Your buyers are asking AI who to hire.
AI SEO agency for businesses that want to be in the answer
AI SEO services for service businesses in Australia and New Zealand. We help you get found on Google, recommended by tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, and chosen by the people who are already looking for what you do.
+564%
visitors from AI tools
+733%
enquiries from AI search
We test this on our own business to make sure it works
Digital marketing
since 2002
Client results, verified in Google Analytics 4.
Get found. Get Considered. Get the Sale.
The way your future customers find you has changed. Will you be part of the conversation?
First, people flicked through the Yellow Pages. Or they asked a mate at the barbecue who "knows a good accountant". Then they searched Google and clicked through a page of websites.
Now they ask AI. ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Grok do the searching and comparing for them, then hand back three or four names.
Word of mouth still works. The mouth just changed.
Here's what that looks like in real life. I needed a new curved monitor, so I asked Gemini. It gave me four options and compared them for me. I went to one website, read the reviews, then walked into the store and bought it the same day.
The other businesses weren't even part of the conversation. They didn't lose the sale on price or service. The AI never mentioned them.
Your buyers are doing the same thing. Right now. They're asking who the best accountant, physio, builder, or consultant is near them. If you're not on the short list, they go with someone who is.
Nobody rings to say they chose someone else. They just never ring. Most business owners only notice that enquiries have slowed down, and they can't work out why.
The good news is that this is fixable. It starts with understanding what AI SEO actually is.
DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?
Is the marketing that was once working for you no longer doing the trick?
- Enquiries have slowed down, and you can't put your finger on why.
- Your website traffic has dropped, even though nothing on the site changed.
- You got a new website, and your Google rankings disappeared with the old one.
- Google Ads cost more every month for the same number of calls.
- You're relying on referrals, so you can't predict next month.
- You know you should be showing up in AI. You just don't know where to start, or what to do first.
- You've got a junior marketer, or no one at all, and you're not sure the right things are being done.
- You want to hire, but you need steady enquiries before you can commit to another wage.
The cost of not showing up where your customers are looking and comparing products and services
Every month you're not in the results, a competitor is. That means fewer enquiries. More money spent on ads to fill the gap. More pressure on referrals you can't control. The quiet months get quieter. And it's hard to plan, grow, or hire when you don't know where the next job is coming from.
What is AI SEO?
What is AI SEO?
AI SEO is the work that helps AI tools find your business, understand what you do, trust you, and recommend you when someone asks for help. It's also called GEO (generative engine optimisation) or AEO (answer engine optimisation). Different names, same goal: be the answer when your buyers ask. You might also see it called AI search optimisation or SEO for AI.
AI SEO vs normal SEO: what's the difference?
Normal SEO
Helps your website show up in Google's list of results.
AI SEO
Helps your business show up inside the answer that AI gives, before anyone scrolls to the list.
Here's the part most agencies won't tell you: good SEO is still the foundation. Google's AI runs on the same systems as Google Search. If your website is slow, thin, or confusing, AI tools won't trust it either. So AI SEO doesn't replace SEO. It builds on it, with the extra work AI tools need to understand and quote you.
Why it matters now
Why it matters now
Your website didn't get worse. The way people search changed.
- Fewer people click. Google now puts an AI answer at the top of many searches. More and more people get what they need from that answer and never visit a website.
- You can't buy your way into the answer. ChatGPT has started showing ads, but they sit beside the answer, clearly labelled. The recommendations themselves can't be bought. They have to be earned.
- Early movers win. AI tools lean on the businesses they already know and trust. The businesses that do this work now get in before their competitors do.
If your enquiries have dropped and you can't find a reason, this is often it.
What our AI SEO services include
We don't sell you "AI-powered" buzzwords. Here's the actual work.
Be found
- AI search and website audit: find out what's stopping Google and AI tools from finding and trusting you
- Technical fixes: the problems holding your pages back, fixed
- Structured data: so Google and AI tools know exactly who you are, what you do, and where
- Google Business Profile: set up properly, because it's one of the strongest local signals AI tools use
Be the answer
- Answers to your buyers' real questions: built into your pages, so AI tools can quote you
- New and improved service pages: one clear page for each service and each type of client you want more of
- Content with a point of view (content plans): your real experience, in your voice
Be chosen
- LinkedIn: your company page, set up to back up everything your website says
- Turning visitors into enquiries: being found is only half the job. When it's the right project, we make your pages easy to get in touch from
Not every plan includes every item. Your proposal shows exactly what's in yours.
Reporting you can actually read
Every month you'll see what we did, what's live, how often you're showing up in Google, whether AI tools are starting to mention you, and where your enquiries came from. No vanity charts.
How it works
Every business is different, so the detail changes. The steps don't.
01
Start here: the Customer Generation Playbook™
A free video showing how the whole system fits together, and where AI search fits in.
02
X-Ray: a call about your business
We look at your business as a whole: what you have in place, your goals, and what's in the way. Then we work out what you need, and in what order.
03
Prescription: your plan
What we recommend, why, and what it costs. No surprises.
04
Foundations: Setup
We lay the groundwork, so everything after it works harder.
05
Growth: on your team, every month
We work through your plan with you, with a report every month.
Plans
Plans
Three levels, all starting with a Setup month. From $3,000 a month.
NZ$ + GST for New Zealand businesses. A$ for Australian businesses.
Growth Plan
We make your website the answer. One project a month, technical fixes, and a monthly report.
Growth Plan + Content
Everything in the Growth Plan, plus a monthly strategy session and ready-to-post LinkedIn and Google posts.
Done For You + Content & Social
Everything, plus a monthly article, and we post it all for you across LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, and Instagram.
Not sure which fits? That's what the X-Ray™ call is for. We'll talk it through and find the right level for where your business is now.
$3,000 a month sounds like a lot. Until you compare it to hiring.
The usual alternative is a junior marketer. On paper they're cheaper to manage than an agency. In practice, here's what you're comparing:
| Hire a junior marketer | The Ivy Lead | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | About $6,500 a month in NZ (around A$7,500 in Australia), before KiwiSaver or super, leave, recruitment, and tools | From $3,000 a month |
| Experience | Learning SEO and AI on the job, on your time | Digital marketing specialist since 2002, Google Partner |
| Systems | Starting from scratch | Proven systems, tested on our own businesses first |
| Your time | Needs training, managing, and checking | A monthly report, and we manage the work ourselves |
| Risk | One wrong change to your website can wipe out your Google rankings | The right things, in the right order |
| When they leave | The knowledge walks out the door with them | You own everything we build |
A junior with ChatGPT can produce a lot of words. What they usually can't do is know which words matter, where they go, and what to fix first. That's what you're paying for.
We're not saying never hire. Hire when your enquiries are steady and there's enough work to keep someone busy. We help you get there.
Why The Ivy Lead
Why The Ivy Lead (and not a typical agency)
Not every AI SEO agency works the same way. Here's how we work.
- We don't guarantee results. No one can honestly promise you'll show up in ChatGPT, and anyone who does is guessing. We promise the work: the right things, in the right order, done properly.
- Most "AI SEO" is just SEO in a new hat. That's actually good news. Good SEO is the foundation, and we do it properly. Then we add the work AI tools need on top, and you'll see exactly what we did each month.
- You own everything. Your website, your Search Console, your Analytics. Always.
- You know who's doing the work. Lucy Ross, a digital marketing specialist since 2002 and Google Partner, who leads the strategy.
- Plain English. We explain things without the acronyms. If we can't explain it simply, we shouldn't be doing it.
- We're business owners too. Lucy grew up in business, worked inside a family ecommerce business, and has run her own for years. We know what it's like when marketing keeps sliding down the to-do list.
Results
Results
Client result: a commercial furniture supplier in Australia and New Zealand
They hired us to get them found in AI search. Over the last 12 months, compared with the 12 months before:
Up 564%
New visitors from AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity (90 to 598)
Up 733%
Enquiries from those visitors (6 to 50)
Verified in Google Analytics 4.
We do this on our own businesses first
We don't ask clients to try anything we haven't tried ourselves.
Since we rebuilt our own ecommerce brand for AI search in April 2026, Google shows it twice as often as it did at the start of the year. It now appears for dozens of AI search terms it didn't show up for before. We're showing you the same work we do for ourselves.
- Winner of a Westpac marketing award
- Helped businesses grow from $15,000 months to $200,000 months
What to expect
What to expect
AI SEO is not a quick fix. Most businesses see early signs in the first few months, like more pages indexed and more appearances in search, and real momentum between months 3 and 6.
That's why our plans start with a Setup month and a 6-month minimum. It gives the work a fair chance to build. After that, it's month to month.
AI SEO FAQs
What is AI SEO?+
What does an AI SEO agency do?+
What's the difference between AI SEO and normal SEO?+
What are GEO and AEO?+
Can I pay to get my business recommended in ChatGPT?+
How much do AI SEO services cost?+
How long does AI SEO take to work?+
Can you guarantee my business will show up in AI answers?+
Do I still need normal SEO?+
How will I know it's working?+
Do you work with businesses in Australia and New Zealand?+
Find out if AI is recommending you, or your competitors
Try this. Open ChatGPT and ask who's the best in your industry near you. Are you there? If you're not, or you're not sure, book an X-Ray™ call and let's talk about it.