Problem-first
“Do I need a CPA or just a bookkeeper for a business doing $4 million a year?”
The earliest question there is. The firm that answers it honestly, including when a bookkeeper is enough, earns the trust that comes before the engagement.
AEO, GEO and SEO for accounting and CPA firms
Owners ask AI which CPA firm to hire.Make sure it names yours.
Your clients came through referrals, and they still do. But the owner who gets your name from a friend now checks it, and the owner with no referral asks an AI assistant instead. Many established firms are simply not named. We fix that, with SEO as the foundation and AI answers as the aim.
- For established regional and mid-size firms
- Niche-led, not generic
- Written by people, approved by your partners
Free instant audit. See what AI says about you.
Rather have a person do it?Ask for a free manual audit
Built to get you named in
Google
ChatGPT
Gemini
Claude
Perplexity
Who does a quality of earnings review for a $30 million manufacturer?
AI answer
- Big Four firm
- National advisory firm
- “Top accounting firms” list
- Your firm is not named
Illustrative example
How owners ask now
Your next client is describing a problem, not searching for a firm
A finance lead or owner rarely begins with a firm name. They begin with a trigger: a lender wants audited numbers, a buyer has appeared, a tax bill came as a shock. Each of these questions is a place your firm is either named or absent.
Problem-first
“R&D tax credit help for a manufacturer that has never claimed it”
A specific service for a specific buyer. Pages that say who qualifies, what evidence is needed and what the risks are are rare, which makes them quotable.
Category
“Who does a quality of earnings review before we sell the company?”
A transaction trigger with urgency and large fees. AI leans on national brands and ranking lists unless a regional firm states this service clearly.
Category
“Outsourced CFO for a $20 million company, what does it cost and who offers it?”
Advisory and fractional finance work is the high-value way into a client. Buyers ask about scope and price before they ask about names.
Problem-first
“How much does a business audit cost, and do we actually need one?”
Often triggered by a lender or investor requirement. A plain explanation of what drives cost, and of audit versus review versus compilation, is hard to find.
Comparison
“Regional CPA firm or a national firm for a growing construction company?”
A buyer weighing firm types, with an industry attached. Honest comparison content from a regional firm is uncommon.
Examples of how buyers phrase these questions, not measured search volumes.
Why firms go unnamed
Your clients know you are good. AI has to be told, in specifics.
Established firms assume the referral network that built the practice will also carry them through AI. It does not work that way.
“Tax, audit and advisory” describes every firm
When our tool read these firms’ homepages, 9 of 15 came out as a general accounting and tax advisory or accounting and business consulting firm. Buyers ask by industry, service and platform. A firm that does not state its specialisms is hard to place.
Other people’s lists do the shortlisting
In our audit, a firm’s own website was 4 of 584 cited sources. The rest were Wikipedia, review sites, directories and “top accounting firms” lists, many written by software, hosting and outsourcing vendors.
The largest brands answer every question
Even for mid-market questions, the same names recurred. Deloitte was named as an alternative in 17 of 75 answers, Grant Thornton in 12 and PwC in 11.
Websites are built around deadlines, not decisions
Most firm sites explain compliance and list services. Owners ask what to do next, what it costs and whether they need you at all. Without those answers there is little for AI to quote.
Where AI looks
The places AI looks before it names an accounting firm
These sources appeared most often in our audit of 15 established firms. Some are reference sites, some are lists written by vendors, and some are other firms’ location pages.
Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Yelpyelp.com- CClutchclutch.co
- KKemper CPA Groupkempercpa.com
- AACE Cloud Hostingacecloudhosting.com
- AA-One Outsourcingaoneoutsourcing.com
- CCherry Bekaertcbh.com
- ZZampzamp.com
Counted across 584 citations in our October 2026 audit. A source appearing here is not an endorsement, and we do not guarantee placement in any directory, list or ranking.
Our audit
We audited 15 established accounting firms. Most were hardly named.
We asked AI assistants five buyer questions per firm, with the firm’s name left out. These are large, long-established firms, and the results were still thin.
32.0%
Average AI visibility across 15 established firms and 75 buyer queries
13 of 15
Named in two of five queries or fewer
2 of 15
Not named in a single query
0.7%
Of cited sources were the firm’s own website
Research
We audited 15 established accounting firms for AI visibility
Every firm, every score, the full method and its limits. Free to read.
Read the full auditMostly large national and top-tier regional firms, chosen by us rather than at random, so this likely flatters smaller firms. One run on one day, and AI answers change. Eight of the 23 sites we tried could not be scanned, which we cannot interpret from the outside.
The tax calendar to advisory calendar
Different questions arrive at different times of the year
Your year runs on deadlines, and so does the way owners look for help. Seasonal pages catch the rush. Evergreen advisory pages catch the decisions that fill the rest of the year, and carry the higher-value engagements. This is how we would map them, based on how the filing and audit year runs rather than on measured search volumes.
- Year-end and early year1
Clean-up and preparation
Owners with messy books ask whether they need a CPA or a bookkeeper and who can fix the records before filing. Pages on what is included, what it costs and when a bookkeeper is enough set the tone for the whole relationship.
- Filing season2
Urgent and specific
Tax notices, missed deadlines, entity questions and filing costs. Seasonal pages need the right dates and are kept current each year, which is a content discipline most sites miss.
- After the deadline3
The switching window
Once the rush is over, owners ask whether to stay with an accountant who was unresponsive. Honest guides on what to expect from a good firm, and how a handover works, meet them at the moment they are reconsidering.
- Mid-year4
Planning and credits
Entity structure, R&D credits and cost segregation, multistate questions. Niche pages by industry and service, written with a partner, are where a regional firm can stand out from the national names.
- Autumn5
Audit and reporting
Lenders, investors and boards ask for audited or reviewed statements. Owners ask what an audit costs, how long it takes and what they need ready. Clear scope and cost explainers answer all three.
- Any time6
Transactions and fractional finance
A sale, a raise or a growth plan triggers quality of earnings reviews, due diligence and outsourced CFO questions. These are the highest-value entry points, and the least seasonal. They deserve the strongest pages on the site.
The programme
AEO and GEO first. SEO as the foundation underneath.
AI assistants and Google read the web the same way. They look for a clear entity, direct answers and agreement from sources they trust. We build all three, in the order that gets your firm named.
01
Say what you are best at, in the client’s words
The industries you know, the services you lead with, the platforms and software you support, and the size of client you suit, stated the same way across your site, directories and location pages. Specialism is the strongest lever we have.
- Firm, partner and office entity profiles and structured data
- Industry and service positioning, one clear page per niche
- Fixes so AI crawlers can read every page
02
Publish the decisions, not only the deadlines
Plain-English pages on what owners decide: CPA or bookkeeper, audit or review, when an outsourced CFO makes sense, what a quality of earnings review is. Seasonal tax pages kept accurate each year, and evergreen advisory pages that keep working.
- Decision and cost guides for each service line
- A maintained tax calendar and seasonal pages
- Answer blocks built to be quoted, reviewed by your partners
03
Earn presence where the lists are built
Directories, state societies, professional bodies, local profiles and ranked lists decide who gets named. We help your firm earn an accurate, consistent presence, openly and within your professional rules, and build location pages that say something real.
- Directory, listing and profile audit and clean-up
- Location and industry pages that are not thin copies
- Trade and business media placements
04
Measure what AI says
We track how assistants describe your firm across the questions that matter and report it next to search performance, so you can see movement in both.
- A baseline audit of AI answers for your niches
- Ongoing citation and mention tracking
- Search impressions, enquiries and introductory calls booked
SEO is the foundation of all of this, and we run it properly: technical health, structure, content and links. The aim is the AI answer, because that is where the shortlist is forming. The work that gets a firm cited tends to strengthen classic search as well, but we do not promise rankings, citations or a number of enquiries.
Pick your lane
Start with Inbound. Add outbound for a niche you want to grow.
Answer four questions and see which lane fits a firm like yours. It is a starting point for the discovery call, not a quote.
Your recommendation
Answer the four questions to see which lane fits.
It takes about twenty seconds. The answer is a starting point for the discovery call, not a quote.
Our usual recommendation for Accounting and CPA firms
They find you
Inbound
$2,500 a month
Or $6,000 a quarter, or $18,000 a year, paid up front.
AEO, GEO and SEO programme with visitor identification and scoring, so the attention you earn is worked, not just counted.
How AEO and GEO workYou reach them
Outbound
$2,500 a month
Or $6,000 a quarter, or $18,000 a year, paid up front.
Managed outreach across calls, email and LinkedIn to the accounts you choose, timed by buying signals, with human approval before anything sends.
How signal-based outbound worksBoth, as one system
Full Hybrid
$5,000 a month
Or $12,000 a quarter, or $36,000 a year, paid up front.
Inbound and Outbound together, synced to one file per prospect, so nothing falls between the two.
Compare the three lanesBilled monthly with no lock-in. We recommend around six months because search and AI citations compound, but it is a recommendation, not a minimum. Prices exclude taxes. Full pricing and Terms.
Is it worth it?
What is one new client worth to your firm?
No benchmarks and no promises. Enter your own figures and see what a few more introductory calls from search and AI would be worth against the programme fee.
Your numbers, not ours
The figures pre-filled are placeholders, not benchmarks. Replace them with yours. If you do not have them yet, the manual audit estimates demand for you.
3.5
Introductory calls a month
1.1
New clients a month
$12,600
New fees a month
1.2
Months to cover six months of fees
Six months of the programme at monthly billing is $15,000. At $12,000 a client, 2 new clients cover it.
Arithmetic on the figures you entered. It is not a forecast and not a promise of results, and it ignores churn, repeat work and cost of service.
Professional marketing rules
Built for how CPA firms are actually allowed to market
Accounting is a licensed profession with its own conduct rules. We write for that from the first draft, and your partners and compliance lead approve everything before it goes live.
No misleading claims or promised outcomes
The AICPA Code does not allow advertising or solicitation that is false, misleading or deceptive. We do not promise tax savings, refunds, credit amounts or audit results, and we do not claim to be “the best”.
Referral fees and commissions
The AICPA Code requires disclosure of referral fees and commissions, and restricts commissions for clients you also audit or review. If a firm recommends a product or partner, we write the disclosure into the page.
Independence and attest clients
Independence rules limit what you can do for, and how you can relate to, attest clients. We describe your services as they are and do not write content that blurs advisory and attest roles.
Licensing, credentials and confidentiality
Use of the CPA title, firm names and licensing details are set by each state board of accountancy. We follow your state’s wording, and we name clients or describe their work only with written consent.
General information, not professional or legal advice. Rules for CPA marketing, firm names and licensing differ by state, and your own state board of accountancy rules apply. The AICPA Code of Professional Conduct is a reference point, not a substitute for your jurisdiction’s rules or your own compliance counsel.
Free, two ways
Start with an audit. Pick who runs it.
Both are free. One is instant and automated. The other is a person doing the full job.
Option one: instant
Audit my site, now
Enter your domain and our AI visibility checker shows how assistants talk about your accounting firm today and which pages they read to build the answer.
- How AI assistants currently describe you
- Which sources they cite instead of you
- Where your site falls short for AI readers
Option two: a real person
Ask for a manual audit
A member of our team reviews your business by hand. You get the findings and the data, free, whether or not you work with us.
- Full business and website audit
- Competitor research: who gets named and why
- Demand research: what your market actually asks
- The data presented to you, not locked behind a pitch
Free for established businesses auditing their own site. Please use your business email so we can match it to your domain, or email [email protected] confirming the site is yours. We do not run free audits for agencies working on behalf of clients. See white label AEO.
Honest fit
Who this is for, and who it is not for
A good fit
- Established regional and mid-size firms with a real client base, defined services and clients you are proud of
- Clients worth enough that one new one pays for the service
- A partner or marketing lead who can approve content and talk about the niches you serve
- A firm ready to be specific about industries, services and the clients you suit best
Not a fit
- Brand-new practices with no client base yet
- High-volume, price-led return preparation where the aim is the lowest cost per return
- Anyone who wants superlatives, promised savings or claims your state board would not accept
- Firms that want guaranteed rankings, guaranteed citations or a guaranteed number of clients
Works on whatever your website runs on
WordPress
Webflow
Shopify
Squarespace
Wix
Framer
Next.js
Questions
Accounting and CPA firms: AEO, GEO and SEO, answered
The questions we get asked first.
Why do AI assistants name other accounting firms and not mine?
Because AI names what is clearly described and widely corroborated. If your site describes the firm as full service and you are thin on the directories, lists and profiles AI draws from, you are hard to place, however strong your reputation among clients is.
How is this different from SEO for accountants?
SEO earns a place in a list of links. AEO and GEO aim to get your firm named inside the answer an AI assistant gives. They share foundations, so we do both. The AI answer is the aim, because owners increasingly start there.
Is the work compatible with AICPA and state board rules?
We write with them in mind from the first draft, including the rules on misleading claims and on referral fees and commissions, and nothing goes live without your approval. Rules differ by state, so your own compliance counsel should make the final call on wording.
Should we focus on tax season or on advisory work?
Both, for different reasons. Seasonal pages catch the filing rush and need to be kept accurate every year. Evergreen advisory pages, such as outsourced CFO, quality of earnings reviews and audit cost, carry the higher-value engagements and work all year, so they usually deserve more attention.
Do we have to choose a niche?
You do not have to give up the work you do, but AI needs something specific to place you with. We help you state the industries, services and platforms you are strongest in, without hiding the rest of the practice.
What do you need from our partners?
A discovery call, a review of the game plan, and timely approval of pages and content. We handle the research and drafting, and a partner reviews each page for technical accuracy.
Do you guarantee our firm will be named?
No. We do not guarantee rankings, AI citations or a number of enquiries, and nobody honest can. We tell you plainly what we expect for your niches, and we say so if this is not the right fit.
How long before we see results?
The first months go on foundations, and search and AI citations compound over time. We report early signals from the start and recommend around six months, but you pay monthly and can cancel any time.
What does it cost?
Inbound is $2,500 a month on monthly billing with no long-term commitment, or $6,000 a quarter or $18,000 a year paid up front. Outbound is the same price and Full Hybrid is $5,000 a month. See the pricing page for full detail.
Is the free audit really free?
Yes. The instant audit runs on our AI visibility checker. A manual audit is done by a person for firms reviewing their own site, using a business email matched to your domain. We do not run free audits for agencies working for clients.
Be the accounting firm AI names when your buyers ask.
Thirty minutes. We look at where you stand in AI answers and search, who is being named instead, and whether this programme makes sense for your business. If it does not, we will say so.
- A clear scope and price before any commitment
- A game plan you validate before work begins
- A free audit either way, instant or by a person
Pick a time that suits you
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Receipts
Where the numbers on this page come from
- 01
Deligatr AI visibility audit of 15 established accounting firms
75 live grounded buyer queries and 584 citations, run in October 2026. Average visibility 32.0%. 13 of 15 firms named in two of five queries or fewer. Eight of 23 sites could not be scanned.
- 02
AICPA, Code of Professional Conduct
Conduct rules for CPAs in public practice, including advertising and solicitation, commissions and referral fees, and independence. State boards of accountancy set their own rules, which take precedence in each jurisdiction.
Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and the other names and logos shown on this page are trademarks of their respective owners. They are shown to identify the search and AI platforms, website platforms and publications we refer to, and do not imply endorsement or affiliation. The AI answer mock-up and buyer questions are illustrative.