Problem-first
“We are building a $20 million warehouse. How do we choose a general contractor, and should we use design-build?”
The owner has a budget and a site and no firm in mind. The firm that explains delivery methods plainly gets considered.
AEO, GEO and SEO for AEC firms
Owners ask AI who should build it.Make sure it names your firm.
You have the projects, the repeat clients and the prequalification file. AI assistants now draw up a first shortlist before an RFQ is written, and established firms are often missing from it. We fix that, with SEO as the foundation, project-type pages as the proof, and outreach to named owners where it helps.
- For established architecture, engineering and construction firms
- Built around your project types and prequalification proof
- Written by people, approved by you
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 is the best general contractor for a $20 million warehouse in the Southeast?
AI answer
- National top-tier builder
- Another large contractor
- Industry ranking list
- Your firm is not named
Illustrative example
How owners ask now
The shortlist starts as a question, not an RFP
Owners, developers, facility managers and public agencies describe a project to an AI assistant before they write a scope. Each of these questions is a place your firm is either named or absent.
Category
“Best architecture firm for a mixed-use development”
A typology query. AI looks for firms that say they do mixed-use, and for projects that prove it.
Local
“Who builds data centres in the Southeast?”
Region and project type together. Market pages, named projects and trade-media lists feed the answer.
Comparison
“Design-build vs design-bid-build for a hospital expansion: which is faster, and which firms do it well?”
A buyer weighing delivery methods. Honest comparisons that admit when bid-build is the better route are rare, which makes them quotable.
Problem-first
“Our county needs a design team for a new library. How does selection work, and which firms should we shortlist?”
A public agency on its first big job. The answer leans on qualifications-based selection explainers and firms that show comparable civic work.
Comparison
“Which engineering firms have the strongest safety record for industrial projects?”
Safety is a prequalification question. AI repeats what firms publish, so figures must be exact, current and sourced.
Examples of how buyers phrase these questions, not measured search volumes.
Why firms go unnamed
The best firms win by reputation. AI cannot read reputation.
Much of the work in this industry is won through relationships and past projects, often before a formal RFP exists. AI assistants do not see any of that.
The first shortlist is forming earlier than you think
By the time a formal request is issued, an owner has usually formed a view of who is credible. That view is increasingly shaped by what an AI assistant says when asked, and it only repeats what is published.
Rankings and directories do most of the talking
In our audit of 20 established firms, a firm’s own website was 1.3% of the sources AI cited. Trade-media rankings, encyclopaedia entries, directories and contractor guides supplied the rest.
The same few giants fill the answer
Whatever was asked, the same names returned. Turner Construction was named as an alternative in 25 of 100 answers, Bechtel in 17 and AECOM in 15, counting name variants as one.
Project galleries show buildings, not proof
A gallery of photographs does not say who the owner was, what the delivery method was, what the firm’s role was or what changed because of it. Without those facts there is nothing for AI to quote.
Where AI looks
The places AI looks before it names an AEC firm
These sources appeared most often in our audit of 20 established firms. If you are absent or inaccurate in them, you are harder to name.
Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Yelpyelp.com- BBuilding Design + Constructionbdcnetwork.com
- GGobridgitgobridgit.com
- CConstruction Digitalconstructiondigital.com
- BBiscredbiscred.com
- BBuilding Radarbuildingradar.com
- HHouzzhouzz.com
Counted across 792 citations in our October 2026 audit. Local-style questions drew on Yelp and Houzz, comparison questions on trade-media rankings. A source appearing here is not an endorsement, and we do not guarantee placement in any ranking or directory.
Our audit
We audited 20 established AEC firms. The local question lost them most often.
We asked AI assistants five buyer questions per firm, with the firm’s name left out. The firms are among the best known in their field, and the pattern still held.
60.0%
Average AI visibility across 20 established firms and 100 buyer queries
6 of 20
Local-style questions that named the firm, against 17 of 20 for comparisons
1 of 20
Named in none of its five queries
1.3%
Of cited sources were the firm’s own website
Research
We audited 20 AEC firms for AI visibility
Every firm, every score, the full method and its limits. Free to read.
Read the full auditMostly very large global and national architects, engineers and contractors, chosen by us rather than at random, so this likely flatters small and mid-size regional firms. One run on one day, and AI answers change. Three more firms could not be scanned.
Project-type map
Owners do not ask for a firm. They ask for a project type.
In our audit, seven of the ten citations to a firm’s own site went to a sector, service or project-type page, not a homepage. So the unit of work is the project type, and each one needs a page that answers what that owner asks. Here is how we start for six common types.
“Who builds hospitals and medical facilities without disrupting a live campus?”
A page for the typology, with named projects, the owner type, the delivery method, phasing and infection-control approach, and your role. Sourced from your project files and reviewed by the project lead.
“Who can deliver a data centre fast, and where have they done it?”
Buyers ask by capacity, region and speed. One market page per type of facility, with scale, programme and your self-perform capability stated exactly. Trade-media lists for this sector were cited repeatedly, so presence there matters.
“How does selection work, and who has done a building like ours?”
Agencies ask process questions first. A plain explainer of qualifications-based selection and prequalification, linked to comparable public projects, written to respect procurement rules.
“How do we choose a general contractor for a $20 million warehouse?”
A decision guide that compares design-build and bid-build honestly, with typical questions to ask a builder, and a project page for each facility type you deliver in each region.
“Which architects have actually delivered mixed-use, not just drawn it?”
Typology pages that pair the design story with built outcomes and the owner’s brief, plus the awards and rankings that corroborate it, stated accurately.
“Who has experience with substations, water or transport work like ours?”
Service and sector pages that name the asset class, the standards you work to and the licences held by state. Firm sector pages like these were among the own-site pages AI cited in our audit.
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
Make the firm and its licences legible
Who you are, which project types you deliver, in which regions and for which owners, with licences, registrations and prequalification credentials stated the same way everywhere.
- Firm, office and leadership entity profiles with structured data
- Licence, registration and certification details shown where buyers and AI look
- Fixes so AI crawlers can read every project and sector page
02
Turn the portfolio into answerable proof
Project-type pages and case studies built around the facts an owner asks for: owner type, size, delivery method, your role, the challenge and what the project delivered. Drafted from your project files and approved by your project leads.
- A page for each sector or typology you want to win more of
- Case studies structured so a single paragraph can be quoted
- Delivery-method and selection guides for owners, including honest limits
03
Earn the mentions AI trusts
Trade-media rankings, awards, directories and project-owner references shape what AI names. We help your firm be present and accurate there, openly and without paying for placement we would not disclose.
- Ranking, directory and listing audit and clean-up
- Trade-media and award submissions prepared from your real work
- Review and reference profile management
04
Measure what AI says
We track how assistants describe your firm across the questions owners ask, by project type and region, and report it next to search performance and RFP invitations received.
- A baseline audit of AI answers for your sectors and regions
- Ongoing citation and mention tracking
- Search impressions, enquiries and pursuits opened
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 invitations to bid.
Pick your lane
Hybrid is worth considering when you have named target accounts.
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.
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 worksOur usual recommendation for Architecture, engineering and construction firms
Both, 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 qualified invitations 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.
2.4
Pursuits a month
0.5
New clients a month
$72,000
New fees a month
0.2
Months to cover six months of fees
Six months of the programme at monthly billing is $15,000. At $150,000 a client, one new client covers 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.
Regulated marketing
Built for licensed professions and public buyers
Architecture and engineering are licensed professions, contractors are licensed state by state, and public procurement has its own contact rules. We write and reach out with all of that in mind, and your principals approve everything before it goes live.
Titles and licences
In most US states only licensed individuals may call themselves architects, and engineering titles are regulated too, with rules that differ by state. We write claims that match each person’s licence, and show licence numbers where your state expects them. California, for example, requires a contractor’s licence number in advertising.
Accurate claims about projects
We state your actual role on each project, such as architect of record, design-builder or subcontractor, and only name owners and projects you are free to name. Awards, certifications, bonding and safety figures are stated exactly, current and verifiable.
Public agencies and open solicitations
Many public bodies restrict contact with staff and selection committees once a solicitation is issued, often called a cone of silence. Federal rules also prohibit disclosing or obtaining certain procurement information before award. We do not run outreach into an open solicitation.
Gifts, hospitality and lobbying
Public employees are often limited in what they may accept, and some jurisdictions treat efforts to influence a procurement as lobbying that may need registration. We keep outreach informational, aimed at organisations, and check with your counsel when a pursuit touches these rules.
General information, not legal advice. Licensing, advertising and procurement rules differ by state, country and agency, and your own licensing boards, counsel and solicitation documents apply. Check each solicitation for its own communication rules.
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 AEC 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 architecture, engineering and construction firms with a real portfolio and repeat clients
- Projects or retainers worth enough that one new one pays for the service
- A principal or business development lead who can approve content and release project details
- A firm ready to be specific about the project types it wants more of
Not a fit
- Start-ups with no completed projects to point to
- Anyone who wants claims about licences, awards or safety that they cannot document
- Residential remodelling lead-vendor models where each enquiry is bought, not earned
- Firms that want guaranteed rankings, guaranteed citations or guaranteed bid invitations
Works on whatever your website runs on
WordPress
Webflow
Shopify
Squarespace
Wix
Framer
Next.js
Questions
Architecture, engineering and construction firms: AEO, GEO and SEO, answered
The questions we get asked first.
Why does AI name other firms and not mine, when we have built more of these?
Because AI names what is clearly described and widely corroborated. If your projects are shown as photographs and your firm is thin on the rankings, directories and trade media AI trusts, it is hard to place, however strong your record is.
How is this different from construction SEO or architect SEO?
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, but the AI answer is the aim because that is where owners increasingly start.
Our work is won through relationships and RFPs. Does AI visibility matter?
It matters most before the RFP, when an owner or developer is forming a view of who is credible. It also matters when someone on the selection team looks you up. We never suggest it replaces relationships, only that it should not undermine them.
How do you make a project portfolio something AI can use?
By structuring each project around the facts a buyer asks for: owner type, size, delivery method, your role, the challenge and the outcome. Pages grouped by sector and typology are the easiest for AI to quote, and in our audit most cited own-site pages were of that kind.
Can you work with the rules on licensed titles and public procurement?
Yes. We write for licensing and title rules from the first draft, we do not run outreach into open public solicitations, and nothing goes live without your approval. Rules differ by state and agency, so your own counsel should make the final call.
Do rankings, awards and directories matter?
In our audit they were the most-cited sources, alongside Wikipedia. We help you be present and accurate in them and tell you which are paid before you decide. We never buy links or run fake reviews.
Can you target the developers and owners we want?
Yes, with Outbound or Full Hybrid. We build a named list of owners, developers and facility teams that buy what you build and reach them as organisations, not through open public solicitations, with your approval of every message.
Do you guarantee our firm will be named or that we will win more work?
No. We do not guarantee rankings, AI citations, invitations to bid or won projects, and nobody honest can. We tell you plainly what we expect for your sectors, and we say so if this is not the right fit.
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. We recommend around six months, but you can cancel any time.
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 AEC 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
The calendar is provided by our scheduling partner. Loading it connects to their servers, which may set cookies. See our Cookie Policy.
Calendar not loading? Open the booking page in a new tab
Receipts
Where the numbers on this page come from
- 01
Deligatr AI visibility audit of 20 established architecture, engineering and construction firms
100 live grounded buyer queries and 792 citations, run in October 2026. Average visibility 60.0%. Three more firms could not be scanned.
- 02
NCARB, Model Law and Regulations
Model provisions on licensure and the use of the title architect. Each US jurisdiction sets its own law, which takes precedence.
- 03
California Business and Professions Code, section 7027.1
Contractor advertising rules, including display of the licence number. An example of a state requirement, not a national rule.
- 04
Federal Acquisition Regulation 3.104-3
Statutory prohibitions on disclosing or obtaining contractor bid or proposal information and source selection information before federal contract award.
- 05
Miami-Dade County, Cone of Silence
One example of a local cone of silence, which restricts communication about an advertised solicitation until award recommendation. Rules vary by agency.
- 06
New York State Commission on Ethics, Plain Language Guide to Procurement Lobbying
Illustrates how some jurisdictions treat efforts to influence a procurement as lobbying. Registration rules differ by 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.