By Steve Merrill, Founder of WRKNG Digital | November 3, 2026
What should you ask a Shopify AEO agency before you hire one?
Ask for real citation results from live stores, how they handle your product feed and structured data, and how they measure AI visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google. Those three answers tell you in five minutes whether an agency does this work or just talks about it. The other three questions below protect you from the slick ones who sound right but can't prove a thing.
I built a clothing company to $10 million a year and exited it. I have sat on both sides of this table, as the merchant writing the check and the founder answering for the work. Here are the six questions I would ask. And what a good answer sounds like versus a red flag.
AI shopping is not a someday thing. Perplexity and OpenAI are both building buy flows straight into the chat. If your products are not in the answer, you are not in the store. So vet hard.
1. Can you show me real citation results from live Shopify stores?
A good answer is a screen share. They pull up ChatGPT or Perplexity, ask a buying question, and show a client's product named in the answer. A red flag is traffic charts and SEO rankings dressed up as AEO, or "results are coming" with nothing to show. Data does not lie. Make them show you the data.
2. How do you handle product feeds and structured data?
A good answer names the mechanics. They talk about clean Product schema, accurate pricing and availability, and a feed that stays in sync so AI pulls the right data. Shopify's own structured data documentation and Google's product structured data guidelines are the baseline here, so an agency that can't explain either one is a red flag.
3. How do you measure AI visibility, and how often?
A good answer is a baseline and a cadence. They run your target buying prompts on day one, record whether you get mentioned or cited, and re-scan on a schedule. A red flag is "we'll keep an eye on it." That is not a number. If they can't measure it, they can't improve it.
4. Do you optimize for ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI specifically?
A good answer treats these as different engines with different rules. Perplexity leans on sources it can cite, so Perplexity's own documentation on citations matters, while ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews each pull differently. A red flag is "we just do AEO" with no engine named. That means one generic playbook for three different machines. The tactics that win in Perplexity are not the ones that win in Google AI Overviews.
5. What does your reporting actually look like?
A good answer is a report you can read without them in the room. Which prompts you show up in, whether it moved, and what they are doing next. A red flag is a dashboard full of vanity metrics and no line that says "here is where your products got cited this month." You should never need a translator to read your own results.
6. What happens in the first 90 days?
A good answer is a plan with order to it. Fix the feed and schema first, set the baseline, then push content and track citations. A red flag is anyone promising guaranteed citation counts. Nobody controls what ChatGPT says. Promise the work, not the result.
How We Chose These Questions
These six come from vetting agencies the same way I vetted the ad partners who spent my own $5 million. Each question separates teams that can prove the work from teams that sell the idea of it.
FAQ
What is a Shopify AEO agency?
A Shopify AEO agency gets your products cited inside AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. The goal is being the answer, not a blue link a shopper might click.
How long does Shopify AEO take to show results?
Early citation movement usually shows in 60 to 90 days once your product feed and structured data are clean. A good agency measures a baseline on day one so you see the change.
Is AEO different from SEO for Shopify?
Yes. SEO fights for ranking in a list of links. AEO fights to be the product an AI names when a shopper asks what to buy.
What is the biggest red flag when hiring a Shopify AEO agency?
An agency that promises guaranteed rankings or specific citation counts. Nobody controls what ChatGPT or Perplexity says. Promise the work, not the result.
Want a team that can answer all six of these without blinking? See how we do it at WRKNG Digital's agentic commerce page.
