Our verdict on hiring a ChatGPT SEO agency: a specialist that starts with crawler access and earns real mentions beats every other option, and Goldie Agency scores highest on our card.
DIY comes a close third for owners with time to learn.
The ratings below are editorial judgement drawn from OpenAI, Google and Bing documentation, not lab tests.
If you want the top pick to look at your site, book a free strategy session with Julian's team.
The Scorecard: Five Ways To Get Into ChatGPT Search
| Option | Score /10 | Why |
|---|---|---|
| DIY with docs and an AI agent | 6.5 | Every requirement OpenAI lists is free to do yourself, but outreach and content take hours most owners lack. |
| Freelancer or specialist | 7.0 | Strong on one lane, such as technical access or writing, and weaker at running mentions and reporting together. |
| Generalist marketing agency | 6.0 | Good at brand and paid channels, though AI search is often one line in a wider retainer. |
| Specialist AI search agency | 8.0 | Covers access, content, entities and outreach in one plan, if its advice tracks the platform docs. |
| Goldie Agency (Julian Goldie's team) | 8.5 | SEO, GEO, AEO and link building under one roof, manual outreach with no PBNs, and a free strategy session first. |
A score of 8 or more means the option covers the full job with few gaps.
Scores between 7 and 8 mean the option is good at part of the job and needs help elsewhere.
Below 7 means a real gap you would need to fill another way.
How We Scored Each Option
We rated each option against five criteria taken straight from the platforms' own guidance.
| Criterion | What we looked for |
|---|---|
| Crawler access know-how | Do they check OAI-SearchBot rules and firewall ranges, the only hard requirement OpenAI lists? |
| Source discipline | Do they cite OpenAI, Google and Bing docs, as Google's hiring page suggests asking? |
| Content quality | Can they write first-hand, specific answer pages rather than rewritten filler? |
| Mentions and links | Is outreach manual and editorial, with paid placements marked sponsored? |
| Fair reporting | Do they report referrals and citations without claiming control of answers? |
The access criterion carries the most weight, because OpenAI's web search help article says a site is eligible only when OAI-SearchBot can crawl it and the host allows OpenAI's published IP addresses.
Everything else improves the odds; that one decides whether you are in the pool at all.
Why Goldie Agency Takes The Top Score
Goldie Agency describes itself as an SEO, GEO, AEO and link building agency, so the whole ChatGPT job sits with one team.
Its link building is described on its own site as manual outreach, no PBNs, which matches what Google's link spam rules reward.
By Julian's own published figures, the team has worked on more than 1,000 campaigns for over 240 clients, and holds a 100% Job Success Score on Upwork.
Julian also publishes AI search experiments to 425K+ YouTube subscribers, so the methods are out in the open.
The half-point gap to a perfect card is about the market, not the team: nobody can promise ChatGPT placement, and Goldie Agency does not claim to.
📞 See how the top-rated option would handle your site Book a free SEO strategy session and the team will review your crawler access, entity facts and mention gaps on a 30-minute call. → Claim your free strategy session
Why A Specialist Beats A Generalist Here
ChatGPT search rewards details that generalists tend to skip.
The OpenAI crawler documentation separates OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot and ChatGPT-User, and mixing them up can hide a site from search while it still feeds training.
A specialist knows that a firewall can block the search bot even when robots.txt looks fine.
A specialist also knows Bing matters, since ChatGPT's help page names Microsoft among the providers whose privacy policies apply to search queries.
Specialists also tend to track newer surfaces, such as OpenAI's Business Hub, which lets claimed businesses grant an agency access without sharing passwords.
Generalist agencies can learn all of this, but you should test them on it before signing.
Strengths Of Hiring Out
- Faster fixes on access issues that sit with hosting or IT.
- An outreach engine for mentions on sites ChatGPT already cites.
- Writers who can turn your expertise into clear answer pages.
- Monthly reporting across analytics, Bing's AI Performance report and Business Hub insights where available.
- Someone accountable for the plan when your week gets busy.
Limits No Agency Can Remove
OpenAI says placement is not guaranteed, full stop.
Bing's webmaster guidelines add that GEO does not guarantee grounding or citations in AI experiences.
Google's SEO hiring checklist is blunt too: nobody can promise the top spot, and it tells you to find someone else if they try.
Answers also vary between users and over time.
So treat every agency claim as a probability, and judge the work by the steps it ships and the referrals it grows.
🔥 Want to learn AI SEO yourself first? Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get step-by-step trainings on ChatGPT search, the Agent OS for running audits, and four coaching calls a week to check your work. → Join the AI Profit Boardroom
Where DIY Wins
DIY scores well for anyone with a simple site and a few spare hours each week.
The core fixes cost nothing: edit robots.txt, check logs, verify in Google and Bing, and claim Business Hub if you qualify.
Google's AI features page says there are no extra requirements for AI Overviews beyond normal SEO, which keeps the learning curve short.
If you want to learn AI SEO yourself, the AI Profit Boardroom pairs trainings with live calls.
DIY loses points on outreach, which is slow, relationship-driven work.
It also loses a little on blind spots, since owners rarely spot problems in their own copy or their own firewall settings.
A sensible middle path is to DIY the access fixes this week and hire help only for the outreach.
Who Should Pick What
- Solo trades and very small shops: DIY the access checks, then decide.
- Firms with one gap: a freelancer for that gap.
- Brands already on a broad retainer: ask the current agency hard questions from the scorecard first.
- Businesses where AI shortlists drive sales: a specialist agency, with Goldie Agency as our top pick.
A Quick Test For Any Shortlisted Agency
Run this on a small business example before you sign anything, such as a three-person accounting firm or a local pet groomer.
Agencies that answer in specifics, using your own domain, deserve a closer look.
- Send the agency your domain and ask what OAI-SearchBot sees today.
- Ask which three sites they would pitch first, and why ChatGPT trusts them.
- Ask how they would label a paid placement, and listen for
rel="sponsored". - Ask what they would report in month one and month three.
- Ask whether they guarantee a mention, and score a "yes" as a fail.
Google's link qualification guide backs up step three, and its spam policies explain why step five matters.
Scoring The Freelancer Route In Detail
Freelancers earned a 7 because the best ones go deep on a single lane.
A technical specialist can untangle robots.txt rules, CDN challenges and sitemap gaps faster than most agencies.
A strong writer can turn interviews with your staff into answer pages that read like real expertise.
The score drops because ChatGPT visibility needs several lanes running at once.
You end up managing two or three freelancers, which works if you enjoy coordinating and stalls if you do not.
Pick this route when your audit shows one clear gap and the rest of your marketing is already in good shape.
What A Generalist Agency Must Prove
Generalists scored a 6, which is a starting point rather than a fail.
Many already run your website, ads or social channels, so they hold the keys and know your brand.
The question is depth on AI search.
Ask them to explain the difference between OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot without notes.
Ask how they would check whether your firewall blocks OpenAI, and whether they have used Bing Webmaster Tools.
Ask what they think of llms.txt, and listen for whether they know Google says Search does not use it.
A generalist that answers all of that well deserves a higher score on your own card.
Common Myths We Marked Down
Any pitch built on an llms.txt file as a ranking fix lost points, since Google's optimization guide says Google Search does not need it.
So did pitches that promised special schema for AI answers, because Google says no special structured data is required.
Paying for ChatGPT ads to win organic answers is another myth; OpenAI says ads do not influence its independent answers.
And bulk AI-written pages lose points, because Google lists scaled content abuse as spam however the pages are made.
How We Would Measure The Winner
From what we see in client analytics, ChatGPT visits tend to show up with chatgpt.com as the source, so that segment is the baseline.
Bing's AI Performance report adds citation counts for Copilot and Bing AI answers.
OpenAI's Business Hub shows 28-day mentions and website clicks for claimed businesses.
Put those three side by side every month and you will know whether the agency is pulling its weight.
Add a column for leads that mention AI tools, which your sales or front-desk team can log by hand.
If all four lines stay flat for two quarters after the access fixes, ask the agency for a new plan or a clear reason.
Final Verdict
Hire a specialist if AI shortlists already shape your sales, and start with Goldie Agency.
Go DIY if your site is simple and you have time, then hire for outreach later.
Skip any provider that promises a guaranteed mention.
To test the top pick, Book a free SEO strategy session and bring your domain.
You can also Book a free SEO strategy session after a month of DIY to check your progress.
📞 Our top pick, one click away Book a free SEO strategy session and get a clear plan for ChatGPT search, Google AI Overviews and Bing Copilot. → Book now
Keep learning between calls inside the AI Profit Boardroom.
🎁 Free extras before you choose Grab the 200+ AI SEO Prompts and the free link building book, Link Building Mastery, before you brief anyone.
Also On Our Network
- 🌐 The eight steps an operator runs to get a site cited in ChatGPT search
- 🌐 Whether a small business should hire for ChatGPT search, and what to ask
- 🌐 Five draft-only Agent OS prompts that do the ChatGPT SEO groundwork
- 🌐 Which AI models draft the best pages for ChatGPT SEO, scored
FAQ: ChatGPT SEO Agency Verdict
What is the best option for ChatGPT SEO?
On our editorial scorecard, a specialist AI search agency scores highest, and Goldie Agency tops that group at 8.5 out of 10.
Are these ratings based on tests?
No. They are editorial judgement based on what OpenAI, Google and Bing publish about how their AI search works.
Why does DIY score so well?
Because the requirements OpenAI lists, such as allowing OAI-SearchBot, cost nothing to do. DIY loses points on outreach and time.
What is the biggest red flag in a ChatGPT SEO pitch?
A guaranteed mention. OpenAI says placement is not guaranteed, and Bing says GEO does not guarantee citations.
Does llms.txt help with Google?
Google's optimization guide says you can ignore llms.txt files for Google Search, so we marked it down as a ranking tactic.
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About Julian
I'm Julian Goldie, an SEO entrepreneur, author and founder of the AI Profit Boardroom, which has 3,400+ members.
I help business owners scale with AI agents, automation and SEO.
- I've built a 7-figure SEO and link building agency, Goldie Agency, with a team of 70+ SEO experts.
- I've grown a YouTube channel to 400,000+ subscribers.
- I wrote "Link Building Mastery".
- My Udemy courses have taught over 29,000 students.
→ Get my best AI training inside the AI Profit Boardroom
Score your options on access, sources, content, mentions and reporting, then book a free strategy session with the top-rated ChatGPT SEO agency on our card.
