How to review AEO deliverables before accepting the work
A list of “optimized pages” and a screenshot of an AI answer do not tell you what changed or whether the work is complete. Before accepting it, open the affected pages and compare them with the agreed brief. Check the facts as well as the implementation.
Agree on acceptance criteria before work starts. If the project is already close to finished, go back to the approved brief. Anything beyond it is a new request and should be handled apart from the corrections needed to meet the brief.
Ask for the files and evidence needed to check the work
| Work | Material to receive | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Content | Final copy, URL and factual sources | Answer and conditions appear on the page |
| Template change | Change description and affected pages | Sample several pages using that template |
| Metadata | Final values and URLs | Compare the supplied values with the published HTML |
| Bug fix | Original example and repeat check | The old steps no longer reproduce the defect |
| Visibility measurement | Questions, date, system and method | The report explains what was tested and how to repeat it |
Keep the editable text, the updated source code and the maintenance instructions somewhere your team can reach. Nobody can maintain a site from a PDF of screenshots.
Follow one question all the way through
Take a hypothetical task: explaining how customers can export their data. Open the finished page as a visitor and look for the records included, the file format and any limits. Check that the product owner has approved those details and that the relevant service page links to the instructions.
If publication was part of the job, the work is not finished while the old copy is still online. If the new copy is live but nobody has approved its facts, send it for factual review. Either way, describe the specific gap so the provider knows what to correct.
Check publication separately from search results
Record the site version and the time of the check. Ask the developer to verify the agreed URLs, response codes and canonical tags, and to confirm that no page carries an accidental noindex. Check the links between language versions. Structured data has to pass syntax checks and also match what is visible on the page.
Crawler access does not guarantee indexing or citation. Google’s guidance says that meeting the requirements does not guarantee an appearance in search, AI features included. Report the publication of a change separately from any later change in search results.
Describe each issue clearly
“The export guide is incomplete” gives the provider nothing to act on. Write instead: “This page is missing the date limits required by the brief. Please add the period customers can export and the records included.” Attach the URL and the relevant requirement. The provider sees what to change, and you can repeat the same check afterward. A new request is a separate conversation from a correction to the agreed work.
Agree on these checks before AEO implementation begins. Use a separate AI visibility measurement plan to monitor later answers. A single model answer cannot tell you whether the agreed site changes were made.
Published: · Reviewed by the geo-rank.ai editorial team · Our methodology