GEO for PR agencies: the questions that now belong in your consulting
When clients want to know how their brand features in AI answers, good consulting does not start with a publication but with the right questions. Here you will learn which questions belong in the first meeting, how they connect with your agency’s craft and how to set expectations properly from the start.
pr-geo.com editorial team · 7 min read · As of 9 November 2026
Key points at a glance
- A large part of GEO consulting builds on existing PR craft: topic planning, fact management, media selection and approvals.
- What is new in the conversation are the target group’s information questions, the technical accessibility of the website and a plan for monitoring.
- There are no promises of AI mentions, so you set the client’s expectations right at the start.
- The question catalogue in seven blocks can be used directly as a template for your next first meeting.
Why the first meeting is expanding
Classic PR consulting asks about messages, target groups and suitable media. Generative search adds another perspective: people ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Microsoft Copilot a specific question, or they read an AI Overview in Google Search. Instead of a list of results, they get a summarised answer.
For a company to be able to appear in answers like these at all, information about it has to be publicly available and technically accessible. Whether a system then actually picks it up can only be observed case by case. It is precisely between these two points that a consulting field for PR agencies lies.
You do not have to invent a new discipline for this. You add a few questions to your existing craft that have rarely been part of the briefing so far. If you ask them early, you see more quickly where the client stands and avoid assignments that start with the wrong expectations.
What your agency already brings
Before you talk about new services, it is worth looking at what the team already has. The secondary study from pr-geo.com describes four tasks that PR can take on in the context of generative search. The model is an editorial derivation and not a mechanism confirmed by the platforms. It is still useful for consulting, because it shows how close the new questions are to everyday agency work.
| Task according to the study | Existing PR expertise | New question in the conversation |
|---|---|---|
| Make knowledge visible | topic development, expert articles, interviews | Which questions does the target group ask before making a decision? |
| Keep statements consistent | fact sheet, boilerplate, agreed wording | Do the name, services and locations match everywhere? |
| Find suitable context | media selection, topic planning | Which environments reach exactly these people asking questions? |
| Be clear about credibility | separating independent and paid coverage | Can readers see how an article came about? |
So most of the work is still PR. Two things in particular are new: focusing on specific information questions rather than headlines, and being willing to observe results under fixed conditions. If you work on projects with advertising agencies, it is worth looking at the article PR GEO for advertising agencies: it shows where the same service fits into their portfolio.
The question catalogue for the first meeting
The following questions are sorted by topic. You do not have to ask them all in one meeting. Mark in advance which blocks matter for the client in question, and send the rest out as a short preliminary questionnaire.
Block 1: Goals and expectations
- What should have changed in twelve months, and how would the management notice?
- Is it about awareness, enquiries, job applications or reputation among a professional audience?
- Is there an idea of what AI systems should say about the company?
Block 2: The target group’s questions
- Which five questions do sales and customer service hear most often?
- What do prospective customers want to know before they even get in touch?
- In which language and for which region are these questions asked?
Block 3: Facts and consistency
- Is there an up-to-date fact sheet with the year the company was founded, services, locations and contact persons?
- Who in the company is allowed to approve facts, and how quickly does that happen?
- Where are there outdated details, for example in directories, old press releases or profiles?
Block 4: Website and technology
- Who looks after the website, and who decides on changes to robots.txt?
- Is it known which crawlers are allowed or excluded?
- Are there pages that already answer key customer questions clearly?
Block 5: Existing publications
- Which articles, interviews and case studies have been published in recent years?
- Which of these were independent coverage, and which were paid or owned content?
- On which topics does the company have expertise that has not yet been published anywhere?
Block 6: Measurement
- What figures are available on article views, link clicks and qualified enquiries, and from which data source?
- Has anyone ever recorded how AI systems answer typical customer questions?
- Which other activities are running at the same time, such as a relaunch or ads?
Block 7: Collaboration
- Who is the contact person on the client side, and who approves content?
- Are other service providers involved in the website, search engine optimisation or campaigns?
- Which information may the agency share externally, and which not?
For you, this means: the technical question belongs in the conversation, even if your agency does not look after the website itself. If a crawler is blocked, that should be known before anyone plans content. The implementation is then handled by whoever is responsible for the website.
Setting expectations properly from the start
A tricky moment in the first meeting can come down to a single sentence: “We want ChatGPT to recommend us.” This is where it helps to separate three levels, as the study also does. What is documented in a platform’s documentation? What is a professional recommendation? And what is an assumption that first has to be tested with your own data?
A small translation aid for typical statements in the conversation:
| What the client says | Factual assessment by the agency |
|---|---|
| “We want to be mentioned in AI answers.” | We can make relevant information publicly available. We observe whether systems pick it up with a fixed question set. |
| “More articles bring more visibility.” | The number of publications alone says little. Topic, substance and environment are what count. |
| “Other providers already show up.” | We first record that under defined conditions before we plan any measures. |
| “We need results quickly.” | First we document the starting point. Only then can later observations be compared. |
A first meeting, played through as a fictional case
From the conversation to the offer
The answers form the basis of an offer that keeps the services clearly separate. A structure in four building blocks makes sense:
- Consulting: question set, fact check and coordination with the people responsible for the website.
- Editorial work: expert articles, interviews and practical examples on the customer questions collected.
- Publication: independent media relations and, where appropriate, labelled paid articles in environments with a matching focus.
- Monitoring: a starting point before launch, repeated under the same conditions afterwards.
The article How to add AI observations to your coverage report shows how to set up the fourth building block as a separate module alongside clipping. The criteria for assessing external media partners for the third building block are in the article How to choose a publishing partner for your PR agency. If your client would like to get an impression for themselves beforehand, recommend the AI visibility self-check, which guides them through a first check with specific customer questions. The 90-day plan from the study provides a timeframe: record the starting point, prepare substance, publish in suitable places, evaluate and follow up.
Frequently asked questions
Does a PR agency need technical SEO knowledge to advise on GEO?
In-depth technical knowledge is not necessary, but the right questions are. Whether crawlers are allowed and key pages are accessible is best clarified by whoever looks after the website. Your job is to raise the topic early and record who is responsible.
How long does a first meeting with this question catalogue take?
That depends on the client and what they already know. Many blocks can be clarified in writing beforehand, leaving time in the meeting for goals, expectations and open points. It is better to plan a second short meeting than to skip questions.
Can I hold out the prospect of a mention in ChatGPT to a client?
No such promise can be derived from the platforms’ documentation. Instead, describe which information your agency will make publicly available together with the client and how you will observe whether systems pick it up. That is more honest and protects the client relationship.
What is the difference between GEO and PR GEO?
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization and generally describes aligning content with generative search and answer systems. PR GEO refers to the contribution that media relations and publications can make to this. Website, technology and search engine optimisation remain separate areas of work alongside it.
Sources
- Google Search Central: AI features and your websiteaccessed 9 November 2026
- OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI Crawlersaccessed 9 November 2026
Next step
For your client account
The three pr4geo packages compared: PR articles, placements, promo videos and prices for your clients.
Provider disclosure: pr-geo.com is a knowledge portal of NexTao GmbH. pr4geo belongs to our group, which is why we expressly recommend it here. No package guarantees a mention in AI answers. Our principles
