What happens in the first 90 days with an AEO agency?

What should you have agreed on by day 30?

By the end of the first month, I would want a written scope that your team can use to make decisions. It should name the business goals, the audiences you want to reach, and the questions those people ask. It should also say which brands, sites, services, and markets are in the first round. A shared scope gives both sides a way to tell whether a request belongs in the work.

I would also want a list of the pages or gaps that matter most, with a reason for each choice. A useful list separates work that can go live from work that needs more proof or a decision from your team. It also names the person who can approve each item. A list of topics alone does not tell you what you have agreed to buy.

For a page, agree that complete means approved copy is live at a named address and the right owner has checked the facts. For a report, record the questions, dates and sources. Set a review at day 30 so your team can resolve open decisions.

For example, your firm may sell in several regions with different service rules. Start with the regions where the facts and owners are clear. Put the other regions on the day 30 review list.

You should also know what is outside the scope. The scope should say who owns site access, fact checks, legal review, page approval, and the final publish step. If your team must supply proof or approve claims, put that duty in writing. The aim is to spot a missing owner before a draft waits in a queue. At day 30, name the owner and next decision for each open item.

What should be live or ready by day 60?

By day 60, look for the first agreed pages to be live, or for a clear record of what is holding them back. The useful outcome is not a count of drafts in a folder. You want pages that answer the right buyer questions, give sound facts, and make the next step clear. If legal review or site access has held up a page, the report should say so and name the next decision.

I would review the live address for each page, the date it went live, and the person who approved it. Check whether the page speaks to the right market and service. Read it as a buyer who has not met your team. Can that person tell what you do, who you serve, and what to do next? A page that gets a visit still needs to help a real person.

Google says a page must be indexed and eligible for a search snippet to qualify as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode. A snippet is the short text Google can show with a result. Google says its AI features have no extra technical requirements. Check these conditions as part of the day 60 review.

For a page about a local service, have the local owner check the service area and contact details before it goes live. At day 60, review the live address with that owner.

If no page is live, I would expect a plain account of the hold. Is the issue missing facts, a review queue, a site change, or a change in scope? The account should name the owner and next review date. This lets you judge whether the delay is a shared constraint or a gap in delivery. It also avoids treating a draft as if it were a published asset. Record the next review date at the day 60 meeting.

What should the first answer-engine checks show by day 90?

By day 90, I would want a first set of checks against the questions and markets in your agreed scope. An answer engine is a service that gives a direct answer to a user, often with links to sources. A citation is a link to a source, or a name given as a source, in that answer. A useful check shows the question, the service checked, the date, the answer seen, and any source link.

Keep each check tied to its date. A result on one day is a snapshot, and answers can change. Review a named mention, a source link, a site visit and a sales lead as separate events. Use the contract and success metrics guide for the count rules.

Compare the check with the original list of buyer questions. Are the terms tied to your real services and markets? Do they reflect how a buyer might ask, rather than only your brand name? A check should include cases where you would want to be considered as well as cases where you should not. This helps your team judge fit, not just the number of times a name appears.

On October 29, 2026, I checked a public Google search for “who is the best probate realtor in los angeles.” The AI Overview named me first and cited my own real estate site. This was my observation of a public search on one day, not a Search Console figure. Use a dated record like this at your day 90 review.

Keep the answer text or another record your team can review. If an answer changes when you repeat the question, save both dates. At day 90, choose which questions to check again and who will review them.

What should you compare at the day 90 review?

At day 90, compare the work with the starting record of questions, pages, markets and dates. Mark any change in scope before comparing the results. Use the contract and success metrics guide for definitions and count rules. Bring the same question list to the review so your team can see what changed.

Bring the search and site reports to the day 90 review. Google includes AI Overview and AI Mode traffic in the Web search type in Search Console. OpenAI says ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to referral URLs. Use those named sources to discuss what each report covers.

Bring sales records to the same review. Have the sales owner identify which inquiries fit your service and market. If a buyer says an AI answer led them to call, record that statement with the inquiry date.

For example, a buyer may read an answer, search your name later and then call. Bring the call record and site report to the day 90 meeting. Review what each record shows.

Close the review with a decision about the next set of pages and questions. Put the owner and next review date beside each decision. That gives your team a clear handoff after day 90.

How should approvals move through the first 90 days?

For a large or mid-size firm, the work crosses teams. The business owner knows the offer. Legal or risk staff may need to review claims. Brand staff can check tone and names. Site owners control what goes live. Sales or service staff can say whether an inquiry fits. Give each decision an owner so the work does not stall between teams.

Build the review path into the scope before drafts arrive. Say who can approve a page, who can request changes, and who has the final say if teams disagree. The agency should identify the facts that need your sign-off. Your team should be able to see the final text and any changes to the site. Google also suggests asking a provider what changes it makes to your site.

For a firm with a central brand team and local service teams, a brand owner can check shared claims. A local owner can check where service is offered. Name both owners by day 30 so the page can move toward the day 60 review.

Agree on how a correction reaches a live page. A service area, offer, or contact path can change. Someone on your side needs a way to flag the change, and someone needs to own the response. Your team should be able to see what changed and when it went live. This is a matter of keeping facts useful to buyers as well as keeping the work under your control.

Give access only as needed for the agreed work, under your own security rules. Keep a record of the access your team grants and the owner who can remove it. The contract should also say who owns the work you paid for and how you can obtain your records if the engagement ends. Those terms are easier to settle before a deadline is close. Check the access and asset owners at the day 90 review.

What should you decide after the first 90 days?

Use the review to make a choice, not merely to receive a slide deck. Compare the agreed scope with what is live, what is still in review, and what was removed or deferred. Look at the first checks alongside their limits. Then decide which buyer questions, markets, and site fixes deserve the next round of work.

If pages are live but the checks show few useful mentions, review page facts, the question set and search eligibility. Choose the next check and name its owner. Record that choice at the day 90 review.

If the first checks look strong, review the path from the answer to the page and then to a useful inquiry. Check whether the facts remain correct and the next questions match a real buyer need. Use that review to set the next scope at day 90.

A page held for legal review needs an owner and a new review date. At day 90, decide whether to finish that review before adding a new market.

Before you renew or expand, I would want a written plan with owners, dates, costs, and the work included. The plan should explain what happens if your team cannot approve a page on time, how changes in scope affect the fee, and who owns the finished assets. Google advises buyers to ask about expected results, timing, and how success is measured. It also says no one can guarantee a top Google ranking. Treat a firm promise of a particular placement as a reason to seek clarity. Put the next review date in the written plan at day 90.

What should you ask for before the next review?

• A written scope with a named owner for each decision
• A list of live pages and any holds
• The buyer questions and markets used in each check
• A record of the answer seen and its source
• A clear definition of a useful lead
• A next step with an owner and review date at day 90