions on, and facts to correct.
What you can expect
LLMO
In marketing, large language model optimization (LLMO), sometimes called LLM SEO or AI optimization (AIO), is the work of shaping what models such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity know and say about your brand, so it gets cited, recommended and accurately represented: your name, what you do, who you serve, how you compare and what you cost. It overlaps with GEO. GEO targets answers assembled live from the web, while LLMO also covers what a model absorbed in training and repeats even when it does not search.
Two different jobs share this name. In machine learning, LLM optimization means making a model faster, cheaper or more accurate, for example to cut latency, API costs or hallucinations, through fine-tuning, prompt engineering, quantization, pruning, inference tuning or retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines that connect a model to proprietary company data. That is work for an ML or LLMOps engineer. As a large language model optimization consultant, I work on your brand information and content, not on model weights. If you also build RAG or LLMOps systems for clients, describe that offer here; if not, delete this sentence.
Models learn about a brand in two ways, each needing different work:
Most of my time as a large language model optimization expert goes into an entity audit of your digital footprint: every place your brand is described, including its Google Knowledge Graph and Wikidata entries. Then I fix contradictions (old names, outdated pricing, wrong categories) and make sure the About page, product pages, Q&A blocks, comparison tables and structured data agree. Pages also need visible E-E-A-T signals (experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness), such as named authors, credentials, first-hand detail and cited sources.
What you can expect
AI SEO
AI search engine optimization (AI SEO) is the umbrella term for optimizing a website and brand so they are understood, trusted, cited and recommended in search experiences that use AI to generate results, alongside traditional rankings: Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini and Claude. In practice it combines SEO, AEO, GEO and LLMO into one program, planned once and measured in one place. Job titles vary: the same work is advertised as AI SEO consultant, GEO or AEO consultant, AI search engine optimization specialist or GEO lead.
The term is also used for “using AI tools to do SEO”. That is not what this section is about. I use AI tools where they save time, but AI search engine optimization here means being visible in AI search, not producing content with AI.
What the work covers, including checks that classic SEO audits often skip:
As an AI search engine optimization consultant, I build one roadmap for classic and AI search together, because most of the work serves both. A clear, well-linked, crawlable page that answers a real question helps rankings, answer boxes and AI citations at the same time. Separate SEO and AI budgets usually pay twice for the same work. Deep, interconnected topic clusters that make your site a primary source of truth, entity consistency and answer-first pages serve both. Where the two diverge, such as digital PR, third-party reviews, listicles and mentions on forums, YouTube and review sites, the roadmap prices it separately.
What you can expect
How I work
We start with your goals, buyers and current numbers. I analyze Search Console and analytics data, research the keywords and search intent behind your buyers' questions, study the live results pages for your priority queries, and test the prompts buyers put to AI tools. The output is a topic map of where demand exists, who wins it today and what kind of page wins it.
I fix what stops pages from being crawled, rendered, indexed or understood, including site architecture, page speed, Core Web Vitals and mobile issues. Then I improve the pages that matter most: matching search intent, sharpening titles and headings, putting short, quotable answers first, adding tables and FAQs where they help, filling the gaps competing pages leave open, strengthening internal links and keeping facts current.
Search engines and language models need to recognize your brand as one consistent, verified entity in their knowledge graphs. I align how your business is described on your site, profiles, directories and structured data (Schema.org), then plan the digital PR, reviews, mentions and links that confirm your expertise on the sites AI tools often cite: industry publications, review platforms, Reddit and YouTube.
I run a fixed set of buyer prompts across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Copilot, Gemini and Claude on a schedule. Each run records whether you are mentioned, how you are described, which sources are cited and how often competitors appear instead, so changes can be measured instead of guessed.
Monthly reporting puts organic clicks, impressions, rankings, AI mention rate, share of voice and AI referral traffic next to leads and revenue. What works gets extended, what doesn't gets cut, pages that go stale get refreshed, and the roadmap is updated from the results.
Proof
SEO results are reported from Search Console and analytics data: organic clicks, rankings, and the leads or revenue they produce, always with the time period stated.
Own portfolio of content websites · 2017–2020
Client, named only with permission (e.g. UCMJ Defense, HR University, Squibler, Technical Writer HQ, UK Ecig Store or FAB CBD) · Time period
AI visibility results are reported as mention rate and share of voice across a fixed prompt set on ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude and Copilot, measured before and after the work, together with how the brand is described and which sources are cited. Single screenshots are never used as evidence, because AI answers vary from run to run.
One AI visibility example: prompt set size, platforms, mention rate and share of voice before and after, and the period measured.
“I’ve been blown away by how fast Ish picks up new tech. He doesn’t just “learn” things; he goes deep into the architecture of AI systems and builds with a level of detail that’s honestly rare to see. He’s always ten steps ahead of the curve.”
“A client testimonial or LinkedIn recommendation, quoted word for word with permission”
Who it's for
B2B buyers research long before they talk to sales, and more of that research now happens in AI tools that compare vendors directly. The work focuses on comparison and use-case pages, consistent positioning on the review sites and roundups AI tools draw on when they build vendor shortlists, and tracking which content actually starts sales conversations.
SaaS sites tend to have JavaScript-heavy pages, sprawling documentation and fast-changing pricing, which are exactly the things that confuse crawlers and language models. Priorities are usually rendering, integration and alternative pages, and keeping product facts current everywhere AI tools look. I have done SEO for SaaS products and, since 2024, worked inside one: ZipTie, an AI search visibility platform.
Alongside SaaS, my client work has been in e-commerce, education and legal services. Growing businesses need the few changes that move the numbers, not a 200-item audit. Engagements start small, typically an audit and a prioritized plan, and expand into ongoing monthly work only if the results justify it.
Toolkit
Data comes first from the search engines themselves, then from third-party tools for competitor and SERP data:
The technical standards and methods behind the audits and fixes:
The platforms I test and track visibility on, plus the tracking tools used to measure mentions and citations over time:
The stack I use to build custom AI visibility tracking, analysis and automation:
About
Profiles: linkedin.com
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FAQ
SEO earns rankings in search results. AEO makes your content the direct answer a search feature or assistant gives. GEO earns mentions and citations in answers written by generative AI search tools. LLMO shapes what large language models know and say about your brand, including from training data. AI SEO is the umbrella term for doing all of them together.
| Discipline | Goal | Where it shows | How success is measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO | Rank in organic results | Google and Bing results pages | Rankings, clicks and organic traffic |
| AEO | Be selected as the answer | Featured snippets, People Also Ask, voice, AI Overviews | Answers won and zero-click visibility |
| GEO | Be cited or recommended | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Google AI Mode, Copilot | Mention rate, citations and share of voice |
| LLMO | Be described accurately | Any assistant built on a large language model | Accuracy and sentiment of how you are described |
| AI SEO | All of the above as one plan | Every search surface | All of the above, tied to leads and revenue |
The content style and audience differ too. Classic SEO pages are often built around keywords, for crawlers and people typing searches; AEO and GEO favor answer-first, fact-dense pages with question-based headings, short direct answers, tables and FAQs that language models answering conversational prompts can extract. The names also overlap: many practitioners use GEO, AEO, LLMO, LLM SEO, AIO and AI SEO almost interchangeably. One caution: “LLM optimization” also names a machine-learning engineering job (fine-tuning, quantization, pruning and inference tuning of the models themselves), which is a different service from the brand visibility work described here.
Most businesses need both skills, and you shouldn't have to hire two people for them. AI platforms draw on the web in different ways: Google AI Overviews lean on pages that already rank near the top and on YouTube video transcripts, Perplexity cites community threads such as Reddit heavily, and AI tools in general draw on review sites, roundups and industry publications when they build shortlists. That is why SEO is the foundation and GEO adds the off-site and entity work SEO alone doesn't cover.
First decide what you need: a one-time audit or ongoing monthly work, and whether a marketplace freelancer (on platforms such as Upwork or Fiverr), an independent consultant or a full-service agency (listed in directories such as Clutch) fits your budget and team. Rates vary widely between those options, so compare scope and evidence, not the hourly rate alone. Then ask every candidate:
Walk away from anyone who guarantees rankings or AI mentions.
It depends on scope and on who does the work. Consultants usually price in one of three ways: hourly advisory, a fixed fee for an audit or project, or a monthly retainer for ongoing strategy and implementation. Marketplace freelancers, independent consultants and full-service agencies charge very different rates, so compare what is included and the evidence behind it, not just the price.
My own options: Your engagement options and starting prices, e.g. one-off SEO audit from $X, monthly retainer from $Y, advisory hours at $Z.
Yes, for strategy, audits and most implementation. The disciplines share the same foundations, so one person seeing the whole picture avoids paying twice for overlapping work:
For large content or link programs, a consultant directs your writers, developers or an agency rather than replacing them. Engineering work on AI models themselves, such as fine-tuning or inference optimization, is a separate specialty.
Technical fixes can show up once affected pages are recrawled, often within a few weeks. Content and authority work takes longer: most strategic initiatives and technical cleanups run in 3- to 6-month cycles, and measurable organic results commonly take 3 to 12 months. Plans are set by quarter and reviewed against your numbers. AI answers that rely on live web search can reflect changes as soon as the updated pages are indexed and retrieved. What a model learned in training only changes when it is retrained, which can take many months and is outside anyone's control.
It is also ongoing work. AI tools favor current information, so key pages need regular updates, and both Google algorithm updates and new AI model releases shift results. Timelines depend on your site, your market and how quickly changes get implemented.
I use a fixed set of buyer prompts, run repeatedly across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Copilot, Gemini and Claude. AI answers vary from run to run, so single screenshots prove nothing; repeated runs show the trend. Each run feeds these metrics:
These sit alongside AI referral traffic, conversions and ROI in analytics, and Search Console data, which includes AI Overviews and AI Mode within regular web results.
Yes. I work remotely with clients across the United States. Engagements usually start with an audit and a prioritized roadmap across SEO and AI search, covering:
After the audit, you can implement the roadmap in-house with my guidance, or I can stay on for ongoing implementation, tracking and reporting. The first step is a free consultation, described below.
Next step
The first call is free and takes about 30 minutes. Before we talk, I look at your site, a sample of your search results and how AI tools describe your brand today. On the call you get:
Prefer to pick a time directly? https://cal.com/your-handle/consultation or email hello@yourdomain.com.