# AEO/GEO proposal template: a complete worked example From the Serpify blog guide "How to Build an AEO/GEO Proposal Clients Can Understand and Approve" (https://serpifyapp.com/blog/aeo-geo-proposal-template). How to use it: copy the proposal below and replace every fictional detail with your client's goal, your own baseline evidence, your scope and your fees. Keep the structure: each section answers a question the buyer will ask. Fictional example: Brightline Search, Kestrel Home Services, Copperline Plumbing, Summit Heating Co and every figure below are invented. They are not real businesses, results or market rates, and the fees are not Serpify prices. The suggested terms are not legal advice: your signed contract governs. ### Proposal: AI answer visibility for Kestrel Home Services Prepared by Brightline Search for Dana Okafor, Operations Director, Kestrel Home Services. Valid for 30 days from the date sent. ### 1. Executive summary Kestrel wants more booked boiler and heating jobs from its three branch areas. When we asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode 40 questions local homeowners ask, Kestrel was named in 8.1% of 720 sampled answers. Copperline Plumbing was named in 31.0% and Summit Heating Co in 22.5%. The answers mostly cite two local directories, a review site and competitors' service pages; Kestrel's pages are cited in 1.9% of answers, and three listings show an old phone number. We propose a fixed project to correct and complete the evidence these answers draw on, then monthly monitoring of the same 40 questions so you can see whether Kestrel is named more often. Fees: $4,700 one-off, then $1,200 a month. We will report what changes; we can't promise how any AI assistant will answer. ### 2. Your goal and how we'll judge this work - **Business goal:** more booked boiler installation, repair and servicing jobs in the Harbour, Millbrook and Eastvale branch areas. - **What this project can show:** whether Kestrel is named and cited more often in sampled AI answers to the agreed questions, whether the facts in those answers are correct, and how many visits and enquiries arrive from AI assistants where your analytics can identify them. - **Decision maker:** Dana Okafor approves scope and fees. Sam Reyes (Marketing Coordinator) approves copy and supplies facts. ### 3. Baseline: what AI answers say today Collected over two weekly runs: 40 questions, three engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode), three answers per question per engine per run, United Kingdom, English. 720 answers in total. | Measure | Result | 95% range | |---|---|---| | Kestrel named (mention rate) | 58 of 720 answers, 8.1% | 6.3% to 10.3% | | Kestrel page cited (citation rate) | 14 of 720 answers, 1.9% | 1.2% to 3.2% | | Copperline Plumbing named | 223 of 720, 31.0% | 27.7% to 34.4% | | Summit Heating Co named | 162 of 720, 22.5% | 19.6% to 25.7% | | Engine (240 answers each) | Kestrel named | 95% range | |---|---|---| | ChatGPT | 15, 6.2% | 3.8% to 10.1% | | Gemini | 18, 7.5% | 4.8% to 11.5% | | Google AI Mode | 25, 10.4% | 7.2% to 14.9% | What we found in the cited sources: - Answers to "emergency boiler repair near me" style questions cite two local directories where Kestrel's listing has an old phone number and no Eastvale branch. - Answers to "how much does a new boiler cost" cite competitors' pricing guides. Kestrel publishes no pricing information. - Kestrel's six service-area pages share near-identical copy and don't state call-out hours, areas covered or boiler brands serviced. These are observations from a sample, not a full record of what every homeowner sees. ### 4. The opportunity Kestrel is named least for the questions that come before a booking: cost, emergency availability and "who services my boiler brand". Those are also the questions where the cited sources contain missing or wrong facts about Kestrel. Fixing those facts is in your control. Whether the assistants then name Kestrel more often is not, which is why we measure it every week. ### 5. Scope and deliverables **A. One-off implementation project: $4,700** | Item | Deliverable | Acceptance criteria | Fee | |---|---|---|---| | A1 | Final question set (40), measurement plan, competitor list | Signed off by Dana | $600 | | A2 | Rewrite 4 service-area pages: areas covered, call-out hours, brands serviced, local proof | Published, approved by Sam, indexable (checked in Search Console) | 4 × $350 = $1,400 | | A3 | 3 new answer pages: boiler cost guide, emergency call-out FAQ, brands we service | Published, approved, facts confirmed by Kestrel | 3 × $400 = $1,200 | | A4 | Correct 12 directory and review-site listings (name, phone, address, branches, services) | Before and after screenshot for each listing | 12 × $75 = $900 | | A5 | Technical checks: search and AI crawler access, structured data matches visible content, business details consistent sitewide | Written findings; fixes within the existing SEO retainer | $600 | | | **Total one-off** | | **$4,700** | Six service-area pages need this work. Two of them are rewritten under the existing SEO retainer's on-page allowance in month one, so this proposal charges for four. **B. Monitoring and ongoing improvement: $1,200 a month** - The 40 questions sampled every week on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode, three answers per question per engine. - A monthly report (see section 9) and a 30-minute review call. - Four hours of improvement work a month, chosen from the report's priority list. Unused hours don't roll over. **C. Optional, not included in the fees above: $1,800** - Outreach to three local guides and comparison articles that AI answers cite, asking for Kestrel to be considered. We pitch; publication is the publisher's decision. ### 6. How this relates to your SEO retainer Your current SEO retainer covers technical SEO, on-page work on two pages a month, two blog articles a month and Google Business Profile updates. This proposal doesn't charge for any of those. The table shows where each piece of work sits. | Work | Covered by | Charged in this proposal | |---|---|---| | Site crawl and indexing fixes found in A5 | SEO retainer | No | | Two of six service-area page rewrites | SEO retainer (month one on-page allowance) | No | | Four further service-area page rewrites | This proposal (A2) | Yes | | Google Business Profile updates | SEO retainer | No | | Directory and review-site corrections | This proposal (A4) | Yes | | Weekly AI answer sampling and reporting | This proposal (B) | Yes | | Monthly blog articles | SEO retainer | No | ### 7. 30/60/90-day plan | Days | What happens | Owner | Output | |---|---|---|---| | 1 to 30 | A1 sign-off; A5 checks; A4 listing corrections; weekly sampling starts; first two service-area pages (retainer) | Brightline, with Sam for facts | Signed question set, technical findings, 12 corrected listings, month-one report | | 31 to 60 | A2 page rewrites; A3 answer pages drafted, approved and published | Brightline writes; Sam approves within 5 working days | 4 rewritten pages, 3 new pages, month-two report | | 61 to 90 | Improvement hours on the top report items; day-90 review of the same 40 questions against the baseline | Brightline and Dana | Day-90 report and a recommendation: continue, adjust or stop | ### 8. Responsibilities and dependencies **Kestrel will:** - name one person (Sam) to supply facts and approve copy within 5 working days; - confirm prices, call-out hours, areas and brands for the new pages; - give Brightline access to the website, Search Console, Google Analytics and the directory accounts listed in A4. **Brightline will:** - deliver each item to its acceptance criteria and log the date it went live; - run the same questions with the same settings every week; - flag any delay on either side in the weekly update. **Dependencies:** dates in section 7 move by the length of any delay in approvals or access. Third-party sites decide when, and whether, they accept listing changes. ### 9. Measurement and reporting Every monthly report includes: - **Tracked question set:** the 40 questions, engines and market. - **Answers collected:** how many answers each rate is based on. - **Mention rate:** the share of sampled answers that name Kestrel, with a 95% range. - **Citation rate:** the share of sampled answers that link to a Kestrel page, with a 95% range. - **Competitor comparison:** how often Copperline Plumbing and Summit Heating Co are named in the same answers. - **Work log:** what was completed and when. - **Observable changes:** rates, cited sources and facts that changed after the work. - **Traffic and enquiries:** visits and enquiries from AI assistants where Google Analytics can identify them. How to read the numbers: AI answers vary from one ask to the next, so rates come with a range. A change smaller than the range is treated as noise. A change after a piece of work shows that the two happened in that order, not that one caused the other. The sample covers the tracked questions and settings, not every homeowner's answers. ### 10. Fees and payment | Fee | Type | Amount | |---|---|---| | A. Implementation project | One-off | $4,700 | | B. Monitoring and improvement | Monthly, from month one | $1,200 a month | | C. Outreach (optional) | One-off, only if selected | $1,800 | - **First 90 days, without the option:** $4,700 + (3 × $1,200) = **$8,300**. - **First 90 days, with the option:** $8,300 + $1,800 = **$10,100**. - **Payment:** 50% of the project fee ($2,350) on acceptance and 50% ($2,350) when items A2 to A5 are accepted. The monthly fee is invoiced at the start of each month. - **Suggested terms (confirm in your contract):** monitoring runs month to month after the first three months, with 30 days' notice to stop. ### 11. What's not included - Changes to the existing SEO retainer's scope or fees. - Paid advertising, including ads shown inside AI assistants or search results. - More than four improvement hours a month, or pages beyond A2 and A3 (quoted separately). - Review generation, reputation management or responding to reviews. - Any promise that an AI assistant will mention, recommend or cite Kestrel. ### 12. Acceptance and next step To go ahead, reply to confirm: 1. Scope A and B (and C if wanted). 2. Sam Reyes as the approver for facts and copy. 3. A 45-minute kick-off call in the first week to sign off the question set. We'll then send the agreement and the first invoice, and the first weekly sample runs within five working days of sign-off.