Service Comparison
AireStream vs Traditional SEO agencies
Traditional SEO agencies optimise for Google's ranking algorithm, usually on a monthly retainer. AireStream is a different shape of engagement: a specialist, one-off AI visibility audit, with optional implementation if you want the fixes delivered for you.
SEO
Agency primary channel
GEO
AireStream primary channel
One-off
AireStream engagement shape
Traditional SEO agencies
Best for
Firms that need sustained, monthly SEO effort across rankings, content and links.
- ✓Monthly SEO retainer
- ✓Focus on Google rankings and organic traffic
- ✓Generalist across sectors, many added GEO recently
AireStream
Best for
UK B2B professional service firms that want a one-off audit of their AI visibility, with the option to have the fixes done for them.
- ✓AI visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot
- ✓Done-for-you audit, then optional implementation and retainer
- ✓UK B2B professional services specialism
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Traditional SEO agencies | AireStream |
|---|---|---|
| Optimises for | Google rankings and organic traffic | AI citations and recommendations across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot |
| Primary KPIs | Keyword positions, sessions, conversions | AI Visibility percentage, T1/T2 citation share, Entity Clarity score |
| Content strategy | Keyword-targeted long-form and link-worthy content | Entity-rich, structured-for-citability content with schema-first design |
| Technical focus | Core Web Vitals, crawlability, backlinks | AI crawler access (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended), schema completeness, JS rendering |
| Engagement shape | Ongoing monthly retainer | One-off audit (Discovery or Strategy), with optional implementation and optional retainer |
| Reporting cadence | Monthly traffic report | Audit deck, plus monthly report and quarterly retest if on retainer |
| First deliverable | Retainer kickoff and campaign plan | Audit deck and prioritised action plan within the audit window |
Specialism, not an add-on
In the last 12 months, most SEO agencies added 'GEO' or 'AI search' to their retainer as a line item. That is a reasonable commercial move. It is not the same as having rebuilt their methodology around how AI tools actually pick what to recommend.
AireStream was built as a GEO specialist. Entity clarity, schema completeness, citation consistency and content structure sit at the centre of the audit, not as bolt-ons to a traditional SEO review.
Audit-first vs retainer-first
A generalist SEO retainer commits you to a monthly spend without a named diagnosis up front. You invest, then you find out.
AireStream is audit-first. You buy a Discovery or Strategy audit, see the diagnosis, and only then decide whether to add implementation or a retainer. No commitment beyond the audit is required.
Do you need both?
For most clients, yes. SEO still drives meaningful organic traffic and many AI systems rely on web crawls. AireStream does not replace SEO; we sit alongside it. Some findings overlap (schema, content structure) and benefit both channels.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Articles
The traditional sales funnel collapsed. Buyers now research, compare, and rank vendors inside AI tools before you ever know they exist.
ArticleWhy Is My Website Traffic High But No Enquiries?High traffic with no enquiries is not a conversion problem. Buyers decide before they arrive, inside AI tools and peer networks your analytics cannot track.
ArticleThis Week in AI Search (w/c 23/02/26)AI search became a revenue engine this week: Google added shopping ads, LinkedIn saw a 60% B2B traffic drop, and ChatGPT sends minimal referral traffic.
Key Terminology
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of optimising a business's online presence so that AI-powered tools - such as ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews - recommend it in response to relevant queries.
AI answer engines are AI-powered tools that respond to user queries with generated answers rather than ranked lists of links - including ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Claude.
Conversational search is a search interaction where users ask questions in natural language and receive direct answers from AI tools, rather than browsing a list of links.
See where your firm stands in AI search
Run your free AI Discoverability Score in under a minute, then book a Growth Assessment to walk through the results and your audit options.