Brand search
Category queries
Comparison queries
Long-tail buyer asks
Competitor citations
Strategy
We learn your business and map the highest-impact opportunities across SEO and AI visibility.
AI search agency for DTC brands
AI search will pick three brands per category. We make sure yours is one.
AEO and SEO for DTC brands at $1M+. Founder-led, technical, deep in the AI stack. Two-month trial at $3K/mo. Walk away after if it isn't working.
ChatGPT Claude Perplexity Gemini AI Overviews
The unfair advantage
We test our AEO methodology on our own Shopify store. Then we sell it.
Bloom Jewelry is the founder's own DTC brand. Every tactic ANTE deploys for clients gets tested there first. If it doesn't move the citation needle on a real Shopify store with real revenue, it doesn't ship.
Read the Bloom case studyThe work
A four-step system.
Strategy. Build. Execute. Compound. Tailored to your category and your customers.
Schema live
llms.txt live
Bing + IndexNow live
▸ Foundation shipped · week 4
Build
We rewire the back end of your site so AI engines can read it, understand it, and cite it correctly. Shipped as code or direct edits.
Best AEO agencies 2026
1. Your brand ▸
2.
3.
4.
Execute
We pitch you into the third-party listicles AI engines cite, and we run the weekly citation monitor across five engines.
Citations / 30 queries
24
month 1 month 2 month 3 month 6
Compound
Citations compound. Each new listicle inclusion earns more pickups. Each schema fix gets cited more often. The system gets smarter.
The pace
We move at the speed AI is moving at.
AI search changes weekly. New engines come online, indexing behaviors shift, the patterns for what gets cited keep moving. Most SEO agencies were built around a 2018-2022 playbook and they have not caught up. They are running yesterday's strategy against today's problem.
We are built differently. Founder-led. Hands in the code. Inside the AI tools every single day, not just running keyword reports. What works this month gets shipped into client engagements this month, not next quarter.
The pace of change in AI is the whole reason this work exists. You want to work with someone who lives in it.
The shift
Customers are starting their research inside AI.
The math
Same caliber of work. Less middle.
A typical boutique AEO retainer runs $7-10K/month. Here's the rough breakdown of where that money goes.
A typical boutique agency retainer
- ~30%Account manager and sales overhead
- ~25%Junior content writers and outsourced production
- ~15%Office, tooling, and infrastructure
- ~10%Senior pitch time spread across 30+ accounts
- ~20%The actual work on your account
With ANTE, you pay $3,000/month for the first two months, then $5,000/month. The work is what you're paying for.
Cost-allocation estimates based on industry breakdowns and the founder's own agency experience. Your mileage will vary by shop.
How we work
Hands-on, founder-led, USA-based.
Response time
Hours, not days.
Slack access. Most replies in hours, not days.
Delivery
Founder-led.
The person on the demo writes your schema, ships your PRs, runs your account.
Capacity
10 clients max.
Hard cap. Below ten we deliver well. Above ten we'd hire out.
By the numbers
0%
of ChatGPT citations come from Bing's top organic results
0%
of all LLM citations come from third-party listicles
0%
higher AI selection rate for pages with multimodal + structured data
Sources: Quoleady 10K citation study, Princeton GEO paper, industry benchmarks 2026.
You've tried SEO before
Here's why it didn't work.
Most agencies optimize for activity. We optimize for citation. Different work, different result.
Measurement
Typical agency
✗ Reports on traffic and keyword rankings. No AI citation tracking.
ANTE
✓ Weekly citation count across 5 AI engines. Slack digest every Monday.
AI Search
Typical agency
✗ Sold as a paid add-on. Usually not included in the retainer at all.
ANTE
✓ AEO is the entire engagement. Foundation, content, and placements built in.
Content
Typical agency
✗ AI-generated content targeting volume keywords. Generic.
ANTE
✓ Comparison content engineered for citation. Built from buyer queries.
Ownership
Typical agency
✗ Senior pitches the deal. Juniors execute. No clear accountability.
ANTE
✓ Founder works your account directly. No handoffs. No juniors.
Timelines
Typical agency
✗ 12-month retainers. Vague milestones. Hard to exit.
ANTE
✓ 2-month trial. Walk away after if not a fit. No claw-back.
Pricing
Typical agency
✗ $10-12K/month, opaque, quote-by-call.
ANTE
✓ $3K/mo for first 2 months, then $5K/mo. Published, not quoted.
| The problem | Typical agency | ANTE |
|---|---|---|
| Measurement | ✗Reports on traffic and keyword rankings. No AI citation tracking. | ✓Weekly citation count across 5 AI engines. Slack digest every Monday. |
| AI Search | ✗Sold as a paid add-on. Usually not included in the retainer at all. | ✓AEO is the entire engagement. Foundation, content, and placements built in. |
| Content | ✗AI-generated content targeting volume keywords. Generic. | ✓Comparison content engineered for citation. Built from buyer queries. |
| Ownership | ✗Senior pitches the deal. Juniors execute. No clear accountability. | ✓Founder works your account directly. No handoffs. No juniors. |
| Timelines | ✗12-month retainers. Vague milestones. Hard to exit. | ✓2-month trial. Walk away after if not a fit. No claw-back. |
| Pricing | ✗$10-12K/month, opaque, quote-by-call. | ✓$3K/mo for first 2 months, then $5K/mo. Published, not quoted. |
If your current agency leans heavily into the left column, it might be time for a conversation.
Pricing
Three ways to engage.
Light for upkeep. Growth for the full playbook with the walk-away guarantee. Custom for aggressive scope.
Light
$2,500 / mo · maintenance
Maintenance mode.
Ongoing AEO maintenance for brands with foundation already in place. Light is not a setup tier. Foundation work happens in Growth.
- Weekly citation monitor · 5 engines
- Foundation kept current
- Monthly performance report
- Slack access for questions
- Requires existing AEO foundation
- For maintenance mode, not growth mode
Growth
$3,000 / mo · first 2 months
Then $5,000/mo · month-to-month
The full playbook.
The full playbook. Two months at trial pricing. Walk-away guarantee at end of month 2. From month 3, $5K/mo, month-to-month.
- Everything in Light
- Foundation work shipped as code (PRs to your repo)
- Citation-engineered content (volume scales)
- Listicle PR pipeline
- SEO + AEO in one engagement
- Monthly strategy call
- Founder-led, USA-based
- Walk-away guarantee · month 2
Custom
$10K+ / mo
Custom scope
Aggressive scale.
For companies going aggressively after AI-search share. Larger content production, multi-brand, advisory, custom SLAs.
- Everything in Growth
- Aggressive content cadence
- Multi-site or multi-brand
- Strategic advisory layered on top
- Custom timelines and SLAs
- Direct quote, no template
Not ready to commit?
Sign up for the free AEO audit.
Five business days. Site audit across 14+ pages. Citation baseline across 30+ queries. Competitor comparison. 30/60/90-day roadmap. PDF plus a 60-minute walkthrough. No credit card.
FAQ
Common questions.
Will I work with the founder, or get shipped to a junior account manager?
You work with the founder directly. Every Slack message, every PR, every monthly report comes from her. No junior account managers, no handoffs, no relay calls. The person on the demo is the person doing the work.
How does the walk-away guarantee work?
Months 1-2 are $3,000/mo. At the end of month 2, you walk if it isn't working. No exit interview, no claw-back, no contract. From month 3, $5,000/mo, month-to-month with 30 days notice.
When will I see real citation results?
Foundation work ships in month 1. Listicle inclusions and citation gains compound over months 3-6. The 2-month trial proves the work and the relationship, not the citations. Citations follow.
Are you only doing AEO, or SEO too?
Both. They're the same engagement. The technical foundation (schema, page speed, structured content) wins in Google search and in AI engines. The off-site work (listicles, citations) compounds for both.
More on the FAQ page.
Get started
Two months. Decide after.
$3,000/month. Walk away after month 2 if it isn't a fit. The work product is yours either way.