Ask these nine questions before you sign with any Shopify AEO agency: can you show proof, how do you measure AI visibility, what do you change in the feed, do you touch schema directly, how do contracts work, who does the work, how do you tie it to revenue, what happens in the first 30 days, and what won't you promise. The answers tell you almost everything.
Most agencies rebranded "SEO" as "AEO" the second ChatGPT Shopping got press. Same deck. New title slide. I've sat through a few of those pitches myself. Here's how to catch it.
1. Can you show a store you made visible to ChatGPT or Perplexity?
Proof beats theory. A real agency can point to a store that went from invisible to cited in an AI answer, with a before and after. If they only have Google ranking screenshots, they do SEO. That's a different job.
2. How do you measure AI visibility?
The answer should include named tools or a method. Tracking mentions across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews with something like Otterly.ai is a real answer. "We just check manually sometimes" is not.
3. What do you actually change in my product feed?
AI shopping assistants read product data before they recommend anything. A good answer names fields: titles, descriptions, GTINs, attributes, availability. If they can't tell you what they'd touch in your feed, they've never done it.
4. Do you touch schema and structured data directly?
Product and FAQ schema help AI understand what you sell. Per Google's structured data docs, Product markup feeds rich results and AI systems. The agency should edit it, not just "advise" on it.
5. How do you handle month-to-month vs long contracts?
Long lock-ins protect the agency, not you. Month-to-month means they have to earn the next invoice. Ask why their contract is shaped the way it is.
6. Who does the work, and who do I talk to?
Some shops sell you the senior person and hand the account to a junior. Ask who writes the feed rules and who you email when something breaks. Get names.
7. How do you tie AEO to revenue, not just citations?
Citations are nice. Sales pay the bills. A serious agency connects AI visibility to product page traffic, add-to-carts, and orders, not a vanity mention count.
8. What happens in the first 30 days?
You want a concrete plan: audit, feed fixes, schema, then a baseline visibility scan. If the first month is all "discovery" and no changes, you're funding a slide deck.
9. What do you refuse to promise?
This is my favorite. Anyone who guarantees you'll rank first in ChatGPT is lying. We don't promise specific results. We promise what our team will actually do. Honest limits are a green flag.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Shopify AEO agency?
An AEO agency optimizes your Shopify store so AI assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity recommend your products. That means fixing product feeds, structured data, and content AI can cite.
How is AEO different from SEO?
SEO targets Google's ranked links. AEO targets the answer AI gives directly, where there are no ten blue links to climb. Different mechanics, different proof.
How fast does AEO work?
Feed and schema fixes can show up in AI answers within a few weeks, but it varies by product and platform. Anyone promising a date is guessing.
Should I sign a long contract?
Month-to-month is safer while you're testing an agency. It forces them to keep earning the work.
Want to know if your Shopify store is visible to AI shopping assistants? WRKNG Digital runs the audit and shows you exactly where you stand. See how agentic commerce optimization works.
By Steve Merrill, founder of WRKNG Digital. Published 2026-08-24.
