Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) Consultant
I am Memona, an answer engine optimization (AEO) consultant based in Dubai, working remotely with clients worldwide. I help businesses get cited and recommended by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, on top of solid SEO. You get a named person, a clear plan, and reporting measured in leads rather than rankings.
By Memona · Updated October 2026
What does an AEO consultant actually do?
An AEO consultant makes your business the source AI engines quote when someone asks for a recommendation. The job is six concrete tasks, repeated on a cadence. If you want the background first, read what answer engine optimization is.
- Baseline: I run a fixed set of buyer prompts across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews and record who gets named, and whether it is you.
- Entity and facts: I make your name, description, location, services and reviews say the same thing everywhere AI reads them.
- Answer-first content: I restructure the pages that matter so each one opens with a direct answer AI can quote.
- Technical access: I check that AI crawlers can reach your site and that schema describes your business, people and services correctly.
- Mentions and sources: I identify the directories, publications and review sites AI leans on in your market and build a plan to be present on them.
- Re-test: I rerun the same prompts on a set cadence and report what changed, in citations and in leads.
How is an AEO consultant different from an SEO agency?
Most “AEO agency” search results are lists of agencies ranked by size. Size is not what gets you recommended by AI. What matters is who does the work, what they measure, and how fast changes ship. Here is how the three options compare, so you can decide whether a consultant, an agency or an in-house hire fits you. If you are looking for an AEO freelancer or want to hire an AEO expert for a defined project, the consultant column is the one to read.
| Consultant (me) | SEO agency | In-house hire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | The person you speak to | Often a junior you do not meet | Your employee, if you can find one with AI-search experience |
| What is measured | AI citations you can reproduce, plus leads | Rankings and traffic, usually | Whatever you set |
| Speed of change | Edits ship in the first weeks | Queued behind other accounts | Fast, once hired and trained |
| Best fit | A business that wants a plan and a named owner | Large sites needing volume | Companies with an ongoing content team |
What you get working with me
Every engagement starts with scope, not a package. On the first call I look at your site and your market and tell you plainly whether AI search is worth your money right now. If it is, this is what the work looks like.
Deliverables
A written AI-visibility baseline with the prompts and results. A prioritised fix list for your site. Rewritten answer-first sections for your key pages. Schema and crawler-access changes, implemented or handed to your developer. A mentions and sources plan for your market.
Cadence
Kickoff call, then a plan within the first two weeks. After that, a monthly cycle: changes shipped, prompts re-tested, next priorities agreed. You always know what is being worked on and why.
Reporting
One short monthly report in plain English. It shows which prompts now name you, what changed on the site, and the leads that came through your own form. No rankings-only dashboards and no made-up scores.
If you are not ready for a full engagement, start with a free audit or a scoped SEO audit. Both show you where you stand before you commit to anything.
Based in Dubai? I can meet Dubai and UAE businesses in person. Read how I approach answer engine optimization consulting in Dubai.
Run an accounting or bookkeeping firm? Read my guide to AEO for accountants, built around the questions clients ask AI before they choose a firm.
In London? I work with London businesses remotely: see answer engine optimization consulting for London businesses. Running a law firm? See AEO consulting for law firms. Running a small business? See my page for an AI SEO consultant for small businesses. Searching for a GEO consultant instead? Here is what I do as a generative engine optimization (GEO) consultant.
How to vet an AEO consultant
Six questions to ask any answer engine optimization consultant or agency, including me. Use them on the first call and you will know within ten minutes whether the person understands the work.
- Ask for the exact prompts they will test. If they cannot show you a list before you sign, they are guessing. I share mine in the first call.
- Ask how they measure. If the answer is a proprietary 'AI score' you cannot verify, be careful. I report AI citations you can reproduce yourself and leads from your own form.
- Ask what they will change on your site in the first 30 days. A real plan names pages and edits. Mine does.
- Ask about crawler access and schema. If they cannot explain what GPTBot, PerplexityBot and ClaudeBot are and how your robots.txt treats them, keep looking.
- Ask what happens when AI gets your business wrong. A good consultant has a correct-the-source process, not just a feedback-button shrug.
- Ask who does the work. With an agency it is often a junior you never meet. With me, the person on the call is the person doing the work.
Who is this for, and who is it not for?
A good fit
- Owners and marketing leads at small and mid-sized businesses who want to be named when a buyer asks AI for a recommendation.
- Businesses with a working website, real customers and real reviews. AI needs something true to cite.
- Teams that already do SEO and want a specialist for the AI-search layer.
- Anyone who has noticed a competitor showing up in ChatGPT or AI Overviews and wants to know why it is not them. Start with why AI is not recommending your business.
Not a good fit
- Anyone who wants a guaranteed placement in AI answers. Nobody can honestly promise that, and I will not.
- Businesses that want results in days. Some signals move quickly; mentions and reviews do not.
- Companies that want a hands-off vendor and no visibility into the work. I show everything.
- Sites with no real business behind them. I do not build visibility for things that do not exist.
What is an answer engine optimization consultant?
Is a generative engine optimization consultant the same thing?
Do I still need SEO if I hire an AEO consultant?
How long before AI engines start recommending my business?
Can you work with my existing SEO agency or in-house team?
Do you work with businesses outside Dubai?
Want to know where you stand in AI search?
Book a free strategy call. I will run the first prompts before we speak and tell you plainly whether AI search is worth your money right now.
Book a free strategy call