Done-for-you or do-it-with-me: which GEO model fits your team
Illustration: AI-generated
In GEO (generative engine optimization) there are two working models. In the done-for-you model, an agency measures how ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini answer your buyer questions and closes the gaps itself. In the do-it-with-me model, your team learns this work while the agency guides and reviews. Which one fits depends mainly on whether your team has two to four hours a week for it and whether the knowledge should stay in-house.
The two models compared
| Done-for-you | Do-it-with-me | |
|---|---|---|
| Who measures | the agency | the agency first, then your team |
| Who writes the pages | the agency | your team, the agency reviews |
| Time in your own team | low, approvals | two to four hours a week |
| Knowledge afterwards | stays with the agency | stays in your team |
| Duration | ongoing, monthly | limited, for example six weeks |
When done-for-you fits
When nobody on the team has time for measurements and new pages, when several markets and languages need measuring at once, or when external sources such as trade media and directories make up most of the work. Then ongoing support pays off, because the agency repeats the measurement every month and works through the levers one by one.
When do-it-with-me fits
When your marketing team can change website copy itself and wants to keep the topic in-house for good. For agencies that want to offer GEO to their own clients, it is the faster route to a method of their own. And when the budget fits a limited project better than a monthly retainer.
What a team needs to learn
- 1Measure your own buyer questions: a fixed set of questions, several runs on each platform, because individual answers vary a lot.
- 2Spot gaps: which questions your company is missing from, who is named instead and which pages the assistant read for it.
- 3Write pages that assistants carry over: an answer in the first paragraph, sections that make sense on their own, and clear information about who the offer is for.
- 4Standardise company data: the same name, the same address and the same service description on your website, profiles and directories.
- 5Approach external sources: find out which lists, trade media and directories the assistants read for your industry.
- 6Re-measure: the same questions in the same setup, so that changes become visible.
How to recognise good coaching
The provider measures itself with the same method and publishes the numbers. There is a baseline measurement on your own buyer questions. Your first real pages are reviewed before they go live. And at the end, your team re-measures on its own, with templates it can keep.
What both models cost
At Grovia Digital, the visibility programme (done-for-you) costs $2,100 (AED 7,700) net per month for the first three months, then $2,750 (AED 10,100) net, cancellable monthly. The GEO coaching with knowledge transfer (do-it-with-me) costs $4,300 (AED 15,800) net, fixed, for six weeks. If you switch to the programme within 60 days afterwards, you get $1,100 (AED 4,100) credited against the first month.
How Grovia Digital works
Grovia Digital is a GEO agency for AI search visibility in Business Bay, Dubai, for companies in the DACH region and the Gulf states. We make sure ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini name your company when buyers ask for a provider. We prove the result with the same measurement we publish for ourselves.
- Month 1: measurement on your buyer questions. 35 questions, each asked five times on ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini, 525 answers. You get every measurement as an Excel file, a report and a prioritised plan.
- Months 2 and 3: we close the most important gaps on your website, in your company data and in the external sources the assistants read for your industry.
- Every month: a re-measurement with the same questions. You see every question, including the ones that did not move.
- Price: $2,100 (AED 7,700) net per month for months 1 to 3, fixed. After that $2,750 (AED 10,100) net per month, cancellable monthly with 30 days notice.
Our own track record: in September 2026, none of the 525 answers in our baseline named us. On 22 October 2026, ChatGPT named Grovia Digital six times on questions about agencies in the UAE. On 5 November 2026, Perplexity named us first on an agency question. Its source was an answer page that had gone live seven days earlier.
Prefer to do it yourself? In the GEO coaching with knowledge transfer, your team learns in six weeks what we do for our clients.
Key Takeaways
- 1Done-for-you: the agency measures and closes the gaps itself. Do-it-with-me: your team does the work, the agency guides and reviews.
- 2Which model fits depends mainly on whether your team has two to four hours a week and whether the knowledge should stay in-house.
- 3At Grovia Digital, the visibility programme costs $2,100 (AED 7,700) net per month (months 1 to 3), and the GEO coaching with knowledge transfer costs $4,300 (AED 15,800) net, fixed, for six weeks.
Frequently asked questions
- What does do-it-with-me mean in GEO?
- Your team implements the measures itself, while an agency guides, reviews and measures along. The knowledge stays in your company afterwards.
- How much time does my team need?
- Plan for two to four hours a week, plus one 90-minute session.
- Is this also for agencies?
- Yes. SEO and content agencies can use the coaching to build GEO as a service of their own.
- What does the GEO coaching with knowledge transfer cost?
- At Grovia Digital, $4,300 (AED 15,800) net, fixed, for six weeks, including the baseline measurement and the review of the first pages.
- Is there a guarantee of mentions?
- No. No provider controls what an assistant answers. What can be measured is how often your company is named before and after the work.