Problem-first
“Our sponsor wants margin up within a year and our plant operations are a mess. Who do we call?”
The trigger, in the buyer’s own words. They do not yet know whether they need operations, strategy or interim management.
AEO, GEO and SEO for consulting firms
Your next client asks AI who to shortlist.Make sure your firm is named.
You have the partners, the method and the client list. A CEO or CFO now describes the problem to an AI assistant before they know any firm’s name, and the answer is usually the same few global brands. We make your specialism the answer, with SEO as the foundation and AI answers as the aim.
- For established consultancies
- Partner-led and relationship-first
- 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 are the best operations consultants for a PE-backed manufacturer?
AI answer
- Global strategy brand
- Big Four advisory arm
- Consulting ranking roundup
- Your firm is not named
Illustrative example
How buyers ask now
The shortlist forms before anyone visits a partner profile
A consulting buyer starts with a trigger, such as a deal, a stalled programme or a board mandate, and puts it to an AI assistant. Each of these questions is a place your firm is either named or absent.
Comparison
“Boutique consultancy or Big Four for a finance transformation?”
A buyer weighing firm types. Honest comparison content is rare, so it gets quoted.
Category
“Operations consultants for a PE-backed manufacturer”
Specialism decides this one. A firm that never states its sector and client type is hard to place.
Problem-first
“Our ERP programme has stalled halfway. Do we need a consultant or a systems integrator?”
A confused buyer asking a real question. The firm that explains the difference gets considered.
Comparison
“How do I choose a strategy consultancy for a mid-market company?”
A criteria question. AI leans on ranking pages and advice articles to answer it.
Local
“Management consultants in Manchester with healthcare experience”
Office, sector and partner signals together. Thin location and sector pages leave you out.
Examples of how buyers phrase these questions, not measured search volumes.
Why firms go unnamed
Your reputation is real. It lives in rooms AI cannot enter.
Established consultancies grow on referrals, partner relationships and conference introductions. None of that is written down where an AI assistant can read it.
Global brands take every generic question
In our audit, McKinsey was named as an alternative in 37 of 95 answers, Deloitte in 33 and Bain in 25. McKinsey could not even be scanned, and it was still the most-named firm.
Rankings and careers sites do the talking
A firm’s own website was 1.1% of the 760 sources AI cited. Four case-interview and consulting-careers sites alone supplied 94 of them, more than the firms themselves.
Everyone “helps leaders navigate complexity”
Positioning that reads the same across firms gives AI nothing to separate you on. A named method, a defined sector and a stated client type are what make a firm placeable.
The best thinking sits in decks and in heads
Research, benchmarks and case insight are shared in meetings and gated PDFs. AI quotes what is published openly and clearly attributed, and most firms publish little of it.
Where AI looks
The places AI looks before it names a consultancy
These sources appeared most often in our audit of 19 established firms. If your firm is absent or described inaccurately in them, you are harder to name.
- MManagement Consultedmanagementconsulted.com
Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org- CCaseBasixcasebasix.com
- CConsultancy.orgconsultancy.org
- LLaw.com expert directorylaw.com
- FForbesforbes.com
- CConsultportconsultport.com
- VVaultlegacy.vault.com
Counted across 760 citations on 315 domains in our October 2026 audit. Several of these are careers and interview-preparation sites that AI also uses for buyer questions. A source appearing here is not an endorsement, and we do not guarantee placement in any ranking or directory.
Our audit
We audited 19 established consulting firms. Brand did not guarantee a mention.
We asked AI assistants five buyer questions per firm, with the firm’s name left out. Several well-known firms were named in only one or two.
52.6%
Average AI visibility across 19 firms and 95 buyer queries
9 of 19
Named in two of five queries or fewer
1.1%
Of cited sources were the firm’s own website
37 of 95
Answers named McKinsey, a firm we could not even scan
Research
We audited 19 established consulting firms for AI visibility
Every firm, every score, the full method and its limits. Free to read.
Read the full auditEstablished firms only, chosen by us rather than at random, and the sample mixes global brands with mid-size specialists, which likely flatters boutiques. Four of 23 sites could not be scanned. One run on one day, and AI answers change.
Specialism map
Six kinds of consultancy, six ways of being found
AI does not rank a consultancy. It answers a question from a buyer with a particular trigger. So the work differs by what you sell and who buys it, because the question and the sources behind it differ.
Found through a point of view
Buyers ask how to choose a strategy firm and whether a boutique can do the job. Named partners, a stated position and published research are what AI cites. A general “we help leaders” page is not.
Found through the deal
The buyer is often a PE-backed CEO or a sponsor. The question carries a sector and a goal. Sector pages, operating-partner profiles and trade-media mentions matter more than a services list.
Found through the stalled programme
A CFO describes a failing close process or an ERP programme in trouble. Plain answers on what a transformation consultant does, and when you need one instead of an integrator, are quotable.
Found through the comparison
Buyers compare you with systems integrators and the Big Four advisory arms. Honest comparison pages and a clear independence statement give AI something specific to repeat.
Found through the deadline
A new rule or an audit finding triggers the search. Timely, accurate explainers with a named expert behind them earn citations, and the compliance bar for what you claim is high.
Found through the credentialed expert
Counsel and finance teams look for named experts. Expert directories and legal media sit behind the answer, so profile accuracy and published analysis do most of the work.
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 partners legible
Who you are, what you are best at, who you serve and which people stand behind it, described the same way everywhere. Partners are the unit of trust in consulting, so their profiles are treated as first-class pages.
- Firm, specialism and partner entity profiles with structured data
- Named methods and frameworks defined once and used consistently
- Technical fixes so AI crawlers can read every page
02
Publish what only you can know
Research, benchmarks and case insight are the strongest citable assets a consultancy has. We turn your best thinking into open, attributed pages built to be quoted, and into answers for the questions buyers ask at each trigger.
- Research and data pages with a clear method and source
- Case studies you can substantiate, anonymised where needed
- Trigger-led answer pages, such as when to hire and how to choose
03
Earn the mentions AI trusts
Rankings, roundups, trade media and expert directories shape which firms get named. We help your firm earn an accurate, honest presence there, within the claims you can substantiate.
- Ranking, directory and reference-page audit and clean-up
- Trade-media and speaking placements that cite your partners
- Review and profile consistency across the places buyers check
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 specialisms
- Ongoing citation and mention tracking
- Search impressions, enquiries and scoping conversations 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
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 Management and advisory consultancies
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 scoping conversations 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.
2.0
Scoping conversations a month
0.5
New clients a month
$37,500
New fees a month
0.4
Months to cover six months of fees
Six months of the programme at monthly billing is $15,000. At $75,000 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.
Claims and confidentiality
Built for how advisers are expected to market
Consulting has fewer advertising rules than law or finance, but client confidentiality and truthful claims matter a great deal. We write for both from the first draft, and your partners approve everything before it goes live.
Claims about results
Advertising claims must be truthful and substantiated. We do not write outcome promises or typical-results claims you cannot back with evidence, and we say what a figure covers and what it does not.
Client confidentiality
Professional codes for management consultants, such as those of IMC USA and FEACO, treat non-public client information as confidential. We name clients only with written permission, and we anonymise case studies so the client cannot be identified.
Testimonials, endorsements and awards
The FTC Endorsement Guides, 16 CFR Part 255, expect endorsements to be genuine and any material connection to be disclosed. We apply that standard to client quotes, partner-linked reviews and paid rankings or badges, and label paid placements.
Regulated lines and outreach
If your firm gives investment, legal, audit or expert-witness services, that regulator’s own marketing rules also apply. Outreach is sent to named business contacts within email and data rules, and nothing publishes or sends without your approval.
General information, not legal advice. Advertising, confidentiality and regulatory rules differ by country, field and engagement terms, and your own counsel and professional body rules apply. The FTC Endorsement Guides and the IMC USA and FEACO codes are reference points, not substitutes for your own obligations.
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 consultancy 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 boutique and mid-size consultancies with real client work, named partners and a defined offer
- Engagements worth enough that one new one pays for the service
- A managing partner or marketing lead who can approve content
- A firm willing to be specific about its sector, client type and method
Not a fit
- Brand-new practices with no client base or case history yet
- Firms that cannot publish any research, method or case insight, even anonymised
- Volume lead-vendor models where every enquiry is bought, not earned
- Firms that want guaranteed rankings, citations or engagement numbers
Works on whatever your website runs on
WordPress
Webflow
Shopify
Squarespace
Wix
Framer
Next.js
Questions
Management and advisory consultancies: AEO, GEO and SEO, answered
The questions we get asked first.
Why do AI assistants name McKinsey and Deloitte and not my firm?
Because AI names what is clearly described and widely corroborated, and the biggest brands are both. If your firm is described in general terms on its own site and is thin on the rankings, media and reference pages AI trusts, it is hard to place, however strong your client work is.
We win through referrals. Why does AI visibility matter?
Referrals still work, but a referred buyer now often checks you with an AI assistant before the first call, and many buyers shortlist without a referral at all. Being named, and described accurately, protects the work referrals bring and reaches buyers who do not yet know your name.
How can a boutique compete with global brands in AI answers?
By being more specific, not bigger. A stated sector, client type, method and named partners give AI a precise reason to name you on a precise question. Global brands win generic questions, and a boutique can win the specific ones.
Do named frameworks and methodologies help?
They can, when each is defined clearly on its own page, named consistently and credited to your firm. A named method is a distinct entity that AI can attach to you. A vague framework used differently in every document does not help.
Is published research worth the effort?
It is usually the strongest citable asset a consultancy has, because it offers something original that AI cannot find elsewhere. It must state its method and sources and be open to read. We help you shape it and decide what to publish, and we never invent data.
Can we show client work without breaching confidentiality?
Yes. Use written client permission where you name them, and anonymise otherwise, with enough care that the client cannot be identified. Focus on the problem, the approach and what you learned. Only state results you can substantiate.
How does outbound work without damaging our brand?
It is small, named-account and partner-led. We build a short list of target organisations, write a note around a real trigger for each, and send it for your approval. Replies are routed to you, and nothing is sent at volume.
Do you guarantee our firm will be named, and how long does it take?
No. We do not guarantee rankings, AI citations or a number of enquiries, and nobody honest can. The first months go on foundations and results compound over time. We 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 consultancy 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 19 established consulting firms
95 live grounded buyer queries and 760 citations, run in October 2026. Average visibility 52.6%. 9 of 19 firms named in two of five queries or fewer. Four of 23 sites could not be scanned.
- 02
Deligatr AI visibility audit of 29 B2B companies
An earlier, smaller audit that included six management consulting firms, averaging 17%. Different firms and sample size, so not directly comparable.
- 03
FTC, Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255)
Federal guidance on testimonials, endorsements and disclosure of material connections, revised in 2023.
- 04
IMC USA, Ethics for Management Consultants
The Institute of Management Consultants USA code of ethics, covering client confidentiality and conflicts of interest.
- 05
FEACO, Guidelines for Professional Conduct
The European Federation of Management Consultancies Associations guidelines, including client confidentiality.
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.