When buyers want a recommendation today, many of them skip the search results page entirely: they type a question into an AI tool, take the answer it offers and make their decision from there. This October, Top Click, the South African search agency, is laying out how businesses can adapt, and it has set two defined entry points for its answer engine optimisation service. Brands already doing SEO with the agency can add it to their existing work, while brands approaching the agency for the first time begin with a standalone AI Visibility Audit.
Behind these two paths sits a firm conviction at the agency. AEO, which some call AI search optimisation or GEO, does not let a brand bypass SEO. It depends on SEO as its base. However much AI-focused effort goes in, a brand without solid search fundamentals will find it hard to win recommendations from AI tools, which is why the right starting point is decided by what a brand already has.
The timing for South African brands
In South Africa, the final quarter is a period when plenty of buyers research bigger purchases, and spring tends to lift activity in a wide range of categories. A growing portion of that research is now done in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode. Someone asks which supplier is best in a category, receives a brief reply naming a few brands, and carries on. If a business is missing from that reply, it has effectively dropped out of contention for that buyer.
The agency’s AEO page sums up the behaviour in a few words: buyers ask, get a recommendation and act. AEO exists to make a brand harder for those tools to leave out.
The add-on path for current SEO clients
Brands that already hold an SEO retainer with Top Click can take AEO as an add-on. The agency has already improved the technical health, content and authority of these sites, so the AEO work builds on groundwork that is in place. Scope is set following an audit, and the cost is charged as an uplift to the existing retainer instead of as a separate programme.
The agency’s own case material points to this path. On its AEO page it outlines its work for SunNinja, an international beach tent brand. Thorough on-site SEO across pages, collections, products and blog content, together with genuine backlinks and digital PR, moved the brand to the number one organic spot on Google for “beach tents” and to the top of Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Grok for that same category. Top Click attributes the outcome to traditional SEO carried out properly, not to any special trick.
The audit path for new brands
Brands coming to Top Click for the first time begin with a standalone AI Visibility Audit. It maps where the brand shows up, and where it is absent, across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and AI Overviews, and compares that standing with competitors. Should the audit confirm a healthy search foundation, it can roll into a full retainer. Should the foundation need attention first, the brand learns this before signing up for anything bigger.
For businesses looking into AI SEO services for the first time, the audit offers a starting point grounded in evidence instead of a sales pitch.
The scope of AEO
According to Top Click, AEO addresses three areas. One is what others say about a brand, such as mentions on Reddit, forums, review sites and in industry press, all of which AI tools take into account even without a link to the brand’s website. Another is how well AI grasps the brand’s identity: its name, what it does and why it can be trusted, expressed consistently everywhere. The last is whether the brand’s content offers a direct answer an AI tool can pull straight from the page.
The service itself has eight components. It opens with an AI visibility audit to set the baseline. Prompt and share-of-voice tracking monitors the specific questions buyers put to AI tools and how often the brand is mentioned relative to competitors. Entity optimisation deals with schema, knowledge panel signals and consistent brand data. Answer-first content reworks key pages so the answer is not hidden in the fourth paragraph. FAQ sections and structured data make information easier for AI tools to read and extract. Technical AI access ensures AI crawlers can get to the site, including through an llms.txt file. Citation and digital PR work secures mentions on the platforms AI tools rely on most. Monthly reporting keeps track of the results.
Tracking results
Four measures form the basis of the agency’s reporting. Citation frequency shows how often AI tools mention the brand in response to relevant questions. Share of voice compares the brand with competitors in AI answers. AI referral traffic is tracked in GA4 apart from organic search. Sentiment looks at how AI tools describe the brand and whether that description holds up. Top Click points out that these measurement tools are newer and still developing, unlike the mature tools used for traditional rankings and traffic, and says it is open with clients about whatever cannot yet be measured.
The limits of what is promised
Top Click states clearly that no one controls what an AI engine chooses to cite, and it offers no guarantee that a brand will show up in ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Its commitment is to the proven work that raises the chances, backed by monthly reporting on what has been done. Early signals are expected within 60 to 120 days, longer in competitive categories, and the agency treats AEO as continuous work instead of a one-time project, since AI search moves fast.
Eighteen years in search
Top Click’s claim to be the AEO agency South African brands can rely on for this work comes down to its track record. For 18 years it has focused solely on SEO and Google Ads, and it is an established Google Premier Partner. Senior specialists run every account, with no juniors involved, and clients work with the agency month to month without a long-term contract. The agency’s view is that brands need SEO and AEO together, and that claims to the contrary deserve caution.
Brands wanting to find out which path fits them can see the complete service details at https://topclick.co.za/aeo/.
About Top Click
Top Click is a South African digital marketing agency that specialises exclusively in search, offering SEO, Google Ads and answer engine optimisation. It has been in operation for 18 years and is an established Google Premier Partner. Through its AEO service, it helps brands earn recommendations on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode. A small team of senior specialists handles all work, and clients engage on month-to-month terms with no lock-in.
Media Contact
Top Click
Email: info@topclick.co.za
Phone: +27 11 440 6268
Website: https://topclick.co.za/
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